[DaBeers]

Hey all,

I got MW2 on the 11th by purchasing the disk set from Best Buy and found it didn't run very well. Since then I have been all over the internet trying to fix a couple bugs that seemed to have shipped with the game. What I found was a lot of clones of the Activision help, which is really of no help at all. So, I thought I would start a dialog to help sort out some of what I have found in the last few days. Keep in mind, while I tested everything throughly, I only tested it on my machine. My machine represents the capasity to play the game on a developers/gamers rig (*see [My Specs]). I will post my specs at the end.

[Download vs. Physical Disks]
I originally installed from the disks (which took ucommonly long). On the second day of wrestling with my problems, I finished up my bechmarks and deleted the local content. I then allowed it to be replaced via download from Steam. Both data sets performed identically. I would have to determine that if your disks are pristine, and/or a validation check (Steam: game properties/inGame Files/Verify integrity of game cache...) passes all but one of your files, your game files are OK. I believe it fails on the games config.cfg in single player, and config_mp.cfg in multiplayer. I also believe it does not re-download the file as the dialog indicates.

[Direct X]
It seems the installer was poorly written. I believe a DirectX redistributable or .dll must be installed, or classes registered, to provide for the games use of DirectX. However, it seems the installer does not give the proper authorizations for this action to be carried out on some systems. In this case, you will need to manually install this on your machine. The program to set this up for you is located at [drive]\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\call of duty modern warfare 2\Redist\DirectX\DXSetup.exe. This should take care of most DirectX errors.

[Freezes Before Gamestate]
Many players are experiencing freezes in the game menu or during the intro videos. I speculate that this is a hang while the game tries to connect to a server that is not available, perhaps a block of code to connect to the debug reporting server which was shut down after the game was released. It's the only timeout that I can think that would occur that early after game launch. After a timeout period(I have not timed it but I would guess 3 minutes, but I'm not sure if it's clock cycle based or real time based. It could vary.), the game will resume as normal (which is admittable subjective, but you should be able to play). This has worked repeatedly for me in single player, but due to a mix of issues, some of which are currently unresolved, I am not able to verify it for multiplayer.

[NVidia and Resolution]
After rigorous, methodical testing I found no relation to the games performance prior to gamestate under any resolution using the current, or beta drivers for my GeForce card. During game play, you can expect normal performance degradation with higher resolutions, but videos, text, and ingame content all worked fine once the hang was passed. Since ATI is a good company, I would expect equal support, however, I have not tested under an ATI environment.

-
There are many other problems to be addressed but this is what I am fairly certain of so far. If you like what I’m trying to do here, let me know. If I can prove your suggestions, as I have mine, I will add a quote to the original for easy access. If you can help prove/disprove any of my thoughts, I would like to hear that too.
The game really is fun, for a P.O.S… and I just can’t let it be like that.
Thanks for reading!

[My Specs]
Windows 7 Professional
AMD Athlon64 x2 Dual Core Processor 5200+ @ 2.6GHz/core
7GB DDR2(actual)
NVidia GeForce GTX 260 w/1G DDR3 (Default Res) 1680*1050
SB Audigy or Logitech G35 USB Headset
I am a computer programming student, long time gammer and modder(mapping/scripting) currently in game design classes.

[DaBeers]

My current multiplayer problem is the common launch to nothing. I get a black screen with an active, enlarged graphic windows cursor. I have waited as long as 30 minutes and this does not recover.

Specs in original.

Help if you can.

[Gulo Luseus]

In terms of installation, I had a problem with the installer script file, and got an error box. After closing it and retrying install, it went fine. Yes, it takes a long time to install (it was about 40 mins for me, mostly disk 1) which I put down to files either being decrypted or retrieved through steam. Cant think of any other reason for it to take so long.

Bar that I have not found any of the problems you describe. Graphically it is fine, and get no hangs. Possibly we have less players in the UK, but I cant see that being the reason. I run Win 7 and a pair of HD4870x2s, but Icant see that making any difference.