jabbas

I've noticed somehting interesting about Halo 2: I play on a 4:3 non-widescreen TV, and have my Xbox set to the normal (non-widescreen) video configuration, but on Halo 2 all the menus etc... are presented in 4:3, but during gameplay it's like the screen wants to make it in widescreen, and cuts things off the left and right.

This is a problem because:
1. whenever I dual wield half my ammo meter for the left gun is cut off
2. My remaining amount of frag grenades is always off screen.

Is anyone else having this problem, or is it just my copy?

jabbas

I figured out the problem:

Unfortunately, Halo 2 is designed for 480p Hi Def on widescreen TVs. I have a 4:3 HDTV, so basically by selecting 480p on my Xbox settings menu, Halo 2 can only run the game in widescreen.

So, it looks like a design flaw that screws owners of HDTV 4:3 TVs: either you have to play in 480p better picture but get the sides chopped off, or you have to change the Xbox setting so you're TV is not 480p compatible and run the game not in 480p.

Flay

I came down with a fever early yesterday morning and was unable to go to a Halo tournament last night and pick up a copy of Halo 2 last night.

Hopefully, this glitch will be rectified by the massive amount of cold medication I consumed over the course of the past 36 hours and allow me to get Halo 2 this evening.

I will report more glitches as I see them.

StarsHockey

I run on a 16:9 television and experience the same problem. The first part of each line get's cut off. For instance I don't get the "yo" of "you just killed so and so".

I wouldn't have thought anything by it if I hadn't seen your message yesterday.

Shuki

jabbas says his is 4:3 though and starshockey says his is 16:9. are both messed up?? i've only been able to play an hour or so in SP mode but haven't noticed any clipping on my 65" mits. Maybe the 16:9 is only messed up in MP mode?

hector031

There's a huge discussion about the screen cutoff at the Bungie.net forums. Supposedly if you turn off 480p and go to 480i the problem is fixed, but it doesn't look as pretty.

Here are some picture comparisons of the cutoffs and the differences in 480p and 480i.

I've got a 51" Sony widescreen and didn't really notice a lot getting cutoff on the sides with 480p. I did notice that the indicators near the top of the screen were very close to the top of the tv though.

Shuki

I'm reading through the discussion you linked to hector31. evidently it does not happen on all 16:9 hdtv's as the first guy said he gets "heckpoint" rather than "checkpoint". All of my text reads fine and I am in 480p in widescreen mode in the dashboard. very strange....

Gromit

I didn't notice that problem on my Panasonic plasma. I'll check more closely tonight.

hector031

I don't think the problem is the same on all tv's. It looks like different brands are having the problems, but with varying degrees of cutoff. I've only played multiplayer, and I havn't seen any of the problems some people are having. I don't remember seeing a clear answer if it was single player or MP though where the problem occured. I have some screen cutoff, but nowhere near the amount that was shown in the pictures that I linked to.

fab

I haven't read any other threads on this but I would imagine this problem happens to various degrees on the different televisions due to the different amounts of overscan each TV is showing or not showing.

--
fab

fujishig

Is there a glitch in the cutscenes? It looks like the details sometimes get drawn a split second after the models come on screen. Or is that how it's supposed to be?

Shuki

http://pages.videotron.com/lento/X/Compare.jpg

my 65" mits has been properly adjusted for overscan using a mylar grid and I have no issues at all in single player. not tried co-op or mp yet. wonder if the issue is with the xbox units themselves? ie the new units having no problems and the release ones having problems. I read there have been 6 different ones released but have no idea if thats correct or not... I am sorry for those having the trouble but am glad its not me

RVP

Yeah i have noticed this too, it seems to happed quite often. Foe example during a cutscene the showed a pelican captain flying through the air on her seat, then a second or two later the pelican was around her. Is this the " pop in" some reviews refered too?

Gromit

My Xbox is pretty old but I don't have the problem.

Centurion

I've noticed this during cutscenes: the entire picture is there but in some areas, the bump mapping (this is the details you see on the surface of objects) is not. A split second later, it shows up.
Annoying, but does not take away from gameplay thank goodness.

Shuki

what kind of tv gromit?

jiggawhat

I have noticed a couple audio dropouts. And that bump mapping glitch.

Centurion

hector 031--

Just saw the pics in the link you posted.
I've been playing this on a 4:3, 27" tube through S-video cable (interlaced). The picture looks great.

I have not yet tried Halo 2 on my widescreen HDTV simply because every 480P game I've played on it (Xbox dashboard set to "progressive") looks like ass.
Probably because my unit has a native resolution of 720 lines. However, all games in 720P and 1080I look absolutely great.

Looks like 4:3 and 480I really give you the "FULL" picture.

hector031

Centurion--

Those were just pictures that I got from the Bungie.net thread. I don't have anywhere near the amount of cutoff that they are having in those screenshots.

eXcentris

Neither did I on my Panny DLP.

hector031

Other then the screen cutoff issues, I've got another error that keeps popping up. Matchmaking keeps failing for me. I am consistently getting a "You failed to load the map" error. I read something about it on the bungie.net forums yesterday, but unfortunately since they don't have a search over there I can't seem to find the thread again. If I remember right, it seemed to be mostly people that have Thompson drive (which I sadly have) which are having the problem. Has anyone else gotten this error?

Gromit

Panasonic HD plasma.

Sherbz

It's basically a nice way of saying Dirty Disc Error. Thankfully the game doesn't freeze, but I always reboot when that happens. It's definitely related to the Thompson drive. Have you never had DDEs in other games?

Michael T Hudson

I had the same problem yesterday with the disk error. It was on a cutscreen. I lost my progress up to that point. I also had the error loading a map but a reboot took care of that. Kind of sucked. My XBOX is from day one so it may be the Thompson drive.

edstein

I'm running a 65" Mits RPTV and, the game is running 480p widescreen with no HUD stretching.

I did notice the cutscene bump mapping issue. Not a bid deal for me. Could be better polished though. No freezing so far.