halo text

[BFM_Spartan]

Hello,
I recently installed halo, and I couldnt connect to internet. I re-installed halo, and it had me DL a patch or something, and I could view servers and enter games. However I can not read in game text. I believe I can write them by pressing "T" because a small box comes up at the bottom of the screen, but I cannot read what I am writing. Does any one have any suggestions on fixing this problem?  (I dont have a MAC computer, I use vista if that helps, but other than that, I am not computer savy).
Thanks so much
jfspartan.

[Zeek]

try changing screen resolution it was a problem i had in Custom Edition

[BFM_Spartan]

Changed the resolutions up, and it still didnt work. I play on window, idk if that makes a difference. I also cant read text on full screen either. I cant read what anyone says.

[BFM_Spartan]

I tried un-installing the game. Then I re-installed it. Now I can't even get online because it doesnt give me an option to DL the patch. I took a little step backwards there lol. I see a patch link on one of the sticky thread, which brings me to a forum, where I DL a link. I have the option to "open" "save" or "save as" . Ive clicked save and that didnt help me get online. So now Im wondering if someone could help me get onto halo-internet?

[BFM_Spartan]

Okay I'm pretty sure I got the patch thing handled, but still not text in game :/  No "welcome: jfspartan" or "killed by:______" or any of what other players (or myself) write.

[BFM_Kiwi]

In your halo folder, which is something like C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Halo, look for an installer file called msxmlenu.msi.  Double-click that (might need to run as administrator) to reinstall that component.  This almost always fixes these sorts of problems.

[BFM_Spartan]

Ahhh rats that didnt work either Kiwi! this stinks lol! Ive seen some BFM's and Fuzion in the servers and I cant see any writing they probably think Im ignoring them haha!

[BFM_Kiwi]

If you type something, can you see your own chat?

Are you joining from xfire, or through GameSpy lobby inside halo?

I have a feeling since you're using Vista, it's something to do with administrator priviledges.  You might try running halo as administrator (right-click on halo.exe or your shortcut to it, select Run as Administrator).

You might also try running it in XP compatibility mode (right-click on halo.exe and select properties.  Look for Compatibility tab and set to XP.

If that doesn't work, try reinstalling halo but run the install and any patches as administrator.

[BFM_Spartan]

I join servers through the game lobby when I double click the halo icon. I have to click 'get list" and then double click a bfm server. I tried the XP compatible version, and the game wouldnt even start. I tried running as administrator but still could not view writing. I cannot see my own writing however I do see the little bar in which I normally would type, and I can hit enter and the box closes just as it normally would. Just dont see any text from the game,players or myself.

[BFM_Kiwi]

Two things.

Easiest thing is to try to create a new profile.  New001 is fine, just a different profile than you are currently using.  See if that one works as far as text.

Otherwise all I can think of is to do a clean install.  By that I mean uninstall it, and delete any halo folders that are still remaining, including saved games and profiles (for Vista, they are in "My Games/Halo" I think - delete the whole thing. 

I have looked on our servers.  I can see you joining but no chat at all.  So it's not just a matter of you not being able to see it on screen, but halo is not accepting your typing at all.  So to me it's either an install issue, or permissions.  So reinstalling or playing around with "run as administrator" seems your best bet.

[BFM_Spartan]

Well I uninstalled it completely, and reinstalled it but still no luck with the text. Im not sure if this is why, but whenever i start halo it says something like my video processor is below minimum specifications for playing the game, and it asks me if I want to continue normally or in safe mode? But darn this is unfortunate I was looking forward to playing some halo like old times lol.

[BFM_JANE]

For the video thing, just press Continue.

For the text, Mxy has said this in the past:

Go here and follow the directions for Method 2: Download and install the latest Microsoft XML Core Services to install the text display stuff )

Follow the given link in that Method section to download the TWO FILES: Msxml.msi and Msxmlcab.exe

Again, follow the directions thereafter and that should fix the problem.

(If you don't follow the directions precisely it likely won't work.)

[ËQINÖX]

As for the safe mode message i get that also  when i first install it. Its been awhile but if i remmber correctly its because halo ether cant recognise your graphics card / drivers as they are simply to new or  some onboard modern variation so it freaks out and throws up the safe mode message  i just clicked to ignore and never show again and run as normal and its  fine for me.

Regarding the text i note that you said you increased the resolution how ever this will not resolve the problem and this is because Halo does not support widescreen 1920-1080 so the higher you  go on the  halo resolution its expecting you to have a monitor that  corsponds to that resoultion and as a result it renders the text box of screen. I had the same  problem on my 1920-1080 monitor and i went  through all the  resolutions till i found one  that alowed me to se the text had a good quality sharp image and didnt distort the game  to much in the end i found that 1600-900 altho far less than my  monitor  suports it was the only one that worked well and looked good. so you may want to try this one.

[BFM_Spartan]

I used the "-window" for my halo so Im playing on a rather small screen. I forget technical terms but I believe that means im using a low resolution? and I have all the decals/shadows etc. off. This is driving me crazy lol, Im doing everything. I clicked mxy's link DL'ed the two things. double clicked them but half way through it would dissallow me to continue. This isnt working out how I planned unfortunately, so I think I'm just going to ease my blood preassure, and hang halo up. I appreciate everyone's help and time! too bad I couldnt figure it out.

[BFM_Kiwi]

If those won't allow you to continue, it's probably because you don't have administrator priviledges.  You need to run them as administrator.  You can either logon to the admin account and run them, or run as administrator from your account - you may have to enter the admin password.