HL freezes at single player game start

[fluggo99]

I've seen this problem described plenty of places in the various Half-Life forums around the web, but never a solution. Half-Life freezes whenever I try to start a new game or enter the Hazard Course-- no screen mode change, no nothing, just frozen with the menu screen still displayed. Multiplayer mode works just fine, as does HL's own demo.

Everything shows that the problem isn't with my video card; everything works perfectly in other games. Until I can call Sierra on Monday, anyone here found a solution to this one yet?

Dell Dimension PIII 550 MHz
SB Live!
Matrox Marvel G200-TV
Cheap NE2000-compat network card
Blasted modem I don't use and should probably remove
Onstream Tape Drive

[fluggo99]

Went searching the Half-Life forums again, this time coming across the strangest solution I have ever seen. I give it to you for future reference. My guess is that this applies to anyone on a permanent internet connection, as I am.

To get single-player mode running, disable DNS lookup in your network settings (Network Neighborhood->Properties, TCP/IP for [internet connection here]->Properties, DNS configuration). Be sure to write down all the settings before you do that. Restart, and Half-Life should run correctly. Re-enable DNS to get back on the 'net.

Since this takes a lot of rebooting, try dismissing the box recommending you restart, then use the Start->Shut down box and hold down "shift" as you press OK. This restarts Windows only (if you're lucky), saving you some time.

Man, that's ridiculous! Well, now on to problem #2: Do I have to live with OpenGL at 640x480, or can I get rid of this discoloring at higher resolutions? And why does Worldcraft crash in G200ICD.dll?