Sometimes things will work out exactly as you thought, and sometimes things will be different. That’s one of the beautiful things about life. Wishes for students of board exams. It’s in the unexpected that the magic happens so take notice of your disappointments – they are often opportunities, disguised as something else.As you sit down to your exams you owe it to yourself to work hard and do your best, but know that the results won’t be a measure of you.
Topic Subject: | Help Changing Screen Resolution |
posted 21 October 2010 14:31 EDT (US) Hello All, I found this guid showing how to change your screen Resolution to 1280x800 but I can not seem to be able to change it. When I go to the descr_auto_optimise_options.txt file I dont know what coulum deals with screen resolution. Please help C. Options: Maximum Resolution Fix 每 (Credit and big thx to Centuri0n of the .COM forum for this; I*ve simply fleshed out his find and added a table). The auto-detect option doesn*t pick the best resolution of your machine, thus you have to tinker with it yourself. This is extremely important to your RTW experience. Go to RTW>data>descr_auto_optimise_options.txt. Open the file. The autodetect gives you a designated/assigned code or numbers according to your machine. Criteria Actual Value Assigned Value Vertex Shader Version 0 0 Vertex Shader Version 1.1 1.1 Vertex Shader Version 2.0 2 Processor Speed (ghz) x ≒ 1.5 1 Processor Speed (ghz) 1.5 < x ≒ 2.0 2 Processor Speed (ghz) 2.0 < x ≒ 2.5 3 Processor Speed (ghz) 2.5 < x 4 Physical RAM (MB) x ≒ 256 1 Physical RAM (MB) 256 < x ≒ 384 2 Physical RAM (MB) 384 < x ≒ 512 3 Physical RAM (MB) 512 < x 4 Video RAM (MB) 64 1 Video RAM (MB) 128 2 Video RAM (MB 256 3 Video RAM (MB) 512 4 Using my system as an example: Vertex Shader 1.1, 2.2 ghz, 640 MB RAM, GeForce4 4200 Go 64 MB video card, I get ※1.1, 3, 4, 1 ※ as assigned values. Once you*ve obtained you assigned numbers, look for your designation in the text file horizontally (the first four rows of values)(diagram 1.1). Diagram 1.1 Quietus' old resolution setting: 1.1 3 4 1 Move right horizontally --- > 1028 x 768 1028 x 768 Diagram 1.2 Quietus' new resolution setting 1.1 3 4 1 Move right horizontally ---> 1280 x 800 1280 x 800 Moving to the right of your assigned values, you*ll see the two sets of resolution. The first is for the Strategic Map, the second the Battle Map. Using, ※1.1, 3, 4, 1§, I see mine as 1028x768 & 1028x768. I changed them both to 1280x800 (diagram 1.2), my max resolution, and SAVED the txt file. I load up RTW and the settings are now available in the video options. (I*ve finally figured how to do this after a long while and the results are amazing. Wow -Q). | |
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posted 22 October 2010 01:37 EDT (US) 1 / 1 From the opening splashscreen you have Options. Among them are video options. You can choose screen resolution there. See here for more about Options. |||||||||||||||| A transplanted Viking, born a millennium too late. ||||||||||||||||| |||||||||||||||| Too many Awards to list in Signature, sorry lords..||||||||||||||||| |||||||||||||||| Listed on my page for your convenience and envy.||||||||||||||||| Somewhere over the EXCO Rainbow Master Skald, Order of the Silver Quill, Guild of the Skalds Champion of the Sepia Joust- Joust I, II, IV, VI, VII, VIII |
Total War Heaven » Forums » Rome: Total War Discussion » Help Changing Screen Resolution | Top |
Advantage of 21:9 Displays for Gaming
Discussing Compatibility
Before even getting to the question of immersion and competitive edge, compatibility dominates much of the forum discussion when it comes to 21:9 game support. Most modern games natively support 3440x1440 and 2560x1080 resolutions without any need for modding and without visible scaling issues. Engine technology is generally intelligent enough to scale graphics according to the display resolution, not the aspect ratio – but some games don't scale.
We've successfully used the 21:9 displays in games like GTA V, DiRT Rally, Rome 2: Total War, Cities: Skylines, Call of Duty: Black Ops III, and plenty more. A few stand-out titles – normally those which are heavily invested in competitive gaming – plainly disallow 21:9 aspect ratios. We'll discuss the 'why' of this more below, but some of the affected games include StarCraft 2, CSGO (works to some extent), Dirty Bomb (.ini hacks fix resolution, but not perfect), Ubisoft titles like Assassin's Creed (lots of problems – letter-boxing, column-boxing, stretching, HUD), and Dota2 (HUD issues).
If you're curious about the compatibility of any specific title, we would strongly recommend the Widescreen Gaming Forum (www.wsgf.org) for its master list of 21:9-ready games.
In general, 21:9 aspect ratios have worked with almost every game we've tried (sans above). It's typically the HUD that exhibits scaling issues – if there are any issues at all – and those can usually be resolved through .ini tweaks or injectors from WSGF's userbase. Note that some of these injection tools and tweaks may be seen as 'hacks' by particular games; using such tools with VAC is a risk. If a particular game has HUD issues which are not resolvable through .ini or other tweaks, owners of UW displays can set the aspect ratio to 16:9 (e.g. 1080p, 1440p) and column box the left and right sides of the screen. This was our solution for CSGO online play and Dota2, both of which have HUD/UI scaling issues that seem unresolvable due to Valve's dedication to hard controls for competitive games. Or just general slowness of Valve; it could be either.
FOV Adjustment & Seeing More on Screen
For the most part, though, 21:9 works fairly universally. It doesn't require special game logic or code – most modern engines will see the resolution, the aspect ratio (or ask for one), and then simply expand your viewable space. Some games allow FOV (Field of View) controls, which functions precisely the same way a camera lens' FOV does. Black Ops III is a good example. A user with a 110-degree FOV will see just as much horizontal landscape on a 16:9 1080p display as on a 21:9 3440x1440 display. That doesn't mean it looks good, though – but it is possible to achieve the same viewable horizontal space on a 16:9 display in games which offer FOV controls.
Wider FOVs scale more agreeably on the wider displays. In the above example of Black Ops, some visible stretching will occur in elements closest to the screen when running high FOVs – like 110 or 120-degrees – on 16:9 resolutions. The player character's forearm (holding the gun) is an excellent example: As seen in the video, the arm gets skinny to the point of an anorexic super-soldier with wide FOVs on 1080p. More importantly, objects that near the edges of the screen begin to 'stretch' as they approach the camera, making aim difficult when players are moving perpendicularly to the player.
Not all games offer manual FOV adjustment (though many do through settings tweaking and mods), some will automatically scale, and some remain fixed regardless of resolution. Most modern shooter titles will allow some level of FOV modification by the user, including Battlefield, Call of Duty, and Battlefront.
Immersion & Competition: Are UltraWides Worth It?
That brings us to the immersion element.
The MMOs we've played have generally instantly expanded viewable space (as did GTA V, which adjusts based upon the aspect ratio). This creates more immersive landscapes that surround the player. Looking out over the fields of insert-generic-MMO-zone becomes more engrossing with a 21:9 viewport.
The same is true for RPGs or FPS games or anything else where you're most concerned with immersion. Native support of 21:9 aspect ratios and adequately scaled FOVs effectively expands the observable terrain simultaneously on-screen, which does add significantly to the “in-the-game” factor.
A few games will column-box or pillar-box in instances where the aspect ratio is not natively supported. GTA V is a good example of this. The game supports 21:9 resolutions natively, but cut-scenes column-box to a 16:9 resolution – so you'll get black bars on the left and right that roll away when cut-scenes complete. Certainly survivable.
Although much of this post contains subjective undertones, this particular aspect is going to be entirely up to the user: Competitive edge granted or lost by 21:9 displays.
We don't think there's an advantage to the wider display for supporting competitive games (again, a fair number of competitive games don't natively support 21:9 to begin with). Being wider normally necessitates some physical head movement or more visual awareness, two things that have higher human latency than the latency you'd have with simply moving a mouse around when using a smaller display. We talked to a few high-level CSGO, Battlefield, and even TF2 pro Tyrone Wang; the consensus among the ultra-competitive and high-level players seems to generally side with more modestly sized widescreen dispalys (16:9) over UltraWide setups.
That said, there's certainly something to be said for Grand Strategy and supporting RTS games, like Total War's “RTS mode” where extra viewable space grants greater battlefield awareness. No one really plays that competitively, though.
We've come to positively view 21:9 displays over the past few months. They greatly aid production tasks and do supply some immersion benefit with specific games; at the same time, don't expect a 21:9 purchase to make you instantly top leaderboards. Just like “gaming mice” and mechanical keyboards, it's more about the user than the equipment.
Editorial: Steve 'Lelldorianx' Burke
Video Production: Andrew 'ColossalCake' Coleman
Video Production: Andrew 'ColossalCake' Coleman
Topic Subject: | Pharaoh widescreen in windows 7 |
posted 11-15-11 13:32 ET (US) Hey everyone! Wonder if someone can help me. Been racking my brain trying to find a solution and I'm about to give up. I recently bought myself a nifty new laptop. It runs windows 7 and I've installed Pharaoh/cleopatra. I can't seem to get the game to display in widescreen! It only displays in 4:3 full frame. I've set the game to 1024x768 screen resolution and its still in full frame. My old laptop which was also widescreen and runs windows xp manages to display the game in widescreen. Even connecting my old laptop to my 55inch flatscreen tv is still displays in widescreen. Btw playing pharaoh on a 55inch is absolutely amazing! But for the life of me i can't figure out why it only displays in 4:3 fullscreen on my new laptop. Does anyone have a solution to get it to display in widescreen??? Btw I should mention that on my old laptop the game was stretched to fit the widescreen. I never even noticed it. I don't know how or why my old laptop did this. It was like that on my first install and was always like that. It still looked fine to me. Does anyone know how to do this also for my new laptop? [This message has been edited by charmedstargate (edited 11-15-2011 @ 11:31 PM).] | |
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posted 11-16-11 02:54 ET (US) 1 / 9 Hi charmedstargate For trying to get Pharaoh to fill all the screen, you will have to change the setting for scaling of the desktop in the graphics driver. The game will still be stretched as it does not support widescreen. By reading this fine print your soul is now the exclusive property of HeavenGames. |
posted 11-16-11 23:58 ET (US) 2 / 9 Hi PCDania. Thanks for your reply. I just figured that out after i posted my question lol. The game is stretched but it still looks fine. Rather that and take up the whole screen then have those damn black bars. |
posted 05-11-13 14:09 ET (US) 3 / 9 Hi PC Dania, (presuming this gets to you) My question is more or less the opposite of this but posting in this thread seems the best option. I run Pharaoh on an HP Laptop 64 bit Win 7, but connected to an HD monitor res 1920x 1080 via the HDMI socket. For the last 3 months, the appearance of Pharaoh and all other games has been normal. ie Pharaoh appears at 4x3 in standard appearance, as it did this morning, ie correct aspect ratio with black sides, which worked whatever games was being played. However, later on today, it and all other old games appear full screen but stretched aspect ratio and looking nasty. I have tried all the things I can think of including scaling on the driver but nothing works. There are no scaling options in the drop down box on the driver but there are sliders, however these seem to have no effect even if I change the horiz slider from 100% to 0%. The only other info that seems relevant is that I accidentally installed some unwanted stuff incl apparently video codec software, which took all afternoon to get rid of, and that CCleaner uninstall (but not Windows uninstall) seems to think that Intel graphics may have installed an upgrade today based on date Do you have any suggestions so I can revert to normal appearance? Please note that I am using monitor display only (laptop screen is blanked out) ie displays are not cloned (or I would not get 1920x 1080), but if I disconnect monitor and use Laptop screen only the resolution reverts back to standard 4x 3. |
posted 05-11-13 14:47 ET (US) 4 / 9 Deleted. You are not allowed to circumvent the rules for posting. Next time I will have to give you an official warning. [This message has been edited by PCDania (edited 05-11-2013 @ 04:47 PM).] |
posted 05-11-13 16:57 ET (US) 5 / 9 Hi Herod0tus I don't have any computers using Intel graphics so I can not play around with the driver so I can only give you some suggestions. You could try first try play the game with the screens cloned and see if that makes a difference. If the external monitor runs at the wrong resolution, try if you can change the resolution in the graphics driver. If that works, try play a little bit, then change so you only use the external monitor. Other than that, you could try download the original graphics driver from HP, uninstall the current driver and then install the one you downloaded. Hope above is of help to you. By reading this fine print your soul is now the exclusive property of HeavenGames. |
posted 05-12-13 05:29 ET (US) 6 / 9 Sorry about the delay, Thanks for the reply PC Dania, Actually the intel drivers hadn't changed, they were still the original ones dated 2010 and 2006. (CCleaner reports date wrongly) If I set cloned screens, the Laptop screen appears correctly at 4 x 3, but the external monitor is still stretched. It may be a monitor control panel setting. There is a whole submenu greyed out, and I haven't found out why yet. Obviously you can't help me with that. If I find a solution I'll post it here later on. |
Rome Total War No Preference File
posted 05-12-13 11:26 ET (US) 7 / 9 It may be a monitor control panel setting. There is a whole submenu greyed out, and I haven't found out why yet.That is likely because you are using HDMI. It's not unusual that monitors connected using anything else but the old fashion VGA connector have some setting greyed out. By reading this fine print your soul is now the exclusive property of HeavenGames. |
Rome Total War Mac Widescreen
posted 05-13-13 04:57 ET (US) 8 / 9 *Solved*: For the record here's how: While switching to VGA did unlock some of the greyed out menu, it didn't unlock the aspect control on my Iiyama monitor, but I found out how from a different manufacturer (Asus I think). I switched back to HDMI. Apparently this control is only available on certain resolutions, (supposedly including 1920x 1080 BTW) So I got round it by switching to a lower res, the same as the laptop screen 1366 x 768. This unlocked the aspect control which I changed from 'Full' to 'Aspect' and then changed res back to 1920 x 1080 and problem solved. I guess that if you change resolutions to one where the control isn't allowed, it automatically locks it out and changes back to 'Full' and remains locked even when you change back again. Thanks for you help PC Dania, you gave me the clue I needed. [This message has been edited by Herod0tus (edited 05-13-2013 @ 05:02 AM).] |
posted 05-13-13 08:36 ET (US) 9 / 9 Thanks for posting the solution. Happy gaming By reading this fine print your soul is now the exclusive property of HeavenGames. |
Caesar IV Heaven » Forums » Technical Forum » Pharaoh widescreen in windows 7 | Top |