Video Mode doesn't work?!?!

[Che Palle]

In the readme file it says, and I quote:

* Ini file tweaks: The first time Civilization III is run, it will create a file called 'civilization3.ini'. The following lines can be added and allow you to tweak the game:

*KeepRes=1 - When set to 1, your desktop resolution will be what the game uses. 1024x768 screens will be centered, but you will be able to see much more of the map on one screen.
*NoSound=1 - Disables all sound in-game.
*Video Mode=1792 / Video Mode=1600 / Video Mode=1280 / Video Mode=1152 - Force screen resolution to one of these settings.

Ok, keepres seems to work, if I set my desktop to 1280xwhateverthatothernumberis then Civ3 will run at 1280xwhate...

But the Video Mode setting doesn't work.

Reading the above, I would assume that by using this magical Video Mode setting, I could put the following line in the INI file:

Video Mode=1280

And keep my desktop at a usable 1024x768, so that I don't go blind while using the PC for other things, but get decent resolution in Civ3.

This does absolutely nothing. Civ3 will start at 1024x768 and blissfully stay at that resolution.

I tried the following combinations:

Video Mode=1280
KeepRes=1

Video Mode=1280
KeepRes=0

Video Mode=1280
[no KeepRes line]

and the other 3 similar possibilities spelling "Video Mode" like this: "VideoMode" in the event that the space was a typo in the Readme.

For what it's worth the ZOOMING interface in Civ3 [b]is awful[b] compared to Civ2.

You only have 2 zoom settings (that I can find anyway) and the standard zoom is way too close in (8 tiles across at 1024!!!!!) and the other one is too zoomed out!!!!! You can't tell the difference between units.

At 1280 things are better, though I probably want to try 1152 since at 1280 some things are a bit tiny.

Please help with this, if you can!!!

To reiterate, what I would like is to have my PC normally running at 1024x768 but CIV3 switching to 1152xWhatever.

Alessandro

[Adm.Naismith]

Ciao, Che Palle!

With a nick like that you must be quite in a bad mood, aren't you?

Ok, thanks for the info. I'm looking for a new notebook, and taking into account how TFT screen have less flexibility with resolution/refresh rate than common desktop screen, I'm currently quite worried with the news.

May be it's better if I wait first patch!

Ciao Alessandro.

[Che Palle]

Originally posted by Adm.Naismith
Ciao, Che Palle!

With a nick like that you must be quite in a bad mood, aren't you?

Ok, thanks for the info. I'm looking for a new notebook, and taking into account how TFT screen have less flexibility with resolution/refresh rate than common desktop screen, I'm currently quite worried with the news.

May be it's better if I wait first patch!

Ciao Alessandro.

Ciao!

No, the nick has nothing to do with my mood... though coincidentally at this time I'm still rather annoyed with this Video Mode thing.

I ended up with the nick after trying 7-8 different ones and being told they were all taken... "what a pain" was too obvious so I went with the Italian version ;-P

I'm surprised nobody else has brought up the inadequacy of the zoom feature. methinks is virtually worthless.

In Civ2 I would usually have a screen of 13 tiles across in normal mode (and had NO PROBLEM WHATSOEVER identifying units) and would then zoom out to a half-world view when sending ships places and such. With Civ3's zoom this latter thing won't be possible... Che Palle!

Hopefully a patch will fix this!

[TechWins]

Can you please help me? I've been trying to play the game for ******* three hours!

My specs are:
500 Celeron
384 RAM
3D Pro AGP 2x (4mb)

Basically my computer is average to say the best but it is sufficient. When I start the game the game pauses for about two seconds then goes through the preview. After the preview the game just goes black and I can't escape the game.