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Ok folks, I've been playing with Civ3 for some time (under WindowsXP) and have ALMOST got all the resolution problems sorted out. Here's what I've discovered.
1. The movies run in 640x480x16bpp. This is a problem in WinXP, because XP doesn't let you use this mode for a desktop resolution - therefore it is never given a default refresh rate! It will often revert to either 60hz (in my case) or some high number which Windows thinks your monitor can do (and it probably can - if the horizontal sync were also set properly, which it isn't).
2. The rest of the game runs in 1024x768x16bpp.
These problems are further compounded by the fact that this game uses both DirectX AND OpenGL. I will explain further.
In DirectX-only titles, it is easy to fix the refresh rate problem. Simply pick the same refresh rate the game is using as a desktop resolution, tweak it to your heart's content, and then the game is fixed. If you don't want to waste all this time, you can simply run 'dxdiag', and under the 'more help' tab you can set the refresh rate override to something suitable, like 85hz.
HOWEVER, this title is a mixed title. And the REAL problem lies in OpenGL modes. OpenGL, unfortunately, is allowed to pick its own refresh rate. Most OpenGL games have an .ini file command to do this. For example, in Quake3 the command is 'seta r_displayrefresh 85'. In Baldur's Gate, the command is 'refresh=85'. See the pattern?
I don't KNOW what the command is in the .ini file for Civ3. I don't even know if there is one.
So, you're asking yourselves now... WHY is he bothering with this?
Well, there are several methods which have been posted and seem to work for nVidia card owners. However, what about OTHER card owners? Well, I have a Matrox G400, and my solution was to use Matrox' monitor tools (in the display settings applet) to force my monitor to ONLY accept appropriate refresh rates. In other words, nothing below 75, and nothing above 85. To do this I simply selected 'VESA 1280x1024 75-85hz monitor' from the list.
Oh goody, you exclaim now! So we know how to fix this for nVidia and Matrox! What about ATI? Well, I _believe_ ATI has a similar registry structure to nVidia, so a little fiddling ought to fix the issue. I'll edit this post later today after I slap in a Radeon and figure out the tweaks.
What would be NICE, of course, is if Firaxis would post and tell us what .ini file switch to use to set our own refresh rate... rather than having the game pick the lowest (or highest) that is listed in the registry.
- Gurm
P.S. Now if only I could figure out why these videos seem to pause a couple times in the first 30 seconds...
1. The movies run in 640x480x16bpp. This is a problem in WinXP, because XP doesn't let you use this mode for a desktop resolution - therefore it is never given a default refresh rate! It will often revert to either 60hz (in my case) or some high number which Windows thinks your monitor can do (and it probably can - if the horizontal sync were also set properly, which it isn't).
2. The rest of the game runs in 1024x768x16bpp.
These problems are further compounded by the fact that this game uses both DirectX AND OpenGL. I will explain further.
In DirectX-only titles, it is easy to fix the refresh rate problem. Simply pick the same refresh rate the game is using as a desktop resolution, tweak it to your heart's content, and then the game is fixed. If you don't want to waste all this time, you can simply run 'dxdiag', and under the 'more help' tab you can set the refresh rate override to something suitable, like 85hz.
HOWEVER, this title is a mixed title. And the REAL problem lies in OpenGL modes. OpenGL, unfortunately, is allowed to pick its own refresh rate. Most OpenGL games have an .ini file command to do this. For example, in Quake3 the command is 'seta r_displayrefresh 85'. In Baldur's Gate, the command is 'refresh=85'. See the pattern?
I don't KNOW what the command is in the .ini file for Civ3. I don't even know if there is one.
So, you're asking yourselves now... WHY is he bothering with this?
Well, there are several methods which have been posted and seem to work for nVidia card owners. However, what about OTHER card owners? Well, I have a Matrox G400, and my solution was to use Matrox' monitor tools (in the display settings applet) to force my monitor to ONLY accept appropriate refresh rates. In other words, nothing below 75, and nothing above 85. To do this I simply selected 'VESA 1280x1024 75-85hz monitor' from the list.
Oh goody, you exclaim now! So we know how to fix this for nVidia and Matrox! What about ATI? Well, I _believe_ ATI has a similar registry structure to nVidia, so a little fiddling ought to fix the issue. I'll edit this post later today after I slap in a Radeon and figure out the tweaks.
What would be NICE, of course, is if Firaxis would post and tell us what .ini file switch to use to set our own refresh rate... rather than having the game pick the lowest (or highest) that is listed in the registry.
- Gurm
P.S. Now if only I could figure out why these videos seem to pause a couple times in the first 30 seconds...