800x600 Resolution?

[JBJ007]

Greetings guys and gals! I was wondering if anyone knew of a 'work-around' solution for playing the retail version in a 800x600 screen resolution? I know it won't look as good, but I play most games using my 21" Toshiba timms monitor/TV and would like to do so with this title as well. I already adjusted the 'rise2.ini' file line to 'AllowAllResolutions=1', but the choices start at 1024x768. I thought I had read somewhere that the demo could be run in 800x600, though I never played it. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[JBJ007]

Please, anyone...I'm having to play this on my wife's system with a 15" screen and it's driving me nuts At least, does anyone know for sure if the demo did run in 800x600 resolution? If so, I know there's got to be a way to run the retail version thusly since it's the same game engine. Many thanks!

[dearmad]

I've looked at an awful lot of the modifiable files, and don't see that option even as a hack. Doesn't mean it's not possible...

[JBJ007]

Yeah, I've done the same without much luck. Did anyone know if it did indeed run in 800x600 in the demo? If so, I'll keep trying to figure this out for the retail version, if not, then I'll give up and play it on the tiny screen...

[Solver]

It is not possible. I have invested quite some time into it, just for the sake of it - I have previously found the solution to make Civ 3 run and play under 800x600, even though it doesn't support the resolution.

RoN, however, is set to automatically go back to 1024 if you edit the files to a setting below that... so no, there is no way you can do this, not via files either.

[JBJ007]

Bummer, but thanks for the answer regardless. Guess I'll either learn to enjoy it on my wife's 15" screen or go buy a new monitor for myself, eh? If any of the BHG developers read this, a 800x600 resolution option would make a nice addition to any more potential future patches (wink, wink).

[Captain_Brian]

What about setting the "AllowAllResolutions=0" value to "1" in the "rise2.ini"?


As well as change "Windowed Width=1024 Windowed Height=768" to "Windowed Width=800 Windowed Height=600"


And if it resets anyway after all that, then make the file read only so that the program wouldn't be able to reset it. Not sure how it would take that so try it at your own risk.


-Captain_Brian

[Solver]

It does reset if you make those changes. And the file doesn't matter. If you even keep the 800x600 string in it, RoN simply will change the resolution. It just has the code in it, which obviously shows that if (iniheight < 768) | (iniwidth < 1024) , and there it calls the Windows API function to change resolution. Well, you could mess with breakpoints and such, to prevent the function from being called, but in absolutely the best scenario, you would end up with a game running 800x600, most of the screen simply ivisible.

[Locutus]

Originally posted by Solver
Well, you could mess with breakpoints and such, to prevent the function from being called, but in absolutely the best scenario, you would end up with a game running 800x600, most of the screen simply ivisible.

Yup, I know from experience that that will indeed happen (in the best case scenario).

It's a pity, but if a game's not designed for it, a game's not designed for it... (And don't count on getting it in a patch: if it was easy to do, BHG would probably have done it already; it would probably require a complete overhaul of the interface).

[Solver]

Locutus - sometimes it works better. Civ 3 was designed to only work with 1024 and above, yet the solution I provided is fully functional - might not be of great convenience, but nonetheless.

As for overhaul of the interface: open interface.xml . You will see many objects dimensioning 1024x768. Then, all of those would need to be changed, and the controls such as buttons rescaled appropriately... that's quite some work.

Point is, any monitor manufactured in 1995 or later can show 1024x768, and some earlier monitors can, too. The logic developers used is that it's highly unlikely for someone with a system that can run RoN to have a monitor that old.

[Alex]

That's a very valid line of reasoning, of course, but it would be nice to have that option in the game nonetheless. (I simply love this word, "nonetheless"... ).

Anyway, I'm in the same situation as JBJ007, I only have a 15" monitor and no money to spend on a new one right now. Okay, my monitor can display 1024x768 without any problems, but I'd like to have the option to run the game in 800x600. It's kind of hard for me to know if that tiny figure down there in the field is a villager or a slinger.

[Solver]

I've been whining myself a lot about Civ 3, using lots of different arguments. Actually, there are some laptops that can't show 1024... and I would quite likely be playing the game in 800x600 if that was supported, but in this case, I am not complaining .