10 replies to this topic

[Elrahc]

Hello,

I recently found out about all these glorious mods for PST, BG I & II, and ID I & II, and I can't wait to play them again. I'm starting off on PST and I have a 1680x1050 monitor that I love. So naturally I'd like to play all these classics in this resolution, but I find that this mod will only allow certain resolutions. I hoped as long as the aspect ratios were the same with Bigg's Widescreen (I set it to 1680x1050) and this mod that I could install said mod just fine. Turns out I cannot, and I was wondering what is recommened then; to play the game with the default UI at 1680x1050 or at 1280x800 with this mod?

Thank you for your modding efforts!


~Elrahc

[ghostdog]

Hello Elrahc and welcome to the forums.

I also have a a 1680x1050 22' monitor and believe me the maximum resolution this game can be played is 1280x800. A bigger resolution would make items and characters very small, but most importantly the game text would be so small that it would become unreadable. Even with 1280x800 the text is rather small and that is why I've provided the option to install a slightly bigger font. I would definitely suggest playing at 1280x800 with my UI, you see the reason I decided to make this UI was because the widescreen mod is not very optimized for PST and many UI parts are cut and game elements are shown in the wrong position. Anyway, you can easily try both and decide for yourself.

[ghostdog]

Yep, making an UI version for a completely different resolution would really be too much work, I'm mostly concentrating on providing versions for every apect ratio.

[Elrahc]

Thank you for the quick response. The fact that you have the same resolution as I and chose to develop for 1280x800 instead is good enough for me. I'll give it a go and install your mod.

Oh, and happy holidays, and thanks for the welcome!


~Elrahc

[kazemizuhi]

Yep, making an UI version for a completely different resolution would really be too much work, I'm mostly concentrating on providing versions for every apect ratio.

Hello.

I thought it would be best if I asked my question here rather than start a new thread. I am unable to use this mod as my monitor will only support 1440x900. Running any other 'widescreen' resolution will make the image look muddied (the colors will be off and everything is blurry). Basically it looks better at the default 800x600. I installed the Widescreen mod at 1440x900 and was happy with the visuals. My only issue is that when conversation is started, the game focuses the characters on the top left corner. Also the fact that the text is tiny and the dialogue box is at the bottom left.

I was wondering if there was a way to force install the 1280x768 UI mod despite the fact I'm running 1440x900. This would increase text size and allow the characters and dialogue to be focused towards the centre of the screen more. I understand completely re-writing the mod for 1440x support would be too much, but I was hoping there was a way to use one of the 1280x UI's on a 1440x screen.

In simple terms, force the 1280x UI elements to sit at the edges of a 1440x display, force the game to centre focus of characters during dialogue to the centre of the screen and force the dialogue box to appear bottom centred.

Either way, thanks for going out of your way to improve the experience of this game.

P.S. Going to try to install new drivers for my card and see if it will improve the image quality at other widescreen resolutions. However, I think it is more an issue with my monitor than a graphics card or driver issue. More's the pity.

[ghostdog]

Unfortunately the the only way the UI is going to work is to have the widescreen mod installed at the same resolution, there is no way to force it at another resolution.

Fortunately, I believe that in the new version of the widescreen mod (v2), Bigg has used the offsets that center the dialog, so I'm guessing you are using the old version.

[taplonaplo]

"I thought it would be best if I asked my question here rather than start a new thread. I am unable to use this mod as my monitor will only support 1440x900. Running any other 'widescreen' resolution will make the image look muddied (the colors will be off and everything is blurry). Basically it looks better at the default 800x600. I installed the Widescreen mod at 1440x900 and was happy with the visuals. My only issue is that when conversation is started, the game focuses the characters on the top left corner. Also the fact that the text is tiny and the dialogue box is at the bottom left."
Sounds like this:
from the readme
Some video card drivers don't have 1280x800 or 1280x768 as a standard option
especially when the monitor has a 16:9 aspect ratio. In most cases you have
to open your video card's control panel and enable an option that allows
custom resolutions.

[nickwest has provided detailed instructions about the NVIDIA panel:]

How I could tell my res was non-standard? when I got to
Start->Settings->Control Panel->Display in the "Settings" tab theres a
slider with screen resolution. When I change that slider around there
isn't a 1280x800 displayed as an option (this is your problem).


1. Click the advanced button on the settings tab you're in
2. In the advanced menu, find the otpion on one of the tabs of "Start
the NVIDIA Control Panel" and click it
3. In the Advanced Settings, go to "Manage Custom Resolutions" or
something like that depending on your driver version.
4. There should be a checkbox along the lines of "Allow modes not
exposed by the display" and check this box.
5. Also on this UI page you should be able to create "custom
resolutions", click "create" and change your "Horizontal desktop
pixels" to 1280 and your "Vertical desktop lines" to 800, then click
"Test". If everything looks OK after accept the changes.
6. Now go back to your display settings resolution slider, 1280x800
should now be an option and this mod should work!

It worth a try, if you have ATI the process is similar

Edited by taplonaplo, 07 January 2009 - 06:00 AM.

[kazemizuhi]

Thanks for the replies. I'll go check if I have the latest version of Bigg's mod.

@taplonapo

Thanks, but as I said

other 'widescreen' resolutions make the image look muddied (the colors will be off and everything is blurry)

I have tried going through the advanced menu and setting a custom resolution. I also fiddled with the refresh rate settings, pixel porch and all that other stuff. Some test succeeded, but when the monitor attempted to display those modes, I would get a blank screen (until it reset).

I've had the same issue with other games; Unreal Tournament 2K4, UT3, Crysis, Half Life 2, Counter Strike Source. 1280x720 is the only other widescreen resolution that works, but it is blurry. It also does not display all of the image, with 10-15% of the top, bottom and sides falling outside the screen (so I can't see my HUD). Oddly enough, 4:3 resolutions work fine. 1024x768, 800x600 etc.

Downloaded the latest Nvidia drivers. I'll see if that makes any difference. Thanks again for the reply.

[ghostdog]

Also, since you say that the 1024x768 resolution works fine in your monitor you can always try the 1024x768 UI by the Vanished one.

[kazemizuhi]

Update:

Having installed the latest Nvidia drivers, 1280x800 now displays properly. Except it is somewhat blurry, but I believe this is a by-product of displaying a non-native resolution on an LCD. Tested your UI mod @ 1280x800 and it now works (again, somewhat blurry). I will try the 1024x768 UI mod by Vanished One and see if that provides crisper visuals. Either way, I am happy to that the title is playable and looks better than the default resolution.

Thanks, once again for all your help.