Resolution Ignored?

[Stealth]

Hello,

I've been playing around with the resolution settings in the CMBO prefs and the in game graphics all pretty much look the same to me.

I set it for 1600 * 1200 and I didn't notice a big difference except for the size of the on screen words.

I just got a 3D Prophet II MX (32MB) and I'm testing it out. Is the resolution actually changing for CM? I'm running on a P3 450 w/128M.

How would I know if CM was ignoring my settings and defaulting to lo res?

[Doug Beman]

Stealth, CM sets its resolution on first startup and, from then on, uses that resolution, regardless of your desktop resolution (as long as your system can achieve that resolution)

To tell CM to change its resolution, close CM, go into the CMBO directory, find the file called "profile" (or prefs, or cmbo.cfg, I disremember) and delete it. Crank up your desktop res (or whatever), restart CM, and the system will give you the choice again of resolution, highest-to-lowest, for each display adapter you have.

DjB

ps or a search on "resolution settings" would answer the question just fine

[This message has been edited by Doug Beman (edited 12-13-2000).]

[Doug Beman]

Also, I find that, above 1280x1024, unless you have a big monitor (I have a 19") things are so tiny I have to squint to see them. I run at 1024x768 and it looks good. Anything lower introduces more graphical shimmers/jagged pixels, and my video card doesn't have FSAA.

DjB

[Stealth]

Actually, I am able to change the resolution settings by deleting the prefs folder (thanks for taking the time to answer one of the most FAQ ).

The problem is that I don't notice a change in my graphic setting. They look the same when CM is set to 640*480, 800*600, 1024*768, and 1600*1200.

The only thing I notice changing is the writing on the screen like "scenario loading" and things like that.

Any ideas?

[Stealth]

OK. Maybe I'm losing it (read lost it). I updated the drivers for the card I actually have and now the vehicles look OK, but the men seem pretty small. I tried changing back from 1020 to 800, but they still seem kind of small. Maybe it's a mod or my eyes or both?

[Freyland]

Hi Stealth, and welcome aboard!

Forgive me if I am misunderstanding your question, but you said the men seemed very tiny, while the tanks were reasonable. Pressing Shift-C will change the sizes of your units from "realistic" (in which the men are just dots at most views) up a gradient to 4+ (you could see your guys from space). I hope this helps!

Have fun,

Jonathan

[Stealth]

Hey Jonathan,

I think I'm having a hard time asking the question .

The reason I think the men are small is that they still look pretty small in view level 3 even when I enlarge them to +4.

View level 2 is a little too close in for a good overview.

Maybe it's something I need to get used to with the new video card?

[Doug Beman]

How big is your monitor? Are you sure your system is capable of whatever resolution you're asking of it? Are you getting the correct "select graphics adapter/resolution" prompt when you go through the process of changing res?

DjB

[Maximus]

OK, the scaling hotkey (Shift-C) works with distance.

The further away from a unit you are the larger the unit will APPEAR. When you get close to those "enlarged" units, they don't look all that big.

I play at +1 enlargement, because I find "Realistic" is really just too small. I also play at 1024x768 on a 17" monitor. It looks fine.

Stealth, I'm not sure what you're trying to say here, but I can guarantee you that there is a huge difference in playing CM at 640x480 up to 1024x768 or higher as I can imagine. IIRC, I tried bumping the res down to 800x600 for a performance increase and even though it did, I couldn't stand playing at that res.

[Stealth]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Doug Beman:

How big is your monitor? Are you sure your system is capable of whatever resolution you're asking of it? Are you getting the correct "select graphics adapter/resolution" prompt when you go through the process of changing res?

DjB<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I have a 17" monitor, but I'm not positive my system can handle the higher res even though it accepts it in CM. On the face of it I think my system can handle it (P3 450, 128M, 3D Prophet II MX 32M card).

In CMBO, once I delete the pref file, I'm only prompted to Accept/Skip the res. Is there another prompt for adapter or are you referring to Windows?

[Stealth]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Maximus:

OK, the scaling hotkey (Shift-C) works with distance.

The further away from a unit you are the larger the unit will APPEAR. When you get close to those "enlarged" units, they don't look all that big.

I play at +1 enlargement, because I find "Realistic" is really just too small. I also play at 1024x768 on a 17" monitor. It looks fine.

Stealth, I'm not sure what you're trying to say here, but I can guarantee you that there is a huge difference in playing CM at 640x480 up to 1024x768 or higher as I can imagine. IIRC, I tried bumping the res down to 800x600 for a performance increase and even though it did, I couldn't stand playing at that res. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Maybe I don't know what to look for when I change the resolution? What should it look like? Maybe what I'm seeing is CM's slightly dated graphics and they actually are changing? I thought the graphics would look bigger in 640*480 and get smaller and smoother as the res increased.

I would think my system could handle the higher resolutions. I added many high res mods and I'm not getting any system hit (except a very slight one when there is smoke on the screen).

[Jeff Heidman]

One thing to remember is that even if your graphics card can handle 1600x1200, your mnitor cannot actually fit 1600x1200 pixels on the screen anyway.

If you have a 17" monitor, you probably have (roughly) 16" (diagonal) of viewable area. That means that you probably have a width of about 12". Lets say you have a .24mm dot pitch (pretty good). That means that you could fit ~1271 dots (pixels) across the width of your screen, and 1060 vertical dots.

So, there is not much to be gained from trying 1600x1200 resolution. And yes, higher resoluion makes everything smaller, but then you can fit more on the screen. The larger the monitor, the larger the "true" size of the images, and the easier they are to see.

1280x1024 looks great on my 19" monitor. It would probably be too small for me on a 17" monitor. YMMV.

Jeff Heidman

[Maximus]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Stealth:

Maybe I don't know what to look for when I change the resolution? What should it look like? Maybe what I'm seeing is CM's slightly dated graphics and they actually are changing? I thought the graphics would look bigger in 640*480 and get smaller and smoother as the res increased.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Graphics changing? Not really if I know what you're thinking. They do however get smaller and smoother as resolutions increase.

The change in resolution affects the quality of the image. Not the image itself. The higher the res, the lower the jaggies.

I don't know, we've all answered every possible answer to this question and you're still having difficulties in seeing the difference.

Take note though, the highest resolution that CM will choose is whatever your desktop is set to.

[Doug Beman]

Stealth, if you delete the prefs file and then restart CM, it'll show you your primary adapter and the best res it thinks it can handle. If you keep SKIPping, you'll move to the secondary hardware graphics adapter (if you have one) and eventually you'll have the choice to show CM in software mode.

But once you make a choice, the only way to get the choice window again is to delete the prefs file.

IIRC The "high res mods" have nothing to do with the max resolution your system is showing CM at. These "high res mods" are replacements for individual game graphics with smoother, more detailed, higher-res stuff. You can use the high res mods as long as your system is capable of showing CM at that high res, regardless of whether you have CM's master res set to that resolution.

DjB

[jshandorf]

Stealth,

If you have a hard time seeing your units turn on the "Unit Bases". It will put a grey box around the base of the unit and make it much easier to pick out. It also makes it easier to notice enemy units when spotted.

Jeff

[Stealth]

Thanks everyone for the help. For some reason this was a difficult concept for my small brain to grasp .

I basically went in and looked for the jaggies and they were much more pronounced at 640*480 than at 1024 * 760.

From this, and the fact that I can see the hi-res King Tiger just fine from the MMMP, I conclude that yes, my system is showing me increased resolutions and can handle the hi-res.

Thanks again.

(And thanks Doug for clarifying what exactly the hi-res graphics are and do! I've read three different explanations online, but I think I get it now .)

[Maximus]

Hi-Res King Tiger? I think you mean Hi-Res Tiger.

But anyway, Hi-Res Textures as you may have heard about are simply the original textures doubled or even tripled up in pixel size and then modified to bring out the details better by doing a lot of artwork to them.

Say for instance a texture file is 64x128 in pixel size. To make a Hi-Res version, one increases it to 128x256. This makes a pixel from the original a 4x4 pixel. Thus allowing the underlying detail to be clarified with additional painting. This method is a little more involved, so I'm not going to go into that right now.

Again, this has nothing to do with the game resolution. These will display the same no matter what resolution you are running at. Except of course, at different resolutions they will display at various levels of quality.