Widescreen res doesn't work?

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cogadh
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Widescreen res doesn't work?

Post by cogadh »

I just installed the mod and chose 16:10, 1680X1050 as my resolution during the install, but when I launch the game with or without the mod manager, it is still running at 1024X768 res it was using before the mod install. This was a fresh install of the game, no mods, patched with the unofficial patch and the game was launched once prior to installing KA, but no single or multi player games were started. I have tried disabling and re-enabling the mod but have not tried a re-install (not sure if I should). Hardware specs:

Win XP SP3
Intel P4 3.0GHz HT
3GB RAM
on-board sound (SoundMAX/Intel ICH5)
nVidia GeForce 7600GS 256MB (fixed aspect scaling is enabled)
Acer X223W monitor connected via DVI (native res 1680X1050)
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Re: Widescreen res doesn't work?

Post by TronFAQ »

I think it may have to do with the GPU scaling setting you're using. Try changing it from the second fixed-aspect option to the first option, in your nVidia control panel. Or try "do not scale".
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Re: Widescreen res doesn't work?

Post by cogadh »

Looks like that was partially the problem. In order to get fixed aspect ratio scaling working in the first place, I had to create a series of custom resolutions (one for each standard 4:3 resolution I might encounter). Even with completely disabling any kind of scaling, those custom resolutions still took precedence. I assume that the widescreen support was implemented by "stretching" a standard 4:3 res so that when a widescreen monitor does its own stretching, it still looks normal? If so, that is probably why the custom resolutions I created were interfering. As far as the vid card drivers were concerned, it was still 1024X768. It kind of sucks, since now I can't run my non-widescreen supporting 4:3 games and this mod at the same time.

EDIT -Now I am not 100% sure it is actually working. I'll mess around with it some more, but I think what I am seeing is the normal stretching that my monitor would usually do to a 4:3 game, not an actual widescreen resolution.
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Re: Widescreen res doesn't work?

Post by TronFAQ »

cogadh wrote:I assume that the widescreen support was implemented by "stretching" a standard 4:3 res so that when a widescreen monitor does its own stretching, it still looks normal?
Nope. You are getting a true widescreen image courtesy of the mod when you set it above 1024x768. It's not being stretched in any way.

But for some reason, some people have found it necessary to fiddle with the GPU scaling options.

Myself, I don't have this issue. Doesn't matter what I set the GPU scaling to, it works fine. In fact, I don't even really understand why anyone would need to fiddle with it. It shouldn't matter. But apparently it does.
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Re: Widescreen res doesn't work?

Post by cogadh »

Well, I can now confirm for certain that it is working as it is supposed to and I am getting a true widescreen experience (would have posted sooner, but I was busy playing). Still, it's odd the hoops I have to jump through to make it happen. I'm going to have to fool around with the Nvidia control panel settings to see if I can still get my 4:3 games to run in a fixed aspect ratio now.
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Re: Widescreen res doesn't work?

Post by broklynite »

Similar problem here. I installed KA, and can't seem to get 1280x720 even as an option either thru the mod manager or the game. I could understand if it showed up as an option but didn't work- but this is pretty strange.

My rig:

ATI radeon 4830
Intel r5200 2.5 Ghz (overclocked to 3.38)
4 gigs ram
Windows 7 64.

Any help would be appreciated. Oddly, 1280x960 does show up as an option.
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Re: Widescreen res doesn't work?

Post by TronFAQ »

Don't use the game's Display section in the Options menu to set the resolution. It doesn't allow selecting widescreen resolutions, and will reset the display to 640x480 the first time you try to change the resolution there.

If for some reason the resolution you selected during the install of the mod has been lost, simply disable and then re-enable the mod using the Mod Manager. This will reset the resolution to what you chose during the install.
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Re: Widescreen res doesn't work?

Post by broklynite »

Well, I'll be damned. I didn't realize it had been set up that easily. I thought you had to choose the resolution from the list. I didn't realize that it was set to automatically go to that resolution. Okay, it seems that that worked. Thanks so much!
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Re: Widescreen res doesn't work?

Post by cogadh »

I apologize for resurrecting such an old thread and sorry for the wall of text, but I recently had occasion to re-visit this and did some testing to see why I had such a problem with widescreen. I did discover something interesting.

As I mentioned originally, I had to create some custom resolutions in order to get fixed-aspect ratio scaling to work on my machine. This was due to the fact that my monitor does its own wide-screen scaling and that "feature" cannot be turned off in the monitor controls. In order to get around that I created a resolution that maintained an active pixel range of 1680X1050 even when Windows would report a smaller resolution. I had to repeat this setup for each 4:3 resolution I planned on using. These custom resolutions override the normal 4:3 resolutions allowed on the monitor already, but only when a full screen application tries to use one of those 4:3 resolutions.

After trying every scaling setting in the Nvidia control panel and failing, I started looking at the custom resolutions. Since the game was supposed to be running in 1680X1050 and not actually stretching a warped 4:3 resolution in order to achieve widescreen, I didn't really see how they could be a problem, but they obviously were. I began deleting my custom resolutions one at a time and testing the game. To my surprise, when I deleted the 1024X768 custom res, widescreen in Tron suddenly started to work. This clue led me to the display.cfg file in the Tron directory. I checked it and lo and behold, it still said 1024X768 for a resolution. Apparently, the game still reports this as its resolution to Windows even with the mod increasing the res, so my 1024X768 custom resolution was automatically activated when the game launched.

That's easy, I'll just manually alter the display.cfg to 1680X1050 and the problem goes away, right? Nope. After launching via the mod manager, the display.cfg got reset to 1024X768. So I figured, why not change the resolution to something the game actually supports and I don't have a custom resolution for? 1152X864 fits the bill perfectly, I can't think of any reason someone would want to use that res anyway and the game does support it. I changed the res using the original game launcher, then ran the mod manager to launch the game. It worked! ... I think.

The game does appear to be running in the correct 16:10 aspect ratio and at 1680X1050 and the display.cfg did not get reset to 1024X768 and I still have my custom res set up and fixed aspect ratio scaling is enabled in the Nvidia control panel... but now I wonder if that old 1024X768 setting is something the mod may have depended on. Plus I've been staring at this thing so much, I'm not sure when it is stretched and when it is really in 16:10 anymore.

So I am left with two question: does the mod actually depend on the resolution setting found in the display.cfg at all and is there an easy way for me to confirm whether or not I am really getting the aspect ratio I think I am?
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Re: Widescreen res doesn't work?

Post by TronFAQ »

Hey cogadh, thanks for sharing your experiences with everyone. In addition to reading your post here, I also read your topic at GOG.com. (I wish GOG would get the rights from Disney to release Tron 2.0 there.)

If you or anyone has a monitor with a 1:1 pixel mapping feature but no way to disable it, that can be unfortunate under certain circumstances. Most monitors have a way to turn it off in the on-screen controls. But then again, most monitors don't even have 1:1 pixel mapping to cut costs. They leave it up to the GPU to do any aspect correct scaling.


Now, I think I'll take a moment here to briefly explain how the KA Mod achieves widescreen, to help folks understand how it works, and as another source of information to help troubleshoot difficulties.

The game has always supported resolutions other than the in-game 4:3 aspect ratio maximum of 1600x1200. As you know, editing the display.cfg file accomplishes this. The KA Mod doesn't do anything differently here. It simply edits the file to set the game to run at higher non 4:3 resolutions.

The in-game menu that sets the resolution (Options > Display) doesn't allow you to select any that aren't 4:3. So when you go into this menu running your 16:9 or 16:10 aspect ratio resolution, the game balks and resets the resolution back down to 640x480. This gets written out to the display.cfg file. Running the Mod Manager re-writes display.cfg and sets the resolution back to whatever you chose when you installed the mod. If your display.cfg was set to 1024x768 for some reason, it's likely because of entering the Display menu. (In the next version of the mod, I'm going to see about removing the restriction of 4:3 resolutions only.)

But editing the display.cfg file isn't enough, of course. The picture gets stretched because the game is set to run at a 4:3 aspect ratio, no matter what the resolution. The KA Mod makes certain hacks to the game, to eliminate the stretching. It goes beyond simply editing that one file. But again, the resolution at any aspect ratio is set by editing display.cfg.

As long as the mod installed correctly, then simply ensuring the GPU scaling setting of your video card is set to maintain a fixed aspect ratio when scaling, should be enough to make the game display correctly. A monitor with 1:1 pixel mapping would make this a bit more complicated, because then you would have to choose to use the scaling in one or the other (GPU or monitor), but not both at the same time.
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Re: Widescreen res doesn't work?

Post by TronFAQ »

A number of people have been telling me that the Mod Manager sometimes doesn't work: that when they run it to reset the resolution, it doesn't help like it's supposed to. I've been thinking this over, and wondering if it's because the Manager hasn't been set to run with Administrator privileges.

During testing, I didn't find it necessary to do that. Even with UAC turned on, it worked fine. But, the game was installed to a custom directory. Not the default "Program Files" folder. If programs are installed to "Program Files", UAC protects the content in there from being changed without admin privileges. So it might be necessary to edit the Mod Manager shortcut properties to set it to run with that way, with admin privileges.
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Re: Widescreen res doesn't work?

Post by cogadh »

Didn't realize you were a GOGer. Do you go by tronfaq there? Getting a game like Tron 2.0 on GOG would be awesome, but I have a feeling getting Disney/BVG games there is going to be at least as hard as, if not harder than getting LucasArts to join, which to date has been impossible.

As for the 1024X768 thing, the reason that was set is because I applied the mod to an already configured and played game. Prior to the mod, 1024X768 was the best looking res I could get on my monitor, lower res was obviously crappy and higher just looked fuzzy. 1024X768 was the happy medium.
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Re: Widescreen res doesn't work?

Post by TronFAQ »

I don't have an account at GOG yet, but I keep an eye on the site and I applaud what CDProjekt is doing with the service. Particularly their no-DRM stance.

I, too, have a feeling it will be a long time - if ever - before Tron 2.0 shows up on GOG or a similar service. Particularly since right now Disney doesn't want to release any old-school Tron merchandise for fear of "spoiling" Tron Legacy's chances at the box office. Which is both stupid and sad.

As for the game having been at 1024x768 before you installed the mod: installing it was supposed to have changed that. The game should have been set to run at the new resolution automatically, without you having to do anything. I don't know why that wasn't the case for you. It changes the resolution in display.cfg based on your choice during install. And it stores your choice of resolution in the registry, so that when you run the Mod Manager it always checks to see if display.cfg matches that.
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Re: Widescreen res doesn't work?

Post by cogadh »

Okay, I once again had occasion to re-visit this and the widescreen problem came back. Here's what I did:
  • Uninstalled everything, including deleting any leftover files or stray registry settings
  • Re-installed the game and patched it
  • Ran the game once but didn't start playing and didn't change any setting beyond choosing the "High Detail" at launch
  • Installed the mod, chose 1680X1050 resolution
  • Ran the game from the mod manager and it launched in 1024X768
  • Disabled the mod, then re-enabled it without launching the game
  • Checked the display.cfg, it lists 1680X1050 as the res; checked the registry, it also lists 1680X1050
  • Ran the game from the mod manager, launched in 1024X768, checked the display.cfg, it had reverted to 1024X768
  • This is a Win XP machine, so UAC is not an issue and I am using an admin account. Even so I did look at the "Run as..." option for the mod manager, changes to it did not make any difference
  • Tried manually changing the display.cfg to 1680X1050 then setting the file to "read only", game won't even launch
  • Disabled and then re-enabled the mod through the mod manager, verified the resolution in the display.cfg but did not launch the game via the mod manager, instead launched it via the default shortcut for the game... SUCCESS!!!
For some reason, the resolution reverts to 1024X768 only when I try launching the game via the mod manager. If I use the normal game shortcut, it stays in beautiful widescreen res (though there does appear to be some image warping at the periphery, probably just a FOV thing). Apparently in my previous successful attempt at this, I had done this by accident and didn't notice it. From now on I'll just leave that "Play" option unchecked in the mod manager.
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Re: Widescreen res doesn't work?

Post by TronFAQ »

Hmm, the only explanation I have for what happened to you cogadh, is that the Mod Manager had trouble reading the registry at times. You mentioned how sometimes it set the resolution correctly in display.cfg, and sometimes it didn't. If the program can't read the resolution setting in the registry, it defaults to 1024x768 as a fallback.

Perhaps there was some utility or other task accessing or even protecting the registry, which prevented the Mod Manager from accessing it at times. I can't come up with any other reason for that behavior.

Nevertheless, I'll be re-writing the Mod Manager code for the next version of the mod anyway. So I'll be fixing some bugs along the way.
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