Custom Resolution

[Maganda]

Hey again fellas!

 

Went to play TFTD on my new TV yesterday but it won't accept the resolution. My old TV scaled it and worked fine. On my new one the picture vibrates violently up and down and there is a multi-coloured line of fuzz at the very top.

 

So basically I need to customise the resolution, ideally to my screen's native 1920x1080. Anyone know how, if indeed it is possible?

[Jman4117]

Play it in a window in DOS Box.

[Maganda]

Thanks for the suggestion but I find it too tricky to get it running properly in DOS Box. I have the special edition version of this game and fixes to make it run properly in XP. Is there a way to achieve what I want with this one?

[Maganda]

OK, I've found out that my TV can't handle low resolutions so this is definitely the issue. I had the same problem with ScummVM running old Lucasarts games. But I can get around it with this programme by enabling scaling which doubles the resolution. Any such ability to do this with TFTD?

[Bomb Bloke]

What sort of monitor are you using, that it doesn't support low res? That's gotta be one of the silliest things I've heard, right up there with computers lacking floppy drives... You make it sound like a CRT screen with your "TV" referrances, but I've never heard of a CRT screen that can't go down to 320x200.

 

Anyway, I know of a patch for UFO, but not TFTD. But try right clicking your executable/shortcut and selecting "Properties" off the context menu - Assuming you're running XP there'll be a "Compatibility" tab with an option to force 640x480 mode.

 

If you've got an LCD (you say it has a "native" resolution, so I suppose you do) try messing with the refresh rate. A lot of them have issues if you try changing them away from their expected 60hz (Start => Settings => Control Panel => Display => Settings => Advanced => Monitor).

[Maganda]

It's a Samsung LE40M86BD. It's not that it cannot handle low resolutions full stop. Just not in PC mode over HDMI (the only way I will have the PC connected because other options are crap).

 

640x480 is too low unfortunately, the minimum it will accept is 800x600.

 

I've tried changing the referesh rates but they don't help in this matter.

[Maganda]

Anyone know a website where someone is likely to know?

[Zombie]

We've been discussing this at the Xcomufo forums as well. This is what Darkhomb suggested:

 

Check your monitor display properties, they can stretch, change aspect ratio etc. You don't really want it stretched, it will look weird, put it at aspect if it has that (keeps ration 4:3) so you should have black bars on the left and right screen. then if it is not centered use your monitor adjust to center it as well.

If you did all of this already and it doesn't do squat, perhaps use a different connection other than HDMI just to see if that particular format is the problem.

 

- Zombie

[Ki-tat Chung]

At the resolutions that you'll be running, it's pointless to run over HDMI, unless there is another reason why you need to (like using the TV screen as another PC screen for normal usage). Composite should be more than enough to run VGA. You could also try SVideo or component.

[Bomb Bloke]

I don't get the "left and right (side of the?) screen" bit. Correct aspect ratio of a 320x200 image on a, say, 640x480 display, should have black bars on the top and the bottom.

[Ki-tat Chung]

Perhaps he was using a 16:9 screen?

[zaimoni]

What sort of monitor are you using, that it doesn't support low res? That's gotta be one of the silliest things I've heard, right up there with computers lacking floppy drives... You make it sound like a CRT screen with your "TV" referrances, but I've never heard of a CRT screen that can't go down to 320x200.

My first thought was "plasma TV", but those I've priced don't take HDMI connections and have a fairly low maximum resolution. (1024x768 or comparable). Also, anyone that can properly afford a plasma TV can just hire someone to tell them whether it'll interoperate with 320x200 incoming resolution. Fortunately, it's an LCD TV. Unfortunately, the model quoted cannot be quickly located on the Samsung corporate website.

 

While it would be less than erudite to custom-order a computer without a floppy drive, it's possible when web-ordering from either Dell or Gateway in the U.S. (I require floppies and FAT32 filesystems because my in-house computer emergency procedures require booting into (Free)DOS from floppy.)

 

As it is, the querent's native resolution is a 16x9 ratio screen (like my relatively new Acer monitor). It's almost certainly botching autodetecting the incoming resolution on HDMI. That said, my Acer doesn't admit to supporting 320x200 but handles it reasonably anyway.

 

And yes: the black bars should be on the left and right. My Acer autoscales it to fill the width exactly, which chops off some choice of the the and bottom (I work around this by vertical adjust).