Resolution problems

[Tetsuo_Shima]

Ok, here's a question for you tech junkies. When I play certain games, I can't set the resolution any higher than 1280x960 and its starting to get on my nerves. I had the same problem on my old PC, the maximum monitor-sized resolution I could use was 1024x768, either that or have it in widescreen which was rubbish. First I thought, new graphics card will sort it! New card, no change. Second, new PC will sort it! No change. Finally, new 19" monitor will sort it! No change.

Now, some games I accept they probably weren't thinking about resolutions that large when they made the game (like IL2 Sturmovik) but BF2142 I can't see why they'd only limit it to 1280x960, which leads me to believe there must be a setting or two somewhere that needs sorted. i doubt its the graphics card (X800XL) because its a apparently a good card for high definition gameplay. It aint the monitor, because its brand new. it must be a Catalyst setting, or something I can change in the games cfg files. Help would be appreciated.

 

[Haven]

Firstly check your monitor drivers - outside of the game itself that is pretty much the only reason you would be limited to a specific resolution. The other vague posibilty would be your video drivers but I'm assuming you are competent enough to install the right driver for your card here.

If your monitor is not recognised or is recognised incorrectly then you could be restricted to resolutions that are not optimal for your setup. That would be where I would look first.

 

[midgert]

i had a similar problem once but mine was fixed when i got a new moniter must be a slightly different problem then

 

[waterproofbob]

i can fix the prob on 2142, u have to add a command line bit to the end of ur execute in the game icons properties. for some reason 1280x1024 is not one of the choices for screen res for 2142. tis odd. but if u go here. u can set ur own custom res. by following the instructions.
that site also has guides to autologin and disabling intro vids. I hope this helps at least for 2142

 

[Tetsuo_Shima]

Ah, thanks bobsicle. Good man.

@ haven - I installed the latest ATi drivers just after I got 2142, it sorted some graphical glitches I was getting, so it can't be anything to do with that. I installed the monitor drivers last night and it comes up in the properties->Display tab 'Samsung 940B on GIGABYTE Radeon X800XL'. Also, in that same tab, it lets me set my desktop resolution to 2140x1700 or something ludicrous like that which makes it all the weirder that games can't be set any higher. Halflife 2 can get 1280x1024, so can BF2 I think (maybe) and AoE3 - its just Generals and 2142 that are bugging me. Bob's help will fix the 2142, but Generals ... I set it to 1280x960 last night and it looks decent, if a little stretched, but I'm certain we managed to get it 1280x1024 on KC's PC so theres something far wrong there. Ill have a look at my Catalyst center, maybe I've got it forced resolution or some rubbish like that.

Actually, theres an idea. Can I use Catalyst center to force the application to run at 1280x1024? It'd be clunky, but might work.

 

[thatbloke]

Some games just don't support particular resolutions (for whatever reason).

There are normally hacks that allow you to play in higher resolutions though, they normally involve manually editing a line or two in a config file for the game somewhere or perhaps a command line option as mentioned by someone previously

 

[Tetsuo_Shima]

Some games just don't support particular resolutions (for whatever reason).

There are normally hacks that allow you to play in higher resolutions though, they normally involve manually editing a line or two in a config file for the game somewhere or perhaps a command line option as mentioned by someone previously

I mucked about with the settings last week, editing command lines and Generals config files, and managed to get decent resolutions out of it. Really handy for my HDTV, I could force resolutions of 1360x768 and it looks great. It's a shame that some games don't officially support 1280x1024, though, especially recent releases - so remind me, why did I buy that 7950GX2 again?

 

[Pestcontrol]

Most modern games should support all resolutions windows supports. Windows in turn, through the graphics drivers, reads the resolutions from the monitor.

That's in theory, in practise it doesn't always work, back when nvidia's drivers weren't optimal i had to do things like breaking a pin from the VGA connector to sabotage this. I'm not sure how it is today, i'm still using a cable with one less pin. For ATI you could try the omega drivers, they also come bundled with ati tray tools and that gives you a lot more control over resolutions, refresh rates and all those things.

1280x1024 an exception, it is not a 4:3 resolution, in fact it doesn't conform to any standard aspect ratio, since in the PC world square pixels are always assumed you will get a somewhat warped image. 1280x960 is a real resolution, exactly double of the old VGA 640x480. The difference is very small anyway.