Surface Pro (4)- Command Line Switches for Windows Mode

[Catch21]

Trying to get WitP AE to fit in a maximized Window in a Surface Pro 4 so I can easily Alt-TAB to other apps, including the Game Manual.

Using Game Manual p11 1.2.1 Command Line Switches, I'm trying: "D:\Games\WitP (AE)\War in the Pacific Admiral Edition.exe" -SingleCpuOrders –multiaudio –dd_sw -px1094 -py739 -deepcolort -noFire -altFont -wd -archive -skipVideo -fixedArt -cd

(also tried -pxf and -pxy, the 1094 and 739 are scaled values using 250% versus screen resolution) but it's not fitting exactly in the window (and note bottom is lost too, s/b 3 lines for Pearl Harbor):

Nothing trial and error seems to improve on this, though I've got it to work fine on any other desktop/laptop, just not Surface Pro 4 with its bizarre scaling. Found this thread: https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/view ... o#p4123464

but all the switches here are for Fixed Screen (i.e. not Windowed).

If anyone has tried and succeeded with a px/py combo that fits WitP in a maximized window (FOR SURFACE PRO 4), would love to know what they used! Thanks.

[RangerJoe]

Try using Seabee to install the game switches.

https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/view ... 4&t=320302

[BBfanboy]

Unless the new version of the game has a different set of folders or you changed the name of the folders, your game folder name with he parentheses is not correct. My install drive is different from yours but the issue is with the way the path reads. Everything must be exact for the switches to work. Here is mine:

"C:\Matrix Games\War in the Pacific Admiral's Edition\War in the Pacific Admiral Edition.exe" -altFont -archive -dd_sw -deepColor -px1680 -py1050 -w -fixedArt -skipVideo -multiaudio -SingleCpuOrders -cpu3

Edit to add: You also have a stray 't' at the end of -deepColor and lower case on the C that will render it useless.

[BBfanboy]

Did you no that the -NoFire switch (not sure if my format is right on that one) just turns off the fire animation during naval battles? I find the fire animation really useful for assessing likely damage inflicted on the enemy and possibility of their ship burning up. Your choice, but just sayin' ...

[Nomad]

There a a few things wrong here. The first and most important is that the minimum screen resolution is 1024 x 768, that is why the bottom is cut off.
If your switches are incorrect and can not be used, the program will revert to its basic resolution of 1024 x 768.

[Chris21wen]

And here's mine on a 1920x1080 display

"D:\Matrix Games\War in the Pacific AE\War in the Pacific Admiral Edition.exe" -pxf1900 -pyf1000 -cpu4 -dd_sw -altFont -multiaudio -deepColor -skipVideo -archive -w

[Chris21wen]

And here's mine on a 1920x1080 display

"D:\Matrix Games\War in the Pacific AE\War in the Pacific Admiral Edition.exe" -pxf1900 -pyf1000 -cpu4 -dd_sw -altFont -multiaudio -deepColor -skipVideo -archive -w

-nofire missed that one!

[Catch21]

Thanks to all for comments and apologies for typos! It was all good to go, typos crept in after hours spent fruitlessly modifying to try to get a screen fit. A few comments:

1) Path is correct, I've got the install on D drive and path correct- also running latest exe (1.8.11.27.2).
2) -nofire is on as I'm running 1st turn and turning everything I can find off to complete Dec 7 turn ASAP.
3) Incorrect parameters- lowercase c and extra t (thanks!) just get ignored, as other params are picked up if correct.
4) Seabee is handy but it looks for the beta in a beta directory and I've put mine in main directory, so I then have to manually edit anyway (plus add an icon), but it did produce (with the modifications to file and icon):

"D:\Games\WitP (AE)\War in the Pacific Admiral Edition.exe" -SingleCpuStart -wd -pxf1366 -pyf768 -deepColor -dd_sw -multiaudio -noFire -altFont -skipVideo -fixedArt -archive

which gives me the following, correct width now but still a few lines short at bottom- and as soon as I go below 768 and change the width-height ratio, the width then screws up and doesn't fit screen (and doesn't display missing rows either):


But getting closer...

[RangerJoe]

Thanks to all for comments and apologies for typos! It was all good to go, typos crept in after hours spent fruitlessly modifying to try to get a screen fit. A few comments:

1) Path is correct, I've got the install on D drive and path correct- also running latest exe (1.8.11.27.2).
2) -nofire is on as I'm running 1st turn and turning everything I can find off to complete Dec 7 turn ASAP.
3) Incorrect parameters- lowercase c and extra t (thanks!) just get ignored, as other params are picked up if correct.
4) Seabee is handy but it looks for the beta in a beta directory and I've put mine in main directory, so I then have to manually edit anyway (plus add an icon), but it did produce (with the modifications to file and icon):

"D:\Games\WitP (AE)\War in the Pacific Admiral Edition.exe" -SingleCpuStart -wd -pxf1366 -pyf768 -deepColor -dd_sw -multiaudio -noFire -altFont -skipVideo -fixedArt -archive

which gives me the following, correct width now but still a few lines short at bottom- and as soon as I go below 768 and change the width-height ratio, the width then screws up and doesn't fit screen (and doesn't display missing rows either):


But getting closer...

The problem with the missing lines at the bottom is the very top part of your picture showing the windows information.

mlBvXFfa.jpg (21.78 KiB) Viewed 890 times

Eliminate that and the bottom rows should show up.

Also, I usually tell people to start with Seabee and adjust from there but I neglected to do so.

Cheers.

[Catch21]

The problem with the missing lines at the bottom is the very top part of your picture showing the windows information.
mlBvXFfa.jpg

Eliminate that and the bottom rows should show up.

Cheers.

Thanks. Yes, if I move the window up a little I can see another of the missing lines for Pearl Harbor:


Trouble is I can't resize the window (other than min or max or normal) or even keep like this, and nothing in the -pxf -pyf parameters seems to work. It works fine on my other laptop, it's just the Surface Pro 4 with its insane scaling issues that causes this (and similar) problems.

Also thanks for the cheers but at this point I need something stronger, not sure who I'm gonna shoot:

[RangerJoe]

The problem with the missing lines at the bottom is the very top part of your picture showing the windows information.
mlBvXFfa.jpg

Eliminate that and the bottom rows should show up.

Cheers.

Thanks. Yes, if I move the window up a little I can see another of the missing lines for Pearl Harbor:


Trouble is I can't resize the window (other than min or max or normal) or even keep like this, and nothing in the -pxf -pyf parameters seems to work. It works fine on my other laptop, it's just the Surface Pro 4 with its insane scaling issues that causes this (and similar) problems.

Also thanks for the cheers but at this point I need something stronger, not sure who I'm gonna shoot:

But the beer is for breakfast since I replied in the morning. But now that they sun is over the yardarm . . .

[Catch21]

But the beer is for breakfast since I replied in the morning. But now that they sun is over the yardarm . . .

I hear you bro, but I powered through that already and way past sundown here now. WitP's GUI seems to have me beat, may have to switch games:

[RangerJoe]

See if hitting [WIN] and Tab, then selecting the game helps. Try changing your px and py numbers to the computer's default if that does not work.

Remember, you can still get to the ground units by opening the base and then going to the ground units or by selecting the ground units on the lower right of the base symbol. The Industry s best manipulated from the Industry Screen at the top but the Allies don't have to worry about that too much.

[Catch21]

See if hitting [WIN] and Tab, then selecting the game helps. Try changing your px and py numbers to the computer's default if that does not work.

Remember, you can still get to the ground units by opening the base and then going to the ground units or by selecting the ground units on the lower right of the base symbol. The Industry s best manipulated from the Industry Screen at the top but the Allies don't have to worry about that too much.

Thanks, tried both, multiple px/py combos, even tried messing with the dpi settings in the shortcut- no joy. Your suggestion on navigating around is probably best I'm gonna get, short of a tech wizard playing WitP (AE) on a Surface Pro 4 showing up with a working solution, and I don't think the demographics work in my favor here. So we have at least a runner though not a win.

For anyone else pursuing this, the best you can get I've found is below. My previous screenshot showed a full width screen, but it actually wasn't really since the WitP content within the window doesn't have the Home Port, Credits and Quit buttons. Note you can put your taskbar on the right of this in the gap rather than at bottom of screen, so helps slightly and some slight consolation (or hide taskbar). Thanks again to all for help/pointers here!

[btd64]

Turn off hexside details....GP

[BBfanboy]

Turn off hexside details....GP

What GP said, and any other overlays that do not to be on when the game turn is running - like rail and road overlays (Y and R), who owns the hex (W), some range circles, terrain type ID (1) etc.

Since your video chip seems unresponsive I suggest also right clicking on your desktop and looking at the properties for the video chip to see what native resolutions are supported.

[Catch21]

Thanks guys, tried these too. And going up and down the available resolutions. No joy, needs a certified Surface Pro 4 Master who plays WitP to sort this, and they'd be few and far between. It's caught up in the scaling issues to do with the Surface Pro line, works fine on my Dell laptop @ 1368x768 resolution.

[Catch21]

OK, Eureka! Finally sorted. Just typing my previous post I dimly recalled something as I typed 1368x768, and just after reading https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/view ... 25+scaling where it says "To have any effect x must be greater than 1024 and y must be greater than 768. If values less than or equal to px=1024 and py=768 are used the original values of 1024 and 768 will be substituted." Now this isn't in latest manual.

But I'd been using pxf1094 -pyf730 because that's my resolution on the Surface Pro 4 using 250% scaling, which is below the y value of 768 where it defaults to 1024 x 768 (the x-value would have been fine since 1094 is > than 1024). So with 1094x730 since it fails the y>=768 test it will always default to 1024x768 which is why it doesn't fit the screen properly and I 'lose' the bottom 3 lines.

Answer is to manually change scaling to 235% (you have to go to Advanced Scaling to do this as it's an odd number not one of the usual 100-125-150-175-200-225-250 options), at which point your screen resolution becomes 1162x775 which then meets both conditions to get used- x>=1024 and y>=768. See, simples?



Hope this helps others.

[Nomad]

So you didn't read my post above where I pointed this out.

[Catch21]

There a a few things wrong here. The first and most important is that the minimum screen resolution is 1024 x 768, that is why the bottom is cut off.
If your switches are incorrect and can not be used, the program will revert to its basic resolution of 1024 x 768.

I did read it and thanks, but was well over these on a lot of my testing starting at 2736x1824, working down through all other possibilities. None worked. And 1024x768 doesn't either- as your post says that gives you the bottom cut off too. I even tried raising 1 pixel at a time- 769-770-771...800- no joy there either. It's only when you use a scaling factor that can get you over 768 on the y axis with a proportionally matching x axis value that it works, and that's 1162x775 @ 235% scaling (on my particular Surface 4 Pro machine).

So I already knew 1024x768 was default/back stop if something wasn't correct (or parameters were below 1024x768), just this wasn't working properly either, though it was best I seemed to be able to get.

It's a combination of factors few are likely to see- scaling and the quirks of the Surface Pro 4 with vey unusual screen res proportions. Most of us can just use 'standard' resolutions like 1024x768 (my other laptop) or 1920x1080 (my desktop).