Matrix Games Forums

Hello Gentlemen,

I have a small problem with running TOAWIII on my laptop. It seems that my monitor runs at an odd default resolution. Whenever I try to run TOAWIII, I have an area on the right hand side of the screen that remains blank. I have noticed that when you run the game in windowed mode, that the only thing that changes is the amount of actual map that is visible. This led me to believe that there may be a way to get the game to work with 1280 x 800 resolution.



I have tried to change my laptop resolution but it looks fuzzy and distorted if I run it at anything other than 1280 x 800 or 1280 x 768. If anyone has any idea of how to help me this to run in full screen, I would be very appreciative.


Embark

Let me guess...you're running this on a Sony laptop? It seems that the Sony drivers are not allowing the full scaling out to the desktop resolution that they should be.

No I am running TOAW on a Toshiba Laptop. Not sure of the exact model at this point, I am at work and unable to check it.



Embark

I run 1280x800 on an HP pavilion and have same trouble. I dont think its drivers (I have ATI card btw) but something to do with the odd resolution.

Okay...(scratches head)...what is the card that is in each of the computers that you guys are using? The previous reports of this particular screen res, were on Sony laptops. Maybe the Toshiba, HP, and Sony's are using the same graphics GPU. The funny thing is, Ralph and I are both using widescreen laptops, as well, with the same aspect ration as you guys (16:10), but we are not having any problems with Windows automatically scaling out to the full screen. However, it's pretty clear that the people running 1280x800 configs are not able to break away from a 4:3 aspect ratio. That's why we think it's a driver issue.

Mines an ATI X300 (or X something, cant remember the exact #) with 128MB.

Oh and btw, I dont want you to get the impression that I'm ticked or anything. It plays just fine as is, I'm having a great time with it. You guys did a great job, thank you.

Here are the specs on my system. Except I installed another 512 Megs of Kingston RAM. Sorry for the length of the information. I just wanted to make sure I include everything that could help out. I also wanted to point out that I am not too upset about this minor problem I am having. The game still plays great, it's just a minor quibble and I understand that when designing software that you cannot possibly account for every system configuration.


Embark

Processor

• Processor manufacturer
• Intel

[/align]

• Processor type
• Pentium M

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• Processor number
• 730

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• Clock speed
• 1.6 GHz

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• Processor features
• Enhanced SpeedStep technology, Execute Disable Bit capability, Power-optimized processor system bus

[/align]Mainboard

• Chipset type
• Mobile Intel 915GM Express

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• Data bus speed
• 533 MHz

[/align]RAM

• RAM installed size
• 512 MB

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• Max supported RAM
• 2 GB

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• RAM Technology
• DDR SDRAM-333 MHz

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• Memory specification compliance
• PC2700

[/align]Display (Projector)

• Display (projector) diagonal size
• 15.4 in

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• Display (projector) technology
• TFT active matrix

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• Max resolution
• 1280 x 800

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• Features
• TruBrite

[/align]Video Output

• Graphics processor
• Intel GMA 900

[/align]

• Max resolution (external)
• 1280 x 800

[/align]Video Memory

• Video RAM installed
• 64 MB

[/align]

• Max video RAM supported
• 128 MB

[/align]

• Video memory technology
• Dynamic Video Memory Technology 3.0

[/align]Storage Hard Drive

• Hard drive
• 80 GB IDE

[/align]Optical Storage

• CD / DVD type
• DVD±RW / DVD-RAM

[/align]

• CD / DVD read speed
• 24x (CD) / 8x (DVD)

[/align]

• CD / DVD write speed
• 24x (CD) / 8x (DVD±R)

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• CD / DVD rewrite speed
• 4x (CD) / 4x (DVD±RW) / 3x (DVD-RAM)

[/align]

• Optical storage enclosure type
• Integrated

[/align]Optical Storage (2nd)

• 2nd optical storage type
• None

[/align]Card Reader

• Card reader type
• 5 in 1 card reader

[/align]Interface Provided

• Interface type
• IEEE 1394 (FireWire), Display / video, Hi-Speed USB, Modem, Network, Microphone, Headphones

[/align]

• Interface provided
• VGA, S-video output, Phone line, Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX, Input, Output

[/align]

• Interface qty
• 1, 3

[/align]

• Connector type
• 15 pin HD D-Sub (HD-15), 4 pin USB Type A, RJ-11, RJ-45, Mini-phone 3.5 mm, Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm

[/align]Modem

• Modem type
• Fax / modem

[/align]

• Max transfer rate
• 56 Kbps

[/align]

• Modem protocols & specifications
• ITU V.92

[/align]Storage Floppy Drive

• Floppy drive type
• None

[/align]Audio Input

• Audio input type
• Microphone

[/align]Audio Output

• Audio output type
• Sound card

[/align]

• Audio output compliant standards
• AC '97, DirectMusic, DirectSound, DirectSound3D

[/align]

• Audio codec
• AD1981B

[/align]Input Device

• Input device type
• Keyboard, Touchpad

[/align]OS Provided

• OS provided
• Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition

[/align]Battery

• Battery capacity
• 4300 mAh

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• Battery technology
• Lithium ion

[/align]

• Installed battery qty
• 1

[/align]

• Mfr estimated battery life
• 2.8 hour(s)

[/align]General

• Built-in devices
• Stereo speakers, Wireless LAN antenna

[/align]

• Mobile technology
• Intel Centrino

[/align]

• System type
• Notebook

[/align]Cache Memory

• Cache Memory Type
• L2 cache

[/align]

• Cache size
• 2 MB

[/align]Networking

• Data link protocol
• Ethernet, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, Fast Ethernet

[/align]

• Networking standards
• IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g

[/align]

• Networking type
• Network adapter

[/align]Dimensions & Weight

• Depth
• 10.6 in

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• Height
• 1.7 in

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• Weight
• 6.2 lbs

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• Width
• 14.2 in

[/align]Miscellaneous

• Features
• Power-on password, Administrator password, Locking device keyhole (cable lock)

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• Miscellaneous compliant standards
• APM 1.2, ACPI 1.0b, VESA DPMS, Plug and Play

[/align]Environmental Parameters

• Max operating altitude
• 3,000

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• Max operating temperature
• 95 °F

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• Min operating temperature
• 41 °F

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• Operating humidity range
• 20 - 80%

[/align]Power Device

• Power device form factor
• External

[/align]

• Power device frequency required
• 50/60 Hz

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• Power device nominal voltage
• AC 120/230 V

[/align]

• Power provided
• 75 Watt

[/align]Storage Removable

• Removable storage type
• None

[/align]Service & Support Details

• Service & support component (laptop)
• Battery

[/align]Slot Provided

• Slot provided
• 2 (1 free) Memory Type II, 1 (1 free) CardBus, 1 (1 free) SD Memory Card, 1 (1 free) Memory Stick, 1 (1 free) XD-Picture Card, 1 SmartMedia Card

[/align][/color]

Any updated status on this? Not to be a pest but if there is a work around for it, I would love to hear it. I updated my video card drivers and it still stays the same.


Thanks
Ben

It should be fixed in the next upgrade. It was making a wondows call and preventing you from making TOAW larger than your screen. For some reason, the windows call is returning the wrong screen size.

Ralph

A piggyback question and suggestion ... its sorta related to GUI.
 
1. Text in general is hard for me to see.  Is there a way to change the text size and type?  (like to arial or some sans serif text)
 
2. Is there a way to change the background bitmap for the battle reports, news flashes, etc. so there's a plain background without the newspaper graphics?  It makes reading the text difficult for my old eyes.  I know I can change the contrast but then it changes other things I don't want changed.
 
3. In the next big patch, can scroll bars or sliders be added to the scenario descriptions?
 
4. Text in the unit info box in the upper right is hard to read.  Maybe I should just change the contrast to max and it will change this and the detailed battle report windows ... which I do sometimes but being able to change these things individually would be nice.
 
... other than that, the game is great ... I just have bad eyesight
 

ORIGINAL: hank

A piggyback question and suggestion ... its sorta related to GUI.

1. Text in general is hard for me to see. Is there a way to change the text size and type? (like to arial or some sans serif text)

2. Is there a way to change the background bitmap for the battle reports, news flashes, etc. so there's a plain background without the newspaper graphics? It makes reading the text difficult for my old eyes. I know I can change the contrast but then it changes other things I don't want changed.

3. In the next big patch, can scroll bars or sliders be added to the scenario descriptions?

4. Text in the unit info box in the upper right is hard to read. Maybe I should just change the contrast to max and it will change this and the detailed battle report windows ... which I do sometimes but being able to change these things individually would be nice.

... other than that, the game is great ... I just have bad eyesight

A future patch is going to adress the UI. I may be able to change to a windows font. Changing the size of the font is going to difficult, however, since it will mean changing most or all of the screens.

I'm hoping to improve the 'high contrast' option to make it easier to read.

The backgrounds have names like 'cwnews' in the graphics folder. It should be possible to place an editied copy in the altgraphics folder for better contrast.

" ...The backgrounds have names like 'cwnews' in the graphics folder. It should be possible to place an editied copy in the altgraphics folder for better contrast."
 
Aha!! ... that's what I was looking for.   ... a bitmap I could copy then change the name and edit it so I can see the text on top the background better.
 
I'll let you know how it goes.
 
 

ORIGINAL: hank

" ...The backgrounds have names like 'cwnews' in the graphics folder. It should be possible to place an editied copy in the altgraphics folder for better contrast."

Aha!! ... that's what I was looking for. ... a bitmap I could copy then change the name and edit it so I can see the text on top the background better.

I'll let you know how it goes.

You might post it when you're done in case other have the same problem. I think there's also a different font avaialble somewhere, although it's difficult to install.

It worked.

All I did was copy the original CWNEWS.bmp to the Altgraphics subdirectory and changed the name slightly (for insurance).

Then I opened the original csnews.bmp file in the Graphics subdirectory with MS Paint ... and used black to fill in the entire area.  (of course you can use whatever color floats your boat - any dark color will work).   Now I have a black background with yellow text ... very easy to read.

I noticed several bmps in that graphics subdirectory I could change if I have other box backgrounds that I have trouble with.  Most of them I don't have troubles with ... just the newspaper backgrounds.  The others have nice pics of tanks and such that I do like.  So it seems this problemo for me is solved.

On to the next challenge ... learning how to play competently ...   hehehe ... [:D]

Hi,

I've dowloaded the latest patch v3.0.0.14 and still have the same laptop resolution problem that is mentioned in this thread. Was this patch supposed to fix the problem or is it another patch away?

Thanks,
Mark "Torque" Link

ORIGINAL: Torque

Hi,

I've dowloaded the latest patch v3.0.0.14 and still have the same laptop resolution problem that is mentioned in this thread. Was this patch supposed to fix the problem or is it another patch away?

Thanks,
Mark "Torque" Link

The latest patch is the public beta patch 3.0.0.17, available to registered members. Try that one, and see if it solves your problem.

Thank's, I'll try it!

ORIGINAL: Torque

Thank's, I'll try it!

You're welcome. Let us know how it works out. None of the dev team has equipment that runs at that resolution, so we're kind of flying blind on this issue...

I have the same problem Torque was.  I was running it on a Toshiba Satellite laptop.  My screen looks just like his.
 
I've downloaded the .17 patch and I'll let you know how it looks.