Info Display L Side Partially Unreadable - Game Basically Unplayable

[Mr Klotzen N Kleckern]

The left side panels w/ strength figures, scenario briefings etc do not display correctly. It appears as though the various sections are partially overlapping with each other and are impossible to read. About 25% of the display panel's right edge including the red scrollbar is completely missing where it meets the map, as if it was sliced off. The game is pretty much unplayable.

It seems as though font size might be the cause, as if the fonts were too big for the panels. But the fonts on my computer all appear to be normal sized. Maybe Bulge seems to think the fonts are larger than they really are. Is there a way I can shrink the font size in Bulge?

This problem occurs exactly the same way no matter what resolution my computer is set, or which resolution the game uses.
Just DLed the game today (May 11 2011) and updated. Updated my graphics drivers too. My font size is 96 dpi. I tried enlarging them to 120 dpi just for kicks and the game still wouldn't display correctly. I've tried every concievable display tweak I could think of. I can't think of anything else to do.

Vista 64. Plenty of power etc. ATI Radeon 3200 chipset graphics updated (today) with latest drivers. Monitor is cheap Westinghouse widescreen, everything set now to factory spec. but I haven't ever had any problems with it. Maybe it's the ATI Radeon/Catalyst drivers (?).

Any suggestions?
Yours,
Mr Klotzen N Kleckern

[Lieste]

This had I think come up before, and is because the game IIRC requires a standard 96 dpi & normal scaling for the font to fit the data into the panel. You are on the right track, but need to step the other way IIRC - checking the original advice it was to make the game run in 96dpi with 100% scaling for fonts - you could try other settings but they probably will not work.

[Mr Klotzen N Kleckern]

I am (and always had been) running fonts at 96 dpi with 100% scaling, but the display continues to be unreadable. (I tried 120 dpi for 5 minutes which did not change Bulge's display at all, so I switched back to 96 dpi.)

Your email message mentions 72 dpi (not 96 dpi) but AFAIK it's not possible in Vista to globally set fonts at 72 dpi.

Is there some way to change the font size within Bulge? How is font size determined by the Command Ops program? The map graphics can be user-modded - perhaps those display panels/dialog boxes could be modded using Paint or Irfanview or something? Or...maybe I can try shrinking the actual fonts used by Command Ops via a Paint-type program; they look like Arial.

BTW Highway displays just fine at 1280x1024 on the same Vista-64 computer Bulge and Agean has problems with.

This is very frustrating and mysterious. I really wanna play this game and also begin designing some scenarios.
Thanks.
Yours,
Mr Klotzen N Kleckern

[Arjuna]

Klotzen,

Interesting. I would have first thought it a font scale issue but if you say you are running at 96 dpi fonts then it has to be something else. Let's see if we can narrow it down. I appreciate that you have already updated your graphics drivers. Good. Can you please confirm what resolution you are running the game at? Have you tried choosing one of the alternate presets to see if that makes a difference? Is the res you are running one of the defaults for your monitor? If not try using one of its defaults. Get back to me and we'll progress this troubleshooting.

[Arjuna]

Some other things to try.

Are you running with Clear Type text? If so, try turning that off? ( Maybe this a Win 7 only feature. )

Another option is to set the dpi of your font to something less than 96 dpi. Under Vista you do this by going to Personalisation, choose Adjust Font Size from the left sidebar and then hit the Custom DPI button at the bottom of the screen that opens.

What font are you using as your display font? For Vista I believe the default is Segoe UI. You can test this by Opeing the Appearance Settings, selecting Menu from the Item List and the font will be displayed below.

[dmack973]

I am now having this problem too. Was not an issue prior to this. I haven't played the game in a few months however. Checked all DPI settings set as 96 dpi. Can't go any lower with Vista 64. Tried every available resolution. Still unreadable. My Nvidia display drivers also are up to date. I am running a Gforce GTX 260.

Could something have changed driver or update wise with Windows? Like I said the game was running fine prior to me playing again. Curious.

[Arjuna]

Screen dump please?

[dmack973]

I am sorry to have to ask this Dave, but how do I do that? I will do anything to help. I am playing the game regardless of the screen. On a side note, I am reading the Official History of the Battle of the Bulge and find the game almost necessary to understand the tactical and strategic picture. Thanks for all of your hard work.

[Lieste]

Open CmdOps, press "Print Scrn" on your keyboard.
Minimise CmdOps window, and open an image editing program (I think paint will 'work' but something better (such as paint.net/GIMP or photoshop is 'better').
Create a 'new' image - it should take the CmdOps resolution by default (as you have data on the clipboard).
Paste your screenshot into the blank image, save and 'Add Image' to your reply using the icon on the forum software.

Ask for clarification if any needed

[PaulWRoberts]

I have a similar problem, but only when I am playing on my 1920x1080 monitor with fonts at 120 dpi (or "medium" in Win7 display personalization). See the attached screenshot.

When I set fonts back to 96 dpi (or Win7 default), the problem goes away. But then I get a serious headache, so I really wish there were a way to use 120 dpi fonts in the game.

dmack973, does what you're describing look like my screenshot here?

[dmack973]

Sorry guys just got into town. Here is screen. Double checked the font again, set at 96. Be happy to provide anymore info.

[dmack973]

Here is my DPI setting.

[Lieste]

Odd, possibly a wider font than expected?

Try setting a custom DPI that is lower - 72 dpi might be a place to start. Unsure of the controls on your panel as I'm not using Vista. Can you post a similar screen showing the custom options?

[dmack973]

Tried adjusting the custom. 96 is the lowest it goes. Thanks for the idea though. What is really puzzling is that it did not used to be a problem. Something has changed. Whether it was a windows update or an nvidia driver update, or something else. I don't know. Really stumped.

[Lieste]

What is your Vista display font?

My current settings (for XP) are Tahoma 8pt for menus and dialogues - if you have a bulkier font, or a larger point size here it might change something?

[dmack973]

I know this is bad, but where do I find this under Vista? I don't think I have ever checked.

[dmack973]

I think I found it under personalization/window color and appearance/advanced. I am currently running windows vista basic. I set most of them to Tahoma 8pt. Which settings in here control the display for BFTB? I messed around a little bit but still nothing seems to change.

[Arjuna]

This is a weird one. I've asked Panther Paul to check it out. I'm thinking that perhaps the font we use has not been installed properly for some reason. Could you reinstall the game and see if that fixes the issue.

[dmack973]

Will do Dave. Am Re-Downloading the game now. Will try a complete un-install/re-install this evening. I will post as soon as it finishes. Thanks again for the help.

[dmack973]

Un-Intalled. Re-booted. Re-installed. Patched the game. Still have problem.