Preferences & screenshots: Useful Setting, possible Fix.

[Tellos Athenaios]

Something I noticed quite a while but never saw anyone else mentioning is something related to taking screenshots from RTW *without* using external programs.

An excerpt of my preferences file after modifications:

STRATEGY_RESOLUTION:1900x1200
STRATEGY_MAX_RESOLUTION:1900x1200
STRATEGY_32_BIT:TRUE
BATTLE_RESOLUTION:1900x1200
BATTLE_MAX_RESOLUTION:1900x1200
BATTLE_32_BIT:TRUE
UNIT_DETAIL:ULTRA_HIGH
BUILDING_DETAIL:ULTRA_HIGH
TGA_CAPTURE_WIDTH:1900
TGA_CAPTURE_ASPECT:1.583333

Note the custom ASPECT Ratio: RTW, by default, only provides you with 4/3 (1.333...3, VGA) & 16/9 (widescreen; WVGA) options.

Now, before I modified it from its default setting of 1.333...3 (VGA) my screenshots turned up black with or without AA; and when I went into the preferences file to change the default monitor settings to those matching my one's (full screen) size I bumped into this TGA_CAPTURE_WIDTH (which I noticed before, and is really very straightforward) as well as TGA_CAPTURE_ASPECT.

The latter one is upon second thought equally simple to understand; dimensions of the screenshot the program (RTW) must abide are given by: TGA_CAPTURE_WIDTH * (TGA_CAPTURE_WIDTH/TGA_CAPTURE_ASPECT).

For good measure I decided to calculate my TGA_CAPTURE_ASPECT, which is 19/12, and replace the default value with it. Lo and behold: I get proper screenshots (again), see the previous screenshot of the month competition thread for an example I posted.

A little hindsight reveals a possible cause for the (now fixed) problem with screenshots: if the height given does not yield something within the limits of your monitor your OS/GFX-driver might very well trigger an error, return no output at all which is then dutifully stored by RTW as your new 'screenshot' completely unaware of any problem whatsoever.

Of course, this may also be the post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy; I'll leave that to you to decide. But for those of you who have trouble with screenshots in RTW, this is certainly worth a try.

EDIT: I should perhaps mention that I run the game with -ne enabled.

[LordCurlyton]

Should I go by the resolution I run the game at or the max possible resolution?

[Tellos Athenaios]

By the resolution of your monitor: mine is w*h=1900*1200 => aspect = 19/12.

EDIT: And of course don't enter a TGA_CAPTURE_WIDTH that exceeds the width of your monitor.