No 1600x1200?

[Beirut]

Just got it this aft and it looks to be good fun. But my resolution is limited to 1200x958 (or something like that).

The PCGamer review said the game went to1600x1200.

My hardware is pretty decent. Just upgraded (for IL2-Pacific Fighters ) and I'm running an AMD64-3000/512RAM/9800Pro. I shouldn't be res limited with that setup should I?

Is there 1600x1200 in the game?

Thanks!

[barvaz]

The developers in their infinite wisdom (well, this was probably dictated by marketing guys to make the game "more accessible...blah blah") created an auto detect system that limits your choices of screen resolution and color depth based on some arbitrary parameters it detects about your system.

Take a look at the following post on .com forums

I tried it and it works. Apparently, I was limited to 1024x768 resolution because my video card doesn’t support vertex shader v2.0, this is rather silly because my system is more than capable of running in 1280x1024 and since I use and LCD screen, any other resolution doesn’t look good on my screen.

I find this very annoying and pretty stupid that I need to mess with undocumented configuration files to be able to play the game in the resolution of my choice, I don’t want these decisions made for me, thank you, I can decide for my own

- barvaz

[Lemur]

Once you've edited the text file, you'll be able to play in glorious 1600 x 1200 fullscreen orgasmic bliss. For whatever reason, RTW didn't want a Radeon 9700 pro running the game at high rez. Heh. Silly CA.

[Beirut]

Thanks for the quick reply. But I can't figure out that stuff - I'm a total tech-zero and I'm likely to blow up my entire machine if I start screwing with files like that.

I'll wait for the patch.

[oblivious maximus]

its simple. go into your program file, open Activision, then RTW, then open preferences and type edit the res you want. save and exit.

[Sjakihata]

ok, i tried this.

I got a radeon 9700 pro (vertexshader 2.0), 2.08 ghz, 1024 mb ram and 128 vid ram

so my code should be: 2, 2, 4, 2 - right? I changed the resolutions, and also for code 2, 1, 4, 2 and 2, 3, 4, 2 to be sure. didnt work

[Lemur]

Had to do a bit of searching to re-find this info, but here you go:

Open up "preferences.txt" in your program folder. The path is probably C:/program files/Activision/Rome Total War. Inside you should see preferences.txt.

Open it up with Notepad (double-clicking it will give the same result).

Search for the following text:

STRATEGY_RESOLUTION:1024x768

STRATEGY_32_BIT:FALSE

BATTLE_RESOLUTION:800x600

BATTLE_RESOLUTION_32_BIT: FALSE

Now, can you guess what you're gonna do here? I will personally mail you a shiny nickel if you get it right the first time. THat's right, you're going to change those number to the game-stomping 1600x1200, 32-bit glory that you need.

Please let me know if you need any more detail on this process. It's kinda silly that we have to do this, but hey, at least CA makes the workaround easy-peasy.

[barvaz]

I believe that changing the "preferences.txt" is similar to changing the resolution from the in-game menus, it won’t help if the game is set not to accept this resolution, it will just change the entries in “preferences.txt” back to the maximum resolution the game thinks you hardware supports.

If you don’t have the option to change to the desired resolution in game, changing it in “preferences.txt” will do no good.

The way to do it is to trick the auto detect feature by changing its configuration file, as described in the post linked above.

- barvaz

[Lemur]

Barvaz, read his post. He's got a 9700 pro. It can handle the resolution. The problem is that the game auto-detects some hardware incorrectly. You're right, if you're running a 32-meg Geforce 2, it won't help. But this lad has some nice iron in his box, and all he needs to do is tweak the .txt file to unleash it.

[Sjakihata]

barvaz is right, changing the preferences.txt dont help.

what troubles me is, that when I change the resolutions in the code, it doesnt help at all.

All I want is 1280*1024, what my monitor supports, however, it is stuck at 980 no matter what I change.

again the code is: vertex shader, processor, ram, vid ram - right?

[Lemur]

Okay, all I can speak to is my personal experience, but I have the same video card as the poster, and editing the preferences.txt fixed it for me. If someone has a more complete set of info about what to edit, and where, please post or link to the info.

I belive my eyes, and like I said, it worked.

[Plantagenet]

Thanks for the quick reply. But I can't figure out that stuff - I'm a total tech-zero and I'm likely to blow up my entire machine if I start screwing with files like that.

I'll wait for the patch.

Its actually pretty simple, if you look at the table for a minute. You have a 9800Pro, which supports vertex shader 2.0, so 1st number=2. I don't know AMD speed equivalencies to my Intel 3.0 GHz, but I'm guessing your CPU is a 3 (can someone please confirm this?). If so, 2nd number=3. You have 512MB RAM, so 3rd number=3. Does your video card have 128 or 256 MB RAM? 4th number=2 (128) or 3 (256).

Assuming your card is 128MB & your CPU a 3, your code is: 2-3-3-2. So:

1. Scroll down to line 2-3-3-2
2. Scroll right to 1280 960 (there are two pairs of 1280x960, side by side, one for battle map & one for campaign map)
3. Change each 1280 960 to 1600 1200, so it looks exactly like this: 1600 1200 1600 1200

If you can tell me if your card is 128 or 256 MB, I'll tell you exactly what your code is and which numbers to change. Your card definitely supports 1600x1200, and it only takes 30 seconds to change.

[hoom]

OMG yay! I finally get to play at a proper resolution :D
I suspect that it uses actual core speed rather than any calculated PRnumber.
I have an AthlonXP 2000+ (1.6ghz) & changing the 2ghz line did nothing, while changing the 1.5ghz line did.

There's a few other things there that make improvements not just res.
Importing the .txt into a spreadsheet as tab delimited data helps work out what everything is.
After making changes it should be possible to export to tab delimited txt, but I just copied the line into the .txt

[Beirut]

Two bulls are at the top of a hill looking down into the valley where a herd of cows are grazing.

The young bull says "Hey dad, whadaya say we run down the hill and screw some of them cows."

"No son," the father bull says, "let's walk down and screw them all."



Never use a scalpel when a sledgehamer will suffice.

I got 1600x1200!

You go into your Total War folder, and into the Total War/Data/descr_auto_optimise_options.txt file. Then, with sledge hammer firmly in hand, you chance every damn res value of less than 1600x1200 to 1600x1200. Took less than five minutes of copy & paste to do each line individually. There are about fifty lines to change.

This way, you don't have to know your card settings as every value is now what you want and is applied to every card setting. And since you're only using the card you're using, what the hell difference can it make to have the other settings as... whatever.

And it looks dee-licious.

I also changed my settings as Lemurmania said too. It didn't do anything by itself, but I did it before I did the mega-res change and then everything worked. Might not have to do it, but it didn't hurt.

[ToranagaSama]

ok, i tried this.

I got a radeon 9700 pro (vertexshader 2.0), 2.08 ghz, 1024 mb ram and 128 vid ram

so my code should be: 2, 2, 4, 2 - right? I changed the resolutions, and also for code 2, 1, 4, 2 and 2, 3, 4, 2 to be sure. didnt work

Hi, thought I'd try to help you out here, cause the first time I looked at that file, I was like wtf! , then I calmed down and looked at it again, after carefully comprehend the .com post.

I've got a comparable system, with a 9700 pro, etc., this is the code we both should use: 2.0 4 4 2.

2.0 = vertexshader 2.0
4 = processor speed greater than 2.5
4 = 1 gig of system ram
2 = 128 megs of video ram

You need to change the line that's third from the bottom!! Here's a cut and paste:

2 4 4 2 yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes 80 yes low 1600 1200 1600 1200 low 1600 1200 1600 1200 high high 50 no no high high high yes

Make sure you BACKUP the original file. I change the file name to original_descr_auto_optimise_options.txt.

Luck!

---

BTW, it would seem that "auto-detect" uses the *actual* processor speed to make it's determination. As, I have a P4 2.4 which is overclocked to 3.0, and the above works for me, but then it may depend on how your BIOS reads the speed. Presuming "auto-detect" reads the processor speed from the BIOS, "auto-detect" might not be able to read the *actual* speed on all motherboards, as not all motherboard BIOS' read the *actual* overclocked speed. Fortunately, mine does!

Luck!

[ToranagaSama]

The developers in their infinite wisdom (well, this was probably dictated by marketing guys to make the game "more accessible...blah blah") created an auto detect system that limits your choices of screen resolution and color depth based on some arbitrary parameters it detects about your system.

WHAT sort of mentality does a thing like this, I'd like to know? The sad thing is the same mentality appears to have been carried through the entire game, RTW that is!

Reminds me of the American Auto industry, it all started going down hill, when they started to let the 'FINANCE Dept.' guys make all the decisions. Now we got a game company letting the Marketing guys run the show.

Incredulous!

[Beirut]

After playing R:TW in 1600x1200 for a few hours I can say that there is no going back to a lower res. I've played all sorts of games, flight sims to shooters, always at 1024x768, but I've never seen another game that "demanded" you play it at 1600x1200 as this one does.

The quality of the animation jumps right out at you at the higher res. Also, you can see more of the battlefield, which also bring it alive. And so far, I've had scraps with upwards of 5000 soldiers and things were pretty fluid. Had one with close to 8000 but it got choppy at times. And the flaming arrows always hit the FPS.

There's no question - this is a high res game.

[barvaz]

WHAT sort of mentality does a thing like this, I'd like to know? The sad thing is the same mentality appears to have been carried through the entire game, RTW that is!

Reminds me of the American Auto industry, it all started going down hill, when they started to let the 'FINANCE Dept.' guys make all the decisions. Now we got a game company letting the Marketing guys run the show.

Incredulous!

Sad but hardly surprising.

4 years of development of a game in this scope cost several millions of dollars, not something that you expect lying around in the bank from the sales of STW/MTW. To be able to afford this, game development houses make deals with the devil and his servants, the marketing and accounting hordes.

Unfortunately, these people (with exceptions of course) mostly care about numbers – number of copies sold, number of support calls received, number of dollars left in the bank by the end of the day. They don’t care about games, most of them don’t play games or like them, as far as they are concerned they could be adding numbers for a company that distributes office supplies or sells furniture, as long as the bottom line is nicely positive, they consider their job done.

According to their logic, they rather sell 2 million of copies to the unsuspecting masses who would play the game for two weeks and then toss is aside for the next over hyped thing than to sell 200,000 copies and have a dedicated community of hardcore gamers following the game for months and keep coming back for mods and online play.

This logic produces statements like ”The game will be much more accessible to new players while still appealing to the series’ veterans” – which really translates to “Our marketing guys need to sell many more copies than the previous title to justify costs so they are forcing us to make the game as idiot proof as possible and have just enough easy accessible features to appeal to the average gamer and have nice reviews on the media. If 50000 hardcore followers will like the game less because of this, so be it.”. From their perspective, they are right.

Hopefully, RTW still manages to be a great and long lasting game, despite of the devil servants.

- barvaz