800x600 HELP!

from GalCiv2 Forums
I hate when this happens.....

Due to my lack of funds at the moment I'm unable to upgrade my crappy monitor which has a maximum display capability of 800X600. I really reallllly want to play this game but I cant as half the freakin screen isn't viewable. I managed to open the visual options by franticaly clicking off screen and hoping for the best, but the lowest possible resolution is 1200Xsomethingmyshitmonitorcan'thandle.
Is there any way to force the game to be played in 800X600?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
6,500 views 12 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I think the minimum is 1024x768, but you could try manually altering the prefs.ini file in your "My Documents/My Games/GalCiv2" directory. . . No guarantee that it'll work, though. . .
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
800x600 max?! ...that would make your monitor like ...12 years old or so to have that kind of limitation. The minimum resolution for the game is 1024x768...which has been the standard resolution for at least 10 years. Please buy yourself a new monitor...I'm amazed it actually hasn't blown out yet.
Ashes of the Singularity II
Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top
1024x768 is the minimum. Says so in the system requirements. You're not going to get it to run lower than that.
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Are you sure it''s the monitor? Sounds like you might just need to install the video driver for your graphics card.
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
it's called spend $76 for a new monitor
Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
it's called spend $76 for a new monitor


That'd be a very crappy monitor.

In any case, the game isn't going to work well at anything less than 1024x768. Indeed, it's been known to crash intermittantly when forced to have a smaller resolution.
Reply #7 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
It makes me laugh and cry at the same time when it's played at 800x600..the GUI trys it's best to fit the screen, but a good amount of data is lost. Poor GUI You CAN make the game play at 800x600 (only tested it in window mode tho) but as per above, it's really messed up. I suggest saving up for a new montior, doesn't even have to be a LCD or a TFT.
Reply #8 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
$76 can buy him a monitor 100x better than the one he has
Reply #9 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
The problem Minefield describes may not be due to his monitor. Mine is less than 5 months old and capable of going up to double that resolution, and is always run at the games minimun. Yet, my game pulls the same stunt his does, chopping off half the game screen - rather, just the graphics. Text maintains its normal position on screen, so it doesn't line up with the GUI. So unless the problem lies with my graphics card (which has DirectX 9.0c installed), I have no clue. But thats a tangent. Bottom line - it may not be his monitor. At least not entirely.
Reply #10 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Well I managed to get a complete picture in a window. The trouble is now the mouse wont respond. The pointer moves and the pointer graphic is that of in-game but I can't click on any of the menu options. This is driving me nuts.
Reply #11 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
800x600? Wow. Even the budget monitor of my first PC purchsed over 10 years ago did 1024x768! IS it made from wood and grass or something?

Anyway, in your prefs.ini file try playing with the displayheigtht/width settings, fullscreen setting, and set hardwaremousecursor to 1 to see if it gets your mouse working.

Really though you'd be lucky to get it working, you fall short of the published MINIMUM specs. And if the PC is half as old as the monitor....
Reply #12 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Yeah, the mouse problem sounds like the hardware cursor issue again - there were quite a few posts on this a while back (with the original release) so have a look at them if it doesn't resolve it.