Massive Resolution Error

from GalCiv2 Forums
I'm currently running a NVidia GeForce FX 5200 with the newest drivers at a resolution of 1024x768.

The very first time I loaded the game up, it ran a little slow, so I dropped teh video quality and restarted the game.

My old screen looked like this

|**********|
|----------|
|----------|
|----------|
|**********|

and was square and worked good (or whatever shape)

now, the game is doing something like this

|********************|
|--------------------|
|--------------------|
|--------------------|
|********************|

and everything is getting cut off half way through. I have tried everything imaginable, down to uninstalling, restarting, reinstalling, restarting and trying to play, and NOTHING. the game is stretching itself out so horizontally that the menu to get to any options is too far to the right to even see a border. I've been working on getting this thing to run and it's been 3 days now... I've even doubled the resolution, halved the resolution, tried every type of color quality at every resolution possible, and have uninstalled/reinstalled the entire game (I have Gold) at least 20 times by now.

Does anyone know how to fix this problem?

Thanks!!!
4,810 views 8 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Grrrr...

they were supposed to show up as boxes, but I guess bcause i used *'s for the tops and bottoms that it wouldn't line up with the -'s.

oh well, you get what I'm saying....
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Debug Message: Version v1.5 Dark Avatar last updated on: Mon Jan 15 15:09:22 2007
Debug Message: Can't find TGN or GalCiv2 serial number.
Debug Message: Checking DX Version.
Debug Message: *********DXDiag info follows.*********
System Info
Time: 2/20/2007, 13:20:56
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
Machine Name: ---EDIT OUT---
Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.050301-1519)
Languages: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
System Model: PowerEdge SC440
BIOS: Phoenix ROM BIOS PLUS Version 1.10 1.1.0
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) D CPU 2.80GHz (2 CPUs)
Physical Memory: 1022MB RAM
Page File: 326MB used, 2133MB available
Windows Dir: ---EDIT OUT---


Display Info
Display device 1:
Device Name: \\.\DISPLAY1
Card Name: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip Type: GeForce FX 5200
DAC Type: Integrated RAMDAC
Key Device: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0322&SUBSYS_01AD196E&REV_A1
Display Memory: 256.0 MB
Current Display Mode: 1024 x 768 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor Name: Default Monitor
Monitor Max Resolution:
Driver Name: nv4_disp.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0010.9147
Driver Date: 8/11/2006 20:42:52
DirectX Acceleration Enabled: Yes



Sound info
Sound device 1:
Description: C-Media Wave Device
Default Sound Playback: Yes
Default Voice Playback: Yes
Hardware ID: PCI\VEN_13F6&DEV_0111&SUBSYS_011113F6&REV_10
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Driver Name: cmaudio.sys
Provider: C-Media
Driver Version: 5.12.0001.0643
Driver Date: 11/18/2002 15:51:40
Type: WDM
Other Drivers:
Acceleration Level: 3
Cap Flags: 0
Min/Max Sample Rate: 0, 0

Sound device 1:
Description: USB Audio Device
Default Sound Playback: No
Default Voice Playback: No
Hardware ID: USB\Vid_0d8c&Pid_000c&Rev_0100&MI_00
Manufacturer ID: 65535
Product ID: 65535
Driver Name: usbaudio.sys
Provider: Microsoft
Driver Version: 5.01.2600.2180
Driver Date: 8/4/2004 01:07:55
Type: WDM
Other Drivers:
Acceleration Level: 3
Cap Flags: 0
Min/Max Sample Rate: 0, 0



Debug Message: *********END dxdiag info.*********
Debug Message: Entering WinMain
Debug Message: ******* Starting Game Shell *******
Debug Message: Going Fullscreen
Debug Message: Preparing to change display settings.
Debug Message: Using multilsample setting: D3DMULTISAMPLE_2_SAMPLES
Debug Message: Game Resolution: 1024 x 768
Debug Message: Running fullscreen.
Debug Message: HAL (sw vp): NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200
Debug Message: D3DPRESENT_INTERVAL_DEFAULT
Debug Message: Refresh rate: 60
Debug Message: Bit Depth: 32 bit.
Debug Message: *********Checking D3DDevice Caps***********************
Debug Message: A full-color cursor is supported in hardware at high resolution modes.
Debug Message: RGB in format 6:6:6, Masks reported as ff0000:ff00:ff
Debug Message: Now Fullscreen
Debug Message: Shell initialization complete
Debug Message: GalCiv2 is activated.
Debug Message: ***** Initializing Game *****
Debug Message: Timer Frequency is 0 a67c1630
Debug Message: Initializing sound card.
Debug Message: initailizing bink
Debug Message: No files found matching mask Movies\techs\*.bik
Debug Message: No files found matching mask Gfx\Tutorials\*.bik
Debug Message: No files found matching mask D:\Documents and Settings\GameCharmer\My Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\Gfx\Movies\*.bik
Debug Message: Create setup screens.
Debug Message: Clear galaxy settings.
Debug Message: Clear influence.
Debug Message: Clear up laws.
Debug Message: Clear first time events.
Debug Message: Clear wonders and trade goods.
Debug Message: Clear sector mapper.
Debug Message: Set mouse.
Debug Message: Set update timer.
Debug Message: Popup Manager Update: Updating window with ID=0
Debug Message: Popup Manager Update: Unhiding FullscreenBink
Debug Message: Clear data definitions.
Debug Message: Killing ship styles:
Debug Message: No files found matching mask D:\Documents and Settings\GameCharmer\My Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\ships\*.xml
Debug Message: No files found matching mask D:\Documents and Settings\GameCharmer\My Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\shiptemplates\*.xml
Debug Message: No files found matching mask D:\Documents and Settings\GameCharmer\My Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\ShipStyles\*.xml
Debug Message: No files found matching mask ./Data/\FleetFormations\*.fleet
Debug Message: No files found matching mask D:\Program Files\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2Gfx\Planets\C0*.png
Debug Message: No files found matching mask Gfx\Planets\C0*.png
Debug Message: No files found matching mask gfx/Terrain/1SideN*.png
Debug Message: No files found matching mask gfx/Terrain/1SideE*.png
Debug Message: No files found matching mask gfx/Terrain/1SideS*.png
Debug Message: No files found matching mask gfx/Terrain/1SideW*.png
Debug Message: No files found matching mask gfx/Terrain/2SideN*.png
Debug Message: No files found matching mask gfx/Terrain/2SideE*.png
Debug Message: No files found matching mask gfx/Terrain/2SideS*.png
Debug Message: No files found matching mask gfx/Terrain/2SideW*.png
Debug Message: No files found matching mask gfx/Terrain/3SideN*.png
Debug Message: No files found matching mask gfx/Terrain/3SideE*.png
Debug Message: No files found matching mask gfx/Terrain/3SideS*.png
Debug Message: No files found matching mask gfx/Terrain/3SideW*.png
Debug Message: No files found matching mask gfx/Terrain/4SideN*.png
Debug Message: No files found matching mask gfx/Terrain/4SideE*.png
Debug Message: No files found matching mask gfx/Terrain/4SideS*.png
Debug Message: No files found matching mask gfx/Terrain/4SideW*.png
Debug Message: No files found matching mask D:\Documents and Settings\GameCharmer\My Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\ships\*.shipcfg
Debug Message: Reading Star Names
Debug Message: Reading Star Names... Done
Debug Message: No files found matching mask ./Data/English/Tutorials/*.xml
Debug Message: Popup Manager Update: Updating window with ID=1
Offworld Trading Company
Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Go to My Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar, open the file prefs.ini, and change the line that says Fullscreen=1 to Fullscreen=0 then save the file and start the game.
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
it sounds like you used one of the widescreen resolutions by accident and/or had fullscreen disabled. unfortunately prefs.ini isn't deleted when you uninstall the game, so you have to manually change in a situation like yours. luckily you can simply delete it.

also, when you update resolution for a specific program, you might want to do a quick division to make sure the newer resolution is the same aspect ration as your monitor (if you don't know them off the top of your head).
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
yea, I was playing around with the resolution and accidentially made it expand far beyond my screen, so I had to go to the prefs.ini to fix it. and it was ok after that. May have been something like that.
Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Thanks!!!!

I'll try that tonight when I get home and see what happens.

I probabbly clicked it on accident when I was lowering the graphic quality to get it to run faster. I can (unfortunately) only use PCI Video cards. I have a very nice 256mb NVidia card that also has S-Vid out (I'll have to check the tech data on it for the model number)

I'm running a dual core Pentium 915 system to handle HUGE compilations of code. I develop PHP, MySQL, and AJAX so I went for teh overkill by getting an actual server...

Thx for the help though, I'll post back when I get home on wether it works or not. (Most likely will )
Reply #7 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I've seen the exact same problem just when I got the game. First off, I changed resolution to 1280x1024 and restarted - everything ok. After playing some and game became sluggish, I turned down AA to 0 and restarted - still ok. Playing some more and game still sluggish, I dumped video presets (?) from High to Mid, turned AA back to 0, and restarted - problem occurred. I looked into prefs.ini and resolution was still 1280x1024. After some time I deleted prefs.ini and started the game once again and everything was back to normal. Changing the options as before did not reproduce the problem, so no biggie, but very frustrating not to be able to access the menus at the right hand side of screen. Thankfully Alt+F4 worked