Screen resolution/ new monitor

[Bloody Bill]

Hello. I just purchased a new 23 inch monitor and I am wondering why the SH3 grey wolf edition wont expand to use my full screen. Is my screen resolution not set right? It leaves about 3 inches per side of my monitor blank which is unsightly. I have windows 7 and a Gforce 8600 video card.

Any thoughts?

[frau kaleun]

Hello. I just purchased a new 23 inch monitor and I am wondering why the SH3 grey wolf edition wont expand to use my full screen. Is my screen resolution not set right? It leaves about 3 inches per side of my monitor blank which is unsightly. I have windows 7 and a Gforce 8600 video card.

Any thoughts?

SH3's native resolution is in a 4x3 aspect ratio and installing GWX doesn't change this.

There is a "res fix" mod available that allows you to force the game to run at a different res than what it was originally configured for. You can find it here:

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/downloads.php?do=file&id=1092

Be aware that some players have had CTD issues when trying to take screenshots after installing this mod.

I have not had CTD issues, and I was able to force the game to run at a widescreen resolution this way, however the 2D graphic layouts are not formatted for WS and just get stretched horizontally to compensate for the difference. I found this annoying and just use the mod to force the game into the highest res I can on my monitor while retaining its native 4x3 aspect ratio, and I get two slender black bars down each side which I find preferable to having the dials/compass/etc. stretched out of whack. YMMV on that so it's worth a try.

In the Mods Workshop forum there are also some threads where modders are working on or have released widescreen mods for the game, featuring reformatted 2D screens that will run at a WS res without stretching. However the last I checked each of these mods was still only available for
one particular resolution/ratio. Still worth checking out if you want to see what's currently available for a widescreen SH3 experience.

[maillemaker]

This is typical.

The stock game only supports 1024x768, and most widescreen monitors do not "fit to screen", instead they leave the aspect ratio alone and leave an unused black bar down the left and right hand side of the screen.

There is a "high resolution" mod that you can install but for many people it breaks the ability to take screen shots.

Also be aware that when you install the high resolution mod for many people when you click out of the UZO or Periscope it drops the mouse right on the torpedo fire button and fires a torpedo. The fix is to either change to a different resolution or install one of the mods that changes the layout of the fire controls in the UZO and scope screen.

Steve

[maillemaker]

frau kaleun: What resolution setting do you use?

Steve

[frau kaleun]

frau kaleun: What resolution setting do you use?

Steve

I think it's 1400x1050, I'm pretty sure 1050 is the max vertical res for my monitor and I just force a 4x3 ratio based on that. I think the horizontal is 1600 so I end up with 100px black bars on either side. Still a bigger and better playing area than what I had before, and my compass rose doesn't look like an invisible Hermann Göring is sitting on top of it.

[frau kaleun]

Also be aware that when you install the high resolution mod for many people when you click out of the UZO or Periscope it drops the mouse right on the torpedo fire button and fires a torpedo.

Wow, that's gotta be a PITA. I guess I would've noticed this pretty quick if it was happening in my install, I must be lucking out with this mod somehow.

Has anybody ever figured out if there's some common denominator among all the users who do have the same problems with it?

[Gerald]

I think it's 1400x1050, I'm pretty sure 1050 is the max vertical res for my monitor and I just force a 4x3 ratio based on that. I think the horizontal is 1600 so I end up with 100px black bars on either side. Still a bigger and better playing area than what I had before, and my compass rose doesn't look like an invisible Hermann Göring is sitting on top of it. or they are not a problem :hmm2:

[frau kaleun]

They're not a problem, they don't affect gameplay.

I don't like the 4x3 2D graphics stretched out to fit a widescreen resolution, which does affect my gaming experience. The black bars are far preferable IMO.

[Gerald]

They're not a problem, they don't affect gameplay.

I don't like the 4x3 2D graphics stretched out to fit a widescreen resolution, which does affect my gaming experience. The black bars are far preferable IMO. I use a higher resolution, the graphics card settings, but unfortunately I can not integrated use my hi-res mod,even if it was possible, so unfortunately it is to use what is basically :wah:

[maillemaker]

Wow, that's gotta be a PITA. I guess I would've noticed this pretty quick if it was happening in my install, I must be lucking out with this mod somehow.

Has anybody ever figured out if there's some common denominator among all the users who do have the same problems with it?

It's simply an artifact of the resolution. Whenever you are in the UZO or periscope screen spinning the scope, and you click your mouse, you will notice that the mouse cursor always appears in the same spot near the lower-right part of the screen.

At certain resolutions, that "spot" will be right on top of the torpedo fire button.

I think I'm like at 1920x1080, which gives me the "stretch" effect but I don't mind it much. But at this resolution you have the fire button problem I mentioned above. I fixed it by installing the Hitman Optics which gives you the TDC in the scope views, and moves the fire button.

I don't like that it reduces my periscope to 6X mag instead of 10X, but that's life.

Steve

[frau kaleun]

It's simply an artifact of the resolution. Whenever you are in the UZO or periscope screen spinning the scope, and you click your mouse, you will notice that the mouse cursor always appears in the same spot near the lower-right part of the screen.

I'll have to wait until I fire up the game again to be sure, but I can't say I've ever noticed this. IIRC, when I do something like that, the cursor is always right where I left it. If it moved that much I think I would definitely have noticed, because that kind of thing annoys the heck out of me.

[maillemaker]

I never really noticed it either, until it started appearing over the fire button. :)

Basically the way it works is you click inside the scope view to make the mouse move the scope, and then when you click again it releases the scope and your mouse appears outside the scope window. Turns out it always appears outside the scope window in the same place. And at certain resolutions, that place is on top of the fire button. :)

Steve

[frau kaleun]

I never really noticed it either, until it started appearing over the fire button. :)

Basically the way it works is you click inside the scope view to make the mouse move the scope, and then when you click again it releases the scope and your mouse appears outside the scope window. Turns out it always appears outside the scope window in the same place. And at certain resolutions, that place is on top of the fire button. :)

Steve

Hmm... I'll have to watch for this. Best I can remember my cursor doesn't move around at all when I click in and out of using it to scroll around in the UZO or any similiar situation. Maybe I'm just at a "lucky res" where the movement isn't big enough to notice.

I know it's not clicking back to action anywhere near the Fire button, because I almost always use the mouse to fine tune my aim - pick out exactly where on a ship I want to aim for - and then I have to click and move it all the way back down to the button pretty quick to get the shot off. And it took me a while to remember that I had to click it once to stop it from controlling the 'scope and then move it to the button to fire.

[K-61]

The resolution on my new 17.3 inch notebook is 1920 x 1080. I get the black bars down each side, but it doesn't really bother me.

[frau kaleun]

I got it wrong earlier - mine's 1680x1050. I still like the black bars more than the stretching effect of forcing the game to run in WS.

Granted I haven't been back to look at any progress on the existing WS mods, or tried to make any of them work on my monitor. I was having problems sorting out other mods at the time and once I got the game running again to my satisfaction I was too eager to start playing again to go through another round of experimentation with anything else.

Actually looking at it now, Rubini's WS mod was made for a 1360x768 res and he says in his first post that most WS monitors will simply rescale it. I think that's very close to your aspect ratio at 1920x1080, whether or not it would play fullscreen with rescaling on your notebook I don't know... but it might be worth a look:

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=166094

Conus' WS mod which is discussed here

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=170191&highlight=widescreen

was also designed for 1360x768 so might be worth checking out also. I just looked at the first posts in those threads, though, so I don't know if there's anything in either of them about folks making them work on a higher res monitor.

[ivank]

The resolution on my new 17.3 inch notebook is 1920 x 1080. I get the black bars down each side, but it doesn't really bother me.

same

[BulSoldier]

I have 22inch monitor (1680x1050) and it is stretching the picture automaticly.Any idea how can i make it to have the black bars on the side so there wont be stretching ? (os xp btw)

[frau kaleun]

I have 22inch monitor (1680x1050) and it is stretching the picture automaticly.Any idea how can i make it to have the black bars on the side so there wont be stretching ? (os xp btw)

I went into the software for my video card and there was an option there for "no rescaling" or something to that effect. Checking it keeps fullscreen apps running at their native aspect ratio instead of automatically stretching them out to fill all the available space.

[pickinthebanjo]

Hello. I just purchased a new 23 inch monitor and I am wondering why the SH3 grey wolf edition wont expand to use my full screen. Is my screen resolution not set right? It leaves about 3 inches per side of my monitor blank which is unsightly. I have windows 7 and a Gforce 8600 video card.

Any thoughts?

I just reinstalled SH3 after a couple months of absence. I am now having the same problem, the strange thing is when I installed it in the past it has always used the full screen, but now I have the black bars on both sides of the screen. The only thing that I had changed was some video card settings (pretty much the same card, I use a 8400 in my laptop) I guess my GPU was scaling it to fit or something.

[themrwho]

I have 22inch monitor (1680x1050) and it is stretching the picture automaticly.Any idea how can i make it to have the black bars on the side so there wont be stretching ? (os xp btw)

Hi BulSoldier,

The game is designed for and presented in 1024x768 resoultion. If you want to change your game resolution it is not possible to do this from the in-game menus.

There is a resolution option 'listed' in .\data\CFG\main.cfg file as shown below:
[VIDEO]
Resolution=1024 x 800

However modifying this does not work. Someone in the forums explains that this "value[whitespace]x[whitespace]value" format does not even represent the correct config file format. It shoud have been resX=1024 and in the next line resY=768 as it is in some other games.

This being the case, as frau kaleun explains in post #3 in this thread, there are more than one options to modify your resolution.

There is a WideScreen GUI project but AFAIK it is not finished and since they have to re-do all GUI objects one by one it may not be finished anytime soon.

I went the other way explained below and works OK so far without constant CTDs.

You can use this (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/downloads.php?do=file&id=1092) "res fix" to have a real CFG file which you can modify and would actually 'change' the game resolution.

Once you apply that res fix, [as mentioned in the included Readme.txt] you can edit the d3d9.cfg file to your liking, like this:
http://i35.tinypic.com/2e0nxfq.png

If you are like me, you would want the highest possible resolution your hardware can provide. However it is important NOT to go stretching way as this distorts pictures and may have negative effects more than distorted pictures if you are going to use any real navigation / manual targetting where every inch counts.

Below is the screenshot of an excel table I've created representing the 'default silent hunter 3 screen ratio' and some common screen resolutions with modern PC hardware.

http://i37.tinypic.com/14d2bsj.png

The listed green resolution options (1280x960 & 1600x1200) DO match exact ratio of the game.

Not many people have hardware supporting 1200px height. For example I have a 1920x1080 screen & ATI video card, therefore I created a custom resolution utilizing the maximum possible height (1080) and then keeping the 1.33 screen ratio I came up with 1440 px width value.

To do this in ATI you can use the HDTV settings like this:
http://i35.tinypic.com/334sn14.png

Then before launching the game you can use the tray icon to switch your screen to "SH3 Mode" with a single click:

http://i33.tinypic.com/2hs16q1.png

With ATI you have to be careful about 59 Hz refresh rate though. Set it to 60 and it'll be ok...

If you have an Nvidia card you dont need to go HDTV, with Nvidia control panel you can create custom screen resolutions directly from the main screen.

Hope this helps...