Problem using cnc-ddraw

[FooAtari]

Hi, looking for some help.

 

I have been trying to use cnc-draw to run CnC95 in an unscaled window.

 

I have copied the ddraw.dll into the cnc folder and have the latest 1.06 patch.  As detailed on the sitehttp://hifi.iki.fi/cnc-ddraw/#configuration, I have set the resolution to 1024x768 via ccsetup, set the correct hardware options and disabled all compatibility options.  But I the game will not run in windowed mode (yes it's enabled in ddraw.ini), it just runs in 1024 res at full screen.

 

I've changed various options and settings to no avail.  Thing is, I'm sure all was OK last time I played several weeks ago.  But can't think what might have changed since then to effect this...

 

Thanks

[Nyerguds]

Do you run C&C95 from the game folder?

[FooAtari]

Thanks for the reply.

 

Nope, I run it from a shortcut.

 

Just to make sure, it is possible to run the game in a 640 x 400 window while having the resolution set to 1024x768 in ccsetup?

[pichorra]

Yeah, it's a OpenGL miracle, but it isn't recommended. Set your DDraw.ini config reso. bigger than that one in ccsetup.

 

windowed=true ; this should make cnc95 run in Window mode.

[FooAtari]

Hmmm. So you really should be using a window resolution bigger than that set in ccsetup.  Which in this case I'm not.

 

Why is it not recommended? Just because it causes the problems I'm getting? or are there other reasons?

[hifi]

You can't downscale the game in a way it would still look nice.

 

Try starting C&C from the game exe directly when the dll is installed in the same folder. If you are using Wine or something then you need to do additional configuration but you didn't say so so I don't expect that.

 

There is a bug in cnc-ddraw that it doesn't read the configuration from the right directory, BUT it should still default to windowed mode when there is no configuration file at all.

[FooAtari]

When you say not nice, do you mean the menu being a bit screwed with zooming issues? Previously the menu during game-play would be half off the screen, but I was happy to put up with that.

 

Here is what I have been trying to achieve.  I have a desktop, laptop and netbook and I play CnC on all of them. Particularly as I am spending a lot of time in hospital at the moment so swap my saves between the desktop and netbook.

 

I know about the incompatibilities between game saves for low and high resolution. I run it on a higher resolution on the PC, but the netbook screen res is 1024x600.  I can run the game on 1024 x 768 but everything is too small and uncomfortable to use, it's just too high a res for the netbook screen. And the aspect ratio is all screwed as well, stretching the image.

 

So I had the genius idea (or so I thought) of setting the game res on the netbook to 1024x768 and then using cnc-ddraw to run the game at 640x400 with the window setting set to false.

 

As I said, I'm sure this was working fine last time I played the game on the netbook (but maybe my memory is failing me). The menus were a bit messed up but importantly I could use the save game files from the PC on the netbook and run the game at a usable resolution.

 

But if I'm wasting my time here I suppose I'll just download end of mission game saves to continue with the game if I swap which PC I'm playing it on.  I'll just need to ensure I complete a mission on the computer I started it on!

 

Tried what you said and didn't really make any difference. Didn't get the game windowed in original resolution. Not sure result I should expect? And no I'm not running the game in Linux, Windows. I tend to keep my gaming and "everything else" separated between Win and Linux

[Nyerguds]

Thanks for the reply.

 

Nope, I run it from a shortcut.

Make sure the starting folder in the shortcut's properties is set to the game directory.

 

Just to make sure, it is possible to run the game in a 640 x 400 window while having the resolution set to 1024x768 in ccsetup?

Umm, no. Obviously the window will be at least the game resolution, otherwise you'd lose detail by scaling down the image, which probably means you won't be able to see the difference between a grenadier and a minigunner ingame. If you want to have a 640x400 window, you should just play in 640x400. cnc-ddraw never does downscaling.

 

The opposite works perfectly though; stretching 640x400 to 1024x768.

[FooAtari]

Thanks for the info. Will know better next time

[Milkey Wilkey]

I have a 17" TFT with aspect ratio 5:4 (native resolution is 1280x1024) and connected via D-sub. the problem is in it aspect ratio, because if I try to set resolution to 640x400 and stretch it to 640x480, the game will stretch to fill full screen. is there any solution to add borders to top and bottom of the screen (not that giant black fields of non-stretched 640x400) to keep 4:3 aspect ratio?

P.S. if I try to stretch to any 4:3 resolution, it also fills full screen

[Jacko]

play it in windowed mode?

[FunkyFr3sh]

On 7/16/2013 at 8:12 PM, Milkey Wilkey said:

I have a 17" TFT with aspect ratio 5:4 (native resolution is 1280x1024) and connected via D-sub. the problem is in it aspect ratio, because if I try to set resolution to 640x400 and stretch it to 640x480, the game will stretch to fill full screen. is there any solution to add borders to top and bottom of the screen (not that giant black fields of non-stretched 640x400) to keep 4:3 aspect ratio?

P.S. if I try to stretch to any 4:3 resolution, it also fills full screen

 

you could play at 640x480 game resolution or try this:

 

Set game resolution to the half of your native resolution (640x512)

Set ddraw stretching to your native resolution (1280x1024)

 

this will look nice and smooth, if the game runs too slow with stretching then try to switch the renderer to opengl

 

...

window mode + 1280x800 stretching is also a good solution if you want to play at the original ratio 16:10 (640x400)

[Milkey Wilkey]

windowed mode works as  intended, but too slow on my system. also, I want not just doublesize original resolution, but stretch it from 16:10 to 4:3, so I must use 1280x960 instead of 1280x800. 

this problem was solved in dosbox - you can set your fullscreen resolution and fixed aspect, so all games will stay in it's true aspect and games with 320x200/640x400 will automatically stretch to 320x240/640x480. it'll be cool to implement that feature in cnc-ddraw

and one more question - can I stop creating of title.pcx?

sorry for not so good english)

[FunkyFr3sh]

currently its not possible to add black bars sadly. It does work with older versions tho, but that would mean you don't have all the new settings from the configuration tool

let me know if you really want it badly, i can puzzle something together

 

why don't you want it to create title.pcx ? it does that to make sure your background is always fullscreen, it happens when you click the ok button in the config

[Nyerguds]

Uhh, I added automatic aspect ratio correcting settings in the CCConfig tool... I don't really see what your problem is.

 

As for title.pcx, there are only 3 ingame (640x400, 800x500 and 1024x640). They're not stretched automatically; the game just has these three.

 

Black bars can be added with the Boxing option ("center" as scaling filter), but that obviously replaces any scaling. I'm not quite sure what you want to do, though... I'd just play on 1280x1024 and enable the aspect ratio correction, which will make you play on 1280x853 stretched to 1280x1024.

[Milkey Wilkey]

ok, this is what I see, when trying to set 640x400 stretched to 640x480 in fullscreen. when I try play on 1280x853 stretched to 1280x1024 I see only white screen and hear sound. the same goes with c&c95

[Jacko]

the menu is usually a bit messed up

do you have the RA launcher menu?

(its a menu which opens things like RAED, Edwin, or the ant missions or normal RA)

[Nyerguds]

C&C will take the title screen just below or equal to your resolution, chosen from the 3 available ones I mentioned. In RA, I have no idea.

 

By the way, if that's supposed to be 640x400 stretched to 640x480, why is the screenshot 640x512? I think you really messed up your settings there...

 

Basic rule for aspect ratio correction is height * 5/6

[FunkyFr3sh]

yes, i also wonder why its 640x512 ?

 

click the reset button and start over again

 

added some pictures since i still don't know what exactly you are looking for

[Milkey Wilkey]

it 640x512 because of I stretch it in paint to show, how it really looks. shot was actually done in 640x480.

do you have the RA launcher menu?

(its a menu which opens things like RAED, Edwin, or the ant missions or normal RA)

yes, I installed the game using http://cnc-comm.com/community/index.php?topic=1918.0 and original ISOs.

added some pictures since i still dont know what exactly you are looking for

the last one. but my monitor connected with D-sub (you all know what it is, blue 15-pin connector) that transmits analog signal and because of this there is no feature to set stretching, or scaling etc in driver and when monitor receives 4:3 image it always stretch it to fill full screen. and now we get not 640x400 stretched to 640x480 but stretched another time to max height (512 in this case). I'm looking for 640x400 stretched to 640x480 and filling extra 32 rows of pixels with blackbars like this.

[FunkyFr3sh]

ah ok

well, its sadly not possible to add these black bars since 640x512 is not a valid resolution

windowed mode is the only option you got

 

edit: i found out why it copied the title.pcx all the time, it was a bug and happened because you entered 640x400 in custom resolution instead of using the 640x400 checkbox

i attached the fixed RedAlertConfig.exe

RedAlertConfig.zip

[Milkey Wilkey]

I hope you'll find a way to finaly fix that issue with aspect correction. like in dosbox or in tonns of doom sourceports c:

[pichorra]

try 640x427. Also put cnc-ddraw to an valid resolution if you use LCD. (1280x1024, try also 1024x768, 800x600). If it is a CRT, you can add a custom resolution in your driver control panel.

 

If you want to maintain that aspect ratio in your monitor, use a 3:2 aspect ratio resolution. that would give you a 640x426,666..., closer to 640x427.

 

About being too slow: what is your system specs? If you got a crappy videocard, try to change the rendering mode to gdi.

[Milkey Wilkey]

well, I found the solution. I just bought an oldschool 15" CRT monitor for 2$ and all problems have disappeared by themselves 

[pichorra]

well, I found the solution. I just bought an oldschool 15" CRT monitor for 2$ and all problems have disappeared by themselves 

 

Nice. CRT ftw. You just can play the games in the resolution it where supposed to run wihout dirty hacks.

[Jacko]

but why not play at a bigger resolution?

The amount of map I can see at once is enormous and the sidebar is awesome.

etc.