Forcing WS resolution on non-WS monitor - is it a VBT?

[Annan]

Since I changed from my widescreen laptop to the non-widescreen monitor I use with my desktop, the game only lets me see either wants/fears or motives when playing in windowed mode. This is full of suck and made of fail. If I play in fullscreen I can see both, but then I can't multitask like I want to.

I've started thinking that if I could make the game think it's on a widescreen monitor that's as wide as my monitor is, but less high, it'd let me see both. I'm fine with having "unused" screen over and under the sims window. However, this might not work. I'm also slightly worried this might be a VBT, since I don't know a lot about monitors and what might be bad for them.

The monitor has a native resolution of 1024x768, which is also what the game resolution is set at both for fullscreen and windowed.

[purplebunny]

I can't see it as being a bad thing, myself, as I do the exact opposite... play in full screen mode on a widescreen laptop. I just had to tweak a few settings with my video card to do so.

Though maybe I should contemplate actually setting the game up to run in widescreen mode one of these days... would've made filming in widescreen a lot easier.

[J. M. Pescado]

Windowed resolutions can be set to anything without harm. It is not possible to set your fullscreen resolution to a resolution that is not supported by your monitor, your monitor simply will not do it and the effort will fail.

[Khan of Wyrms]

I do not use windowed mode, but presumably would you not have to run the resolution of windowed mode at less than the monitor's native in order to have the whole game viewable in the window?  The task bar takes up space on the screen, for one.  As far as I know you can force the game into virtually any resolution you want to without permanent damage to the game using shortcut tags. 

WINDOWED MODE
-------------
To run The Sims 2 Seasons Expansion Pack in windowed mode, first create a shortcut to the game by right-clicking on sims2ep5.exe and selecting "Create Shortcut." Then, right-click the shortcut and select properties. At the end of the "target" line, add a space and the text "-w" (without quotes). Click OK, and then launch the game by double-clicking on the shortcut. Running the game in a window will allow you to more easily switch between different programs, but please note that running other programs at the same time as The Sims 2 will be detrimental to the game's performance. Also note that edge scrolling does not function in windowed mode. If you experience any graphical anomalies, please make sure your desktop is set to 32-bit color.

Other command line options:

 -w      windowed mode
 -f        fullscreen mode
 -nosound   run with no sound
 -r800x600   run at 800 x 600 resolution
-r(w)x(h)   run at (w) x (h) resolution

[Annan]

KoW - you mean I should lower the resolution instead? I think I've tried that, but it failed.

[Khan of Wyrms]

KoW - you mean I should lower the resolution instead? I think I've tried that, but it failed.

You tried the instructions as outlined in the TS2 'readme' that I quoted?

I would assume that the resolution would definitely have to be lower than the overall monitor resolution, otherwise you would not be able to see the whole game in the window.  I could be wrong, but I don't see how Windows or TS2 would automatically scale the game to fit in your window.  Maybe someone who uses windowed mode can give you an idea of a good resolution to use?

[Annan]

Yes, I did yesterday, and tried it first with 1024x768 since PlaidSquirrel said that had solved it for her, and then on a widescreen setting that, like Pes said, did nothing. That's why I assumed I'd have to tinker with the game itself somehow, but I guess I wasn't clear on that in my OP.

I have tried to change to lower graphics settings in the in-game menu, but it didn't work. I'm beginning to think I'm SOL.

[J. M. Pescado]

If you are running it Windowed, the resolution must necessarily be smaller than your desktop resolution is, or it overhang the edges of your desktop and not be visible.

[Argon]

Resolutions below 768 vertical height will break up the game menus into the expanding junk. Since the native resolution on your monitor is 1024x768, you'd have to reduce the  vertical resolution. Thus, the stupid broken up menus.

There's no way around it, short of buying a new monitor. There is no magic setting that will avoid this, I tried using a lower resolution on my 16:10 (normal wide screen for pcs, real widescreen is 16:9) laptop and it broke up all the menus. Luckily my native resolution is 1440x900 on my laptop and 1680x1050 on my desktop so it's not an issue.

[Annan]

Hm. From what I gather though, 1024x768 is a pretty common native resolution, which would mean that this is a very common problem - but I've pretty much only heard about it from two people before. Does everyone else just (wo)man up and bear it?

[Venusy]

I think most people with 1024x768 monitors play in fullscreen mode, and so don't notice the problem (I don't use windowed mode that often, but when I do, this drives me up the wall).

[Annan]

Right. Keep your fingers crossed I'm getting a new screen for my birthday, then.

[Gwill]

Not trying to be snide (honestly), but do they still make monitors with native resolutions as low as 1024x768?
My 19" CRT monitor is at least five years old and it runs 1280x960, 32 bit colour, at 85 hertz, with no problem at all.

[Khan of Wyrms]

Not trying to be snide (honestly), but do they still make monitors with native resolutions as low as 1024x768?
My 19" CRT monitor is at least five years old and it runs 1280x960, 32 bit colour, at 85 hertz, with no problem at all.

It is my understanding that CRT monitors do not suffer from native resolution issues, since CRT monitors do not have a native resolution.  Although, 1024x768 does seem a bit low for a native resolution.

[Gwill]

* Gwill swears to CRT monitors for that exact reason

[Annan]

See, this is what I get for thinking I know what I'm talking about - Mr Kofi says this is a CRT monitor, which means this is a non-issue?

[Gwill]

If it's big and bulky it's a CRT monitor.  If it's flat and slim it's an LCD monitor.  It's hard to get them mixed up if you know that.
Is it possible to set the resolution higher than 1024x768?  Try it.  You might have to skimp on some of the other settings, but unless you're a photoshop pro you can go from 32-bit colour to 16-bit without noticing much difference.  And unless you spend more than 8 hours a day in front of said monitor, the frequency could be lowered to around 70 or75 hertz.

[Annan]

I don't know why I thought I couldn't change the settings, but of course I could. I changed the resolution and now the menus aren't broken up anymore.

Feel free to poke for stupidity.

[Gwill]

*poke*

[witch]