Anyone else own a highres widescreen? CAS screen issues

[OpiumGirl]

1. I have the worst trouble trying to create Pets with my 1680x1050 resolution.  The problem with this is that the side tab (where you choose skintone, clothing, aspiration and such) covers the Pets' faces almost completely.  The only view I can really see is side view.  Even if I zoom out, there is only so far I can go, and it's not far enough to see the full face features..
Another problem (which was a problem with any/all versions of Sims 2) is that I am unable to take screenshots in the CAS window at this resolution because, once again, the sidebar covers much of the important parts. I have no problem with smaller resolutions, but then the quality and size is diminished while using the smaller settings.
I'm wondering if anyone who owns a widescreen has found a way around this....

2. Is there any way to make Bodyshop run at a higher resolution than 1024x768?  It's tiny when run at 1680x1050...

I'm guessing I'm not the only one with this issue, so I'm here to implore those more awesomely than I for a little hand holding and/or advice.

Thank you muchly for any help!

[chordin]

I have the same resolution and the same problem. I think that EA has just been really lazy. It shouldn's be so difficult to anchor the sidebar into the side of the screen.
 For me, it's not so big problem because I mainly breed my sims and pets. But i would still love to hear a solution for the problem.

[MsMaria]

I have a widescreen on my second computer but don't play the sims on it. I had intended to load it there as well, but not now. Thanks for the "heads up".

[Theo]

If you inspect the UI Data files, you can find snippets like this:

<LEGACY clsid=GZWinFlatRect iid=IGZWinFlatRect id=0x0000a001 area=(0,0,550,558) fillcolor=(0,0,0) winflag_visible=yes winflag_enabled=yes winflag_moveable=yes winflag_sizeable=no winflag_sortable=no winflag_pbuff=no winflag_pbufftrans=yes winflag_pbufferase=yes winflag_alphablend=no winflag_acceptfocus=yes winflag_mousetrans=no winflag_ignoremouse=no colorleft=(0,0,0) colortop=(0,0,0) colorright=(0,0,0) colorbottom=(0,0,0) style=nofill >

You may notice that the window element sizes are specified in pixels, and are pretty much hardcoded. It appears there is an align attribute, but that's as far as it goes for layout control.

So in principle, you'll have to tweak these files to correct your layout. However, there's a program called BodyShop Mechanic at MTS2 (sorry for no link, as MTS is currently down) that managed to run BodyShop at different resolutions IIRC, but I don't know if it tweaked the UI Data files.

[OpiumGirl]

lol, MSMAria...Glad to be of service! But, it looks amazing in widescreen while playing!  I wouldn't go back, even if I could never take another screenshot in CAS!

Theo, Thanks very, very much for that information.  I will check out the Bodyshop Mechanic.
The first part of your answer, about adjusting the alignment, am I correct in assuming that that pertains to CAS in-game?  Not bodyshop?

I agree that EA or Maxis has neglected us widescreen users (which is nowhere near a new concept in the gaming and computer world)...It's great that the game runs in widescreen, but I don't understand why it couldn't be adjusted for CAS to run it correctly as well. Ya'd think, but nah...lol

[PandaGirl]

i have the same issues  i love it in widescreen it's so pretty! but i find i have to change the resolution to use CAS and then change it back when i'm done. it's a huge pain in the arse. maybe one day EA will fix it.... or release a special widescreen friendly life stories bullshit

[jsalemi]

I hate to send anyone there, but I had a problem getting the game to display properly in widescreen on my laptop, and I found the solution over on the BBS. However, here's a link to another site that has similar info: http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=434