Scalers

[GuJiaXian]

I just beat Ultima VI for the first time in many years and reinstalled Exult. I set things up but, when in-game, I'm finding the default 320x200 window almost too small to see on my monitor. I really do like the default scaler (the "scalable" ones are way too pixelated for me).

So, is there any way to keep 320x200 and the default scaler while still having the game display large enough on my screen that I can actually see details within the game?

[GuJiaXian]

No one has any ideas?

[N]

It's pretty easy. I'm assuming that you've read the documentation. If you're still having troubles then I you'll need to post more details about your problem. I've used Exult for years and never run into the problem that you're describing. I'm sure most other people on the forums feel the same way.

[N]

Here's a description of where the config file is:
http://exult.info/docs.php#exult_config_location

Here's the video setup:
http://exult.info/docs.php#Video

Not trying to be snappy or anything, but it'd help to know a bit more about your setup to figure out the problem.

[GuJiaXian]

What else do you need to know? I'm running Windows Vista at 1680x1050. With Exult set at 320x200, the Exult window is really small--I can barely make out detail, which makes playing the game difficult. Of course I can bump up the Exult resolution, but this just increases the viewable distance (which, as the link you posted points out, is technically cheating) and does nothing about making what you see in the Exult window actually bigger.

That's where scalers come in. If I use Point scaling, for example, I can set it at 3x or 4x, which makes the 320x200 Exult window pretty much fill my monitor. At that point I can definitely see the fine details in the same, but the actual graphics quality drops dramatically--Point looks terrible compared to 2xSaI (the Exult default).

In a nutshell, I'm wondering (hoping against hope) if there's a way, via Exult or perhaps via Windows, to take that 2xSaI 320x200 screen and have it fill a larger part of my monitor.

[GuJiaXian]

For the record, here's the contents of my exult.cfg file:






C:\Games\Ultima VII\Ultima 7 part 1 - The Black Gate


(default)


sqsfxbg.flx




C:\Games\Ultima VII\Ultima 7 part 2 - Serpent Isle


(default)


sqsfxsi.flx




1




yes



yes


gs




yes


digital



no


0




no


0



1.0000


-1


yes




yes



no




yes


no


no


yes


no


no


no


no


no



0


original


no



8


yes


no


-1


-1




320


200


2


SuperEagle


no


no



1.00


1.00


1.00



5




blackgate


gimp-remote -n



475


184

[Jayson]

Well, if you don't want to use Scalers... change your resolution? The lower you set the resolution in Vista, the larger the "window" will appear. Not elegant, but it works. At 800x600, it should be fairly usable.

[GuJiaXian]

Ugh, you're right...that isn't a very elegant solution. Sigh, it may be my only option...

[GuJiaXian]

One additional question: any idea why the full screen option doesn't work? I turn it on, hit OK, and absolutely nothing happens. When I go back into the graphics options, full screen is disabled again.

Very annoying.

[Dominus]

HQ3x or use the point scaler with higher factors.
Otherwise there is no help than Jayson's idea.

(edit, fixed some horrible spelling...)

[GuJiaXian]

Thanks, Dominus. Any ideas why full screen won't work?

[Dominus]

yes, full screen not working is a problem mainly caused by a mixture of modern graphics cards, drivers and monitors...
It seems when 320x200 is reported as not supprted by either (graphics card, driver, monitor) then Exult will not switch to fullscreen. Mostly it will work when you switch to fullscreen, exit Exult and then restart it (if that doesn't work, editing the exult.cfg and enabling full screen there should do it).
Or if you run Exult in a higher resolution and with scaler.
We have no idea yet on how to fix this, since it *should* work with the scaled Exult but doesn't.
Sadly also applies to Exult running on Mac, Linux...

[_Olarin]

toggling around between different settings can sometimes work too - for instance, on my mac, if i'm at 300x200 and try to go to fullscreen, it won't go, but if i set it at a higher resolution - i think 640x480 usually works right - *then* set it fullscreen, *then* set it back to 300x200, it'll stay fullscreen and fill the screen (mostly) with the 320x200.