monitor's minimum resolution

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Dave Allen
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monitor's minimum resolution

Post by Dave Allen »

My monitor's MINIMUM resolution is 800x600.
I just bought an old game on STEAM, Lords of Magic: Special Edition, and it runs ONLY in 640x480.
I've tried all the compatibility fixes, but the best I can get is a black screen with the game's cursor that I can move around.
Is it my monitor that is the problem?
Jesus said, "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body."[Matt 10:28] God can totally destroy us.

Jesus also said, "For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”[John 6:40] Eternal life is conditional.

His disciple John wrote, "Whoever has the Son has eternal life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have eternal life. [1 John 5:12] Eternal life is optional.
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Anonymous Bosch
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Re: monitor's minimum resolution

Post by Anonymous Bosch »

Dave Allen wrote: Tue Aug 31, 2021 6:54 pm My monitor's MINIMUM resolution is 800x600.
I just bought an old game on STEAM, Lords of Magic: Special Edition, and it runs ONLY in 640x480.
I've tried all the compatibility fixes, but the best I can get is a black screen with the game's cursor that I can move around.
Is it my monitor that is the problem?
You may be able to play it windowed if you use the dgVoodoo 2 graphics wrapper. The Lords of Magic entry on PCGamingWiki provides instructions on how to use it.
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Re: monitor's minimum resolution

Post by Blackhawk »

PC Gaming Wiki is your #1 stop before playing any game, and that goes triple for older titles. It will tell you any issues before you encounter them, and it will walk you through the fixes.

It is an essential site.
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Dave Allen
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Re: monitor's minimum resolution

Post by Dave Allen »

I followed (exactly) all the instructions to run LoM with the dgVoodoo 2 graphics wrapper, but still get a black screen with only game cursor. I then fiddled with settings. No luck. Also, tried another third-party, DxWnd. Still nothing.

:grund: five hours later, I've finally come across a game I can't play with my system, but I think its the monitor's limitation. And I don't have the will to swap out my monitor for one stupid game. :evil:

Thanks for trying to help, guys!
Jesus said, "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body."[Matt 10:28] God can totally destroy us.

Jesus also said, "For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”[John 6:40] Eternal life is conditional.

His disciple John wrote, "Whoever has the Son has eternal life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have eternal life. [1 John 5:12] Eternal life is optional.
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Anonymous Bosch
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Re: monitor's minimum resolution

Post by Anonymous Bosch »

Try posting about the difficulty you're having with Lords of Magic SE in the Windows forum of VOGONS and/or their dgVoodoo forum. The boffins there should be able to provide you with more specific guidance.
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Re: monitor's minimum resolution

Post by Smoove_B »

I'd also suggest checking the GOG forums. They seem to excel at making these kinds of games work on modern hardware. If there are tweaks needed, I'm guessing you're going to find them there.
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Re: monitor's minimum resolution

Post by Victoria Raverna »

If you use Nvidia graphic card, you can try to set the resolution scaling to use GPU. With that, the GPU will try to scale any lower resolution to the default resolution of the monitor.
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Re: monitor's minimum resolution

Post by Kasey Chang »

Is this running through DOSBOX? You can probably configure DOSbox config to make it emulate a higher resolution window.

https://www.dosgamers.com/dos/dosbox-do ... resolution
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Re: monitor's minimum resolution

Post by Anonymous Bosch »

Dave Allen wrote: Tue Aug 31, 2021 9:43 pm I followed (exactly) all the instructions to run LoM with the dgVoodoo 2 graphics wrapper, but still get a black screen with only game cursor. I then fiddled with settings. No luck. Also, tried another third-party, DxWnd. Still nothing.

:grund: five hours later, I've finally come across a game I can't play with my system, but I think its the monitor's limitation. And I don't have the will to swap out my monitor for one stupid game. :evil:

Thanks for trying to help, guys!
Here's another suggestion that may help you get the game running properly:
steamcommunity.com wrote:I had this exact same error message, tried all compatibility modes, disabling windows defender, etc. Ended up solving the problem by going to windows features in control panel (just type "windows features" in start bar and it should come up), then checking "Direct Play" under the "Legacy Components" tab. Started right up without needing compatibility mode or anything when I did that.
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Dave Allen
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Re: monitor's minimum resolution

Post by Dave Allen »

LoM is not a DOS game, and the DirectPlay under Legacy Components in Windows features WAS checked.
I'll post in those forums next.
Jesus said, "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body."[Matt 10:28] God can totally destroy us.

Jesus also said, "For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”[John 6:40] Eternal life is conditional.

His disciple John wrote, "Whoever has the Son has eternal life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have eternal life. [1 John 5:12] Eternal life is optional.
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Re: monitor's minimum resolution

Post by hitbyambulance »

Dave Allen wrote: Tue Aug 31, 2021 9:43 pm :grund: five hours later, I've finally come across a game I can't play with my system, but I think its the monitor's limitation. And I don't have the will to swap out my monitor for one stupid game. :evil:

Thanks for trying to help, guys!


the thing is to not give up. there is almost always a way to get any given older Windows game to run under Windows 10. (and any DOS game is ably handled by DOSBox on any system, these days)
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Dave Allen
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Re: monitor's minimum resolution

Post by Dave Allen »

Anonymous Bosch wrote: Tue Aug 31, 2021 7:15 pm You may be able to play it windowed if you use the dgVoodoo 2 graphics wrapper. The Lords of Magic entry on PCGamingWiki provides instructions on how to use it.
I had an old update (from 2007) that was causing this.
I found a newer update/patch (from 2017) that makes it work.
There was then mouse stutter/lag, but using the dgVoodoo video wrapper solved this. All good now! :D
Jesus said, "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body."[Matt 10:28] God can totally destroy us.

Jesus also said, "For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”[John 6:40] Eternal life is conditional.

His disciple John wrote, "Whoever has the Son has eternal life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have eternal life. [1 John 5:12] Eternal life is optional.
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