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General discussionGames look too small on Windows 10...(14 posts)(14 posts)
(14 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted January 14, 2019
I have had constant problems getting a number of games I bought and enjoyed from Steam and GOG to run on Windows 10.

The biggest problem is everything looks too small. This not only applies to old retro games from the 80s and 90s but also games I bought in the 2000s. DOSBox appears as this very tiny little window screen and I cannot seem to change the resolution on it without Windows 10 telling me that this is not the optimal resolution.

I play Age of Empires II on Steam on occasion and that game looks so spaced out on my screen I can barely click on the icons or see anything that isn't big. Same goes for a number of other games I bought that were made in the 2000s, in fact anything that's older than 2010 - 2011 has problems with the screen looking too small.

SCUMMVM is the application I used for point and click games. I don't use it anymore since I have beaten most of the point and click games I wanted to buy and play, but the other day I was testing the application and that too comes up small. Windows 10 again reminds me that the program is not in the optimal resolution even though I tried tinkering with the resolution settings in the Control Panel.

Then again, it's Microsoft. I used DOSBox since Windows XP and it ran perfect. Then I went on to Windows Vista and later Windows 7, again no problems. Same with Steam. Then Windows 10 comes around and I have had various issues getting these games to run.

It's very frustrating.
Posted January 14, 2019
High resolution monitor. Try lowering the resolution of games.
Posted January 14, 2019
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DryMango: I have had constant problems getting a number of games I bought and enjoyed from Steam and GOG to run on Windows 10.

The biggest problem is everything looks too small. This not only applies to old retro games from the 80s and 90s but also games I bought in the 2000s. DOSBox appears as this very tiny little window screen and I cannot seem to change the resolution on it without Windows 10 telling me that this is not the optimal resolution.

I play Age of Empires II on Steam on occasion and that game looks so spaced out on my screen I can barely click on the icons or see anything that isn't big. Same goes for a number of other games I bought that were made in the 2000s, in fact anything that's older than 2010 - 2011 has problems with the screen looking too small.

SCUMMVM is the application I used for point and click games. I don't use it anymore since I have beaten most of the point and click games I wanted to buy and play, but the other day I was testing the application and that too comes up small. Windows 10 again reminds me that the program is not in the optimal resolution even though I tried tinkering with the resolution settings in the Control Panel.

Then again, it's Microsoft. I used DOSBox since Windows XP and it ran perfect. Then I went on to Windows Vista and later Windows 7, again no problems. Same with Steam. Then Windows 10 comes around and I have had various issues getting these games to run.

It's very frustrating.
For dosbox games there is an option for full screen.
Posted January 14, 2019
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.Ra: For dosbox games there is an option for full screen.
There's also a option for how much you want to stretch it. Usually 2x or 3x is what you'd use, but maybe 4x is an option too.

Look for 'scaler'. it will look like this.

scaler=normal2x

change to

scaler=normal3x

If you try to use one o the other options, it will dedicate perhaps too much work on simulating Higher resolution emulation or TV scanlines, not what you really need, i prefer raw speed (plus they can just sap so much of your CPU cycles for no good reason)
Attachments:
scaler.png (24 Kb)
Posted January 14, 2019
If you want to try a different approach, Windows 10 does have fairly good DPI options.

I forget where to find them, though.
Posted January 14, 2019
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Darvond: If you want to try a different approach, Windows 10 does have fairly good DPI options.

I forget where to find them, though.
Probably in the themes and related areas...
Posted January 14, 2019
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Darvond: If you want to try a different approach, Windows 10 does have fairly good DPI options.

I forget where to find them, though.
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rtcvb32: Probably in the themes and related areas...
Fair enough, I've been looking at this for a season or two.
Attachments:
screenshot_20190.png (127 Kb)
Posted January 14, 2019
Took a bit but found out it was quite easy.

You need to change the resolution, at least to 640 x 480p. A lot of these old games had low resolution so you have to go to DOSBox config and save the file after you change it.

Still can't get rid of that annoying Windows 10 pop up regarding resolution.
Posted January 14, 2019
For Dosbox try this https://www.gog.com/forum/archimedean_dynasty/integer_scaling_the_key_to_a_sharp_fullscreen_image

(Many gog games include DOSBox 0.74 version and not 0.74-2, so i suggest to use the new version or DOSBox ECE)
Post edited January 14, 2019 by FulVal
Posted January 14, 2019
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DryMango: Took a bit but found out it was quite easy.

You need to change the resolution, at least to 640 x 480p. A lot of these old games had low resolution so you have to go to DOSBox config and save the file after you change it.

Still can't get rid of that annoying Windows 10 pop up regarding resolution.
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Posted January 14, 2019
scaling?
Posted January 14, 2019
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swsoboleski89: scaling?
I could have sworn i suggested this.
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rtcvb32: Look for 'scaler'. it will look like this.

scaler=normal2x
Posted January 14, 2019
It took me a while to understand how to play games on a high resolution screen too. couple of things I can share:

- newer games (c. 2000-2005) like Divine Divinity or Age of Wonders 2 have a setup.exe in the game's folder for you to tweak. try lower resolutions until one works for you.
- a couple of older games (c. 1996-2000 like Jagged Alliance 2) have an .ini file which you can modify to a lower resolution to make them more playable (such as 1024 x 768). very little fiddling, easy to do.
- a lot of games have widescreen fan patches too (such as Fallout 1/2, Infinity engine games, Ultima 7 etc). you have to look for them, but the GOG subforums are a good place for that!
- usually DosBox or SCUMVM games are fine from the get go (the ones from GOG anyway). you can always change the settings in their config files.

the thing is there's no single solution for every game... when you install an old game, run it, and do some research online (GOG subforums, reddit...) to know what to do.

don't give up though, there's always a solution. it's such a great feeling once you found out how to make a game work.
Posted January 14, 2019
I actually have little trouble running most Dosbox games (I use SVN-Daum dosbox, as it is made specifically for gaming use and has many extras not included in the standard Dosbox) at my native resolution of 3840x2160 in WIn10x64. You just have to plug in your native resolution into the appropriate DOSbox config file found in your game directory--also--very important--in most cases you can change your output = direct3d, which you want--because using overlay, for instance, will indeed result in a tiny game run at the center of a black screen, etc. D3d supports all of the modern resolutions in software--but overlay, etc.--usually *does not!* The games will scale up to the appropriate resolution you set when using direct3d, and look a bit better than original fullscreen--but not terribly much "better."

http://ykhwong.x-y.net/

Use the Jan 25, 2015 version, as it is perfectly compatible with Win10x64, even the latest Insider build (which I run at home.)
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General discussionGames look too small on Windows 10...(14 posts)(14 posts)
(14 posts)