So I bought all the available Forgotten Realm games but every single one i am getting really crappy grainy graphics. I know the games are old but screen shots I see of the games show better graphics then the ones I am getting.

Anyone have suggested settings to maximize the graphics on these games?

Try mods.
They improve graphics of BG,PT and other D&D titles .
But I can't tell about freshly released Archive titles.
They must be using dosbox or any other emulator. May be you can tweak them by adjusting emulator configuration.

Probably because the screenshots are smaller than actually playing the game in full screen.

You could try opening graphic settings and changing the scaling engine to hq3x, that would smooth off the pixels.

Or just play the game in a window. Menzo's gfx aren't any worse than say Doom in dosbox, the issue is just the low resolution.

Ok first things first, what graphics card do you have? Hopefully at least EGA, but having one of those fancy new VGA cards wouldn't hurt really.

Second, it is always a good idea to reinstall Windows, so do that too. Just in case.

If all else fails, play the games in genuine MS-DOS, not in a fancy-schmancy Windows environment. Windows is only for productive things like spreadsheets and running WordPerfect for a grocery list. Gaming you really want to do in MS-DOS. Hopefully you have also an Adlib sound card, or better (Pro AudioSpectrum, a true 16-bit sound card with advanced digital effects).

Maybe there is an IRQ conflict. Do check it out! Also, I can't speak enough wonders about QEMM.

Serious answer:

If you have an older non widescreen monitor or if you can get one used try playing the games on that. There will be no stretching and images will show properly without appearing to be ridiculously zoomed in on the main character/party.

Alternatively there are high res mods you can use for the infinity engine games. There's a guide right here on gog to help you http://www.gog.com/news/mod_spotlight_planescape_torment_mods_guide

That shouldn't need an old 4:3 monitor. I'm playing all my old 4:3 games (Windows and DOS(Box)) fine on various 16:9 and 16:10 screens, with the 4:3 aspect ratio. I get the black bars on the sides. Hmm, since he was talking about "Forgotten Realms games", I presumed he was referring to the "Forgotten Realms Archives" games (Goldbox games, Eye of the Beholder 1-3 etc.), not the newer Infinity engine RPGs (even if they have Forgotten Realms setting too)? Those FRA games probably run in DOSBox, so DOSBox config settings should be changed to try to get the correct aspect ratio, and any extra filtering one might want.

There's also the weekend promo for the hasbro D&D games though and since they didn't specify I figured I'd point the guide out.

How do you get the windows games to run in 4:3?

You need to look for the option to "Maintain Aspect Ratio" in the settings of either your video card driver or your monitor.

Thanks. :)

I noticed this as well. Scan lines across the viewport, and very slow movement. Not to mention a lot of the text, menu options for instance didn't show up or highlight properly. Have only quickly checked por and eob 1 so far though.

I just bought all the FR titles that where bought over the weekend. They do use DoSBoX to play them and have config settings box. I played with it a while but still getting really really bad graphics, even for the games i bought which i expected to not be the best.

I have 2 560ti's SLI'd currently.

Ill try to play with the settings some.

Lol, you do know right that these games use absolutely no hardware acceleration at all? It doesn't matter what video card you use, dosbox just uses your processor.

There's nothing wrong with the graphics with these games, that's just all they're capable of. People had 14" CRT monitors if they were lucky back then. Most are now trying to play them on 27 or 28" widescreen LCD's....that's over twice the screen area for games that are around 320*240 resolution or so.

There are some filtering options in Dosbox, but it mostly just makes things look more blurry.

You know the old saying "you can't make a silk purse from the hairs of a pigs arse". They're fine old games, but the only way to make them look better is to remake them or use an old appropriate sized CRT.

Edit: or you could emulate the Amiga versions