I've noticed that the default installation has a lot of the options turned down for some reason.

Clicks on "Prefs" at the top, then select the Windows tab and check "Game always fills entire screen" and "Use extra screen real-estate for battle terrain." That should get rid of the black bars during battle.

Under the Battle animation tab, set all the options to max. This will increase the detail of the game.

Under the Terrain tab, set the detail zoom to max. Then check "View follows enemy movement."