Edit: This Topic is 'Solved' but not sure how to add that to the main thread?
General info: I am running X2 under Windows 7 Pro with all used exe's in this small guide set to 'Administrator' privileges mode.
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Ok i have a 'fix' for the issue above i was talking about. I tried many things and in the end had one solution, and just saw this thread on GOG that will help others:
https://www.gog.com/forum/nox/a_possible_allround_solution_for_window_mode_bugs_etc That was to find a fix for the game Nox, but the basic info will work for X2 The Threat, as i will detail below.
1. use that thread above to get the latest version of the mentioned DxWnd program.
2. When you run the dxwnd.exe it will pop up a small screen with some options in it.
First we need to 'Add' X2-The Threat as it is not part of the softwares bundled game configurations. So we click:
Edit>Add
Which will bring up the 'Main' configuration window for DxWnd. You need to look for the 'Path:' button and make sure that points to your X2.exe in the GOG installation path. Once you have that we have just a few other things to check while we keep most options as defaults (the configuration window will have those set-up when you first 'Add' a new game etc).
3. at the very bottom is the 'Window initial position&size' section. For getting X2 to position the window where i want i changed the defaults to this:
x=1 y=1 w=1600 h=1024
This was to ensure that on my native 1920x1080 display the window for X2 will start on the top left of the screen, which gives me the space on the right to run my GPU and system monitoring tools (GPU-Z etc). It's just the way i prefer to set up my gaming.
4. in the 'Video' tab down in the 'Screen Resolution' section i select 'SVGA' and put the same resolution of 1600x1024 (so whatever window resolution you are looking for make sure this matches what you have set in the 'Main' tab).
5. This last bit fixed an issue i had where the game would run fine, but the Nvidia and Egosoft credits would not show (you can still hear them) and also the in-game videos where people are talking inside a cut scene (the mission briefings where ok though) did not display (like the pop-up head of Bannon in the opening cut scene etc). Anyway this fixed it:
Under the 'DirextX' tab make sure that 'DirectX version Hook' is set to 'DirectX8' (what X2 uses) and not left on the default 'Automatic'. This way all video will render correctly.
After you have made these changes you should see the X2.exe symbol in the small window of DxWnd and when you close the program you will get a prompt to save the changes, so agree to that.
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DxWnd is a pretty complex beast, so much so that i had to find what i think is a slightly unusual way to get X2 to run, with the window settings i wanted. So with DxWnd set up as above for X2, we need to do this process to run the game X2.
1. launch DxWnd. Note you should see the X2.exe symbol in the window.
2. now launch GOG's X2 - The Threat via it's icon on your desktop
(the normal process to launch a game in DxWnd is to right-click on the icon in DxWnd and select 'Run', but this did not work for me with X2)
3. when you get the X2 configuration start up box, we need to go into the 'Graphic Resolution' settings and make sure we are in Fullscreen mode (this gives the widest choice of screen resolutions to pick) and in the example i've given here, make sure the screen is set at 1600x1024x32.
I also switch of 'Automatic Quality' (as this can reduce graphic detail in some situations), and make sure Bumpmaps and Shadows are both ticked.
Then i click 'Start X2' and it will start in a proper window (with a short DxWnd intro graphic before the game starts), at the correct position i want. All the HUD elements are correct (no cut off sections) and the game plays perfectly.
I hope this helps others looking to get the most out of GOG's X2 game.
