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Icewind Dale 2 resolution and "fixes" questions...

Self-Ejected

aweigh

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Aug 23, 2005
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Florida
What would be the best way to embiggen IWD2?

I was reading something about how I should use DxWnd program and have it render the game at 2x integer scale resolution and then throw that into a borderless full-screen, but then in the very same thread I was reading that I should use instead the widescreen mod and just use 720p instead, that the widescreen mod produced better results than DxWnd (less "sharp" but also less blurry or something or other).

Aside from that: what mods are mandatory, if any? I installed the Unlimited Stacking parts of the Fixes Collection mod, skipping everything else for now since I don't know how retarded (or non-retarded) the variety of options may have been.

EDIT: Obviously I'm on a 16:9 monitor.
 

oldmanpaco

Master of Siestas
Joined
Nov 8, 2008
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13,609
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Winter
What would be the best way to embiggen IWD2?

I was reading something about how I should use DxWnd program and have it render the game at 2x integer scale resolution and then throw that into a borderless full-screen, but then in the very same thread I was reading that I should use instead the widescreen mod and just use 720p instead, that the widescreen mod produced better results than DxWnd (less "sharp" but also less blurry or something or other).

Aside from that: what mods are mandatory, if any? I installed the Unlimited Stacking parts of the Fixes Collection mod, skipping everything else for now since I don't know how retarded (or non-retarded) the variety of options may have been.

EDIT: Obviously I'm on a 16:9 monitor.

I've only ever used the widescreen mod and it worked fine. IWD2 doesn't require (or even have) many mods that make it better. It is what it is.

edit: Also wrong forum.
 

Ventidius

Arbiter
Joined
Jul 8, 2017
Messages
552
Yep, the widescreen mod is a must. Also worth mentioning is Aqrit's ddwrapper: http://bitpatch.com/ddwrapper.html

It is highly customizable and allows you to deal with various known issues like cursor flickering. Also, as in all IE games, crank those fps up to 60.
 
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Lyric Suite

Converting to Islam
Joined
Mar 23, 2006
Messages
56,157
Yep, the widescreen mod is a must. Also worth mentioning is Aqrit's ddwrapper: http://bitpatch.com/ddwrapper.html

It is highly customizable and allows you to deal with various known issues like cursor flickering. Also, as in all IE games, crank those fps up to 60.

This seems to work straight out of the box, but still doesn't fix the messed up fog of war. What options should i use for that?
 

DalekFlay

Arcane
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Messages
14,118
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If you have the mods render at a lower res than your monitor I highly recommend setting your GPU to do the scaling. Most computer monitors have ass-tastic resolution scaling, last I checked.
 

Raghar

Arcane
Vatnik
Joined
Jul 16, 2009
Messages
22,499
Set monitor to keep aspect ratio, and rest of it handles GFX card. And don't forget to set compatibility mode for XP.
 

Ventidius

Arbiter
Joined
Jul 8, 2017
Messages
552
Set monitor to keep aspect ratio, and rest of it handles GFX card. And don't forget to set compatibility mode for XP.

This. Also, try switching "BltMirror" from 0 to 1 in the aqrit config.
 
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Lyric Suite

Converting to Islam
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Mar 23, 2006
Messages
56,157
I got rid of the fucked up fog by setting ForceDirectDrawEmulation to 1. Works fine now, but scrolling is woobly. I tried fiddling with the vsync settings but nothing. Guess this is the best that can be done. Can't believe how broken this game is on modern systems compared to the original.
 
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Ventidius

Arbiter
Joined
Jul 8, 2017
Messages
552
I got rid of the fucked up fog by setting ForceDirectDrawEmulation to 1. Works fine now, but scrolling is woobly. I tried fiddling with the vsync settings but nothing. Guess this is the best that can be done. Can't believe how broken this game is on modern systems compared to the original.

Yeah, it really is a shame. Still, perhaps the user ghostdog knows of a fix to the issue.
 

Raghar

Arcane
Vatnik
Joined
Jul 16, 2009
Messages
22,499
sXIDq6Y.png

These are W10 settings.

LcLV7GX.png


And this is configuration utility. It has decent performance.
 

ghostdog

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Dec 31, 2007
Messages
11,079
When I played IWD2 recently I used
-IWD2FIXPACK
-widescreen mod
-IWD2 widescreen GUI Fix

and then launched the game with dxwnd to bypass ddraw problems and play in borderless fullscreen. Oh, I also made a bigger font mod.

HiEd70Q.png


KzZxuDf.png



[EDIT] here are the game configs (maybe it will help those that have trouble)
tSTs8fm.jpg

I've uploaded the fonts and my dxwnd settings for anyone who wants them:
 

Attachments

  • IWD2 Bigger fonts.zip
    17.5 KB · Views: 1,210
  • dxwnd settings IWD2.zip
    446 bytes · Views: 758
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Lyric Suite

Converting to Islam
Joined
Mar 23, 2006
Messages
56,157
When i use dxwnd i can't use the widescreen mod. Game crashes right at launch.
 

Rahdulan

Omnibus
Patron
Joined
Oct 26, 2012
Messages
5,104
When I played IWD2 recently I used
-IWD2FIXPACK
-widescreen mod
-IWD2 widescreen GUI Fix

and then launched the game with dxwnd to bypass ddraw problems and play in borderless fullscreen. Oh, I also made a bigger font mod.

I've uploaded the fonts and my dxwnd settings for anyone who wants them.

Well, you just got me to buy IWD2 on GOG. Accessibility truly is king of sales.
 

Curratum

Guest
So, I'm on a 1920 x 1080 monitor. Using the widescreen patch and UI fix for that resolution results in half-inch characters and text that I need a magnifying glass to read.

What do I do? It's decidedly unplayable when that zoomed out and I can't really play at 1024 x 768 stretched to a widescreen 24 inch monitor either.
 

DalekFlay

Arcane
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Joined
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Messages
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New Vegas
So, I'm on a 1920 x 1080 monitor. Using the widescreen patch and UI fix for that resolution results in half-inch characters and text that I need a magnifying glass to read.

What do I do? It's decidedly unplayable when that zoomed out and I can't really play at 1024 x 768 stretched to a widescreen 24 inch monitor either.

Your options are native res with everything being small or setting a non-native res that works better like 720p but having it be blurry because PCs suck at scaling non-native resolutions. It's kind of a pick your poison deal, there's no clear winner.
 

newtmonkey

Arcane
Joined
Aug 22, 2013
Messages
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Location
Goblin Lair
Sadly, ID2 doesn't support 640x480, otherwise you could use an integer window scalar to scale it 2x to a 1280x960 borderless window centered in your screen (looks great for Baldur's Gate 1&2, Icewind Dale 1, and Fallout 1&2). I think the best choice for this is to just use the widescreen mod but keep it at an equivalent widescreen resolution close to 800x600 to avoid having everyone looking like ants.
 

Curratum

Guest
Thanks, guys! I'll try 1360 x 768, should look passable and a happy medium between stretching to blurry native and everything being tiny.

Edit: This is perfect! Font is just the right size, everything looks great, more or less zoomed in to the point where IE Enhanced Editions are, not too tiny, but with a big viewable area.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

DalekFlay

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Joined
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Messages
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New Vegas
Yeah I played Fallout 1 and 2 at 720p basically and I think it's the perfect size for these types of games. It's just a shame it looks blurry on a 1080p monitor, but oh wells. It's the best of the flawed options.
 

Curratum

Guest
1360 x 768 looks pretty damn fine, there is no obvious blurring to my eyes.
 

Lyric Suite

Converting to Islam
Joined
Mar 23, 2006
Messages
56,157
Does the scrolling wobble? I can't seem to be able to get rid of that.
 

newtmonkey

Arcane
Joined
Aug 22, 2013
Messages
1,725
Location
Goblin Lair
Addition:

The Lossless Scaling app on Steam actually has a 1.5X scale option for 800x600 games. This gets you a 1,200x900 borderless window in the middle of your screen. I tested it with Icewind Dale 1/2 and Arcanum and it works, but it's not ideal because it's not an integer. Still, it's another option. You can apply AA within the app to improve things somewhat, but then you're getting into Enhanced Edition blurry filtering territory. Icewind Dale 1 looks MUCH better running at 640x480 with a 2X scale.
 

Sigourn

uooh afficionado
Joined
Feb 6, 2016
Messages
5,623
I play games in windowed mode, vanilla resolution. It strains the eyes after a while, but then again I never play cRPGs for long (over 2 hours) periods of time, so it never gets annoying. Plus drawing my monitor forwards helps.

ghostdog I've had issues with Baldur's Gate 2's 3D Acceleration setting being buggy on my computer, especifically with weird "grids" being drawn over the menues for instance. Is there any way for me to fix this? Disabling 3D Acceleration sucks because the fog of war and spells end up looking shittier.
 

ghostdog

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Dec 31, 2007
Messages
11,079
ghostdog I've had issues with Baldur's Gate 2's 3D Acceleration setting being buggy on my computer, especifically with weird "grids" being drawn over the menues for instance. Is there any way for me to fix this? Disabling 3D Acceleration sucks because the fog of war and spells end up looking shittier.

The dxwnd tool mentioned above will probably fix this. You could also try this ddraw fix.
 

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