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High Resolution Displays - 12/18/2021 2:00:45 AM   
pzgndr

 

Posts: 3170
Joined: 3/18/2004
From: Maryland
Status: offline 		I tried addressing high resolution displays with the v1.24.00 Beta:
quote:

- UI scaled up about 40-50% as it is tiny on a modern screen size - resolved (additional resolutions of 1600x1200 and 1920x1440 now supported).


I am finding that this is NOT resolved. In fact, the section of code that I made changes in, the "setscreen()" function, does not appear to be used by the program. To the point where I commented out that whole section and the game still ran the same. What I am finding is more troublesome. That top menu bar has two bitmap images in \Graphics\ui\windows, tbbkimage and tibkimage. The program is set to use those images at their default resolutions, and then the buttons and text are added. On high resolution displays, that all appears too small to read. Same for the bottom menu bar. I cannot simply re-scale all of these menu bars, buttons, and text. I would need to resize images and then make individual adjustments for placement of all buttons and text (height, top, left, width) and text font size to make all of that larger and easier to read on high resolutions. Unfortunately, that is not practical. Not impossible, and perhaps I may reconsider and bite that bullet down the road, but for now I'm taking it off my plate.

This may not be popular, but my recommendation would be to adjust your display resolution downward to 1920x1440 or 1600x1200 or whatever works best to make the top and bottom menu buttons and text readable without being too fuzzy. I realize this is inconvenient when running EIA (ie, always adjusting resolution just to play and then adjusting back when finished), but it is still an option to consider. Another option is to maintain an older system and run EIA and other older games on that platform. There may be some programs to automatically adjust display resolution for individual programs and applications (see QRes), and maybe we can share information about that and what works. What does not seem to work is changing high DPI settings for the program or using custom scaling sizes in your display settings. If anyone has some good suggestions, please feel free to share.

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Empires in Arms Development Team
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RE: High Resolution Displays - 12/20/2021 10:47:32 PM   
beamslam

 

Posts: 40
Joined: 11/13/2020
From: Vejle, Denmark
Status: offline 		For me the bottom graphic is fine but the top menu is a little too small. The button files are very small so it wont help much just to make them bigger. They probably need to be replaced with bigger resolution size files. Not sure if that would help at all, as what I read in the above it is a programming issue.
Alternatively some easier recognizable symbols could be considered. Ex. the "Show full unit report" and the "Show prisoners" buttons could be the upper part of a body shown, with corresponding graphics.
I prefer to memorize where the buttons are than change display resolution, they are not that many.

(in reply to pzgndr)
Post #: 2
RE: High Resolution Displays - 12/21/2021 6:14:47 PM   
GungaDin16

 

Posts: 20
Joined: 6/21/2018
Status: offline 		Yea - with my eyes the game is unplayable. Any resolution for this would be great.

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RE: High Resolution Displays - 12/21/2021 11:11:30 PM   
pzgndr

 

Posts: 3170
Joined: 3/18/2004
From: Maryland
Status: offline 		Here's what I see from my end, trying to consider changes to the layout of the MSmap form. If it's only the top menu bar with buttons and text to adjust, I can maybe work that in for v1.24. You can see where SpeedButton1 would need those Layout numbers adjusted for Height, Left, Top, and Width. Same for all of the other buttons and those text fields on the right (ie, United States, Land Movement, 9999, 9999, and 9999). I would need multiple iterations to ensure everything looks good.

To be clear, is this the #1 concern, just the top menu bar? The bottom menu bar graphics and all other game graphics are OK, or at least acceptable? If that's the case, I'll take another look at it all next week.

On the flip side, what are you seeing if you adjust your resolution to something lower? Other than being a PITA to adjust and re-adjust back, why is this not an acceptable option? I think I should be able to enlarge the top menu bar by 40-50% without causing new problems with lower resolution displays not being able to show the entire menu bar. But if I cannot do this, then the resolution adjustment may be necessary.




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< Message edited by pzgndr -- 12/21/2021 11:15:24 PM >

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Post #: 4
RE: High Resolution Displays - 12/23/2021 6:55:25 PM   
beamslam

 

Posts: 40
Joined: 11/13/2020
From: Vejle, Denmark
Status: offline 		On my screen it does not make any difference if the screen size goes down a step.
From my standard 2660x1080 (yes a bit unusual screen) down to next smaller 1920x1080 it just cuts the with and have no effect on the graphic or text view, until going further down, but then it start to get blurred.
For me I'm kind of okay with how it does show now, thanks to the tool tips. if to increase the button size would mean programming issues it may not be worth the trouble. If making an major upgrade I would suggest to have a look at the icon symbols, they are not that intuitive to me.

I have no idea to code in C+, I'm just an ignorant graphic designer

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Post #: 5
RE: High Resolution Displays - 12/23/2021 7:28:02 PM   
pzgndr

 

Posts: 3170
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From: Maryland
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: beamslam
From my standard 2660x1080 (yes a bit unusual screen) down to next smaller 1920x1080 it just cuts the with and have no effect on the graphic or text view, until going further down, but then it start to get blurred.
For me I'm kind of okay with how it does show now, thanks to the tool tips.


That's good feedback, no real effect on the button graphics or text for some smaller resolutions. I thought maybe there could be an optimum at some point before things get blurry.

Like I said, I'll take a look at enlarging the top menu bar. It's not exactly C++ coding, just editing the form layout. My earlier concern was trying to do this for both top and bottom, where all of those text fields at the bottom would need individual attention. Doing just the top is more reasonable. And I can take a look at those popup tool tips too. Are they scaling OK at higher resolutions or would it help to make them 40-50% larger too?

As for changing the icon symbols, that's something players could mod themselves to be more intuitive. I haven't liked the end game and end phase buttons, but it's not really a priority for me to change those and update the manual.


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Empires in Arms Development Team

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Post #: 6
RE: High Resolution Displays - 12/23/2021 7:46:56 PM   
beamslam

 

Posts: 40
Joined: 11/13/2020
From: Vejle, Denmark
Status: offline 		The tool tips or fine seen from here, maybe it would be an idea to have them shown a second quicker. However the text in the Full Unit report screen have an odd spacing in the text, some letters are packed close together and some have a wide space between, still readable but does not look good. That might be wort having a look too, assuming it is not a missing text in my system.

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Post #: 7
RE: High Resolution Displays - 12/23/2021 7:58:54 PM   
beamslam

 

Posts: 40
Joined: 11/13/2020
From: Vejle, Denmark
Status: offline 		here is a screen shot full size.





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Post #: 8
RE: High Resolution Displays - 12/27/2021 9:59:41 PM   
pzgndr

 

Posts: 3170
Joined: 3/18/2004
From: Maryland
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: beamslam
However the text in the Full Unit report screen have an odd spacing in the text, some letters are packed close together and some have a wide space between, still readable but does not look good.


Text in all other menu screens looks ok? I think I have a smaller font in the Full Unit Report to show the extra detail. I may have to reconsider that.


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Bill
Empires in Arms Development Team

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Post #: 9
RE: High Resolution Displays - 12/27/2021 10:10:01 PM   
pzgndr

 

Posts: 3170
Joined: 3/18/2004
From: Maryland
Status: offline 		I've spent time enlarging the top menu bar by about 50%. So far it looks pretty good. However, it makes another issue a little worse. The build screen and the piracy/anti-piracy screens are handled differently than the other screens; these pop up at the top left corner and are partially covered by the menu bar. I am zeroing in on how to shift those down and to the right. Once I get that resolved, I'll post another hotfix for folks to try out.

My one concern now is how this enlarged menu bar will look on some regular-size screens, particularly notebook laptops without wide-screen resolutions. The menu bar may get cut off. Unfortunately, I cannot create different forms, only one. If that is the case, I can try again with 25% enlargement as a compromise. We shall see.

UPDATE. While I'm thinking about it. If anyone is playing EIA on a regular-size screen and could send me a full screenshot, that would be helpful. I could see how much room is available for enlarging the top menu bar. If I still had my old work laptop I could check it myself, but my PC and laptop are both wide-screen. Thanks in advance.




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< Message edited by pzgndr -- 12/27/2021 10:17:28 PM >

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RE: High Resolution Displays - 12/29/2021 2:59:49 PM   
beamslam

 

Posts: 40
Joined: 11/13/2020
From: Vejle, Denmark
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: pzgndr

quote:

ORIGINAL: beamslam
However the text in the Full Unit report screen have an odd spacing in the text, some letters are packed close together and some have a wide space between, still readable but does not look good.


Text in all other menu screens looks ok? I think I have a smaller font in the Full Unit Report to show the extra detail. I may have to reconsider that.


Yes, Its only this text which looks like that.

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Post #: 11
RE: High Resolution Displays - 12/31/2021 5:17:02 PM   
pzgndr

 

Posts: 3170
Joined: 3/18/2004
From: Maryland
Status: offline 		Hotfix #6 is now posted. See if the new graphics work OK for high-resolution, but also if the changes still work OK for standard displays.

FYI, I spent about 2 days trying to rework those screen displays (build screen and piracy/anti-piracy). The closest I could get was moving the displays down some and it looked OK, but the unit grid itself did not change so selecting a unit was a problem. Very frustrating. As it is, you can still see and select units fine, as before. It ain't broke broke, so I'll stop trying to 'fix' it.

_____________________________

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Empires in Arms Development Team

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Post #: 12
RE: High Resolution Displays - 12/31/2021 8:52:39 PM   
beamslam

 

Posts: 40
Joined: 11/13/2020
From: Vejle, Denmark
Status: offline 		Something is wrong with the new hotfix, it looks like the frame have been pushed down.



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Post #: 13
RE: High Resolution Displays - 12/31/2021 8:54:06 PM   
beamslam

 

Posts: 40
Joined: 11/13/2020
From: Vejle, Denmark
Status: offline 		There is a white border under the boxes

Attachment (1)

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Post #: 14
RE: High Resolution Displays - 1/1/2022 1:10:49 AM   
Cad908

 

Posts: 1333
Joined: 10/9/2009
Status: offline 		Looks good on my system:






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RE: High Resolution Displays - 1/1/2022 2:26:14 PM   
pzgndr

 

Posts: 3170
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From: Maryland
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Cad908
Looks good on my system:


That's what it should look like! Are you using a high-resolution display and it looks better, or a standard display and it still looks ok? I need to confirm if the graphics changes are good for both before I lock it in and proceed with v1.24.01.
UPDATE. The Selected Area box with the whited out section for Salonika isn't right. Is that a glitch that you captured in your screenshot or is that something you're seeing all the time? I'm not getting that.


quote:

ORIGINAL: beamslam
There is a white border under the boxes


I saw this last night and thought I might have to fix something today, but Cad908 confirms Hotfix #6 is doing what it should be doing. You probably have other system/display issues that you need to check out? I'm going to hold here and wait for some more feedback. If you find and fix something on your end, please share what you did. Others may have the issue you're seeing. Sorry about that.
UPDATE. I noticed on my system that unzipping the hotfix did not copy the new \Graphics\ui\windows files, tbbkimage and tibkimage. You may need to manually copy those, so the top menu bar looks right.


< Message edited by pzgndr -- 1/1/2022 2:39:16 PM >

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Empires in Arms Development Team

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RE: High Resolution Displays - 1/1/2022 5:59:41 PM   
Cad908

 

Posts: 1333
Joined: 10/9/2009
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quote:


That's what it should look like! Are you using a high-resolution display and it looks better, or a standard display and it still looks ok?


My display adapter is an Intel HD Graphics 530 card driving 1920 X 1080 display resolution which was shown.

quote:


UPDATE. I noticed on my system that unzipping the hotfix did not copy the new \Graphics\ui\windows files, tbbkimage and tibkimage. You may need to manually copy those, so the top menu bar looks right.


Yes, I manually copied tbbkimage and tibkimage into \Graphics\ui\windows. The patch has the windows folder separate from the ui folder which did not match my install.

-Rob

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RE: High Resolution Displays - 1/1/2022 6:07:00 PM   
beamslam

 

Posts: 40
Joined: 11/13/2020
From: Vejle, Denmark
Status: offline 		Just did a manual copy of the files as you suggested, and that did it, thanks for the updates

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Post #: 18
RE: High Resolution Displays - 1/1/2022 6:11:50 PM   
Cad908

 

Posts: 1333
Joined: 10/9/2009
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quote:

ORIGINAL: pzgndr
UPDATE. The Selected Area box with the whited out section for Salonika isn't right. Is that a glitch that you captured in your screenshot or is that something you're seeing all the time? I'm not getting that.


Please ignore the "white out section". That was me doing a quick cropping of the screen shot.

There was one curious graphic glitch. I created a new garrison in Grodno and added a militia factor to it. The text box at the bottom of the Garrison was blue with "XXXX" displayed. I was going to take a screen shot and send it over, but decided to continue the game until the next turn to see if anything else appeared. When the next turn began the text box now displayed "Grod" as seems proper. I tired a couple other new Garrisons but could not get the display glitch to reappear.

-Rob

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RE: High Resolution Displays - 1/1/2022 6:27:34 PM   
pzgndr

 

Posts: 3170
Joined: 3/18/2004
From: Maryland
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: beamslam
Just did a manual copy of the files as you suggested, and that did it, thanks for the updates


Success on the high-resolution display? Good to hear! I also had some issues with my separate development installation, not showing the top menu bar buttons. Had to re-install and update. Maybe the unzipping isn't working right. I'm going to add a note to the Hotfix thread about manually copying files to get them to work.


quote:

ORIGINAL: Cad908
There was one curious graphic glitch. I created a new garrison in Grodno and added a militia factor to it. The text box at the bottom of the Garrison was blue with "XXXX" displayed.


I've seen this too. Like the AAR arrows, I think there's some conflict with the winter overlay on the top map sections. I fixed the AAR arrows. I'll take a look at the unit names also. May be the same thing.


_____________________________

Bill
Empires in Arms Development Team

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Post #: 20
RE: High Resolution Displays - 1/5/2022 2:44:28 PM   
Jagger2002

 

Posts: 674
Joined: 5/20/2002
Status: offline 		Just bought it. The interface enlargement fix works. Much better! I couldn't have played with the old interface. Thanks.

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Post #: 21
RE: High Resolution Displays - 1/17/2022 4:25:26 PM   
pzgndr

 

Posts: 3170
Joined: 3/18/2004
From: Maryland
Status: offline 		Is anyone having any issues with the new v1.24.00 Beta resolution changes on standard displays (i.e., not wide-screen and not high resolution)? Could someone confirm how EIA looks on a standard display, and post a screenshot of the new top menu bar to show that it fits OK on the screen? I've kinda been holding my breath waiting to verify all is well before moving on. I'll give it another week and then start on v1.24.01.

_____________________________

Bill
Empires in Arms Development Team

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Post #: 22
RE: High Resolution Displays - 1/18/2022 8:02:07 PM   
pzgndr

 

Posts: 3170
Joined: 3/18/2004
From: Maryland
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: pzgndr
quote:

ORIGINAL: Cad908
There was one curious graphic glitch. I created a new garrison in Grodno and added a militia factor to it. The text box at the bottom of the Garrison was blue with "XXXX" displayed.

I've seen this too. Like the AAR arrows, I think there's some conflict with the winter overlay on the top map sections. I fixed the AAR arrows. I'll take a look at the unit names also. May be the same thing.


Found and fixed this. Like the AAR arrows, setting the background to solid seems to work.


_____________________________

Bill
Empires in Arms Development Team

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Post #: 23
RE: High Resolution Displays - 2/21/2022 9:10:52 PM   
pzgndr

 

Posts: 3170
Joined: 3/18/2004
From: Maryland
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: pzgndr
Is anyone having any issues with the new v1.24.00 Beta resolution changes on standard displays (i.e., not wide-screen and not high resolution)? Could someone confirm how EIA looks on a standard display, and post a screenshot of the new top menu bar to show that it fits OK on the screen? I've kinda been holding my breath waiting to verify all is well before moving on. I'll give it another week and then start on v1.24.01.


So. I finally got v1.24.01 Beta wrapped up and posted on Saturday, and just now on Monday got feedback that the last 2-3 buttons on the right are cut off on a standard display. Once I get a screenshot, I'll figure out new dimensions to reduce the toolbar just enough to fit and still be large enough for the wide-screen displays. This would be a hotfix later this week.

Update. Looks like I need to go with a 30% enlargement and not 50%. That should be good enough for the wide-screen displays and still fit on the standard displays. I'll try to have changes made in next couple/few days.


< Message edited by pzgndr -- 2/21/2022 10:24:09 PM >

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