2 game-destroying problems, PLEASE help

[dIRECTOR871]

Hi I'm just another HoI2 fanatic in desperate need of help. A couple of months ago I treated myself to a new widescreen monitor, and found that my favorite game (HoI2: DD) was virtually unplayable as a consequence. Naturally, I soon found the Pegasus Hexa Wizard by Lord Ederon and created myself a hack for a decent 1280x1024 resolution (I had v1.3 of HoI2: DD at the time, sans Armageddon) I quickly resized the skins with a freeware resizer (I have Vista) and played a decent game without any problems. Eventually I uninstalled the game and moved on to other things.

However, a few days back I decided to install HoI: DD again, this time with Armageddon and its latest patch. I proceeded to install HoI2, HoI2: DD, and HoI2: DD:Armageddon (no patch). I then used the Pegasus Hexa Wizard to create an appropriate 1280x1024 res hack. The game itself worked (the hacked .exe version), but I encountered two problems:

1) SKINS. The most annoying problem are the skins. I resized all three skins to the exact specifications for a 1280x1024 resolution (provided here http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?t=240726&page=2&pp=20) just like I did before, except that this time for some reason Armageddon crashes as I'm loading the game itself from the Menu. This happens every time with the resized skins, while the whole thing works well with the old skins, that naturally leave the "black space" in the lower-left corner and render the game virtually unplayable.
Its not Armageddon itself, because the same thing happens now with the ordinary HoI2: DD (I reinstalled and tried again without Armageddon). The resized skins I used are the same format as the original, non-resized skins (.bmp) and are enlarged to specifications as mentioned earlier. Its also not the resizer, since I tried several (among them the VSO Image Resizer).

2) ARMAGEDDON PATCH 1.2. Another (unrelated) problem I've encountered is the serious glitch with the v1.2 patch of HoI2: DD:Armageddon. This occurred on two different computers so I suppose its the patch, not me. Namely, there are texture problems, and I've noticed immediately that the German fighter figure is of the wrong color, almost a negative of the proper figure (its obviously wrong). I expect this isn't the first time someone complained about this, and I wonder if there is any way to fix the glitches, since I would like to play the latest version of HoI2. Note: The SKINS issue above occurred in all versions of HoI2: DD, including Armageddon (patched or unpatched).

Anyway, the SKINS problem is the real issue, as I really cannot make myself play with the "black space" ruining the game, and the unhacked low-res version of the game is also virtually unplayable on this damn monitor. I'm basically crazy about the game and WW2 itself... PLEASE help, would really appreciate assistance. Thanks in advance.

 

[Red Jacket]

Have you tried changing the graphics options for your monitor, something along these lines:

Graphics options > Panel Fit > Maintain Aspect Ratio
?
... and not bother with the mods and hacks at all.

 

[coreymas]

1. Paradox does not support any other resolution but 1024 X 768. By using a hacking tool to modify the EXE you are invalidating any support of HOI2.

2. The sprite problem is a known issue in 1.2 Arma (see the thread in the main HOI2 DD forum 1.2 cumulative bug list.

Corey

 

[dIRECTOR871]

(Reply to Red Jacket: ) I found out about Lord Ederon's 'Pegasus hexa wizard' on the forum (here), I don't think someone would go through all the trouble of writing a program for higher resolutions if it could all be simply achieved by tampering with the monitor options, could it? In either case, I'm not quite sure what you're suggesting, could you clarify?

(Reply to coreymas: )
1) Yeah I know the resolution is unsupported, but I don't really have a choice. The game is virtually unplayable at the highest supported resolution (on my monitor). I guess I'm hoping for some friendly advice. Anyway, the problem isn't the high res hack, that works fine on its own, what bothers me is why does the game crash with resized skins? (when earlier it worked fine, even with the hack) Without resizing the skins, the areas that should have been covered by them are home to a weird "black square" that also ruins the game :wacko:

2) Thanks, I'll have a look at the thread. (Looked at the thread) OMG, there are 40 pages Could you PLEASE sum it up? Is there a fix I can get somewhere?

P.S. Have a look at the old discussion here: http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?t=240726&page=2&pp=20

 

[Red Jacket]

(Reply to Red Jacket: ) ... if it could all be simply achieved by tampering with the monitor options, could it? In either case, I'm not quite sure what you're suggesting, could you clarify?

I have a laptop with a wide screen (17"). To get HOI2 to run properly, I go into the graphic options and set 'Panel Fit' and 'Maintain Aspect Ratio'; then I play HOI2 leaving my resolution at 1440x900, and the graphics options I specified auto-corrects the HOI2 display (1024x768) to fit my screen. Perhaps your graphics card and display would allow you to do something similar - that is what I am suggesting to you. For me, it is certainly easier that hacking the exe and resizing all the skins; For you, it might not even be an option to do what I do - I don't know enough about your PC to say.

 

[dIRECTOR871]

I have a laptop with a wide screen (17"). To get HOI2 to run properly, I go into the graphic options and set 'Panel Fit' and 'Maintain Aspect Ratio'; then I play HOI2 leaving my resolution at 1440x900, and the graphics options I specified auto-corrects the HOI2 display (1024x768) to fit my screen. Perhaps your graphics card and display would allow you to do something similar - that is what I am suggesting to you. For me, it is certainly easier that hacking the exe and resizing all the skins; For you, it might not even be an option to do what I do - I don't know enough about your PC to say.

I don't think its doable... Any thoughts about why the skins cause the game to crash? Apparently, the game does not recognize them at all even if they're slightly resized. The weird thing is, others have successfully resized them and had no problem with modifying the interface skins to a larger resolution. Even I myself had no problem the last time I played...