Homeworld fix not working as described.

Stonefish · Post by **Stonefish** » 08 Sep 2006, 06:42

I recently scored a Dell 2407, and I've been adding WS mode to all my games, and loving it. However, I've run into a problem with Homeworld.

Yes, I've read this.
http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/node/5413

Firstly, all standard menu-selected resolutions work (under D3D, not OGL).

If I follow that guide to the letter (it's pretty hard to mess up), the game starts in 640x480 software rendering. (ie, it's detected a problem and dropped to failsafes)

If I follow that guide to the letter, but with 1920x1200, the game starts, but the menu is corrupted and drawn in locations that don't match the actual buttons. Ingame, the graphics are mildly corrupt (unreadable text), 1600x1200, and left centred.

Like this: http://users.on.net/~luchich/homeworld.jpg

Now, here's the best bit. I've tried all of the following:
Homeworld 1.0, Homeworld 1.5, Cataclysm 1.01
Win2k, WinXP.
Desktop (Nvidia 6800GT, DVI), Laptop (Intel 915gm, VGA)

They ALL exhibit the exact same problem at that resolution, and don't work at any other widescreen resolution.

That rules out a patch version, an OS, or a driver incompatability. What the hell remains as a common factor?

Post by **Paradigm Shifter** » 08 Sep 2006, 14:25

I've got Homeworld somewhere, but I don't know. I'll dig it out and test, I guess. :)

Stonefish · Post by **Stonefish** » 16 Sep 2006, 19:35

Right, so that's not happening :)

Pity, because it's just about the shiniest thing ever. It deserves widescreen.

Post by **The_cranky_hermit** » 16 Sep 2006, 20:12

If I follow that guide to the letter (it's pretty hard to mess up), the game starts in 640x480 software rendering. (ie, it's detected a problem and dropped to failsafes)

That would probably be because your monitor doesn't support 1280x800 resolution, and your system is configured only to use resolutions that your monitor supports natively. Before you can use a non-native resolution in a game, you first have to get it added to your system.

What is your laptop's native res? If it's lower than 1920x1200, I would try using that, on your laptop screen. I've run Homeworld just fine at 1280x768 and 1280x800, but I've never tested 1920x1200.

Stonefish · Post by **Stonefish** » 17 Sep 2006, 12:36

Laptop's native res on it's own screen is 1024x768. I disabled that entirely to test with the 2407.

Define "get it added to your system". That's a bit of a vague one.

Stonefish · Post by **Stonefish** » 17 Sep 2006, 20:14

1600x900 doesn't work....

UNLESS I set my Windows desktop to that resolution. Then it works like a charm. Now how the hell do I set my desk to 1920x1080? :)
Using the nvidia control panel, the "custom resolution" option just says "Nope, can't do that" without giving me so much as a reason why.

Post by **Paradigm Shifter** » 17 Sep 2006, 20:22

If you're using the 90 series drivers, custom res addition is broken. I don't know why or how - just that it is.

If you aren't, you might not have enough video memory to drive 1920x1080...

Stonefish · Post by **Stonefish** » 17 Sep 2006, 21:14

I am indeed using the 90 series, and I wouldn't have purchased a 1920x1200 panel if I didn't have enough ram to run it at native. 6800GT with 256mb.

Considering dropping back to older drivers. I think the game just hates 16:10, but works with 16:9. If I can manually set 1600:1000 and 1920:1080 with nvidia controls, then we'll see for certain.

Why does windows have such inconsistent and almost arbitrary resolutions by default anyway?

Post by **Paradigm Shifter** » 17 Sep 2006, 21:18

Dunno - I found my Homeworld disc this afternoon, and I'm back at my 'gaming' rig. Here's hoping a 7300GS can cope with Homeworld... :(

Sorry about not doing it sooner - I plain forgot. :oops:

Stonefish · Post by **Stonefish** » 17 Sep 2006, 21:21

and now it's working at 1600x900 while windows is set to 1920x1200... it wasn't doing that before.

To think I actually upgraded to the 90 series for this game :)

Post by **Paradigm Shifter** » 17 Sep 2006, 21:27

:lol:

It might take me a bit - I'm trying to figure out why Oblivion is locking up on me at the minute... :evil:

Stonefish · Post by **Stonefish** » 17 Sep 2006, 21:50

Because it's made by the same guys who wrote "solid as a rock" Daggerfall, only it's more complex? :)

Post by **Paradigm Shifter** » 17 Sep 2006, 21:52

I think it's because I'm running a stripped down benchmark OS at the moment... I think I ripped something out that Oblivion uses... :? Dunno what, though...

Post by **The_cranky_hermit** » 17 Sep 2006, 22:36

If you're using the 90 series drivers, custom res addition is broken. I don't know why or how - just that it is.

It isn't broken at all for me.

I think the game just hates 16:10, but works with 16:9.

It works for me at 1280x800.

Why does windows have such inconsistent and almost arbitrary resolutions by default anyway?

The resolutions that you see are directly grabbed from your graphics drivers settings, minus everything below 800x600.

Stonefish · Post by **Stonefish** » 18 Sep 2006, 05:25

"The custom resolution cannot be added" is all I get back from nvidia when I try it. Either that, or a BSOD in an nvidia file. It's been years since I saw one of those. That's trying to add any res you can name. 1600x1000, 1280x800, 1920x1080.
Downgrading sound like a plan?

Post by **Paradigm Shifter** » 18 Sep 2006, 18:50

If you're using the 90 series drivers, custom res addition is broken. I don't know why or how - just that it is.

It isn't broken at all for me.

You're lucky, then. There are quite a few people on the WSGF where upgrading (or going 90 series on a fresh install) suddenly means they can't add resolutions...

Creig · Post by **Creig** » 23 Dec 2006, 19:21

I'm having the exact same problem, but with an ATI X1800XT and an HP A7217A monitor (same as GDM-FW900).

Setup menus
Pointer trail images left behind
Actual pointer location located to the left of screen pointer

Ingame
Edited registry for 1920x1200, but runs at 1600x1200
Game aligned to left of screen
Text garbled and hard to read

Basically identical to the screenshot of the homeworld.jpg in the initial post.

I could easily live with all the rest of the glitches if I could get it running at a true 1920x1200.

Was there ever any solution found for this?

neuroboy · Post by **neuroboy** » 11 Jan 2008, 16:03

Was there ever any solution found for this?

After digging out this almost 10 year old game for a bit of nostalgic space-simming and to test out my new 22" monitor, I've just looked all over the web for a total solution and not found anything more than is described here.

(Homeworld is nearly 10 years old? Can you believe that? It's still frickin' awesome and highly playable too!)

However, I've sussed out a simple compromise...

It seems that any screen mode above the 1600x1200 resolution, when forced using Ibrin's Homeworld registry edit solution, causes problems. I've tried my monitors native resolution of 1680x1050 and the menus are all flickery and glitchy, the in-game text is distorted and mostly unreadable, and there's a black border on the right hand side equivalent to the number of pixels above 1600.

My solution is to force the game to run in window mode by adding the /window command to the 'Target' box on my Homeworld menu shortcut, and then set the resolution using the registry edit to a suitable size, with the width being 1600 or less. Because you are running in a window you do not need to stick to 'standard' monitor resolutions, so I've set the width to 1600 and height to 985.

This creates a window that fills most of my screen without any distortion of graphics or text, and the game runs a treat with my new Radeon HD 3850 :)

Okay, so it's not fullscreen widescreen, and you can still see some of your desktop on the right hand side and your taskbar at the bottom, but it works!

If you want you could also add the /noborder command to your game shortcut to remove the window border and elements. You could then make your taskbar autohide, or move it to the right of your desktop. Then just edit the game window height in the registry to fill the space, up to 1050 in my case.

Obviously if you are using a 1920x1200 rez monitor you'll still have a big border down the right hand side, but this way you can at least play it with uncorrupted graphics and text. You could fill the extra 320 pixels with a nice Homeworld style graphic on your desktop background, or a pic of your favourite movie star / pop idol / semi-naked model / presidential candidate.

Hope you like this semi-solution... if there is anybody out there still playing Homeworld that is (I just heard the THQ got the rights to the series last year, so maybe something new in the Homeworld universe will be along soon)

Now, I just need to find out why I can't get antialiasing working with it, and I'll be happy.

Creig · Post by **Creig** » 11 Jan 2008, 17:42

Actually, I just built a Win98 box SPECIFICALLY to be able to play through Homeworld, Cataclysm and Homeworld 2 in widescreen goodness. With a S754 3200+ and an X800XT PE, I shouldn't run into any low performance issues, even at 1920x1200. The Homeworld series are STILL some of my favorite games of all time and I intend to ensure that I can play them any time I want.

The only thing I wish I could find would be a high-res texture pack for Homeworld 1 and Homeworld:Cataclysm. I'm fairly sure there was one floating around for Homeworld 1, but I can't seem to locate it. HW1 would look SOOOOO much better with some high-res textures.

For Homeworld 2, I'm hooked on the Tactical Fleet Simulator mod. It has a bit of a learning curve to learn how to build a well-balanced fleet, but it makes the game SO much more realistic. Well, as realistic as a "huge fleets battling in space" sim can get, anyhow. :)

edit - I just discovered that THQ has purchased the rights to the Homeworld IP/Trademark from Sierra. So it appears that we're actually going to see a Homeworld 3!

neuroboy · Post by **neuroboy** » 12 Jan 2008, 14:36

Actually, I just built a Win98 box SPECIFICALLY to be able to play through Homeworld, Cataclysm and Homeworld 2 in widescreen goodness. With a S754 3200+ and an X800XT PE, I shouldn't run into any low performance issues, even at 1920x1200. The Homeworld series are STILL some of my favorite games of all time and I intend to ensure that I can play them any time I want.

The only thing I wish I could find would be a high-res texture pack for Homeworld 1 and Homeworld:Cataclysm. I'm fairly sure there was one floating around for Homeworld 1, but I can't seem to locate it. HW1 would look SOOOOO much better with some high-res textures.

For Homeworld 2, I'm hooked on the Tactical Fleet Simulator mod. It has a bit of a learning curve to learn how to build a well-balanced fleet, but it makes the game SO much more realistic. Well, as realistic as a "huge fleets battling in space" sim can get, anyhow. :)

edit - I just discovered that THQ has purchased the rights to the Homeworld IP/Trademark from Sierra. So it appears that we're actually going to see a Homeworld 3!

Playing it again, I recall what a great story it has, how pretty it is (though a texture pack would be good I agree), how atmospheric the sound is, how much I loved the general feel and design of the game, but most importantly how crap I am at RTS games, especially ones in 3d!

I never completed it the first time around, probably only got 2/3rds of the way through, as I got to a point where I couldn't continue as I continually got wiped out without enough resources and just couldn't be bothered to go back to earlier save games. Playing again, I am now just on part 4 and getting trounced all over again! I wish they had a way of changing your skill level to be more forgiving so you can progress in the game without having to replay the same long and complex stuff over and over again trying to get it right. One slip up or over consumption of resources earlier on and you are stuffed! I guess thats why they call it 'strategy'

Might go back to replaying Freelancer (which I've just managed to get running great in widescreen), or do an accountacy degree so I can try get into X3 Reunion again!

The way these things go, Homeworld 3 will probably be a gungho 3D space shoot'em up for the Xbox 360.

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