Resolution Setting for Laptop

[MannyRamirez]

If this is a repeat, then feel free to delete.  But, I discovered something while setting up this game.

 

My preference is to play the game with black bars on the side of any widescreen display.  I don't like the stretched look.  I have played this game on two different ROG gaming monitors as well as the monitor on my laptop.  Both monitors have a "square" setting which pretty much takes care of the issue with ease.  However, I struggled to figure out how to prevent my laptop from stretching.  I would put the display resolution to 1280x1024 and my entire OS would be square, but then when the game launched it would stretch back out to widescreen.

 

Ultimately the answer had to to with the Intel internal graphics card setting. 

 

Step 1 is to set the display setting to 1280x1024 and make the OS go square. 

Step 2 is to launch Intel Graphics Command Center and set Scale = Centered  (maybe different ones could work for you, but Centered was the only option that worked for me)

Step 3 is to go ahead and set your display resolution back to 1920x1080 or 3840x1060 whatever you run.  You only need to set it to 1280x1024 so that the Intel screen will show you the options for that resolution.  The intel screen only shows you options for the current resolution even though it saves the settings for all resolutions.

Step 4 is launch the game.  For me it starts out kind of small on intro and menus but the game screens are perfect

 

It's much more complex to get it working this way versus just changing a setting on my external monitors.  However, the end result is pretty slick.  I don't have to touch anything.  I can run my OS in normal widescreen format and then launch the game and it immediately jumps to 1280x1024 with black bars.  This took me a long time to figure out and I would keep launching the game and it would always stretch, so maybe this will help someone save some time.

 

When troubleshooting, I did try the ResolutionChanger mod, but it didn't help.  Also, based on experience and reading on this board, it seems like the resolution can't actually change and it's always just going to stretch the square picture to the resolution you specify.  Small changes might look okay to fill the screen.  But, imo stretching from 1280x1024 to 1920x1080 looks horrible.  Also, even if I want to do that I don't need the mod to get it done.  I can easily stretch the graphics basically using the reverse of the instructions above.  I almost think the existence of the ResolutionChanger mod is confusing.  It seems like an extra thing that nobody needs that will only cause confusion, but I'm probably just missing the point.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jim825]

You said in your post how complex it was to get the resolution using the steps you outlined. Not everyone has the technical experience or knowledge to do what you did. That is the whole point of the Resolution Changer mod. It’s a much easier way to get the game to play on a wider screen.