Monitor Resolution

[Lord Odin 9]

Hi Everyone

I run my games usually in standard 1080 but with SC4 the game looks really dated and kind of stretched out and blurred. I was watching a video yesterday and noticed that his SC4 looked sharp and really clear. I know SC4 defaults to 1080 but I would like mine to look as crisp as his. Is it a mod or does he have a different resolution as I suspect. What Res do you guys run the game in ?

Thanks For Reading

Odin

[Handyman 765]

@Lord Odin it will help if you post the version of SC4 (example; cd version, gog, origin) and your operating system.

[CorinaMarie 29,605]

@Lord Odin

As @Handyman mentions, it can depend on which version of SC4 you have as to the location for setting your screen resolution. In the meantime, take a look in the Full screen resolution topic.

[rsc204 21,808]

How sharp 1080p looks will depend on a number of factors that may be unique to your setup, the main one being the size of your display. Note too, modern displays get wider and wider, if the aspect ratio of your display is really wide, you may see stretching. But I've a 16:9 monitor and I never felt anything was off. You do need to manually use a command line switch to enable widescreen though. A good baseline for all players is something like this:

Quote

-f -CustomResolution:enabled -r1920x1080x32 -intro:off -CPUCount:1

• -f sets full screen mode
• -CustomResolution:enabled -r1920x1080x32 this enables custom and widescreen resolutions, in this case 1080.
• -intro:off disables the videos for faster load times.
• -CPUCount:1 prevents CTDs playing with modern Multi-Core CPUs, which SC4 can not support.

However, if you are running software rendering, you'll also suffer from a much poorer quality image, the game is at its best with DirectX (Hardware) rendering. You can also try some optional post-processing effects if you have an ATI or NVidia card, that can make a pretty big difference quality wise. Not to mention, using some HD textures for things like the Terrain, Water, Rocks and Beaches can dramatically improve things.

Here's a couple example 1080p screens from my personal (highly modded) setup:

SC4 won't look much better, since it can't handle larger than x1200 resolutions in Hardware Rendering. But even the default Maxis buildings can look crisp and sharp.

[Lord Odin 9]

Thanks for the replies, first @Handyman, I have SC4 on Origin same as my SimCity (2013) the one with cities of tomorrow expansion. I am running a Windows 10 machine with a Nvidea GTX 970, My Monitor is a BENQ 24inch led. If you need anymore info on my machine just ask :), as I build my own I know everything about it. In response to @rsc204 I don't use software rendering and generally play the game straight from the box so to speak. Although I build my own machines I am not really software savvy, I generally build them to play games and surf the net, also I keep my music on it which is quite extensive and has it's own drive. Looking at your screenshots, they look fantastic, mine just looks dated, yours are nice and sharp like I want them to be. I have seen the command line before but only on Steam, where does it need to be on Origin ?.

Thanks Again For The Help

Odin

[Handyman 765]

12 hours ago, Lord Odin said:

I have seen the command line before but only on Steam, where does it need to be on Origin ?.

I use the Gog version, which I download and install directly on my machine, so I am not familiar with the Origin setup. However if you follow the link @CorinaMarie has provided above,  the post by @Cyclone Boom seems to cover it quite nicely.

[rsc204 21,808]

For reference, I'm using an NVidia GTX 750ti which is more than sufficient for playing SC4. It should be possible to have a similar setup with your hardware. In the first instance you need to add the custom resolution function, previously mentioned. Here are the 3D settings I'm using for SC4 with NVidia Control Pannel:

Of course not all of these are strictly necessary, mostly they're the result of trial and error until I got the best in-game results I could.

[Lord Odin 9]

Thanks @Handyman and @rsc204 you have both been a great help, I never thought of using  my Nvidea settings for SC4, the funny thing is I use it for most of my favourite games. I would just like to say what a great bunch of people here at Simtropolis, really helpful and friendly unlike some of the troll infested forums I have visited. I wish I had found this forum years ago.

Thanks Again

Odin