Full screen resolution?

[michaeldcannaday 42]

Hey simtropolis friends! It's probably the smallest thing that I'm not doing to fix this, but I have my SimCity 4 from GOG and the resolution on 800x600 for my desktop pc, which plays the game in full screen. I recently got a new laptop, same resolution and matches everything from my desktop but it dosen't give me full screen when I play on the laptop... any ideas to easily fix this?  

 

[Whte_rbt 1,431]

Please clarify 'doesn't give me fullscreen': Do you mean that its running in a window with desktop still visible in the background, or do you mean Its got black bars down each side of the display?

[michaeldcannaday 42]

my desktop when I play (with no codes on the 'shortcut' under properties), it's fullscreen..

But on the laptop, same everything (no codes on shortcut), it has bars on the sides of the screen

[Whte_rbt 1,431]

The bars at the sides mean that the resolution of the laptop screen is higher than 800x600. Try changing the resolution the game launches with using the shortcut properties (Command Switches is the actual name for them), add something like  -r:1280x720x32 to the shortcut.

[michaeldcannaday 42]

here's what I added under the shortcut properties on the desktop app...still no change

"C:\Program Files (x86)\GOG Galaxy\GalaxyClient.exe" /command=runGame /gameId=1207664593 /path="C:\Program Files (x86)\GOG Galaxy\Games\SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition" -r1280x720x32"

[CaptCity 4,928]

Hi @michaeldcannaday

You may need to add this to your command line:  -CustomResolution:enabled

Also, and maybe it's because you have the GOG version, but you might not need the quotation mark (") at the end.

[CorinaMarie 29,922]

9 hours ago, michaeldcannaday said:

... GOG Galaxy\GalaxyClient.exe ...

Yikes! While the Galaxy thinger from Gog is prolly fine for newer games, we've seen how it just isn't a great idea for SimCity 4. It would be better to use their standalone version. I know CB made a post on how to do that, so when he sees this I'm sure he'll post a linky to same.

[Cyclone Boom 17,032]

8 minutes ago, CorinaMarie said:

I know CB made a post on how to do that, so when he sees this I'm sure he'll post a linky to same.

Here it is:
How to install SC4 from GOG standalone

I remember checking just a few weeks ago when installing it on my new computer, and it still is an option to download SC4 this way. Then the game can be installed independently and still be fully patched as a digital version. I also recommend keeping a backup of the GOG installer so you still have it in the future if needed.

Another thing to try for full screen it might also need the -f parameter adding as well.

[Fr00ger 0]

On 3/22/2021 at 1:37 AM, Whte_rbt said:

Please clarify 'doesn't give me fullscreen': Do you mean that its running in a window with desktop still visible in the background, or do you mean Its got black bars down each side of the display?

Hi, I am facing this problem currently on STEAM where my monitor resolution is 1920x1080. How do i play in fullscreen with no black bars on each side ?

[rsc204 21,868]

A little background on this issue is probably helpful. Being an older game, the default resolutions the game can set, very much depends on what Windows tells it your hardware can support. The big shift since 2003, in addition to more pixels (increased resolution), is a move to ever wider screens and often this means some manual configuration is needed to set things up. It's worth nothing too that the game can't even use widescreen resolutions, unless you invoke the following command:

-CustomResolution:enabled

You can use any widescreen or non standard resolution you like, when combined with a second command:

-r:HHHHxVVVVx32
where HHHH = Horizontal Resolution and VVVV = Vertical.

Ideally you want to set this value to the default/maximum resolution of your display, most displays support various legacy and lower resolutions, but generally speaking the image doesn't look it's best unless you are using the 'native' resolution it was designed for.

The best way to find the optimal resolution is to check what setting Windows uses, you can find step-by-step instructions on that in this article. Note though DirectX 7 which SC4 was built for, doesn’t support resolutions greater than x1200 (vertical), so if your display is higher, you need to find a lower supported resolution to use. Again (see linked article), we can see all the supported resolutions of your hardware in Windows settings.

You can get around this and use 4K resolutions and beyond, by using a modified version of DirectX, known as a DX Wrapper. Step-by-step instructions on doing this can be found in this post.

It just takes a little more effort to setup the ideal resolution for SC4 these days. In 2003 all the hardware you could buy would likely have just worked, but there was no way Maxis could have predicted how hardware would change. The good news is that DirectX and SC4 are flexible enough that we can still use these higher resolutions.

2 hours ago, Fr00ger said:

I am facing this problem currently on STEAM where my monitor resolution is 1920x1080.

Where you enter these commands varies if you are using a launcher like Steam, but in the Steam Library you want to find SC4 and right click it, then select Properties. The window that appears has a box "Launch Options", copy paste the following there:

-CustomResolution:enabled -r:1920x1080x32 -Intro:off -CPUCount:1

So I've actually added two additional commands (each starts with a hyphen - and there must be one space between commands), one disables the intro videos and the last prevents CTDs on modern systems by limiting the game to run on a single-core of your CPU. Honestly, everyone will want those last two, so whilst you are editing things, might as well do it right.

On 22/03/2021 at 4:58 AM, Cyclone Boom said:

Another thing to try for full screen it might also need the -f parameter adding as well.

Indeed -f sets full screen mode, but there are a few caveats, firstly full screen mode is actually the game's default setting, so unless it was changed this isn't necessary. GoG also include this as part of the default install, so you wouldn't need to set it and lastly, unless SimCity 4 runs like other non-game Apps, i.e. you still see the taskbar and it's in a Window, you aren't running in Windowed mode to start with, it's fairly easy to know which setting is in use.

On 21/03/2021 at 5:41 PM, michaeldcannaday said:

the resolution on 800x600 for my desktop pc...

...I recently got a new laptop, same resolution

800x600 displays are over 20 years old and tend to be CRT monitors, whilst a new laptop is also highly unlikely to top out at 800x600. My advise would be to use the instructions in this post to check exactly what resolution both your desktop and laptop can actually support. If you match SC4 to your hardware, you'll find that it's a nicer playing experience to have more on screen. SC4 works really well with FullHD (1920x1080) displays, which have been the most common for some time.