So, I have dipped my toe into EAW several times as new versions were produced, and recently installed the 160Special version and patch. All is looking good, but my menu screens are having graphic anomalies that prevent me from accessing all the menu items. I recall in the past having to use D3D Windower to fix this. Is it still necessary for this, or might there be some graphics settings in the NVIDIA control panel to fix it?
I am running in D3D mode. I do have NGLIDE installed and tried GLIDE mode, but it has a lot of shimmer and breathing in game while D3D looks good.
Running on Windows 7 64 bit with NVida GTX770 card.
Thanks in advance and thanks for your tireless devotion to keeping this sim alive. One day I may ACTUALLY learn to fly it
P.S. I realize that with all the new tools provided, the Main Menu can largely be Bypassed, but I just wanted to check some GAME settings. If there is another way to access these (I guess by directly editing EAW.ini) I can do that!
Last edited by Recluse; 03/29/1804:46 PM.
Long system spec sig follows:
PowerSpec G436 Lian Li ATX 205 MSI Z490 Plus Motherboard Intel Core i7 10700K 3.8 GHz 32 GB RAM DDR4 1600 Nvidia RTX3070
I have the "160SpecialGR" folder, and it does not use selection screens or maps.
The download is the "160SpecialPublicRelease.exe" and the patch for it is the "160SpecialUpdate20March.exe"
This version was made for people with screen problems. All the choices are made outside of EAW using the "MissionMaker" and it uses several previously unused values in EAW "*.MSN" files. which the mission maker creates.
Mark Twain: I am quite sure now that often, very often, in matters concerning religion and politics a man's reasoning powers are not above the monkey's.
I am now of an age at which I no longer need to suffer fools gladly
#4413727 - 03/30/1802:56 PMRe: Total Newb Question...Menu Graphics
[Re: rwatson]
Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 5,600Recluse
Mediocrity Above All!
I have the "160SpecialGR" folder, and it does not use selection screens or maps.
The download is the "160SpecialPublicRelease.exe" and the patch for it is the "160SpecialUpdate20March.exe"
This version was made for people with screen problems. All the choices are made outside of EAW using the "MissionMaker" and it uses several previously unused values in EAW "*.MSN" files. which the mission maker creates.
Jel
Yes those are the versions I got. I know I don't need the main Menu but the obsessive retro gamer in me wanted to fix everything!
Also, I followed the instructions in the thread about How the 160Special Works, but whenever I click on the SAVE MSN FOR QUICK FLIGHT OFFLINE, or, for that matter, the LOAD AND FLY IMMEDIATELY, it always brings me to the main menu instead of launching... Must not be doing something simple....
Tried the pre-saved missions as well as creating my own.. Reinstalling everything just to be sure... AND everything is working!
Last edited by Recluse; 03/30/1804:09 PM.
Long system spec sig follows:
PowerSpec G436 Lian Li ATX 205 MSI Z490 Plus Motherboard Intel Core i7 10700K 3.8 GHz 32 GB RAM DDR4 1600 Nvidia RTX3070
There's two programs that read your eaw.exe and adds a reg entry into the registry for the menu color fix. (not tearing) They are listed at the bottom, you only need one or the other.
No Mark don't believe I did any way I have a new OS and EAW installs I'll give it a shot.. **** Tried one out and no change..Can't find the post now but checked and nothing was changed in my registry...I did a system restore to before I tried....I think I'm best using the old tried and true Windower,,just had a hard time adjusting it to mostly fill the screen but it worked well and I'll work with that...Darn colors makes me think i'm doing drugs again
Last edited by rwatson; 03/30/1805:29 PM.
Russ Semper Fi
#4413815 - 03/30/1806:58 PMRe: Total Newb Question...Menu Graphics
[Re: Recluse]
,just had a hard time adjusting it to mostly fill the screen
Russ With the 160Special I can run UAW without the windower in Windows 7 because there is no map screen. The versions which want you to select targets and bases from the map screen have a garbled screen and need the windower. It is not needed online because there are no selection map screens.
If I want to fly offline with that type of exe I use a very simple windower setting with height and width set to zero. This forces the natural resolution to be used, so the selection screens are 1024x768 and the game screen in the resolution set in the eaw.ini file. My monitor is 1920x1080, so I use 1680x1050in the eaw.ini, and get a screen that almost fills the window.
Mark Twain: I am quite sure now that often, very often, in matters concerning religion and politics a man's reasoning powers are not above the monkey's.
I am now of an age at which I no longer need to suffer fools gladly
#4413823 - 03/30/1807:20 PMRe: Total Newb Question...Menu Graphics
[Re: Recluse]
Russ, one of the program applies it directly to the registry, the other program writes a .reg file for you to look at first, then you click on the newly created reg file and it applys it. I belive which ever eaw.exe you selected with the program to make a reg file is the eaw.exe you must run.
Note those programs are for Vista and Win7 use.
The DirectDraw Compatibility Tool writes here: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\DirectDraw\Compatibility\eaw and [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\DirectDraw\Compatibility\eaw
The win7ddpatcher Tool writes here: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\DirectDraw\Compatibility\European Air War or [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\DirectDraw\Compatibility\European Air War
Thanks Mark i tried them both and neither made any change...At one tine I had D3D widower to where it filled the screen and was clear..I'll work with that a bit later I remember turning off the windowed mode and entering values for height and width and I kept bumping both up a bit at a time until the screen was full but it did work ..Just can't remember what it was set at but I'm using a different resolution now *********Missed Jellys earlier post but that's about what I di and kept bumping it yup a bit at a time..Thanks for Jogging my memory Jelly
Last edited by rwatson; 03/30/1808:23 PM.
Russ Semper Fi
#4414090 - 04/01/1803:21 AMRe: Total Newb Question...Menu Graphics
[Re: Recluse]
Bug - garbled Single Mission target selection screen and garbled Career Campaign Briefing maps
If you do not get errors like this then you can skip this section
bug-singletargetscreen.png Bug - garbled single mission target selection screen bug-careerbriefingzoom.png Bug - garbled Career campaign briefing zoomed map
You may on some systems encounter this bug. It is due to an EAW programming bug that affects the menu window backpage rendering in some cases. It usually depends on your graphics card driver or settings whether or not you will have this inconvenient bug.
Work arounds - Possible bug fixes
Using a different Wine version may fix it.
Setting your Display settings to 1024 x 768 or larger can sometimes fix it. With some video drivers that have programmable software or settings or even using Wine you may be able to turn Vertical sync off for the application which can solve the issue sometimes. Or adjust the backpage rendering of d2d direct draw.
Other possible fix - using the Wine fake Windows registry
There was a registry fix for some video cards. It involves using a registry key setting called NoAdjustedPitch. It may work in Wine. Consult the European Air War (EAW) Help Site or Sandbaggers EAW Tally-Ho or the SimHQ European Air War forum
Work around - replace the in-game map file with a free special blank background pic provided by EAWonLinux
Download the ewonlinux-europe1testfiles.zip .zip md5sum fb0d22bcc2a981fda59195b02ed95633 Unzip and rename the file lowercase to europe1.pic and drop it in your EAW folder. The other Europe1.pcx file is just a .pcx copy of the file made prior to converting the file for the game. Provided for your own reference or uses. Single Mission target selection screen after the applied fix fixed single mission ts screen Not pretty but it works. Note: use mouse click in screen and hold to move map around to select other targets. Use esc escape on keyboard to exit this screen or any other screen in EAW Career campaign briefing zoomed map after the fixfix-careerbriefingzoomed.png Not a great fix but at least you can see objectives clearly. Note the initial non-zoomed screen - not shown - is not fixed by this method. After applying the fix the game in-flight map will be affected. Since using it you will simply have a blank background using the in-game map feature. Keyboard shortcut alt + m. But no real map graphic to navigate from. Base and plane icons and waypoints show though, so there is some reference points.
The only reason to use this fix is if you have the bug single mission target selection screen from the Mission Settings menu in the Hangar. Also in Pilot Career aka Campaign Mode for the Mission Briefing zoom-in map. If you do not use these and prefer the real map you do not need the fix.
If you need to use it to select targets but want the regular map in the game you could always put the file in, select the mission target, save or fly the game and exit. EAW saves the last mission settings. Then exit EAW. Remove the file. Launch EAW again and since the Single Mission target is already set up, you do not need to use the target selection screen. Just either load your save or just directly go into Fly the Mission and your in-game map - alt + m - will be shown as usual.
EAW 1.29 versions or later should not have this bug. Since the programming was changed for the map. EAW versions later than 1.28e that use a custom drawn map also may not have this depending on the coding and your settings. Some can use alternate maps or world sizes. Check the forum if any doubts about the EAW version you are using.
If using an EAW version 1.28c or earlier they use 800 x 600 or 640 x 480 size menu screens. You would need a resized version of the fix. You could use the Europe1.pcx from the .zip and resize it. But then you have to convert it for the game using a special program called picpac.exe with the -p parameter. That converts and packs the graphic for the compressed graphics format the game uses.
the last section stated a bit oddly, but briefly, As said, its a workaround
Quote
Unzip and rename the file lowercase to europe1.pic and drop it in your EAW folder.
Bug - garbled single mission target selection screen before:
after:
Bug - garbled Career campaign briefing zoomed map before:
after:
The other Europe1.pcx file is just a .pcx copy of the file made prior to converting the file for the game. Provided for your own reference or uses.
If you want to make a Main screen test using my file;
- download the .zip
- extract the EUROPE1.pcx (the z-soft pcx file. Not the .pic which is a 1536 x 1280 inflight map / Single Mission target selection screen)
- resize it to 1024 x 768 for EAW 1.28D, E or later (or 800 x 600 for EAW 1.2 - 1.28c)
- save it as same type z-soft .pcx 256 color indexed
- picpac -p it and rename to Main2.pic for Main screen or a copy for whatever name for the other screens you want to test.
- Drop it in EAW folder or whatever folder used by your .exe or scenario files.
Last edited by FsFOOT; 04/01/1804:26 AM. Reason: removed confusing resize stuff on my webpage
Following this thread. I, too, have some screen tearing and weird color issues running v1.28E. Computer specs: Computer specs: Dell OptiPlex with 8GB ram, Core 2 Duo processor (6Mb cache, 3.0 Mhz), and 1TB HD. Running Win7x64. Gaming board is an Nvidea GeForce 8400 GS, with 1024 Mb of DDR3 RAM. Mfr claims the card supports "OpenGL". Hookup to LCD monitor (1920x1080 native resolution) is via DVI. Logitech Wingman Extreme 3D Digital joystick.
Not sure which approach I should take towards resolving the issues. Game itself plays well enough, however, the menu screens are irritating, and some are almost impossible to read, such as the ones used for plane selection.
Not to mention the very small HUD, way down there in the corner.
#4418641 - 05/01/1806:34 PMRe: Total Newb Question...Menu Graphics
[Re: Recluse]
Now you know whyI took the time and trouble to make the 160Special exe that uses the MissionEditor and does not load selection screens. The only other alternative (if you have windows10) is to set your ini to 1024x768 and use the d3dwindower program
Mark Twain: I am quite sure now that often, very often, in matters concerning religion and politics a man's reasoning powers are not above the monkey's.
I am now of an age at which I no longer need to suffer fools gladly
#4418643 - 05/01/1806:54 PMRe: Total Newb Question...Menu Graphics
[Re: Recluse]
Joined: Oct 2002 Posts: 7,555VonBeerhofen
3DZ Master/Campaign Designer
Mark Twain: I am quite sure now that often, very often, in matters concerning religion and politics a man's reasoning powers are not above the monkey's.
I am now of an age at which I no longer need to suffer fools gladly
#4418653 - 05/01/1807:56 PMRe: Total Newb Question...Menu Graphics
[Re: Recluse]
Mark Twain: I am quite sure now that often, very often, in matters concerning religion and politics a man's reasoning powers are not above the monkey's.
I am now of an age at which I no longer need to suffer fools gladly
#4418665 - 05/01/1808:36 PMRe: Total Newb Question...Menu Graphics
[Re: MrJelly]
Now you know whyI took the time and trouble to make the 160Special exe that uses the MissionEditor and does not load selection screens. The only other alternative (if you have windows10) is to set your ini to 1024x768 and use the d3dwindower program
None of these problems with your 1.60 version, that's for sure. Running in Win7, on my dinosaur OptiPlex 760. Is the d3d windower program still a viable option for my rig when running v1.28E?
I just want to get the main versions of this game running as well as possible before evaluating them. Not exactly fair to compare one game that's almost perfect with another version that has many uncorrected bugs.
Needless to say, at this point I have learned that perfection is an elusive goal, but is nevertheless worth pursuing up to a certain point. YMMV.
Last edited by RIBob; 05/01/1808:39 PM.
#4418667 - 05/01/1808:44 PMRe: Total Newb Question...Menu Graphics
[Re: Recluse]
Mark Twain: I am quite sure now that often, very often, in matters concerning religion and politics a man's reasoning powers are not above the monkey's.
I am now of an age at which I no longer need to suffer fools gladly