.. I felt it'd be a good idea after my recent experiences to warn anyone wishing to bypass the software limited resolution capabilities of Freelancer that it's a dirty, DANGEROUS hack (depending on your method, atleast).
Anyone who's done this or feels they will do it sometime in the future should be warned. If you're not careful when editing cameras.ini, you can fry your videocard.
The line WinCamera is the point of interest, which is sometimes modded to adjust HUD positions accordingly to the new resolutions. You need to be careful when changing this line, because if you set it too high it will cause your videocard to jump to modes that it isn't designed for, resulting in permanent irreparable damage. I stumbled across this by accident, and fortunately I had a replacement card. I had two extra videocards that I didn't care about laying around and decided to experiment with them, and upon passing certain values (anything above 75, but one card died when set to only 70) to the line WinCamera from cameras.ini, all three of them died the moment I attempted to launch into space.
This first occured with a Nvidia 6800GT, and the issue was replicated with both a GeForce FX5200 aswell as a GeForce2 MX400. Be wary friends, as editing this file is a gamble depending upon your videocard.
Ive got freelnacer working in widescreen. The only prob i have is the zoom level on the planet/station i join the server on. Once i launch into space it works fine from then on in
Altering resolution seems to be completely safe, it's when you start changing camera values to adapt to the new resolutions that you can run into trouble.
' Wrote:Tell me...How on earth can you fry your video card by altering a *.ini file in the Freelancer folder?
I lol'd at that one.:laugh:
You got me, mate, but I've done it.
All I know is, upon changing the WinCamera value, if you go too high (or perhaps even too low), it tosses your videocard into absurd modes. As an example, my last attempt with the GeForce2 resulted in my display being warped to some undescribable resolution, something like 240x350 (estimated guess). The image on my screen was more of a skewed, obsfugated triangle at the center of my display rather than an actual "square", and it didn't occupy the entirety of the screen like it should've (even under stupidly low resolutions like 320xwhatever it should've used the entire display). The GeForce2 was the only card I was able to actually see anything with upon launching into space, but seconds after my display died and then the card never worked again. I consider myself lucky that my LCD still works after seeing that.
I've tried all three cards in three different computers, two of which have identical hardware setups (motherboard/CPU n' all). None work anymore.
Things like this aren't supposed to be possible in the modernized computing era. This was stuff you saw back in Windows 9x when processes still had direct access to hardware via real mode, but the NT series of Windows kernels was specifically designed to correct all these things by placing buffers between software and hardware, like the Windows Executive Services and HAL. It's the main reason old applications/games don't work on newer hardware or on newer versions of Windows, since after NT Microsoft's "real mode" became non-existent. Hardware resources are now managed in user mode, which prohibits Windows applications from ever actually "touching" your computer's hardware. DirectX itself as a concept is intended to be a buffer of it's own, even..
It's possible that it could've been an issue with the version of NVidia drivers I'm using, I can't say for certain and I don't have anymore old cards to experiment with, so.. Just be careful, yeah?
Quote:yeah i found a sample config file that had all the right values, e.g. font scales, i'll try and dig up the link
You can find that sample file at the Tekagi's Treasure forums, but the sample file they offer won't work for everyone depending upon the monitor/resolution they're using. This means if you need/want the HUD to appear properly under a custom resolution configuration, you have to edit the file yourself.
Could it not just be your card was tired and was about to kick the bucket anyway. GeForce 2 you say? Bit old ain't it.
Editing an *ini file to adjust camera angle/distance/rate won't blow your video card up. Maybe it will prevent the game from working, or prevent the game from displaying correctly.
Restore the file, and its all good in the hood:)
Maybe pull the card out, dust the contacts. Maybe your card just decided to short. Don't worrie about your LCD. They are tough, besides they only display what your card tells it to. They won't break because of what comes up on the monitor. (To my knowledge)
If you threw a 8800GTX in there and did the same thing, I don't think it would die.
I wouldn't recommend trying it unless your willing to throw the better half of 500 bucks away. And I wouldn't recommend doing this on a laptop either if what is said is true.
I doubt it.
I keep wanting to say "Your card just gave up at a convenient time" But some of this rings a bell to me for some reason.
EDIT:
A friend playing BF2 removed something from the game and typed something in the console resulting in a red and blue screen. He reset his computer and all he got was a horizontal Grey to Back gradient on the screen.
Maybe changed some kind of pixel shader configuration for the worse. Or over loaded a pixel pipeline or over-loaded something in the GPU.
I'll wait till Korrd finds this thread. He actually knows what he is talking about when it comes to video cards.
"Three o'clock is always too late or too early for anything you want to do."
Quote:Could it not just be your card was tired and was about to kick the bucket anyway. GeForce 2 you say? Bit old ain't it.
You're not reading the entire post.
.. I didn't believe it myself..
So I tried with two other cards just to see if it was misfortune. Like I said above.
The first card to die (the one that I originally encountered this problem with), was a BIOSTAR GeForce6800GT w/ 512MB gDDR3. When I launched into space after setting the WinCamera line to 75 (the samplefile I had used the value 63 with a long decimal, after modifying it to 70 the HUD wasn't appearing where I wanted it too), my screen went black instantly. The computer was still running, but the videocard wasn't displaying anything.
I figured my PC might've just locked up, so I rebooted. Now, the GeForce BIOS still works, right before the system BIOS I can see it ping and initialize my card. However, once it gets beyond that point the screen goes black again. So I took it out and tested it in two other computers, one of which had the same exact hardware as the original box the card came from, the other being a Dell Dimension 8800. It didn't work in either of them.
.. Still in disbelief, I installed a BFGTech GeForceFX5200 into my box. I edited cameras.ini again and set the value down from 75 to 73, and upon launching from a base into space, the exact same thing happened with the 5200. I tried that card in my other two boxes, and it didn't work anymore either.
Afterwards, I had a GeForce2 MX400 left over from ages ago, so I figured what the hell. I've got an extra 6800 anyway, I'm going to try this again and see if it fails. I installed it, opened cameras.ini, set the WinCamera value down to 70, and that's when this happened:
RParade Wrote:As an example, my last attempt with the GeForce2 resulted in my display being warped to some undescribable resolution, something like 240x350 (estimated guess). The image on my screen was more of a skewed, obsfugated triangle at the center of my display rather than an actual "square", and it didn't occupy the entirety of the screen like it should've (even under stupidly low resolutions like 320xwhatever it should've used the entire display). The GeForce2 was the only card I was able to actually see anything with upon launching into space, but seconds after my display died and then the card never worked again.
.. Again, I installed the GeForce 2 into two other boxes and it didn't work anymore either. Instead of trying it again, I installed another 6800 that I had and booted into Windows. I didn't load Freelancer, instead I just uninstalled Freelancer. I reinstalled Freelancer and of course it worked fine, since I wasn't using a modded cameras.ini or resolution anymore.
I've recreated this problem with three different cards now, all of which worked prior to attempting this, and all of which were tested in two other systems. I'm only reporting what happened to me as a warning to others, it's fine if you don't believe me, but I've fried three cards now and I'll go to my grave screaming about cameras.ini and how it's a dirty, DANGEROUS hack. I didn't believe it myself, which is why I tried it with two other videocards. None of these cards had been overclocked or unlocked, they were stock videocards and the first videocard that died (the 6800) was only six months old. It could've been a seriously eery series of bad luck mishaps, or perhaps it's an issue with my hardware (something other than my videocards, all of which worked perfectly before attempting this), either way.. It still doesn't change the fact that there's danger involved in implementing this "mod."
Very weird--its a really unlikely event but ts windows and graphics...who knows?
When I am actually awake I'll ponder more. I am thinking its the drivers trying to make an adjustment in response to Freelancer and screwing a setting up. Voltage? Refresh rate? Weird. You need a before and after bios view--see if something crashed in bios.
Quote:greywolf Oct 5 2007, 04:21 PM
The following was collected from a few websites and abit of my own thinking, so decided to post it here if needed.
To get freelancer working in widescreen in this case 1680x1050 do the following.
1) Go to my documents > my games > freelancer and open prefoptions in notepad. At the bottom it will say [Display] and underneath size= change it to 1680, 1050 or what ever widescreen resolution you use. Not the space in between the 1680, 1050. Now save and exit.
2) Now go to c: > program files > microsoft games > freelancer > DATA . Once there open cameras in notepad
Delete whats there and paste the following.
[WinCamera]
fovx = 63.504809977813375
[CockpitCamera]
fovx = 90
znear = 2.000000
[ChaseCamera]
fovx = 90
[DeathCamera]
fovx = 90
Now save and exit.
3) Now go to c: > program files > microsoft games > freelancer > EXE . Once there open freelancer in notepad.
At about the 9th line down it says size change it to size = 1680,1050 ,or what ever resolution you are using.
Now save and exit.
4) Now go c: > program files > microsoft games > freelancer > FONTS .Once there open fonts in to notepad. Now delete all whats there and paste the following.
Now in the same folder open rich_fonts in to notepad and delete and paste the following.
[trueType]
font = 0, Arial Unicode MS, 18
font = 1, Agency FB, 26
font = 2, Arial Unicode MS, 22
font = 3, Agency FB, 24
font = 4, Agency FB, 96
font = 5, Agency FB, 20
font = 6, Agency FB, 30
font = 7, Agency FB, 18
[Style]
name = STYLE_CONSOLE
font = 0
bold = false
italic = false
underline = false
color = 255, 255, 255
[Style]
name = STYLE_DIALOG
font = 1
bold = false
italic = false
underline = false
color = 135, 195, 224
[Style]
name = STYLE_DIALOG_SMALL
font = 5
bold = false
italic = false
underline = false
color = 135, 195, 224
[Style]
name = STYLE_BUTTON
font = 6
bold = false
italic = false
underline = false
color = 135, 195, 224
[Style]
name = STYLE_LOCTABLE
font = 0
bold = false
italic = false
underline = false
color = 135, 195, 224
[Style]
name = STYLE_LOCTABLE_SELECT
font = 0
bold = false
italic = false
underline = false
color = 245, 234, 82
[Style]
name = STYLE_LOCTABLE_INACTIVE
font = 0
bold = false
italic = false
underline = false
color = 182, 182, 182
[Style]
name = STYLE_SMALL_HEADER
font = 5
bold = false
italic = false
underline = false
color = 135, 195, 224
[Style]
name = STYLE_SMALL_HEADER_ACTIVE
font = 5
bold = false
italic = false
underline = false
color = 245, 234, 82
[Style]
name = STYLE_SUBSUBTITLE
font = 1
bold = false
italic = false
underline = false
color = 135, 195, 224
[Style]
name = STYLE_TITLE
font = 3
bold = false
italic = false
underline = false
color = 135, 195, 224
justify = center
[Style]
name = STYLE_ERROR
font = 0
bold = false
italic = false
underline = false
color = 191, 29, 29
[Style]
name = STYLE_NN_AGENCY
font = 5
bold = false
italic = false
underline = false
color = 135, 195, 224
[Style]
name = STYLE_PRIVATE
font = 0
bold = false
italic = false
underline = false
color = 59, 191, 29
[Style]
name = STYLE_CONSOLE_SENDER
font = 2
bold = false
italic = false
underline = false
color = 0, 255, 0
Now save and exit.
Now you are all done any ready to play in 1680x1050 ( best for either 20 or 22" wide). Note the options will state the wrong resolution but it will be in 1680x1050.
Also NOTE , for this to work when u load in to game u must enter in to space once for it to work ie just lift off. Not sure why this is it just is.
Have fun. Perfectly safe way of doing it. I've been playing FL in widescreen for a long time now.
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