Baaad screen

[Socrates]

Don't know why this is just popping in my mind now, but anyway here is an interesting question. When I have Civ3 and other applications open at the same time, the other applications look too shiny and flickering on the screen, at least for Internet Explorer (always open on my PC or almost). It is annoying and tiring for the eyes, and I wonder whether there is a way to get back to the normal display with Civ3 open. I don't know if I'm clear and if I used the right adjectives, but does it relate to your own experience ? At first it was OK, but now I want to care for my eyes.

[Lt. Killer M]

hm, I have Civ running at a different screen resolution. I switch back and forth with Alt-Tab. Works fine

[anarres]

IIRC this happens because civ defaults your display frequency to 60 hertz, instead of what it runs at normally.

There is a line you can add to your conquests.ini file (or civ.ini for vanilla). The line to add is "Refresh=60" (well, NOT 60, but a higher number).

To find your current setting for refresh go to control panel/display properties/settings tab/advanced button/monitor tab. Now check the "Hide modes this monitor can not display" is checked, and read the "Screen refresh rate" from the drop down box. This is usually about 75Hz, but the higher the better. Your monitor will be able to support a different maximum refresh rate at each resolution - if you put it too high the display will go blank and it will revert to the last setting, so you can test different settings here to find the max it can take.

Say you find it at 75Hz, but can turn it up to 85Hz. In this case I would turn it up anyway (why not? higher is better for your eyes...), then I would add "Refresh=85" in the conquests.ini file (I think you need to get the capitalisation right, and I know you must not add spaces around the equals, and it must be on it's own line). If you don't want to change your display settings you can always just read the value (75Hz in this example) and set it to that in the conquests.ini - although there is no reason not to set it as high as it will go.

[Socrates]

OK, I read all your post, found where to modify things in my French WinXP version (not simple sometimes !), and so I'm currently using a 1024*768 resolution for Windows, at 85 Hz, like I wanted and had been advised before. The "Hide modes this monitor can not display" option was checked. Now, I'm opening Civ3, going back to Windows, and checking this. Result : the resolution is unchanged (that's why I get 1024*768 images when I capture Civ screens, I guess), but the frequency is down to 75 Hz ! I guess I found what bugs me. Let's see if adding your line will do something. I'll back up my original INI file of course, but : does it mess anything in Civ, regarding to whatever compatibility ?


EDIT : Still at 75 Hz...
Is the line to add there :
GridOn=1
ScrollSpeed=1
MapZoom=0
Location=1
Net Name=kryszcztov
Latest Scenario=Scenarios\[censored]
"Refresh=85"
?

[Ville]

Take "" out

[Socrates]

quote:Originally posted by Ville

Take "" out

Who's geek ?

Works. Thanks so much, anarres ! So that also means that Civ3 works at 85 Hz now, uh ? Is it better than 75 Hz ? If yes, why did Firaxis touch this value ? What are the cons for working at 85 Hz with Civ ?

[Banzai]

quote:Originally posted by kryszcztov

What are the cons for working at 85 Hz with Civ ?

It will eventually blow up your monitor.

[Markstar]

quote:Originally posted by Banzai

It will eventually blow up your monitor.

[]

[digger760]

i guess its more work on your graphics cards or monitor, which for Firaxis means less combibantions they had to test/support.

[Darkness]

quote:Originally posted by Banzai

It will eventually blow up your monitor.

Speaking from experience???