Resolution Setting for Laptop

[MannyRamirez]

If this is a repeat, then feel free to delete.  But, I discovered something while setting up this game.

 

My preference is to play the game with black bars on the side of any widescreen display.  I don't like the stretched look.  I have played this game on two different ROG gaming monitors as well as the monitor on my laptop.  Both monitors have a "square" setting which pretty much takes care of the issue with ease.  However, I struggled to figure out how to prevent my laptop from stretching.  I would put the display resolution to 1280x1024 and my entire OS would be square, but then when the game launched it would stretch back out to widescreen.

 

Ultimately the answer had to to with the Intel internal graphics card setting. 

 

Step 1 is to set the display setting to 1280x1024 and make the OS go square. 

Step 2 is to launch Intel Graphics Command Center and set Scale = Centered  (maybe different ones could work for you, but Centered was the only option that worked for me)

Step 3 is to go ahead and set your display resolution back to 1920x1080 or 3840x1060 whatever you run.  You only need to set it to 1280x1024 so that the Intel screen will show you the options for that resolution.  The intel screen only shows you options for the current resolution even though it saves the settings for all resolutions.

Step 4 is launch the game.  For me it starts out kind of small on intro and menus but the game screens are perfect

 

It's much more complex to get it working this way versus just changing a setting on my external monitors.  However, the end result is pretty slick.  I don't have to touch anything.  I can run my OS in normal widescreen format and then launch the game and it immediately jumps to 1280x1024 with black bars.  This took me a long time to figure out and I would keep launching the game and it would always stretch, so maybe this will help someone save some time.

 

When troubleshooting, I did try the ResolutionChanger mod, but it didn't help.  Also, based on experience and reading on this board, it seems like the resolution can't actually change and it's always just going to stretch the square picture to the resolution you specify.  Small changes might look okay to fill the screen.  But, imo stretching from 1280x1024 to 1920x1080 looks horrible.  Also, even if I want to do that I don't need the mod to get it done.  I can easily stretch the graphics basically using the reverse of the instructions above.  I almost think the existence of the ResolutionChanger mod is confusing.  It seems like an extra thing that nobody needs that will only cause confusion, but I'm probably just missing the point.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jim825]

You said in your post how complex it was to get the resolution using the steps you outlined. Not everyone has the technical experience or knowledge to do what you did. That is the whole point of the Resolution Changer mod. It’s a much easier way to get the game to play on a wider screen. 

[Kccitystar]

On 4/21/2025 at 9:44 PM, Jim825 said:

You said in your post how complex it was to get the resolution using the steps you outlined. Not everyone has the technical experience or knowledge to do what you did. That is the whole point of the Resolution Changer mod. It’s a much easier way to get the game to play on a wider screen. 

 

My understanding is that the resolution changer mod only changes the internal resolution of the game but does not make the game widescreen. The UI elements including portraits and player models are still scaled to 4:3 resolution still.

[MannyRamirez]

On 4/21/2025 at 8:44 PM, Jim825 said:

You said in your post how complex it was to get the resolution using the steps you outlined. Not everyone has the technical experience or knowledge to do what you did. That is the whole point of the Resolution Changer mod. It’s a much easier way to get the game to play on a wider screen. 

 

I think you misunderstood me.  I'm not trying to play widescreen.  Widescreen happens by default on all of my screens.  I want the black bars on the side if I'm on a wide screen.  

 

On monitors with aspect controls you can just flip them from 16:9 to 4:3.  On my laptop I had to use the method above, which is more steps to configure but the result is you never have to switch back and forth from 4:3 to 16:9.  

 

The Resolution Changer is misleading if the game can't actually play in widescreen and all you're doing is stretching the graphics out which will happen by default anyway.  I would see more value if it worked in reverse and allowed you to send 4:3 without adjusting any setting on your monitor.  Does it do that?

 

 

 

 

[MannyRamirez]

On 4/22/2025 at 9:20 PM, Kccitystar said:

 

My understanding is that the resolution changer mod only changes the internal resolution of the game but does not make the game widescreen. The UI elements including portraits and player models are still scaled to 4:3 resolution still.

 

Unless the game has graphics that are cropped out of the 4:3, then all you can do to fill the 16:9 screen is stretch the graphics.  So, I think the emphasis should be on the fact that this is a 4:3 game and if you're on a widescreen then your goal should be black bars on the sides.

[Yankee4Life]

17 hours ago, MannyRamirez said:

 

Unless the game has graphics that are cropped out of the 4:3, then all you can do to fill the 16:9 screen is stretch the graphics.  So, I think the emphasis should be on the fact that this is a 4:3 game and if you're on a widescreen then your goal should be black bars on the sides.

 

 So what? You are trying to change a twenty-year-old game.

[MannyRamirez]

2 hours ago, Yankee4Life said:

 

 So what? You are trying to change a twenty-year-old game.

 

So, I think it's important to emphasize that it's a 4:3 game and there's no way to play it 16x9 without distorting the graphics.  It's meant to be played 4:3.  But, if you want to stretch the guys fat and wide that's super easy and will be the default behavior on any 16:9 screen.  (no config or mods necessary)

[MannyRamirez]

My external displays have aspect controls which makes it simple and easy to switch back and forth between 4:3 and 16:9.  The challenge I had was getting 4:3 to work on my laptop.  

 

Setup

MSI Laptop

i7-10750H

Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super

Windows 11

 

I tested the Resolution Changer and it didn't work.  I set it to 1280x1024 and the picture was still stretched across my screen.

 

The ONLY thing that worked for me was using Intel Graphics Command Center.  I had to switch the resolution to 1280x1024 in Windows before the Intel app would allow me to select "Centered" for the aspect control.  Then I could switch back to 1920x1080 on my laptop and MVP 2005 would still run in 4:3 every time.  

 

In this configuration MVP launches in a very small 4:3 window for the intro and menu screens, but then it fills the screen for gameplay.  

 

I took some screen caps of the Intel app as well as gameplay but they get rejected when I try to attach them here.  I might eventually make some YouTube tutorials and post them here.  This game is so great I really think anything that anyone can do to keep it alive is a good deed.  

 

Long story short on this one, though, is that on my laptop the Intel integrated video card settings somehow impact the results of MVP2005's gameplay resolution even though the game is played on the graphics card.  I even made sure I set the graphics to force MVP 2005 to run on the NVIDIA card.

 

I almost gave up before I somehow researched and figured out I needed to mess with the Intel Graphics Command Center.   I'm happy I figured it out, because it's going to be cool to have this game portable on my laptop.  For me the graphics look super crisp and clear on 4:3 and unplayable when that same image is stretched to 16:9.  

 

I started looking into the possibility of a dedicated 4x3 screen from the 2005 era.  There are some online.  I don't think I'm going to do that, though.  Black bars on the side of the screen aren't that big of a deal if you don't have a space limitation.  Then you can also use the same monitor for everything else and have Gsync, Vsync, HDR, OLED black levels and response time.  I do think it would be cool to have the Dell UltraSharp 2007FP hooked up to my Windows XP box, but I probably won't use the retro PC that much I have all the same games on my Windows 11 computers.  Plus, I am limited on space.  If I had a spare bedroom or something I would be all over it.  I kind of want to buy one just to have for the future.  But, like I said worst case I can hook my retro Windows XP PC up to my brand new monitor and get a great experience... just some inconvenience to switch the monitor from one PC to the next.

 

Friends don't let friends play MVP 2005 in widescreen format.  Stay square my friends.

 

Edited May 8 by MannyRamirez