My theory is that the game is unable to startup because my video mode simply cannot go below 1800x800 without reverting to a single screen, which would then force the resolution to be 1080x1920. I have 3 screens in portrait mode. I would like to know if there is a workaround to force the game to startup in a resolution higher than 1280x800.

Service Pack 1 for Windows 7 should help alot!
Otherwise let Microsoft control/repair your DirectX-Installation.

Lebe jeden Tag, als wäre es Dein Letzter! / Live each day as it would be your last!

(18-06-2012 10:03 AM)Dorimil Wrote:  Service Pack 1 for Windows 7 should help alot!
Otherwise let Microsoft control/repair your DirectX-Installation.

That is not the problem. I put in landscape mode and it works fine, but I cannot play in landscape mode as my monitors are turned on their side.

sorry, i didnt read the issue with multi-monitor...the hint with the SP1 is more general and shouldnt be ignored!

as far as i remember T4 does not really support multimonitoring...you could set the solution via config-files to the one you need, but on your own risk so if there are problems with two monitors, i guess there are more problems with more monitors!
sorry i cant really help you, hopefully somebody read this, who is also using two or more monitors...

Lebe jeden Tag, als wäre es Dein Letzter! / Live each day as it would be your last!

(19-06-2012 10:21 AM)Dorimil Wrote:  sorry, i didnt read the issue with multi-monitor...the hint with the SP1 is more general and shouldnt be ignored!

as far as i remember T4 does not really support multimonitoring...you could set the solution via config-files to the one you need, but on your own risk so if there are problems with two monitors, i guess there are more problems with more monitors!
sorry i cant really help you, hopefully somebody read this, who is also using two or more monitors...

Then what I need to know is the name of the config file that has the resolution setting.

look for %AppData% on C: there you will find a kalypso media folder and in it a folder for each game you have from them...there should be a file (at Patrician and Port Royale it is called config.cfg, i dont know if it is the same with Tropico).

probably this could help: http://forum.kalypsomedia.com/showthread.php?tid=14685

Lebe jeden Tag, als wäre es Dein Letzter! / Live each day as it would be your last!

It is not the same in Tropico 4. There isn't a config file in that location. Only lua files that are encrypted/compressed and a launcher.ini that has nothing to do with game settings.
I did a google search and no one seems to know where the config file is with resolution settings, but many people are having the same problem that I am having.

Still unable to play.

I think it's slightly unreasonable to expect developers to support multiple monitors running spanned whilst in GPU driven rotation. If it runs on a single monitor, then the problem isn't in the game's engine, it's your drivers. If you don't have the hardware to support a single DirectX context across multiple monitors, then it's outside of the scope of the game: you admitted it yourself, it runs in a single monitor if no rotation is applied. Speaks volumes about the problem to me. If the card supports EyeFinity, you might get some luck there, but the long and short is you're trying something that's well beyond the scope of the norm.

And for the record, it's not that nobody knows, it's that we haven't posted it. The default config file is 'config.lua', and it's inside the game directory. The user data you want isn't exactly user-accessible, but the location provided is right.

There's no config.lua file on my entire hard disk >.<
Is something wrong? Works fine so I'm not troubled.

The problem is well within the scope of the norm. Nearly every other game I play is able to support multiple monitors, but they use the desktop default resolution to start up if a resolution isnt defined in a config file. I admitted to the game working on all 3 monitors in landscape mode and it does this because the game is able to start up in the safe mode setting with an extremely low resolution. Please dont post your opinion on what is and isnt the norm. I am looking for a solution, not an opinion. Thanks.

(24-06-2012 09:11 AM)ISilenceI Wrote:  The problem is well within the scope of the norm. Nearly every other game I play is able to support multiple monitors, but they use the desktop default resolution to start up if a resolution isnt defined in a config file. I admitted to the game working on all 3 monitors in landscape mode and it does this because the game is able to start up in the safe mode setting with an extremely low resolution. Please dont post your opinion on what is and isnt the norm. I am looking for a solution, not an opinion. Thanks.

You're right, my opinion isn't valid because I didn't develop the engine and have never demonstrated a full understanding of it. I sure hope Microsoft's is valid enough for you.

Just to test something, I got it working on three monitors in portrait using EyeFinity, and then on the same three monitors in landscape. 12.4 drivers on a 6970. My point is that you've got something wrong there, and multi-monitor DirectX contexts aren't normal. If it works on three monitors in landscape, then your problem isn't the game engine. If you can get EyeFinity to handle it properly, then you'll be in a much better position.

EDIT: As you don't want my opinion, I guess you don't want my config file either.

@Simanos: The config.lua file I speak of is in Game.hpk, and is compiled. I posted a decompiler, but it'll mangle it fairly horribly and leave you with a series of key=value settings that you'll need to poke a few times. The actual data he needs isn't in config.lua, but the information in config.lua provides a way to override it, but you can't just use a mod loader, there's a special way to do it which I've not made public, nor, at this point, do I intend to.

Stop posting in my thread swixel. I know what the problem is and you arent offering a solution. No Im not interested in your config file and no Im not interested in your opinion. Im interested in a solution which you clearly arent able or willing to provide since you dont understand what the problem is. Thanks.

EDIT (no edit really): Im quite sure that IF you got the game to work in portrait mode, that you arent using widescreen monitors.

(24-06-2012 10:56 AM)ISilenceI Wrote:  Stop posting in my thread swixel. I know what the problem is and you arent offering a solution. No Im not interested in your config file and no Im not interested in your opinion. Im interested in a solution which you clearly arent able or willing to provide since you dont understand what the problem is. Thanks.

EDIT (no edit really): Im quite sure that IF you got the game to work in portrait mode, that you arent using widescreen monitors.

3x24" monitors 1920x1080, tested rotation both on the monitor and the card.

My Win7 install is completely up-to-date though. You might want to Dormil's advice, as that may be a factor here.

Other things which may be worth trying:
- disconnecting/disabling the TV tuners;
- disconnecting/disabling the USB audio devices.

But as I said, there's a way to change the resolution so it launches straight out of the box at 3240x1920, and as you said you don't want it, I'll hold you to that and leave you to it.

Best of luck.

(24-06-2012 11:02 AM)Swixel Wrote:  But as I said, there's a way to change the resolution so it launches straight out of the box at 3240x1920, and as you said you don't want it, I'll hold you to that and leave you to it.

Best of luck.

Maybe you should have started off with that instead of being a dickbag and posting about how the solution Im looking for isnt a normal expectation. But like I said, Im still not interested in your opinion or your config file. I would rather someone who isnt an asshole to help me out. Thanks.

(24-06-2012 11:29 AM)ISilenceI Wrote:  Maybe you should have started off with that instead of being a dickbag and posting about how the solution Im looking for isnt a normal expectation. But like I said, Im still not interested in your opinion or your config file. I would rather someone who isnt an asshole to help me out. Thanks.

Neither your choice of language, nor attitude, changes the suggestion to update your Windows install. I think you will find that it is important as the updates are free and expected: developers aren't going to reinstall just to match your version to try to fix your thing.

As for "without the config", it seems to work now, but I set it and forget it, so, that's fun. Also, it depends on how your monitor rotation is being setup if it's going to annoy your monitor/GPU, but again, you don't care, so I'll just leave it.

I dont know if youre trolling or just not smart enough to grasp the concept. The game is intending to start up in safe mode. In safe mode it defaults to low resolutions, much smaller than my monitors are capable of handling in portrait mode without reverting to a single monitor. By doing this, it will fail every time, no matter what point my windows it currently updated to. This is the second time, swixel. You arent willing or capable of helping me so stop posting in my thread.

Sorry, the game was not extensively tested with and therefore currently does not officially support multi-monitor environments.

That's all there is to say so I'm closing the thread to prevent further derailment.

@ISilenceI: Swixel was offering to provide a preset startup config file with your display resolution to prevent the safe mode fallback. It's up to you to accept his help by contacting him via PM.