Best Graphics Mods and improve graphics

[alex.keehn]

I bought the game on offer from GOG games.
Unfortunately I am disappointed with the graphics and screen resolution. The game looks blurry and grainy.

Especially the units, they look blurred.  Is there an option in game to set higher graphics setting? Does anyone have any ideas to improve the graphics and make them more sharp, crisp and stable, in windows 7. My computer spec are windows 7, 64 bit operating, amd radeon HD7700 series if that helps.

I have also done the trick of putting DirectDraw=0 in the alpha centauri config file. Which graphics mods are best in transforming the game and making it look better.

thanks for your help

[Buster's Uncle]

As far as sharpness, I doubt making the screen bigger will help at all.

Hmm.  It looks crisp to me; I mean, the modern stuff is what looks blurry and pastel-smeared to my eye. 

Anyone?

[Mart]

The game is over 10 years old, so it was designed for resolutions 800x600 and 1024x768.
What may help is try keys:
z - for enlarging tiles (text is not enlarged) "zoom in"
x - for "zoom out"
shift+z makes default zoom in

there is also gamma correction in preferences
you could try alternative textures (game CD has one, not sure GOG version)
but it will never be full HD graphics...

[Yitzi]

If the units always look blurred in the same way, that might just be how they were drawn, in which case your best bet would be to check with the .cvr editors.

In any case, I don't think you're going to get modern levels of fidelity, as that sort of thing can't really be added in after-the-fact, and obviously wasn't added in when the game was made 10 years ago.  (Then again, I don't think graphical fidelity is anybody's reason for loving this game.)

[alex.keehn]

thanks for your replys
what are the .cvr editors? Also are there any mods which change the appearance of the units or structures?

[Buster's Uncle]

http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?topic=7866.0

[gwillybj]

Did DirectDraw=0 help at all?

These are the first few lines of my ini:

[PREFERENCES]
ForceOldVoxelAlgorithm=1
[Alpha Centauri]
ds3d=1
eax=1

I don't have any reference to DirectDraw; I'm interested in knowing what it does.

Also, iirc, the best resolution you'll get is 1024x768, and it will look odd on a widescreen monitor. If you have a [19" or 20"], [4:3 or 5:4] monitor that works, try SMAC on it.

[Ford_Prefect]

DirectDraw is a mixed beast
DirectDraw = 0 will result in the gui and several graphical effects being Disabled.  Most notably, you won't see changes to the planet when making a new game and menus will be placed weirdly in game.  The upside is that you will see more of the map and will be able to take screenshots.

[Buster's Uncle]

I don't have any problems with screenies w/o the direct draw dodge.

[Ford_Prefect]

I don't have any problems with screenies w/o the direct draw dodge.

Well, I do.... its pretty annoying. 

[Buster's Uncle]

I'm pretty good at troubleshooting screenshot problems, in case anyone ever needs that...

[diessa]

My attempt at adding the Direct Draw code ended with my game failing to start. BUncle, maybe a guide would be a good resource?

@alex.keehn SMAC was released early in 1999. Some other late '90s games, such as StarCraft, have better graphics, but their graphical overhauls were the result of late-development criticism and heavy investment by the developers. The reality is that they were perhaps "decent" at the time, and that time was over 15 years ago!

[Buster's Uncle]

A graphical display guide would be an excellent idea - perhaps posted in the SMACX, Hamachi and You thread in Theory of Everything.  (It's intended hotseat MP, but has so much about getting the game running on your system that Petek, Supreme Champion of Troubleshooting swears by it.)

I'm not the one to write it, though.  Anyone?