[Tutorial] How to play AOE 2 in a higher "unsupported" screen resolution

[Rhandy]

BACKGROUND

Hello everyone!
I have an old Dell Inspiron 1545 Laptop and I wanted to play AOE 2 on it.
The problem is that my Laptop only supports 1366x768 (FWXGA) as the maximum display resolution. If you have played on this resolution you know that it can only be described in two words: IT SUCKS.

So, I did some research (Google and Steam Community search) because I wanted to play in a higher screen resolution but the results of my research were not useful at all. Everyone (including the AOE 2 devs) only answered: "buy a 1080p monitor", "pixels size are fixed and cannot be changed", "AOE 2 can only be played using your desktop resolution". Lame solutions...

After a few days trying to figure out a REAL solution, I finally found a way to do it.
It's not a pretty solution, but it works (kinda). I can now play AOE in a 1920x1080 (FHD) resolution. And it looks a lot better! It works with AOE 2 HD and with the old Voobly version.

So if you want a better resolution, follow the instructions.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Go to google.com > Search, install and open VMWare Workstation.

2. Click File > New Virtual Machine...

3. Select "Custom (advanced)" and click Next.

4. In the "Hardware compatibility" drop-down list, select the latest version available and click Next.

5. In the next screen it will ask you how you want to install the Operating system on your Virtual Machine. Select a choice (the one you'll use) and click Next. In my case, I used a Windows 7 ISO.

6. In the next screen, it will ask you for the Windows 7 installation information (Easy Install). Write the necessary information and click Next.

7. In the next screen, it will ask you a name for the Virtual Machine. You can customize it if you want and then click Next.

8. In the "Processor Configuration" screen, just click Next.

9. In the "Memory for the VM" screen assign a reasonable amount of RAM to the VM and click Next.

10. In the "Network Type" screen, the NAT option will be selected by default. Click Next.

11. In the next screen, the recommended option will be selected. Click Next.

12. In the "Disk Type" screen, click Next.

13. In the "Select a Disk" screen choose the option you want to use. I selected "Create a new virtual disk". Click Next.

14. In the next screen, enter the desired size for your VM disk (if you selected the virtual disk option) and then click Next.

15. In the next screen, click Next.

16. In the "Ready to Create Virtual Machine" screen, click "Customize Hardware..." then, click on "Display" and make sure that "Accelerate 3D graphics" is checked and then click "Specify monitor settings". When you do this, a text box will be enabled. The text displayed in this box will be 2560 x 1600. Just click the Close button.

17. Make sure that "Power on this virtual machine after creation" is checked and then click Finish to start the OS installation. Wait until the installation finishes.

18. After the OS installation, the VMWare Tools will be installed automatically in the VM. If it doesn't, you can do it manually.

19. After the final restart, install Steam and AOE 2 HD or Voobly and AOC (it works for both).

20. Before running AOE, in the desktop, right click and select "Screen resolution". In the box, change the Desktop resolution to 1920 x 1080 and click OK. The VM resolution will now be larger than your laptop resolution.

21. On the VMWare menu, click View > Autosize > Center guest. Then again, View > Autosize and make sure "Autofit window" is enabled.

22. Enter to the VMware full screen using the following keys combination Ctrl + Alt + Enter or by clicking the Full Screen button.

23. Enable the Exclusive mode by hovering the mouse on the top of the screen, then go to View > Exclusive mode.

Note: You can exit the Exclusive mode using the following keys combination Ctrl + Alt.

24. Run AOE and enjoy your 1080p resolution! :D

CONCLUSION

As you can see, AOE 2 resolution can be scaled down to fit in any screen.
Devs said that this was not possible because the spirtes size were fixed, but I know that with some effort, it can be done. That's all you need: effort...

Hope this tutorial help someone! If you have any questions, let me know. :)

[StepS]

This is a very complicated solution. If you want, I can make an extension to the game that makes the game think it's resized to a bigger size than it actually is (in fact, I was planning something like this since a while... Sort of "zoom" with the surface getting scaled, but I'm also working on other projects). However, old AOE won't have bilinear filtering, only HD.

[Rhandy]

This is the only solution I have. But if you can make an extension, that would be great! That would be the perfect solution and we'll be able to avoid the VM completely.

[gagman]

good tut for the people that need it (lucky i dont need it) ^^
Also good for people than no want run strange exe files.
i guess ive give you in the other thread the idea with the Virtual machine haha

[Rhandy]

Yeah @gagman. I found a new way to do this and get the full 1080p resolution. I'm updating the post. :D

[Rhandy]

Post updated!

[Code Panda]

Wouldn't a better solution involve Oracle VirtualBox? VMware is not really free.

[Rhandy]

Originally posted by Code Panda:

Wouldn't a better solution involve Oracle VirtualBox? VMware is not really free.

VirtualBox does not allow you to get a 1080p resolution. Only 1600x1200 max.
Also, you cannot go to full screen while you're in Scaled Mode unless you use a third party program like Borderless Gaming.

With VMware you can do both.

[caodeveloping]

This is a thing that many people would not try... but logically this is a fully working solution (workaround) for the issue. My laptop's max res is 1366x768 so I made a win7 virtual machine with vmware with the res 1920x1080 and stretched it into the 1366x768, so it looks perfectly now. Letters might be somewhat messy in the menu, but entirely playable.

What the topic starter did not mention is the issue "Unable to intialize graphic system. Your GPU hardware may not meet the minimum system requirements. Subcode=1" which comes from the experimental phase of the 3D accelerator on virtual machines in vmware. Just right-click on the name of virtual machine and select "install vmware tools" (workstation version 10).

The second very important thing to stretch the larger resolution into the smaller physical one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzPR05EFWDw

No you can even play on 2500x1600 ;)

[gagman]

2500x1600 with lag or without ?! :D

[Rhandy]

Originally posted by caodeveloping:

What the topic starter did not mention is the issue "Unable to intialize graphic system. Your GPU hardware may not meet the minimum system requirements. Subcode=1" which comes from the experimental phase of the 3D accelerator on virtual machines in vmware. Just right-click on the name of virtual machine and select "install vmware tools" (workstation version 10).

Well, if you go back and read the step #18 it says:

18. After the OS installation, the VMWare Tools will be installed automatically in the VM. If it doesn't, you can do it manually.

Every step is necessary to make it work correctly.

[Rhandy]

Originally posted by gagman:

2500x1600 with lag or without ?! :D

If you have a good PC, no lag...
But small Villagers. :p

[gagman]

tried it yesterday, 2500x1600 was no lag but pain in my ees :D
my main monitor supports 1920x1080 thats fine too :)

[orf #1 pb fan]

Hello Steps, did you finally make the extension? I have the original aoe series but wanted to support this people, just to find this ♥♥♥♥ resolution.

[5loxge]

You can also use this http://www.timbreofprogram.info/wndmode/ instead of VMWare. This tool enables you to set screen resolution when you boot applications:)
Though explanation is Japanese, UI is English.
------
Window - Full Screen Mode Settings: set your display resolution
Size - Fix drawing size on boot: 1920*1200 or any

[Some Delicious Sky]

Originally posted by 5loxge:

You can also use this http://www.timbreofprogram.info/wndmode/ instead of VMWare. This tool enables you to set screen resolution when you boot applications:)
Though explanation is Japanese, UI is English.
------
Window - Full Screen Mode Settings: set your display resolution
Size - Fix drawing size on boot: 1920*1200 or any

Hi, you give a more detailed step-by-step walkthru of how to use the UI? And what to do when you get the error "select exe file which is not patched"?