Yet another RA2MD.exe resolution guide for fullscreen connoisseurs

So you want to make use

of the WHOLE screen estate you paid an arm and a leg for but the game won't let ya?

Well me too and here's how I did it.

Most guides gave my game some kind of fu--inneky attitude but now, with these little tweaks, it loads great, views menus in glorious full screen SD and lets me pick & choose my preferred pronouns game resolution.

Your mileage may vary. F--rick around and find out.

Originally posted by BOT_Nips:

Battle control - online

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As some commenters have helpfully pointed out, your mileage MAY INDEED VARY. The game is old and Windows computers have literally millions of different configurations. As evident, while one thing might work for me, it also could break your game. Luckily all of this is fully reversible by "checking the integrity of files". My save files at least were OK. That's the joy of fricking around with .ini's.

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Again, this config works for my personal sheetbox. I'm not saying this is an ultimate all-around guide but a Howie Did It instead. Neither can I help you with your specific system, but the comments can give you an idea on what could be the issue, were you to run into one.

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So, dearest commanders, please try to tweak the options and what ever you can think of BEFORE commenting so we all get the opportunity to learn and get the most of each others' mistakes/attempts/fixes! Include some information on your system as well so the next gaymer might have a better idea on what to try if the program won't Do The Thing.

For example: What was the thing you wanted it to do? How did it not do the thing - did it do another thing? (How) did you get it to do the thing?

I'm running (WIN10PRO - 3060 12g - 5900X) and can't over-emphasise that you really have to try things out for yourself. Hence the "heck-around-and-find-out" and "GLHF". Take everything with a grain of salt like it came from Ivan or Udo Kier himself.

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Battle control - terminated

Firstly

--1--

It all begins with an install folder. Usually something like:

"...\steamapps\common\Command & Conquer Red Alert II"


Locate and open file:

"DDrawCompat.ini"


Select all and paste:

 
ColorKeyMethod = auto
CpuAffinity = 1
DesktopResolution = display
DisplayAspectRatio = display
DisplayFilter = bilinear(0)
DisplayResolution = desktop
DpiAwareness = permonitor
FullscreenMode = borderless
RenderColorDepth = app
SupportedDepthFormats = 16, 32
SupportedResolutions = native, 1024x768, 1280x720, 1366x768, 1400x1050, 1920x1080, 2560x1440
VSync = on
WinVersionLie = 98 

REMEMBER TO (Ctrl + S)

It's really that simple. Now on to the next one:

--2--

Locate and open files:

"RA2.ini"
"RA2MD.ini"


Select [Video] and paste:

 
[Video]
AllowHiResModes=yes
VideoBackBuffer=no
ScreenWidth=1366
ScreenHeight=768
StretchMovies=yes  

REMEMBER TO (Ctrl + S)

Secondly

Download .zip (https://github.com/FunkyFr3sh/cnc-ddraw), extract to the very game directory you have open.

Find and open ddraw.ini. Replace everything (Ctrl + A, Ctrl + V) with the following:

 
; cnc-ddraw - https://github.com/FunkyFr3sh/cnc-ddraw

[ddraw]
; ### Optional settings ###
; Use the following settings to adjust the look and feel to your liking


; Stretch to custom resolution, 0 = defaults to the size game requests
width=0
height=0

; Override the width/height settings shown above and always stretch to fullscreen
; Note: Can be combined with 'windowed=true' to get windowed-fullscreen aka borderless mode
fullscreen=true

; Run in windowed mode rather than going fullscreen
windowed=false

; Maintain aspect ratio
maintas=true

; Windowboxing / Integer Scaling
boxing=false

; Real rendering rate, -1 = screen rate, 0 = unlimited, n = cap
; Note: Does not have an impact on the game speed, to limit your game speed use 'maxgameticks='
maxfps=-1

; Vertical synchronization, enable if you get tearing - (Requires 'renderer=auto/opengl*/direct3d9*')
; Note: vsync=true can fix tearing but it will cause input lag
vsync=true

; Automatic mouse sensitivity scaling
; Note: Only works if stretching is enabled. Sensitivity will be adjusted according to the size of the window
adjmouse=true

; Preliminary libretro shader support - (Requires 'renderer=opengl*') https://github.com/libretro/glsl-shaders
; 2x scaling example: https://imgur.com/a/kxsM1oY - 4x scaling example: https://imgur.com/a/wjrhpFV
; You can specify a full path to a .glsl shader file here or use one of the values listed below
; Possible values: Nearest neighbor, Bilinear, Bicubic, Lanczos, xBR-lv2
shader=Shaders\interpolation\catmull-rom-bilinear.glsl

; Window position, -32000 = center to screen
posX=-32000
posY=-32000

; Renderer, possible values: auto, opengl, openglcore, gdi, direct3d9, direct3d9on12 (auto = try direct3d9/opengl, fallback = gdi)
renderer=opengl

; Developer mode (don't lock the cursor)
devmode=false

; Show window borders in windowed mode
border=false

; Save window position/size/state on game exit and restore it automatically on next game start
; Possible values: 0 = disabled, 1 = save to global 'ddraw' section, 2 = save to game specific section
savesettings=1

; Should the window be resizable by the user in windowed mode?
resizable=true

; Upscaling filter for the direct3d9* renderers
; Possible values: 0 = nearest-neighbor, 1 = bilinear, 2 = bicubic, 3 = lanczos (bicubic/lanczos only support 16/32bit color depth games)
d3d9_filter=3

; Where should screenshots be saved
screenshotdir=.\Screenshots\

; Switch between windowed/borderless modes with alt+enter rather than windowed/fullscreen modes
toggle_borderless=false


; ### Compatibility settings ###
; Use the following settings in case there are any issues with the game


; Hide WM_ACTIVATEAPP and WM_NCACTIVATE messages to prevent problems on alt+tab
noactivateapp=false

; Max game ticks per second, possible values: -1 = disabled, -2 = refresh rate, 0 = emulate 60hz vblank, 1-1000 = custom game speed
; Note: Can be used to slow down a too fast running game, fix flickering or too fast animations
; Note: Usually one of the following values will work: 60 / 30 / 25 / 20 / 15 (lower value = slower game speed)
maxgameticks=0

; Method that should be used to limit game ticks (maxgameticks=): 0 = Automatic, 1 = TestCooperativeLevel, 2 = BltFast
limiter_type=0

; Force minimum FPS, possible values: 0 = disabled, -1 = use 'maxfps=' value, -2 = same as -1 but force full redraw, 1-1000 = custom FPS
; Note: Set this to a low value such as 5 or 10 if some parts of the game are not being displayed (e.g. menus or loading screens)
minfps=-1

; Disable fullscreen-exclusive mode for the direct3d9*/opengl* renderers
; Note: Can be used in case some GUI elements like buttons/textboxes/videos/etc.. are invisible
nonexclusive=true

; Force CPU0 affinity, avoids crashes/freezing, *might* have a performance impact
; Note: Disable this if the game is not running smooth or there are sound issues
singlecpu=true

; Available resolutions, possible values: 0 = Small list, 1 = Very small list, 2 = Full list
; Note: Set this to 2 if your chosen resolution is not working or does not show up in the list
; Note: Set this to 1 if the game is crashing on startup
resolutions=2

; Child window handling, possible values: 0 = Disabled, 1 = Display top left, 2 = Display top left + repaint, 3 = Hide
; Note: Disables upscaling if a child window was detected (to ensure the game is fully playable, may look weird though)
fixchilds=0

; Enable one of the following settings if your cursor doesn't work properly when upscaling is enabled
hook_peekmessage=false
hook_getmessage=false


; Undocumented settings - You may or may not change these (You should rather focus on the settings above)
releasealt=false
game_handles_close=false
fixnotresponding=false
hook=4
guard_lines=200
max_resolutions=0
lock_surfaces=false
allow_wmactivate=false
flipclear=false
fixmousehook=false
rgb555=false
no_dinput_hook=false
refresh_rate=0
anti_aliased_fonts_min_size=13
custom_width=0
custom_height=0
min_font_size=0
direct3d_passthrough=false
center_cursor_fix=false
fake_mode=1366x768x32
wine_allow_resize=false
lock_mouse_top_left=false
no_compat_warning=false



; ### Hotkeys ###
; Use the following settings to configure your hotkeys, 0x00 = disabled
; Virtual-Key Codes: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/inputdev/virtual-key-codes


; Switch between windowed and fullscreen mode = [Alt] + ???
keytogglefullscreen=0x09

; Maximize window = [Alt] + ???
keytogglemaximize=0x10

; Unlock cursor 1 = [Ctrl] + ???
keyunlockcursor1=0x09

; Unlock cursor 2 = [Right Alt] + ???
keyunlockcursor2=0xA3

; Screenshot
keyscreenshot=0x2C



; ### Config program settings ###
; The following settings are for cnc-ddraw config.exe


; cnc-ddraw config program language, possible values: auto, english, chinese, german, spanish, russian, hungarian, french, italian
configlang=english

; cnc-ddraw config program theme, possible values: Windows10, Cobalt XEMedia
configtheme=Windows10

; Hide the 'Compatibility Settings' tab in cnc-ddraw config
hide_compat_tab=false

; Allow the users to 'Restore default settings' via cnc-ddraw config
allow_reset=true 

REMEMBER TO (Ctrl + S)

You're done!

So. I play on a 32" 16:9 1440p monitor about an arm's length fom my nose. After some rigorous testing of a match of Alamo [whatever this map is] per resolution, I came to a resolution, with, well, the issue of the resolutions.


Glorious 16:9 RA2YR in 762p, like it was in 2001 but WIDER

If I'm playing single player, I'll choose the more zoomed in 762p. It's more intimate and won't show me the whole map at once (tried it a few years ago, might visually frick with the game). 762p, for some reason, is the highest resolution that works with the menus as well. Probably them being hard-coded like the build overlay. Hence the fake-resolution on the ddraw.ini. It's all voodoo, really and I don't know why or how this all works, I just got it to work just how I want it to, on my own system.


Glorious 16:9 RA2YR in 1080p like it should be today

On a skirmish I'll go for better situational awareness with 1080p. Because the bots cheat too and it's more fun to see all of the YOU HAVE NEW CONSTRUCTION OPTIONS. Fight me.

These are the only screenshots I managed to take in-game before I found out (Steam overlay and [Alt + F4] stopped working). Just trust me bro on this when I tell you the fix also lets me enjoy the aforementioned menus in the aforementioned stretched standard definition on fullscreen.

If you're going for the 4:3 CRT vibe, go check another guide, or head over to the forums. Most of them are very keen on keeping those darn black bars, heck. Or try doing this one and editing the .ini files with suitable potato resolutions if you will.

After all this game is over 20 yrs old. You probably need to tweak a thing or two yourself in order to get it to work perfectly (ha!) on yours. If your game has trouble loading in the skirmish menu, for example, locate "ddraw.dll" and delete it. Just might do the trick.


GLHF

[miqui87]

It´s saying the link has been flagged as malicious... please help

[Beevis690]

Thank you for the Guide BOT_Nips. Also Thank you Nyerguds for always being there for this game.

[TeXx0o]

Works! Thanks!
The github download does not have the ini file ddraw.ini. So i couldnt edit the file.
Worked anyway.

[♥ hazelnot ♥]

I also have a 1440p monitor and personally prefer 720p cause it perfectly scales up to the native resolution, the game is more zoomed in than at the resolutions you recommended, but it gets rid of the scaling artifacts cause it's just simple pixel doubling

[Nyerguds]

The reverting is due to a new DDrawCompat update that was pushed. To unlock the full resolutions list in-game, you need the edits in both ini files.

[BOT_Nips]

@Nyerguds Funny, that one does literally nothing for me. The game supports up to 768p without any oddities and anything else you can imagine with the said oddities.

Today my game reverted to 4:3 aspect ratio for no apparent reason. It seems just the DDrawCompat.ini can be enough to do the job.

[Nyerguds]

Add "AllowHiResModes=yes" in the game settings file to unlock all resolutions in the in-game settings. The DDrawCompat ini also has a simple option to just support all available resolutions your PC supports, which is to add the option "native" to the end of the "SupportedResolutions=" line.
For the record, I don't believe the game supports any resolutions over 1080p, so there's no point in adding those. also, your units would just look like ants anyway. 720p is pretty much the ideal resolution to play on.

[BOT_Nips]

@SathraxDeprawn Good thing that it worked! I got it to 99% perfect but broke it with one tweak too many. Ended up tracing my steps the best I could and writing the guide immediately after. And regarding the last part: I think it should speak for itself but in my personal objective opinion it doesn't make sense to play on too high of a resolution unless you're playing on a TV. :) I'm just trying to save those who are after a) a full screen experience AND 2) visuals akin to the originals, some time with finding the best resolutions.

[SathraxDeprawn]

The entire last section seemed unnecessary to me? I downloaded it, couldnt find the ini file (dont think it existed) and just tried running the game, and it worked.

[thesomething0]

I had an issue with not being able to click on the main menu either just like Виталя Понедельник . i found that if i restored the original ddraw.dll the issue went away. so my advice would be: just modify the RA2.ini, RA2MD.ini, and DDrawCompat.ini. skip the dll part.