Dungeon Keeper FX missing "guide squares"

[yunior89]

Dear Klan,
thank you very much for creating and developing such a great site such as Dungeon Keeper FX site and making it possible for this awesome game to live again and longer!
I hope I am not asking a double question, but i searched and i couldn't find any similar post. It is also difficult to define "guide squares" (but on screenshot you can see it)

I have the Dongeon Keeper Golg GOG version and i installed the FX version on it and it is working great.

However, there is one thing that is missing and maybe you can help me to figure out how to fix it: the selecting squares in the game are missing. Or better, they are only visible if i zoom out (but i like to keep the original zoom as i dont see so well if everything is smaller).
In the screenshot "1-DK with selecting squares" , you can see those squares with the zoomed view. If i go back to the original size, the same squares are missing "2-DK without selecting squares" . If i keep the same zoom of the non-appearing square view, they become visible "3-DK curved with selecting squares" .

Do you know what settings i may change to make it work? I tried every possible resolution and it never worked. If i open the original GOG game, this issue does not appear and the squares are always there.

Thank you very much for your help!

PS: the perspective mode is really necessary for me, as i don't like the other mode. I get very distracted and confused by those unstraight walls

[YourMaster]

The straight walls mode indeed has this issue with the boundbox not showing up at any zoom level. Other things like units are also clipped. This problem is always there, but a lot more noticeable on higher resolutions. And since the original/gog versions of the game only support up to 640x480, for them it's not a problem.
If you feel 'normal view' is not an option for you, you could play the game in 640x480 mode and the issue should almost disappear.

[yunior89]

The straight walls mode indeed has this issue with the boundbox not showing up at any zoom level. Other things like units are also clipped. This problem is always there, but a lot more noticeable on higher resolutions. And since the original/gog versions of the game only support up to 640x480, for them it's not a problem.
If you feel 'normal view' is not an option for you, you could play the game in 640x480 mode and the issue should almost disappear.

YES! That was the solution! As soon as i changed in the keeperfx launcher to 640x480 opens the game with the boundboxes. However it changes a bit how the game menu of the creature appear: with a fat black stripe under it.
I was opening the GOG graphic options and i saw that the resolution is set to 1680x1050 (config screenshot here: ) and the game runs with that resolution and WITH the boundboxes. Is there anything else that i can change in the keeperfx launcher option to make sure that the resolution is not so low causing the "black" lines?

Thank you for your precious support!

[YourMaster]

GOG really only plays it as 640x480 as well, or in your case in 640x400. If you hate the additional pixels below, you can configure KeeperFX to 640x400 too.

[yunior89]

GOG really only plays it as 640x480 as well, or in your case in 640x400. If you hate the additional pixels below, you can configure KeeperFX to 640x400 too.

First of all, thank you so much for your fast replies!

I think that i didn't explain well the problem, but with a screenshot comes much easier

KeeperFX (the left menu is lifted compared to the normal resolution and it is very unsharp):
in GOG the screenshot resolution was much bigger than the fx (so actually really 1680x1050) and besides the sharpness of the game, the menu on the left is positioned correctly:

Like always, thank you for your precious reply!! )

[YourMaster]

I understood perfectly. Dosbox just resizes it to stretch, which KeeperFX also does when you have a low resolution. It's just sharper, because KeeperFX now stretches the square to your widescreen monitor, while gog can stretch the widescreen resolution. If you configure KeeperFX to do 640x400 you get the exact same result as dosbox.

[yunior89]

I understood perfectly. Dosbox just resizes it to stretch, which KeeperFX also does when you have a low resolution. It's just sharper, because KeeperFX now stretches the square to your widescreen monitor, while gog can stretch the widescreen resolution. If you configure KeeperFX to do 640x400 you get the exact same result as dosbox.

Gotcha! I tried the 640x400 but the game does not start. I got this log file:

Dungeon Keeper FX ver 0.4.8.2154 (standard release)
LOG CREATED @ 08:24:40 25-03-2021

Sync: LbMouseChangeMoveRatio: New ratio 256x256
Sync: CPU GenuineIntel type 0 family 6 model 14 stepping 2 features bfebfbff
Sync: PhysicalMemory 32
Sync: Memory-demanding features enabled.
Error: LbScreenSetup: Full screen resolution 640x400 (mode 28) not available
Error: setup_screen_mode_zero: Unable to setup screen resolution 640x400x32 (mode 28)
Error: setup_game: Unable to set display mode for legal screen
LbDataFree: freeing "*SCRATCH"...done
LbDataFree: freeing "data/palette.dat"...done
Error: In source LbBullfrogMain:
2 - Setting up game failed.



Do you know what i have to change to make it work? I set 640x400x32 for in-game, menu, movies, failure. If i set 640x480x32 into menu or movies or failure, the in game resolution will run at 640x480x32

thank you so much!

[YourMaster]

Windows mode would work but would give you a really small screen.

You could try this version and do the same as you did now: https://keeperklan.com/threads/7239

[yunior89]

Windows mode would work but would give you a really small screen.

You could try this version and do the same as you did now: https://keeperklan.com/threads/7239

wow i just realized now who i am writing with. You are the awesome human being working on this project. Thank you so much for your effort and awesome work!

I did try with the fx_alpha_2333_from_2215 version installed onto the 0.4.9. Unfortunately i tried there the 640x400x32 and it has a long black line (obviously does not match the screen size) and the 640x468x32 acts the same of the 0.4.8.

I will just live with the "shorter" menu bar of the creatures/rooms with the lower resolution or with the missing boxes with the higher resolution


Thank you so much for your awesome support. I love the great work that you are putting into it! If you make a paid version, be sure i'll be your customer

[YourMaster]

480, not 468. But I assume that was a typo here and you did it correctly in the config.
But unfortunate you can't get it the way you want it too. The black space under the menu is not that bad, you should notice you can see just a bit more when fully zoomed out that way though.

And thank you. Even if I wanted to make a paid version, I couldn't, most of the work was not done by me, and everything created is done in open source with a license to always be free and open. Also, E.A. would surely come knocking if we would cross that line.