Making old games work on lcd monitor - froggato, circuslinux, bumprace, etc
by enigma9o7 from LinuxQuestions.org on (#511DB)
I have an issue with several old games on my young kids PCs, where I normally edit the desktop files to make their games launch full screen. Running 5.1RC-hwe version of bodhi.
First example is frogatto launched with --fullscreen, it tries to switch to 800x600 at 85 Hz. Or if you launch it normal and press Ctrl-F it does the same thing.
The 1920x1080 monitor I'm trying to use does not support 800x600 at 85 Hz. It does support 800x600 at 72Hz. If I use xrandr to set to 800x600 first, it doesnt help for this game. Ever. I have found no solution to make this game run fullscreen.
Now let me mention another game with similar issue but I cant even understand. circuslinux. This game wants 640x480 for fullscreen. If I use xrandr to switch to 640x480 --rate 72 first, as monitor cant support 60hz it tries to use automatically, it works the second time. Not the first. The first time after reboot, it always opens at wrong freq (and my monitor shows unsupported mode). But second time and later, it works. I don't get it. If I use arandr to do it, it works first time.
Bumprace is another game with similar issues.
Note I have two kids and two pcs set up the same, no such issues with CRT monitor on the other.
If anyone wants to play with this, I expect you'll have similar results trying to run fullscreen, unless your monitor supports the refresh rate such games try to force. I'm looking for a solution/workaround, especially for games that work the second time but not the first.
First example is frogatto launched with --fullscreen, it tries to switch to 800x600 at 85 Hz. Or if you launch it normal and press Ctrl-F it does the same thing.
The 1920x1080 monitor I'm trying to use does not support 800x600 at 85 Hz. It does support 800x600 at 72Hz. If I use xrandr to set to 800x600 first, it doesnt help for this game. Ever. I have found no solution to make this game run fullscreen.
Now let me mention another game with similar issue but I cant even understand. circuslinux. This game wants 640x480 for fullscreen. If I use xrandr to switch to 640x480 --rate 72 first, as monitor cant support 60hz it tries to use automatically, it works the second time. Not the first. The first time after reboot, it always opens at wrong freq (and my monitor shows unsupported mode). But second time and later, it works. I don't get it. If I use arandr to do it, it works first time.
Bumprace is another game with similar issues.
Note I have two kids and two pcs set up the same, no such issues with CRT monitor on the other.
If anyone wants to play with this, I expect you'll have similar results trying to run fullscreen, unless your monitor supports the refresh rate such games try to force. I'm looking for a solution/workaround, especially for games that work the second time but not the first.