How to change screen resolution for games in mac OS X 10.3.9

Question

How to change screen resolution for games in mac OS X 10.3.9

Hi,

I'm new to apple, so this may be an easy one (I hope).

I have an iBook clamshell with os X 10.3.9 running. I want to play some older games, like Diablo 1, squirrel kombat, etc.

What I can't find out anywhere is how to change the resolution for games. I know for older games (at least on PC) that there was a file that stored your settings, like sound card, resolution, etc.

I can't find anything like that here. Diablo 1 says that it needs to have a minimum of 640 X 480. I want to set it at 800 X 600.

How do I do this?

Thanks for your help!

Update, it looks like Diablo is running in classic mode (I thought it would run in OS X) anyway, the question is still the same! Thanks!

iBook, Mac OS X (10.3.x), 300 Mhz, 160MB RAM

Posted on Jul 1, 2012 7:29 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Kenichi Watanabe

Level 8

41,572 points

Jul 2, 2012 12:48 AM in response to TheRealAnubis

The overall screen resolution setting in Mac OS X is in System Preferences. You can select it from the Apple menu. Then, go to the Displays pane. You should see a list of available resolution settings, on the Display tab.

NOTE: Games will often take over the screen, and change screen resolution to whatever is optimal for game performance. In that case, there may be a resolution setting in the game's preferences. In some games, you hold a key at startup (such as Option), to set the desired screen resolution for the game.

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Answer 2

Jul 2, 2012 2:56 AM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

Hi,

I do have the resolution set at 800 X 600 in system preferences, but each game takes over (like you said) and wants to put it at 640 X 480.

I'll try holding down different keys to see what happens. It's strange that this stuff isn't documented in the game manuals. I'm sure even in 2000 that people wanted to run games at the max resolution possible.

Thanks!

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Answer 3

Jul 2, 2012 3:20 AM in response to TheRealAnubis

I wouldn't be surprised if a game from the year 2000 is designed to run at only 640x480. Typical graphics cards were not very powerful back then, so to get fast enough action on the screen, they lowered the resolution. For action games, "frame rate" is more important than resolution. We're spoiled today, because we can have both high speed and high resolution, even on a mobile device like an iPad.

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Answer 4

Jul 2, 2012 3:34 AM in response to TheRealAnubis

So, I tried holding down option while starting Diablo, and up popped the preferences with a couple of extra tabs!

This also included the option NOT to change the resolution!

So Diablo is working now, but still no solution for Squirrel Kombat!

Thanks!

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Answer 5

Jul 2, 2012 6:40 AM in response to TheRealAnubis

Sorry, I picked the wrong post for the solution! At least credit went to the correct person!

Thanks!

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Answer 6

Jul 2, 2012 12:52 PM in response to TheRealAnubis

it looks like Diablo is running in classic mode

FYI - If you have older Mac OS 9 games, they will run much better if you start up directly into Mac OS 9, instead using Mac OS 9 with Classic, under Mac OS X. In Classic, the system is not using the graphics hardware optimally, especially for things like games.

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Answer 7

Jul 2, 2012 2:10 PM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

Great tip!

I booted up in os9, and shadow warrior ran great, and it even had the intro stuff.

Diablo, however, refused to recognize the original CD until I put it in a USB external CD rom.

Any ideas on why the CD icon is gone, and no CD's will pop up on the desktop unless it's the external CD?

Thanks!

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Answer 8

Jul 2, 2012 2:37 PM in response to TheRealAnubis

I'm not sure about the CD issue. It works under Mac OS X, correct?

You could run Extensions Manager, which is under Control Panels (in Mac OS 9). This is where you can enable and disable system extensions used by Mac OS 9. When you use a System Folder for Classic (under Mac OS X), Mac OS X is handling most of the support functions so a lot (actually most) of the extensions can be disabled (including things related to the optical drive). When booting Mac OS 9 directly, you need those extensions to be enabled.

But, in this case, it seems like the external USB optical drive would not work either, but there may be something that is specific to the internal optical drive (that is currently disabled).

NOTE: If you plan to use Mac OS 9 for both Classic and direct booting, you can have a separate copy of the System Folder for each function. For use as Classic, disable as many of the unneeded extensions as possible. For the System Folder used for direct booting, keep those extensions enabled, although there may still be some you can keep disable (such as Multiple Users and Voice Recognition, if you don't use those functions). The System Folder you use for direct booting should remain at the top (root) level of the hard drive volume. The one used for Classic can be stored anywhere you want.

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Answer 9

Jul 2, 2012 3:01 PM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

Ahh, after you mentioned how you could use multiple os9 system folders, I figured it out! I had someone online help me put together a system folder to be run as 'classic'. Apparently, it was stripped of almost everything, including the cd/dvd drivers. I copied the os9 folder to my user folder in os X, then I popped the missing drivers in from my original os 9 folder (I'm glad I made a backup), and then booted from there. That works much better! I'll have to experiment with what I want to put back in, but your tip helped me get started!

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Answer 10

Jul 3, 2012 1:17 AM in response to TheRealAnubis

Glad you figured it out.

FYI - If you find that you need a Mac OS 9.2.2 System Folder, you can take a look at this method

https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!topic/macos9/nR2QQCKaCFA

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Answer 11

Jul 4, 2012 1:28 PM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

Wow, nice work!

I went ahead and squirreled away that option just in case...

Thanks!

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