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PostPosted: 08 Mar 2007, 21:53 
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Joined: 08 Mar 2007, 21:33
Posts: 3
Ahoy! I've been looking around for some time for a reliable widescreen solution to Invisible War but haven't been able to find one. I did notice at one time there was a link in an old thread here that had a starter program but that has since gone the way of the dodo. So in my frustration at not being able to enjoy Invisible War in widescreen glory I decided to make my own solution.

I'm sure it's probably already known that you can alter the user.ini to start the game in any custom resolution, but it always reverts back to default when the game terminates. You can set the default.ini to use a widescreen resolution, but for some reason that doesn't stick (even when removing the Read-Only tag, making the change, then putting the Read-Only tag back on), meaning you have to alter the user.ini each and every time you want to play in widescreen. THIS IS AN UNACCEPTABLE HASSLE.

My solution is a custom batch file. Right click on your desktop, make a new text file but be sure to end it in .bat instead of .txt, then plug in the code below and follow the instructions. It's a hoop or two to jump through, but it saves you the annoyance of having to edit the user.ini every time.

Code:

   @REM   ===============================================
   @REM   Deus Ex - Invisible War Custom user.ini Starter
   @REM   ===============================================
   @REM   Author: Xaaz     3/8/07     [email protected]
   @REM   ===============================================
   @REM   Tested On  Windows XP x32 SP2/Windows Vista x32
   @REM   ===============================================
   @REM   Tested  With  And   Without  Cracked  NOCD  EXE
   @REM   ===============================================
   @REM
   @REM   PURPOSE  To provide a simple way for players to use
   @REM            customized user.ini settings, in particular
   @REM            widescreen resoltuions, without having
   @REM            to manually alter the user.ini every time
   @REM            Deus Ex - Invisible War is run.
   @REM
   @REM   INSTRUCTIONS   Create a custom user.ini with your desired
   @REM            settings and save it to a location other than
   @REM            where the original user.ini is located. Next
   @REM            alter the SOURCE and DESTINATION paths in the
   @REM            command line below to reflect where your
   @REM            specific files and folders are located. Next
   @REM            alter the GAME PATH to reflect where DX2.exe
   @REM            is located. Next save and double click this
   @REM            batch file. With any luck you'll be able to
   @REM            play Deus Ex - Invisible War with your custom
   @REM            settings over and over without having to tinker
   @REM            with anything again.
   @REM
   @REM   SYNTAX   COPY [SOURCE]user.ini [DESTINATION]
   @REM            [GAME PATH]DX2.EXE
   @REM
   @REM   [SOURCE] This is the location of your custom user.ini.
   @REM            If there are any spaces in any of the SOURCE
   @REM            folder names you must put the entire argument
   @REM            in quotes.
   @REM
   @REM   [DESTINATION]   This is the location of your game user.ini.
   @REM            If there are any spaces in any of the DESTINATION
   @REM            folder names you must put the entire argument
   @REM            in quotes.
   @REM
   @REM   [GAME PATH]   This is the location of your DX2.exe. If there
   @REM            are any spaces in any of the GAME PATH folders
   @REM            you must put the entire argument in quotes.
   @REM
   @REM   EXAMPLE  COPY "C:DXIW CUSTOM INIuser.ini" "C:Documents and SettingsUserDeus Ex Invisible War"
   @REM            "C:Program FilesDeus Ex - Invisible WarSystemDX2.exe"
   
   COPY "[SOURCE]user.ini" "[DESTINATION]"
   "[GAME PATH]DX2.exe"
   


-Xaaz


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PostPosted: 09 Mar 2007, 03:56 
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Joined: 03 Mar 2007, 06:34
Posts: 287
Are you sure the game doesn't keep user specific user.ini files?

E.g. Brothers in Arms (also an Unreal engine games) has a user.ini file in the game's system directory, but it also keeps one in your Windows user directory. Actually you can create different user profiles in the game so it saves a user.ini per profile.

In other words you'll find the "real" user.ini in the following directory:
C:Documents and Settings[WindowsUserName]Application DataGearbox SoftwareBrothers In Arms[ProfileName]

What happens is that when you load a specific profile, it copies the user.ini file from that directory into the user.ini file in the game's system directory. So if you change the file in system directory instead of your user directory, it will look like the file is getting "reset" but in reality you just failed to locate the pertinent file. Funny how people don't ever think to look outside of the game's directory.

I'd be willing to bet Deus Ex is probably doing something similar. Check in your "My Documents" folder too, some games use that instead of Application Data.

Good job with the batch file and all, but you probably went to a lot more trouble than necessary ;)


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PostPosted: 09 Mar 2007, 07:26 
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Joined: 08 Mar 2007, 21:33
Posts: 3
That's quite an interesting observation, Stevedroid, and a very valid point. It is unfortunate though that Deus Ex - Invisible War is something of an oddball when it comes to the ini files. I'm afraid there are only single instances of user.ini files unique to each specific Windows account, as opposed to multiple profiles per Windows account that one would find in your example, Brothres in Arms. For the sake of argument though I did run a live search through Vista with all hidden files and extensions exposed and was unable to locate any other related files.

I would hazard to say though, based on your comments, that you may not have fully grasped the paths listed in the batch file. Upon close inspection of the example paths listed you'll find that the user.ini the game itself uses is located outside the main game folder. In fact it is indeed located in a "My Documents" type folder (the specific name of which varies depending on XP or Vista), as you mentioned. My apologies though if I am misinterpereting your response.

All in all it wasn't much trouble, really. I had to copy a file, edit two values inside it, then create a batch file with two lines of code. That process only took about two minutes. In fact what took the most time was adding all the REM comments. Darn programming habits.

Thank you for your reply though. If you do know of a simpler way to make this wheel turn please let me know, as I'm not much of an expert in matters such as these and would greatly appreciate being educated.

-Xaaz

EDIT:FIXED - "not much of a expert" = "not much of AN expert"


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PostPosted: 10 Mar 2007, 04:58 
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Joined: 03 Mar 2007, 06:34
Posts: 287
I would hazard to say though, based on your comments, that you may not have fully grasped the paths listed in the batch file. Upon close inspection of the example paths listed you'll find that the user.ini the game itself uses is located outside the main game folder. In fact it is indeed located in a "My Documents" type folder (the specific name of which varies depending on XP or Vista), as you mentioned. My apologies though if I am misinterpereting your response.

Ah right you are, to be honest I wasn't paying close attention and assumed you were overwriting a user.ini in the game's system directory, not one in My Documents.

Odd that the game stores a (Windows) user specific user.ini and would reset it everytime.


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PostPosted: 11 Mar 2007, 04:35 
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Joined: 08 Mar 2007, 21:33
Posts: 3
Perhaps I was slightly unclear. It doesn't reset the entire user.ini every time you terminate the game, but rather just the FullscreenviewportX and FullscreenviewportY variables if they are not native values. In my experience it maintains all other native settings. Perhaps it runs some type of checksum algorithm on termination that makes sure all settings are kept native to ensure stability. That's just a guess though.

-Xaaz


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