Display Issues

[sloanjh (OP)]

This is the FAQ for problems with the display in Aurora

[sloanjh (OP)]

"I can't see the buttons at the bottom of the XXX screen":
"Some of the screens don't fit on my display":
"Aurora assume a display resolution that my laptop/computer doesn't support"
"I can't resize any of the screens"
"Please put scroll bars on the screens so that I can use them on my laptop":
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These are all different forms of the same issue - the screens in Aurora are designed assuming a minium display resolution of 1280x1024, and do not have scroll bars, due to the way Steve decided to implement SA (Starfire Assistant) many years ago.

The workarounds for this if you have a computer that can't support at least 1280x1024 are:

1)  Run some sort of virtual desktop on your machine, which allows the desktop itself (rather than the Aurora windows) to scroll.  Several such solutions have been posted over the years in the forums - you should be able to find them by doing a forum search (upper right corner) on something like "display resolution".  The first thing to do though is look down this thread for posts about particular, working solutions.  If you've searched the forums, tried the solutions that you've found, and they don't work for you (because, for example, you've got a newer operating system like Vista) then you can post a question to "The Academy" (the thread for new users) asking if anyone else has a scrolling solution for your particular configuration - if it works then please post it to this thread.

2)  Run on a supported configuration/Buy new equipment.  This is not meant to be a facetious suggestion.  It is meant to indicate that this issue has come up repeatedly over the years, and it is non-negotiable.  At present, Steve has no plans to change Aurora to accomodate users who do not use one of the two workarounds listed here.  Aurora is a game that Steve wrote primarily for his own enjoyment, and is provided free and "as-is".  Steve feels no obligation to make changes when he feels that reasonable workarounds are present, nor is gaining a large user base for Aurora one of his primary goals.  Please do not make posts suggesting how easy this would be to fix, complaining that this is an unreasonable or foolish policy, threatening not to play the game if this is not fixed, etc. - they will not produce a policy change on this issue.

The reason I am being so blunt in item #2 above is that this issue has come up repeatedly on the board, with the same answer each time.  I'm trying to get across the point "please don't go there".

CURRENT PLAYERS - Could people who are currently running with some sort of "virtual desktop" (or other) solution please post the details on how to get it working and what OS they're using in replies below?

[Hawkeye]

In XP, a "floating desktop" is already built in but it does carry a warning from Microsoft so you will have to decide if this is worth trying. Go to the screen where you set your resolution. Select the Advanced button and then select the Monitor tab. There is a checkbox which reads "Hide modes that this monitor cannot display". If you uncheck this box, you can set resolution to anything your graphics card can handle. If this resolution is higher than what your monitor can display, whenever your mouse pointer reaches the edge of your screen, the whole screen will scroll in that direction.

I am using this since I discovered Aurora with no problems at all

[sloanjh (OP)]

"One of my screens has disappeared!! Help!!!!":
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Aurora remembers the position of some of the screens in its DB.  This can lead to problems when the remembered screen is off the screen (or minimized in older versions).  To fix it:

1)  Close all windows (or restart Aurora)
2)  Use the Reset Window Positions option on the Miscellaneous menu on the main menu bar

[Father Tim]

"Help, I'm running Aurora on Linix through Wine, and the font on some windows, such as the (F9) System window, is illegibly tiny."

Aurora use the Tahoma (tahoma.ttf) font, which in Wine displays much smaller than intended.  Download a larger copy (~200KB) from a trusted site.

[welchbloke]

For both Vista and Windows 7 a program called Resize Enable can be used.  This allows you to grab the edges of the windows and drag them to a suitable size. Resize Enable then tries to move allow the objects in the window so that they are all visible.  This can cause so odd display effects but with a little practise usable configurations are possible. For both Vista and Windows 7 Resize Enable has to be run using the 'Run as Administrator' option.

[Erik L]

Updated download link for sdesk.

http://downloads.zdnet.com/abstract.asp ... ntent;col1

[niabaAurora]

I also have a 1440x900 monitor and I can play (quite) well using resize enable and SDesk. On WinXP.

• Open both programs, set SDesk to 1 desktop wide by 2 desktops tall.
• Any maximized windows should be locked or they'll misbehave (win+down arrow).
• Any windows that are too large to fit on the screen can be viewed by moving the desktop up and down with SDesk (middle mouse on the "toolwin").
• Any windows that automatically resized and have their bottoms cut off can be fixed by grabbing the bottom edge and pulling UP by a few pixels and and back down again. The more pixels you move it the less the window contents will be resized (real funky I know) - you'll have to practice this yourself and judge how much movement each window needs.
• This trick only works once for each window so if you mucked it up close and try again.
• Windows that you resize will look odd. Text boxes resize but labels don't, they'll be mismatched and some wont show.

I hope this helps.

Reposted by request. Hopefully in the right place.

[Anonymous]

When I start up the game, no graphics are displayed in the window. I see the toolbar, but the window is empty.

[Nabobalis]

When I start up the game, no graphics are displayed in the window. I see the toolbar, but the window is empty.

Press F3.

[Anonymous]

When I start up the game, no graphics are displayed in the window. I see the toolbar, but the window is empty.

Press F3.

Thanks for the help, man! That fixed it.

[ShadoCat]

Updated download link for sdesk.

http://downloads.zdnet.com/abstract.asp ... ntent;col1

Erik,

I just got a Win7 laptop with a 1366x768 display.

I'm trying out SDesk but it doesn't seem to do anything but sitting there (no scrolling, etc.).

Moving the mouse to an edge doesn't do anything.

[Erik L]

Updated download link for sdesk.

http://downloads.zdnet.com/abstract.asp ... ntent;col1

Erik,

I just got a Win7 laptop with a 1366x768 display.

I'm trying out SDesk but it doesn't seem to do anything but sitting there (no scrolling, etc.).

Moving the mouse to an edge doesn't do anything.

I only ever got sdesk to scroll side to side, which is not very useful for Aurora.

[ShadoCat]

I only ever got sdesk to scroll side to side, which is not very useful for Aurora.

That's better than me but still not helpful.  In fact there seem to be a lot of side scrollers out there.  I haven't found any that do vertical scrolling.  <sigh>

I guess that there's a reason to keep my old, 15 minutes to fully boot, computer around.

[Zorgn]

I found a combination of Resize Enable and GiMeSpace allowed me to scroll up and down on my 1280x800 monitor. It's a bit awkward at times, but it beats hooking my laptop to my CRT monitor.