Unable to Change Video Settings

[TheDyllionaire]

Hey guys!
I could really use a hand.
I recently attempted to increase my resoluation in Medieval 2: Total War, to 1600x by something I think, and now my game won't run! My monitor says it can't display this resolution because it's in an Analog Input.
I can't get into the game to change the settings.
Any idea on how I could change settings without getting into the game?
I'm running Windows Seven.
Thanks all, a speedy response would be appriecated!

[PoleCat]

You'll need to locate the "medieval2.preferences.cfg" file in your main M2 folder. Open it with Notepad. Look down for a [video] settings paragraph.

Somewhere you'll see something like "video: 1600x1200" (I'm operating from memory - bear with me). Change that value to "800x600". Use the same formatting as the original value. That should allow you to get back into the game. Good luck and let us know if it doesn't work.

[TheDyllionaire]

I found said file, but the only text containeded inside was
"[video]
widescreen=0
[game]
allusers=1"

I opened it with Notepad as you asked, and it's the only file with a name close to that in my directory.
Thanks for the speedy response!
Any more ideas?

[TheDyllionaire]

Could you possibly post up what yours looks like?
Maybe I can copy and paste the info and it'll work?

[PoleCat]

Could you possibly post up what yours looks like?
Maybe I can copy and paste the info and it'll work?

Give me a second to go find the file - BRB.

EDIT: I was afraid I gave you bad advice - I was right.

Copy these two lines directly into your .cfg file under the [video] section and under "widescreen = 0" EXACTLY as typed:

battle_resolution = 800 600
campaign_resolution = 800 600

Also right-click your .cfg file and look at the Properties. Make sure it is not set to "Read only".

Let us know if this works. Good luck!

[TheDyllionaire]

Didn't work!
I tried copying in the info from a posted version of the file, didn't work, and I tried your fix.
It seems to be running on its own evil settings!
Any more ideas?
Thanks for the help thus far.

[irishron]

You do have to be able start a campaign to see the full medieval2.preferences.cfg.

What is the make and model of your monitor? What resolutions does it support?

[Ishan]

You do have to be able start a campaign to see the full medieval2.preferences.cfg

Yes Sir Ron is right you have to run a campaign first.
But here is what you do you delete the .cfg file and then run the game select campaign and then exit.
After that edit the video options as you wish.

[TheDyllionaire]

I disabled UAC, but I think what did it was changing the file back to a .cfg
I did that by saving it as "All Files" in type, and typing '.cfg' at the end of the filename.
Once I inputted the proper resolution, everything worked great.
Thanks for all the help!

[TheDyllionaire]

Just mentioning, I never ran the campaign, so I guess that was an exception for me?

[PoleCat]

Just mentioning, I never ran the campaign, so I guess that was an exception for me?

Running the campaign generates the .cfg file - irishron had to remind me of that. I find it a bit strange that you'd have to rename the file to a .cfg format but it really doesn't matter - as long as you can play the game then all is well.

Good luck and let us know if you encounter problems in the future.

[irishron]

Just mentioning, I never ran the campaign, so I guess that was an exception for me?

You are not alone and I doubt the last. There have been many.

Since you can play, enjoy the game.