Written and Edited By: MarkEAW

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CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

EAW's GRAPHICAL API's
DirectX | Glide

SETTING THE SCREEN RESOLUTION
Advantage With Higher Res
Setting W And H | Square Viewing Area | Wide Viewing Area
NOTES | Screen Stretching | Lower Res
Drawbacks With Higher Res

THE VIDEO CONTROL PANEL
Default Control Panel Graphic Settings
GLOBAL Settings That Make A Difference | EAW Profile Settings That Make A Difference
Try Other Settings

WRAPPER PROGRAMS MAY HELP
Video Control Panel and Wrapper Settings Combined

WIN10 GRAPHIC SETTINGS
Configure Classic App EAW
No Use For Universal App | MB Video And Discrete Video

WIN10 GAMING MODE SETTING
To Turn OFF Or ON

This area of the document is to inform you of the two different main Graphical API's in EAW and how they affect your game. The two Application Programming Interface (API) used by EAW are D3D (DirectX) from Microsoft, and the other is Glide from 3DFX. These are the coded graphics renderer modes built into the game.

• DirectX API Version:
  Currently all versions of EAW, either source modified or not, use DX6. (There maybe some instructions left over from DX5 in the games code). The Menu system in EAW is driven by DirectDraw and the Flight Screen is primarily Direct3D with portions in DirectDraw for the 2D overlay part of the Flight Screen, or at least for the HUD.
  
  For NVIDIA users running the game natively, there will be no Horizon Fog, as support for this is not in the video card drivers anymore. Some DX Wrapper programs will restore Fog now (DxWnd Wrapper confirmed June 2023). ATI cards had Legacy Fog dropped but support was re-introduced in the early 2000s.  (note: The newly released GoG super patched game and included DX wrapper will support FOG on all cards).
  
  Wrapper programs can speed the game up. I use one primarily in Full Screen. If native DirectX Mode runs slow for you. You can also try in Window Mode (Frame) with most wrappers, rather than in just full screen, to see if performance is better.
  
  See my 'Performance Help Document' for more current details on EAW and it's Frames Per Sec on Windows, native and in a Wrapper.
  
   
• Glide API Version:
  The game on modern computers (without Voodoo Video Cards) require a Glide Wrapper (such as nGlide) to be used to support the Glide Mode (v2.43 API) in the game. This will render the Flight Screen in Glide and transfer it to D3D (or other API) for final output, its done practically seamlessly.
  
  Even when using Glide Mode, DirectDraw is used during the Menu Screens in EAW. Glide takes over during the Flight Screen. (This may mean you MIGHT need a DX Wrapper as well, (two wrappers) to correct any in game Menu corruption like tearing or color issues if they occur, normally on Win7 or below).
  
  See my 'Troubleshoot Help Document' for errors you can over come in the game.
  
  
  Note: Glide Version used with the game exe:
  The more recent Code modified versions of EAW (starting with Feb 2016 for EAW v1.28e, 1.29 and 1.40 and other various unofficial versions) will be using the improved Glide 3.0 API version, this will display the game in 256 colors with a selectable 24 bit color palette, just like Direct3D does. (However you are limited to a maximum of 1024x768 in game Glide Mode resolution).
  
  Using Glide and EAWv1.0, v1.1, v1.2, v1.26e, FXEXE or any other version of the game that has not been specifically coded to use the more advanced 'Glide API v3.0' will be seen in reduced available colors, since those un-updated exes use the older and original 'Glide API v2.43'; These older versions only display from a fixed 8-bit 256 colors in its flight screens, rather than the many more selectable color choices available like you would find in Direct3D mode. (However higher resolutions will be most likely available to use in game when using the older Glide version).

  Primary reasons to use Glide Mode over DirectX Mode in EAW:
  You may want to try Glide Mode out if you can't get Direct3D Mode (natively or wrapped) in EAW to run fast enough on your system. If you find you have terribly low Frame Rates (near or under 30FPS , even on low resolution or non demanding game settings) there may be a use for the old Glide Mode after all. Note: There is no reason that everyone shouldn't be able to have and keep in-game Maximum Quality Settings and then have good Frame Rates this day and age with EAW. So do what you need to keep those FPS high! without screwing with in-game quality :).
  

This section will talk about screen resolution settings you can change for the game.

EAW looks pretty good straight out the box for a 1998 default graphics of a 640x480 screen resolution, however it can look much improved if you fiddle a bit with the newer and un supported resolution settings found in a EAWv1.1MPS patched game where the higher Resolutions where introduced and may leave you wanting to ditch the default resolution if you want more.

Read on for information on the advantages, the possible resolutions and drawbacks of changing the resolution. Yes there are some downsides to increasing the games resolution.

Advantage With Higher Res:
It's still technically a lower resolution game and the game assets are not any where near as good as modern games. However the higher screen resolutions produce much smoother looking 'out of the window' 3D Flight Screen graphics, giving much better definition of the terrain, objects and aircraft, they will have a denser pixel count, thereby making even distant planes look like planes instead of a jumble of pixels. You can even set the resolution to a "wide viewing area" to see a bit more on the sides at some resolutions.

Setting W and H:
You can only set the games custom resolution in a file called  eaw.ini  this is located in the games root folder. You open it with notepad and manually enter the Width and Height (There is no in-game slider configuration for this). The two new settings are located as the first few lines in that file, under the [GRAPHICS] section.

The resolution that EAW runs and what you decide to use is dependent on your Video Card (memory), Monitor capabilities and the speed of your overall system. As there are Glide limitations; you may be able to get different resolutions in D3D than in Glide mode; meaning perhaps some of the higher resolutions may only be available to you in Direct3D. (You may find that Glide 3.0 Mode in the un-official source coded modified game, UAWv1.60 is limited to 1024x768). The standard stock game using Glide 2.0 Mode can exceed that resolution, with the maximum resolution being 1600x1200.

Square Viewing Area:
If you where to change the resolution for the first time in the standard game, I recommend at least 800x600 so you get a decent cockpit field of view, as it will yield the "widest" Frame Of View (also at this resolution the point of view (POV) is set back more; the pilot (you) sits further back from the cockpit dash).

At 1024x768 is when the graphic details really begin to pop, however in the standard game, at that resolution, the field of view (FOV) becomes too narrow to be useful (the sides of the view are smaller) and the point of view is almost on top of the cockpits panel. This is true for other larger resolutions that you may be able to obtain. Experiment to find the best...You may want to try different settings to see how they work out. Many players run at 1280 x 960 and 1280 x 1024 or even higher in the standard game. Read below in the Drawbacks of higher resolutions topic for information on the FOV.

Here are some proper ratio (4:3 square) resolutions you can try:

640x480 is the default FOV.
800x600 is the widest FOV.
1024x768 is narrower than the default FOV (you are closer to the cockpit frame).

1152x864 is wider than 1024x768.
1280x960 is the same to the default 640x480 FOV.
1280x1024 is wider than the default but not as wide as 800x600.
1600x1200 appears to give the same FOV as the widest 800x600.
2048x1536 will display a very good field of view.

Wide Viewing Area:
Even though you can set the resolution much higher, you won't get all the advantage of a modern FOV. Full 60 degree Widescreen is not truly supported in EAW, its really equal to the 4:3 ratio square resolution which has a 45 degree viewing area.

I have not done much testing of these widened viewing area resolutions at this time, however here are some that seem to work.

16:9 aspect ratio resolutions:
1280x720
1360x768
1366x768
1600x900
1920x1080

16:10 aspect ratio resolutions:
1280x800
1440x900
1680x1050
1920x1200

NOTES:
You will find more information on Resolution Settings used with in Wrapper Programs in my 'Troubleshoot Wrapper Help Document'. Read it when you get there!

Screen Stretching:
The desktop resolution has a possible chance of stretching and squashing the game screen, this is dependent on your current Video Card settings, when using full screen. So effectively you can overcome stretching and squashing by setting specific options in your Video Control Panel of your graphics card.

See my 'Troubleshoot Help Document' and see the section titled 'OTHER PROBLEMS RUNNING THE GAME' and read about the topic 'Stretched Game Screens'. That information will guide you in overcoming those limitations, if it occurs on your system.

Lower Res:
Want to Set Lower Resolutions than default? You can, as long as your monitor and video card support it. 512x384 seems to work on some systems, it works at least for EAW. But no need to do that unless your testing something out.

Drawbacks With Higher Res:
Here are the known drawbacks; the things you loose with higher screen resolutions in EAW when the game will switch to the Virtual 3D Cockpit modes.

• Loading Fuel Gauge:
  When using a res other than the default (640x480), when the game loads missions, you will no longer see the "Fuel Gauge" loading screen, there will only be a blank screen. We no longer know how far along loading of the Flight is.
  
  
• Field of View Narrows:
  In the standard game, at certain resolutions, the field of view (FOV) becomes too narrow to be useful (the sides of the view area are smaller) and the point of view is almost on top of the cockpits panel.
  (However in the un-official EAWPRO or source modified 1.28+ versions of EAW, they have a wider FOV at 1024x768 than the standard game, because the POV was modified to sit back farther). To provide a better FOV, better than the stock 800x600 does). So in a modified game I do recommend at least 1024x768.
  See my 'Feature Ideas Help Document' for more on FOV. Read the VIDEO Section, at the topic of FIELD OF VIEW (FOV) for more extensive details about subjects like Wide Views, Field of View, Point of View and facts about Resolutions. (Not required reading though and can be skipped).
   
• Only Virtual 3D Cockpits:
  Most of us prefer a higher resolution for the games Flight Screen, but we sacrificing the cockpit detail for it. At any higher resolution than the default (640x480) the internal cockpit views changed from 2D standard cockpits to the lower quality Virtual 3D type (the virtual cockpit is what you see when you press F8, the 2D view is what you get when you press F1, they will no longer be available).
  The 3D cockpits seem to be superior, but lacking in actual historic detail. The 3D Virtual cockpit also lacks graphical effects like cockpit bullet holes, oil smudges and viewable rear gunners in planes that have them when you look back. There is no fix or workaround for this in any type of a modified EAW game at this time. (See my 'Troubleshoot Wrappers Help Document' on how to use the fully functional, static and detailed 2D cockpits, up scaled when using the default resolution in game).
   
• Aircraft and Object Sizes Are Smaller:
  The aircraft outside the flight window in higher resolution become graphically smaller in size than they are at the lower resolutions, so what is gained in clarity is lost in size. Tracers are even smaller. This is because not only is the field of view (FOV) changing, but the Point of View (POV) is as well; the pilots position is normally moved back to gain the wider viewing area or moved forward making the views narrower, outside objects will be smaller. This maybe the fish eye problem the developers mention in a readme when increasing to other resolutions not normally designed for the game.
   
• HUD Text Size:
  The HUD data Display and in-game chat messages can become small and hard to read when resolution is set much higher.
  You can workaround that in v1.2 with a single patch and add-on combo that increases the size of the text with a Large HUD font. Read my 'Hexedited Patches Help Document', about HUD FONTS description sections for replacing the small text with larger fonts, then go get the correct file from my 'Files Page'.
   
• Pilot Map At Higher Res:
  Unfortunately there is no Zoom / Un-Zoom feature for the in flight or Pilot map, so it may become nearly useless when using higher resolutions to determine the direction of other planes. You can replace the plane icons with larger ones, see my 'Files Page' for that file. It's really only useful when looking for a few planes in the air. With more than a few, it becomes a cluster again like the original small icons where.
   
• Frames Per Second:
  The size of the screen will effect the Frames Per Second. Your CPU may have a hard time keeping up with the demand of very high resolutions, especially if the game is run on a WinNT system (which uses compatibility workarounds) or if there is a lot of demand to load textures and models, etc.

  You really want the frame rates ideally at least 30FPS (64FPS if you can get it) or more. 15FPS is way to low for the game, however it should still operate correctly. Any lower and it can effect the A.I. performance/aggressiveness. If the game is running smoothly when you enter dense bomber formations your doing well. (Note: There is no FPS counter display in v1.2, Some Wrapper Programs display a FPS counter if you desire). (The un official source modifications of v1.28 and above have a FPS counter built in that you can enable with the key combination of CTRL-G . This gives the FPS in the top right hand corner. True FPS counter results are valid typically when the game is used in a full screen mode).

  You can use a Wrapper that supports displaying the game in Window Mode (Frame, something the EAW doesn't support by it self). This may help increase your FPS. In most cases, the game window will not fill your screen. See my 'Troubleshoot Wrappers Help Document', to determine how to use them.

  *See the 'Troubleshoot Help Document' and go to the section titled 'OTHER PROBLEMS RUNNING THE GAME' and read about 'Stretched Game Screens' and how Scaling can effect Frame Per Second displayed.

  As a very last resort, for testing purposes, to improve your frame rate, try lowering some of the settings in the in-game Graphics menu. If you notice the slowdown while flying over cities, you might want to start with Ground Object Detail. If noticed slow down while running in Software mode, lowering your Terrain Detail setting will probably help. If you notice that your plane doesn’t respond as quickly as you would like, or that movements on the screen are jerky, you may need to lower the level of detail. Adjusting the settings to lower detail levels or turning some of the options off should result in a smoother picture and faster responses.
   

This section will talk a little about some external (from the game) graphical options you have, using the video graphics card settings. For normal play of the game, you do not need to touch the default settings on your Video Control Panel. In other words to get started playing EAW you can skip this section, comeback to optimize the graphics later.

This seems now to only effect 'native' run games, and some wrapped game exe's. For other eaw.exe's, they appear to depend on the wrapper to provide any effects. (I did notice that some texture smoothing while wrapped was working from the VCPL for the 1.26E and FXEXE...but didn't see it with MPS 1.2 eaw.exe)

AMD / ATI and NVIDIA provide their own version of the Video Control Panel, normally accessed when you right-click on the desktop. All I have is NVidia information here. If you want to toy with these options, I suggest you setup (if one doesn't exist already) a game / program profile for eaw.exe's in general.

1) Click on your NVidia Control Panel shortcut to enter it.
2) Goto '3D Settings' and under it, select; Adjust image settings with preview.
3) Next select; Use the advanced 3D image settings.
4) Click Apply.
5) Now go under '3D Settings' again, and select 'Manage 3D Settings' this time.
6) You will be faced with the Global Settings Tab and a Programs Setting Tab. (The EAW specific settings may be available in the Programs pull down menu. Select (or add) European Air War (eaw.exe)). This is suppose to affect all eaw.exe's when you run each one.

Default Control Panel Graphic Settings:
Under Manage 3D Settings, I normally leave the Global settings at default and change some of the European Air War (eaw.exe) specific game profile settings that can effect the game.

Reminder; Only set one option at a time until you know that each setting is working and not causing any issues with your game. Some video graphic improvements may CTD the game very quickly, others will more often slow the game down. Read the included descriptions Nvidia provides for each setting to give you a hint what to look for in the game by moving your cursor over the name of the feature setting, then read below the boxed area in the Video control panel.

Anything set to 'Application Control' means off as far as EAW is concerned. There are no switches in game either to take advantage of any graphical settings, its all coded into the game. EAW doesn't use (turn on) anything that is not provided first.

Some known Graphical features EAW used in the olden days (win98) where, Anti-Aliasing 2x and Anisotropic where popular. Bilinear Filtering maybe supported by EAW.

GLOBAL Settings That Make A Difference:
Default Set values of each setting provided by the video card driver, for the Global Settings. (All other apps and games are effected, since these are all Global). You may come to find a few of the Global settings are just available in the Global Profile.

• If you know of any settings that are exclusively Global, that work with EAW and what they improve. Please let me know so I can place the info here.

EAW Profile Settings That Make A Difference:
Default Set values of each feature by the video card driver, for the EAW profile.

• Antialiasing - Mode: Override
  Antialiasing - Setting: 2x
  This is the setting you should at least apply to EAW as it does have jagged step edges on 3D objects:
  A small amount will smooth the outer lines on Planes etc....
  (2015)= 2x in Override works incredibly well. You may loose none to a few FPS. I didn't notice any more improvement with the higher demanding settings.
  (Dec 2022)= 2x in Override mode is very demanding now. You will loose many FPS.
   
• Antialiasing - FXAA:
  Is usable. It smooth's the entire DirectDraw menu screens and in game flight screens, focusing not just on the edges of 3D objects, but also the textures and graphics displayed on the full screen. You should see smoothed textures as well as lines. (This setting may effect v-sync or fps on those menu screens, it may garble them if they where not already.)
  (June 2017)= On. Works well.
  
  
• Texture filtering - Trilinear Optimization:
  Is usable. It uses texture Bilinear filter where Trilinear is not needed/supported.
  (Dec 2022)= Works.
   

NOTES:

Try Other Settings:
Try some of the other settings that I don't have listed here and see if you notice any effect from them. I typically use the minimum value for each setting to test out. Again EAW is not going to really respond to as many of these Video Control Panel settings like modern games would. You can go all out and flood the game with Max everything, but then you won't know what's really working or causing you problems.

You shouldn't expect many of the more advanced video card settings to work in EAW, the DirectX version of the game is too old (DX6) to take advantage of them on Modern Video Cards and there newer drivers. There is no current fix for this in any version of EAW that is run natively (without a wrapper). WindowOS uses perhaps DX6toDX9 backward compatibility as far as I can tell, which is not a perfect on the fly conversion, in some cases.

Read the next section about using Wrapper Programs to help get an effect from changing video card settings on modern computers.

A workaround to gain some graphic features is to use a "Wrapper Program". These programs can help you run your EAW game better. Performance increases and some better compatibility with older Window NT OS versions too. Wrappers can also be a neat way to play your game at resolutions not available otherwise to you because of low Frames Per Second (FPS) due to poor performance. (Caution should be used as some poorly made Wrappers, or Settings in those Wrappers may prove more demanding on your system then just running the game).

Some of those Wrappers up convert the DirectX version and actually allow more graphic card settings to work or they may use a Different Graphical API Renderer that supports more setting features. Some Wrapper programs may have similar graphical improvements built in. However, you will want to set them in your Video Control Panel first (You may have to do these in an "Override Mode".), then if that does not work, set them in the Wrapper program itself. This includes Edge AA, Full Screen AA and even Anisotropic Filtering to smooth terrain shimmer.

If you don't want to play EAW in Direct3D mode Natively (no wrapper) and prefer to use a Wrapper for reasons mentioned above, or another good reason. You'll want to see my 'Troubleshoot Wrappers Help Document'. From there you can determine what they can do to help improve the graphic look and performance of EAW.

Some Wrappers have graphical enhancements built in that you may set as active if you choose too. Some enhancements may get applied automatically with no user control at all.

There are similar or equal settings in each Wrapper Program that are almost entirely found in the Video Control Panels for your video drivers, but the ones in the Wrapper Program usually actually have a better chance at working, as far as effecting EAW.

Video Control Panel and Wrapper Settings Combined:
Try an enhancement in the settings of your Video Control Panel, such as enabling anti-alias, first if they exist, it that doesn't work, keep your VCPL settings on and turn on the equal setting in your Wrapper Program, as perhaps the wrapper needs the video card enhancement enabled to work. If nothing happens you can default your VCPL settings and just use the Wrappers settings. At least that is how I tested some enhancement's out.

Reminder; Only set one at a time until you know each setting is working and not causing any issues with your game, some graphic improvements (in the VCPL or even in the Wrapper) may CTD the game.

Too, complicated? Then stick with the Wrapper settings only when not testing things out to simplify things for you.

This is to explain a newer feature of Windows 10 that supports specific game / program setting profiles to help improve the performance of said game or app.

In Windows 10 build 1803 (April 2018) introduced a new setting for games or programs that you may choose to configure, (you do not need to use this feature however). It appears to adjust your overall power usage and the video GPU device if your system has two of them (This is if your system is configured to allow you to use them separately). Most notable systems that do allow this are some laptops that have two GPUs installed, one on their motherboard as an on-board option (Integrated Graphics), while the other one can be separately installed; as in a Physical GPU.

This option just forces Windows to select the external GPU, the more powerful graphic device with all the power the profile can direct to it. You will find that this option always overrides power related settings configured in other Video Control Panels (you can however still use the Video Control Panel to make other adjustments).

Is there a performance increase, or a better compatibility to the older EAW game?
Unfortunately I didn't see any when I did a limited test with it (April2018). I prefer and suggest anyone comfortable with using their Video Control Panel, to configure a single profile just for eaw.exe files, and to stick with that to adjust power options for the game and video card. Keep an eye on this Windows Feature, perhaps Microsoft will improve its capabilities in the future, right now it seems like its duplicating some of your Video Control Panel settings from the video card software only. If you want to still use this Win10 optional feature, read on.

Configure Classic App EAW:
To get to these new settings Go to 'All Settings > System > Display, then click the 'Graphics Settings' link at the bottom of the page (below the 'Advanced display settings' link). Then there you can customize specific programs or games.

Choose "Classic app" (this is for any standard Win32 programs) and browse to the specific eaw.exe file location that you want to set a profile for. You will find once you select it, Windows has it set as "System Default" graphical preference already. So click options and select 'High Performance', this runs the application (eaw.exe) on the most capable GPU, which is most of the time an external or discrete graphics processor / card.

NOTES:

No Use For Universal App:
There also is the "Universal app" setting, (This one will only allow you to select Microsoft Store apps), No use for EAW, so there is no need to bother with this one.


MB Video And Discrete Video:
Motherboard graphic "devices" will demand more from your system than using a "external" video card.

Windows 10 optimizes the Windows System for Play. This works sorta like a Turbo Mode software optimizer by stopping notifications, virus scanners, windows update and some services from running during your game play. It also is directing more cycles from the CPU and GPU for your game.

Its not anything super special. But it may help in stabilizing EAW FPS during play. Instead of highly radical changing frames per second over short spurts of play, they should prove to be consistent with this setting.

This is set ON by default and is better suited for systems where resources are at a minimum, like low end systems or standard laptops, within reason. Powerhouse computers systems will most likely only notice a small helping as background tasks will normally work unnoticeable anyhow.
 

To Turn OFF Or ON:
Goto Settings> Gaming> Game Mode. Flip the setting.

You may want to try setting it OFF, as there is a small possibility to effect games in general, negatively too. See what's best for your system.

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