Hello! I've had Baldur's Gate II for a while and it worked wonders on my old Windows 7 computer. I now have a new Windows 8 computer and am trying to get it running. However, when I try to play it in fullscreen, I get this gigantic black border around the game and I can barely see what's going on. I tried using the Widescreen mod, but while that fixes the problem somewhat, it makes the icons really small and hard to see. I'd rather not go that route. I've tried running it in all forms of compatibility, and the only one where it fills the whole screen is Windows 98. But when I do that, the game runs agonizingly slow at fullscreen. Other than this black border, it runs just as well as it always has. I've also tried running it in 640x480. I do not mind playing games at that resolution. But when I do that, it starts to work, then switches back to the small screen. It asked me to download this "directplay feature" for it to run And I did. Did that have something to do with my predicament? Can any one help me here? How can I get the game to play in fullscreen without the black border? And if the Directplay thing I downloaded is causing the problem, how do I get rid of it? Thanks!

This is usually a laptop setting, not a software setting. Most laptops have a setting to stretch the screen to full screen for unsupported low resolutions.

Usually, it's a Function+F# key or even ALT+ENTER.

Here's a good website that talks about just about every possible solution: http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000315.htm

Maybe fullscreen scaling is turned off. Depending on your graphics card there's an option to activate scaling (with and without keeping the original aspect ratio) in the graphic driver's control panel (see example screenshots).

I don't know, what Win 8 fetches by installing the "directplay feature", but my guess is, it contains the older components of DirectX 9 that are missing in DirectX 11. To make sure everything is properly installed for older games, re-install DirectX 9 End-User Runtimes: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=8109

Hi! The problem is that Baldur's Gate 2 overrides your graphics card's scaling setting. I don't know how to remedy this if you have an ATI card but for Nvidia it's an easy fix.

First make sure your drivers are up to date, and open the Nvidia control panel. (It's usually an option when you right click on your desktop) In the task pane, expand 'Display' and select 'Adjust desktop size and position'.

In this menu, make sure the 'Override the scaling mode set by games and other programs' option is checked. This Means your GPU will ignore BG2's request to have no scaling. Then select the scaling mode of your choice.
No scaling is what BG2 currently does- a black box surrounds the game.
Aspect ratio fills as much of the screen as possible without stretching the image- if you have a widescreen mod, BG2 should be full screen. If you don't, this will make it bigger, but use black bars on either side to stop the picture looking stretched.
Full screen fills the screen, regardless of the image aspect ratio- this will make the game look distorted without a widescreen mod.

This should fix it! If it still doesn't work, try Changed the 'perform scaling on' drop-down' box.

Hey you guys,

I'm having a similar problem. First the laptop I'm using:

Win 8.1 newest Version
Nvidia GeForce GT 640M
Intel HD Graphics 4000
Resolution 1920x1080

The Nvidia Card is used for games, the Intel Card for normal use.

So here's the problem: I have been playing BGT with widescreen mod without any problems on my laptop a couple of weeks ago on Win 8. Widescreen and everything worked perfectly fine. Now I updated to the newest Version of Win 8.1. With it came an updated driver for the Intel HD 4000. I wanted to do go on with my BGT game and it requested me to install this direct play feature. From that moment I have the same problem. The huge black border around the game.

I tried Hurton's solution, but my Nvidia control panel hasn't any options for display (I guess because the Intel Card has that job). With the Intel card there seems to be no alternative. 'Keep scaling' (don't know the exact name, running german version) is the only option you can choose here.

Maybe you have any solutions. Thanks!

EDIT: Ok, Installing DirectX9 and reapplying the widescreen mod again helped. BUT, I still have the black border around any other resoltution than 1920x1080 ingame. I'd like to play in a lower resolution, but the game isn't 'zoomed', so the lower the resolution the more black areas around the game.

The solution Hurton mentioned would fix the problem (also seen here in the forums in other topics) BUT I can't simply do that since the nvidia control panel only gives me 3D-options and no display options (I guess because of my second graphic card handling the display and nvidia only supporting if needed...). Any ideas?

This solution worked for me:

Find your Baldurs gate 2 file, then open the Config file. for me it was in C:/gog games/baldurs gate 2/

Open up the config and then up the resolution. It will warn you that this is for High end machines but ignore that. It will ask you to test the new settings. Do so and then you should be good to go.

Cheers

I have the same problem - Windows 8.1 + the Intel HD4000 do not seem to play nice. Tried all the suggestions here and elsewhere but there doesn't seem to be a solution short of rolling back to Windows 8. Has anyone with this problem tried the Enhanced Editions of Baldur's Gate? If they don't have the same problem it will be a good excuse to have a look at the new additions and buy BG2 for a fourth time...

Just remembered - you can work around this problem by running BGConfig, going to 2D&3D Options and unticking 'Use 3D Acceleration'. It doesn't fill the screen up completely (at least for me) but it's a big improvement.

I just ran into the same problem with 8.1, and I've tried all the above tricks with no success. I still have that dinky little window in the middle of my screen. It's pretty much unplayable. Crap.

My "old" laptop has W7, but I hate to shelf my fancy new ASUS ROG so quickly after just getting it. But I guess BG2 is worth it for now. ;-)

Hi you all, same problem here:

Windows 8.1
Intel HD Graphics 5000
Monitor resolution: 1920x1080
Widescreen setup: 1280x720

No Panel fit option available to stretch the image and so image is small, in the center and with big black bars on the sides. I tried already the method of downscaling the resolution, setting the stretch option, rescaling again to optimal resolution and running the game, but without any success.

Small game screen in the middle and black bars on the sides.

What to do?

Thank you for your attention.

(EDIT)
So, I found a workaround to get the full screen working but the game is still unplayable: I got the correct full screen behavior when I deactivated the "Use 3D Acceleration" option in the configuration settings (BGConfig.exe) under the section "2D & 3D Options". Now the game executes in full screen but it's slower and the screen and, most important, the hand cursor are flickering with pieces of my underlying desktop sometimes appearing in the game.

I think it's a problem with the OpenGL Drivers configuration between Baldur's Gate and Intel HD Graphics cards. Maybe the guys at GOG can solve this problem?

(RE-EDIT)
I finally solved also the flickering problem by installing the "Aqrit's DDrawFix for Infinity Engine games" and setting it to "Use WineD3D's DDraw Library".

So no 3D acceleration but now scaling correctly without flickering.

Thanks everybody for the support.

Man, I LOVE YOU. Finally! Searched and worked for days on the exact same problem, and this one finally solved it!

You're welcome! I'm happy for you! Enjoy!

This might read as total blonde comment but can someone please explain what steps to take in order to run BG2 on win8.1 because I downloaded the DDrawFix and still seeing the tiny size screen.

Please.

By chance, I found a totally fast fix that seems to work on my Windows 8 PC. Just go to control panel and turn on the external display, and the screen rescales itself and BG 2 fills the screen perfectly!

My problem sounds about the same as what everyone else here has

Using BGT as recommend on the GOG guide to an enhanced BG experience
15.6 HD display (1366 X 768)
Intel processor

I tried the widescreen mod using X and Y values of 1366 and 768 and entirely removed all black bars from main gameplay (menu screens still bah black bars on the side equal to a 1024 x 768 setting). However no matter what I do everything is too small for me too look at without hurting my eyes.

I tried the bigger text mod, which as expected fixed text quite well, but icons, buttons, and my characters are all still too small for me to play my game. Problem unsolved.

I uninstalled BG and used the display setting in bg config (set it to 800 x 600) and received the same thing, only the black bars to the side are consistent in both gameplay and menu screens.

I tried unchecking the use of the 3D accelerator, and got the flickering of desktop aspects while running the game (can't work with that) but even then the aspect ration still had everything too tiny to play.

The other possible solutions posted here I couldn't find the settings for.


My problem ins't making my BG fill up my screen, it's making it fill up my screen in a way that won't land me with even thicker glasses. Which is a shame because BG is by far one of my favorite games and honestly I'm crushed by my inability to play it =C

If anyone finds anything that might work for me I'd greatly appreciate it =)