I'm not sure if anyone had a problem with this but I'm still going to point it out.
Both games (FE and SE) have very limited resolution support but you can still set it to any resolution you desire. Find the following file:
*\Scripts\PersistentSymbols.ini (* is your First or Second Encounter root directory)
Open it (note: the file will be empty till you have launched up the game for the first time) and find these values:
persistent extern INDEX sam_iScreenSizeI=(INDEX)640;
persistent extern INDEX sam_iScreenSizeJ=(INDEX)480;
You can edit the last numbers to get the desired resolution. To optimize FOV find the following line:
persistent extern user FLOAT plr_fFOV=(FLOAT)90;
90 is the default value, 100 is the best option for 16:10 resolutions, 110 for 16:9 formats.
Save and close. Launch the game and enjoy the higher resolution.
IMPORTANT: The ingame widescreen option should stay disabled. Otherwise the game might not fill the entire screen.

Yeah the "Widescreen" option in game is just a "black barred" 4x3 aspect ratio much like a widescreen standard def. DVD. About the only usefulness of it is if it is being played on marginally capable hardware. In this instance the limited screen rendering would increase performance.

Great post TParis. This is exactly the information I was looking for. Now I'm running in 1600x900 and everything is awesome!

My .ini file doesn't have anything in it, even after multiple loads...

I'm guessing you've installed the game to the Program Files folder and that you are using either Vista or Win7. If so then the ini file will not be able to be updated by the game because of security (UAC and DEP). You could try running the game as administrator, and you may be able to find the ini file in your users folder. However, what I'd do is install the game to C:\Games or similar.

That would be it, thankyekindly :)

Great info, thanks!

Works well, thanks for the info !

thanks it worked!