Size of On-Screen Messages

[DocJMB]

As age advances, one's eyesight worsens!

Is there a way to increase the print (font) size of the on-screen messages that appear during flight?

I find they are way to small for me to view from my chair.

Under GRAPHICS SETTINGS, will changing the UI Scale help?

Appreciate any suggestions!

Thanks!

…John 

[Wilhelm_Heidkamp]

Yes. Change UI scale.

[DocJMB]

Problem: 

 

GRAPHICS SETTINGS --> UI Scale --> clicking on the drop down box elicits a gray screen overlay and no response….same with the other settings on this page.

 

What am I doing wrong?
 

[Wilhelm_Heidkamp]

If you can't use the dropdown, go to the main game folder, then data folder and look for a file called startup.cfg

Edit it with notepad, look for a section where it says:
 

[KEY = interface]
    forces_color_mode = 0
    language = "eng"
    log = ""
    scale = 1.00000
    showcompas = 1
    showicons = 1
    units = ""
 

And change scale=1.50000 for example. Or values 1.2, 1.3, 1.4

Save the changes and launch the game.

 

[DocJMB]

Thanks for this!

 

Suspect there is a real problem because I cannot alter any of the settings on the Graphics Settings page.

 

Is there a reference article that sets out the PC path to the MAIN GAME Folder & the files therein?

 

I've had 3 decades of living in the Mac world & just getting to know the PC galaxy!

[czech693]

Something like this:

 

C:/Program Files (x86)/1C Game Studios/IL-2 Sturmovik Great Battles/data/startup.cfg

 

IL-2 Sturmovik Battle of Moscow or IL-2 Battle of Stalingrad might be the path depending on how things were installed.  Also, that's assuming you did the default install and it went into drive C.

Edited December 1, 2022 by czech693

[czech693]

Doc--

 

Go to the Launcher menu.  That's the start-up page with the diving IL-2's on it.  At the bottom it says START.  On the upper right is SETTINGS.  Open that and set your monitor screen resolution, probably 1920x1080 for a HD normal screen (assuming you're not using a wide-screen monitor).  On that menu there is a check box for Interface Autoscale. Uncheck that if it is checked.

 

Now start the sim and go to Settings/Graphics in the hangar screen page.  See if you can now select 150% from the UI drop down menu.

[DocJMB]

Forget this reply...unable to delete

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

693...

 

Really appreciate your taking the time to help out..this forum is great!

I cut my teeth on Birds of Steel many years ago & missed their forum when it was shut down..lots of friendly folks helping each other out...just like this forum!

Unfortunately your tip does not work...I am given only AUTO or 100% choices from the UI drop down menu. The others are dimmed out.

 

[czech693]

Someting wrong if they are all dimmed out.  Can you select Low, Balanced, or High?

 

Did you find the startup.cfg file?  You can change the settings in that file and save it and it should change the items in the graphics menu.  Once you can get access to items on the Graphics menu change Antialiasing type to MSAA and pull the Dynamic resolution factor all the way to the left.  If you get to the startup.cfg file, right click it and and select Properties at the bottom.  When the next page opens check that General is selected at the top.  At the bottom where it says Attributes, make sure Read Only is not checked.

Edited December 2, 2022 by czech693

[DocJMB]

Able to select Low - Balanced - High...still dimmed out.

 

Found startup.cfg file....Properties  -->  General -->  Attributes  --> Read Only was unchecked.

 

Any reference articles/post on changing settings in this file?

Is there a setting to change that would increase the GUI size (so I can read the on-screen messages while flying over the battlefields)?

 

Where does one change Antialiasing type to MSAA

 

I did pull the Dynamic Resolution Factor all the way to the left.

 

Appreciate any suggestions!

 

[DocJMB]

OK..still no luck!

Attached is what I see on my 48" TV Screen - would like to increase the size of the messages pointed out (red arrow) :

 

Found startup.cfg file - all my IL-2 files are on a separate E: drive - E:\Program Files\IL-2 Sturmovik Great Battles\data\Startup

                                            (No such file found in E:\Program Files (x86)\1C Game Studios\IL-2 Sturmovik Great Battles \ Input)

Made this change & saved it in Notepad

          [Key = interface]

                  scale = 1.800000

Had no effect...went back & checked...setting remained at 1:80000

 

As noted above, am unable to change Graphics Settings --> UI Scale to other than AUTO & 100%

 

Guess I'll have to get better spectacles or move closer to the screen?

[czech693]

On the Launcher menu under Settings, uncheck Interface Autoscale.  See if that doesn't open up the UI menu items.  I did that and was able to select 150% and the font increased significantly.  You can select MSAA on the Graphics menu, or change it in the startup.cfg.

Edited December 5, 2022 by czech693

[DocJMB]

Interface Autoscale unchecked.

 

As above, changing the scale to 1.400000 -> 1.60000 --> 1.80000 in startup.cfg failed to change the font size in the game

 

Cannot find MSAA on the Graphics menu in game

 

Really appreciate your continuing advice!! ?

[Wilhelm_Heidkamp]

Please, attach your startup.cfg file here so that I can view, modify and reattach it. Thank you.

Tell me what pc you have, what cpu, gpu, ram, etc. And what resolution you fly at.

Edited December 5, 2022 by PA_Willy

[DocJMB]

Here you go..the Notepad version...Unable to attach the .cfg file as .cfg is not an accepted fie type.

 

IL-2.txt

Local Gaming Store built this for me:

 

 Intel H110M motherboard

i5-8400 CPU 

Nvidia GTX 1060 6 gb DDR5

16 gb RAM 2400 mhz

25 Solid State Drive

Mid-Tower case 

600 Watt PSU

LG DVD-RW Drive

 

1TB external SSD (IL-2 Strumovik & all its files on this E: drive)

 

Microsoft Windows 10 Home 64-bit

 

Resolution 1920 x 1080

 

 

I notice that the Scale Size reverted to 1.00000 - after I made each of the changes, I did save the file- & I had gone back & checked & the changes had remained - but, for some reason, it is now back to 1.00000

 

Edited December 6, 2022 by DocJMB

[Wilhelm_Heidkamp]

First, make a backup copy of your startup.cfg file and save it in a folder in case you need it.
 

Download the attached file, change the extension to cfg and place it in the "E:\...\IL-2 Sturmovik Great Battles\data" folder overwriting your old one. Launch the game and see what happens. 

Do not change anything or go into configuration until you have done the above test, to see if we have solved the problem.

 

If necessary, to get back to your original file, simply copy your backup you have saved in another folder to the same directory as above by overwriting. You have nothing to lose if you follow the steps.

 

startup.txt

Edited December 6, 2022 by PA_Willy

[DocJMB]

Away for a couple of days...will try this out on Friday when I return....& thanks a lot!

 

[DocJMB]

Before following the steps you outlined, I took a line-by-line look at the text file & was unable to find any changes from the one I sent you...am I missing something?

 

And, while I was familiarizing myself with the file structure, I note that my E:Disk --> Program Files --> IL-2 S GBs --> has bin  -  data  -  updates folders

while the E:Disk  --> Program Files (x86)  -->  1c Game Studios  -->  IL-2 GBs has the input folder

 

Is this correct? or should the input folder be in Program Files  -->  IL-2 GBs folder?

[yeikov]

-

Edited December 9, 2022 by yeikov
Wrong post, deleted

[Wilhelm_Heidkamp]

16 hours ago, DocJMB said:

Before following the steps you outlined, I took a line-by-line look at the text file & was unable to find any changes from the one I sent you...am I missing something?

 

And, while I was familiarizing myself with the file structure, I note that my E:Disk --> Program Files --> IL-2 S GBs --> has bin  -  data  -  updates folders

while the E:Disk  --> Program Files (x86)  -->  1c Game Studios  -->  IL-2 GBs has the input folder

 

Is this correct? or should the input folder be in Program Files  -->  IL-2 GBs folder?

 

First of all, the file IS modified for font size but I'm afraid you're not looking in the section where you should. In fact, you were making the changes where they were not. I also changed the graphics settings to have MSAA x2 filtering (anti-aliasing) because you said you couldn't enable it.
 

Secondly, I don't know why you have two different installations. Maybe because one is from Steam? I only have one in a single game folder, but I have everything acquired from 1C (not Steam). 
 

First find out why you have two installations. If it's not something to do with Steam I don't know what it is. If I had two installations like you and having problems, I would uninstall all traces of the simulator and reinstall again from scratch.
 

 

 

[DocJMB]

I purchased the game from 1C - no connection to Steam.

 

Will take your advice, bite the bullet & reinstall.

 

Any advice as to being sure I uninstall all traces? Would hate to leave a file behind & screw up the works.

 

Once again, thank you vey much!

[Wilhelm_Heidkamp]

44 minutes ago, DocJMB said:

Any advice as to being sure I uninstall all traces? Would hate to leave a file behind & screw up the works.

 

Uninstall from the operating system control panel, applications and features. After that, delete the game folders and do not keep either of them on your hard drives.

It will remain in the Windows registry, but that should not be a problem. 
 

Next, download the game installer: https://il2sturmovik.com/download/
 

Make sure you have your registration data in 1C (username/email and password). Choose where you want to install it and then check that you can login normally.

 

[FlyingH]

I would suggest you leave out the "Program Files(x86)" part of the folder structure!! It may be that part that causes problems if Windows finds that as it´s a special protected folder by the said os! At least it cant hurt trying!

[Wilhelm_Heidkamp]

6 hours ago, FlyingH said:

I would suggest you leave out the "Program Files(x86)" part of the folder structure!! It may be that part that causes problems if Windows finds that as it´s a special protected folder by the said os! At least it cant hurt trying!

Yes. You don't want to install the sim in Program Files. Don't do it. Choose other path. For example, E:\Games\

[DocJMB]

After the fresh install, here I my Directory - I note that I no longer have a Programs(x86) folder which was present previously.

 

 

[Wilhelm_Heidkamp]

At least give it a try and let us know how it goes. Being a fresh install you will have to spend time configuring everything from HOTAS to graphics parameters, etc.

Edited December 11, 2022 by PA_Willy

[DocJMB]

Sorry, I had installed the game prior to reading your warning about installing in E:\Program\

 

The path I chose was E:\

There was no \Program Files\ folder on the E drive prior to the installation

 

After the install, the file directory included the \Progam Files\ folder as above.

 

Did you mean for me to install the game to File E:\Games\ ?

 

 Am I correct that that would mean I would create a new \Games\ folder on the E Drive & then perform the install to E:\Games\?

 

Would this install end up as E:\Games\IL-2 Sturmovik Great Battles

 

 

The game seems to be working fine after everything was configured - I had printed out all my settings before uninstalling.

 

Still unable to set Graphics -->  GUI to other than Auto or 100%

          - not a big problem

 

 

I am prepared to re-install & reset the settings again according to your suggestion if you think this would be better.

 

Then, I've got to re-learn how to fly again!!

 

Thanks for all your help folks!

 

[Wilhelm_Heidkamp]

No. If your OS is on another drive, on E: you can rest assured. I'm glad everything is working. 

[FlyingH]

I would suggest  you make it "E\IL2  sturmovik....." and drop the "\Games"part too! Windows i kinda fishy you know?

[DocJMB]

Installation was a success...all problems except 2 resolved:

 

1. Unable to set Graphics --> GUI to other than AUTO or 100%!

 

2. My flying skills are not up to the mark...yet!

 

Thanks for all the responses & patient advice!

 

[DocJMB]

Problem solved... and the cause was my running the game on my big screen TV with low resolution

 

Thanks to Viking Sail's valuable "teaching lesson" re the difference between a normal TV & Gaming Monitor - review this topic near the bottom - 

 

I went out & purchased a Gaming Monitor  able to run 2560 x 1440 at 165 Hz

 

What a difference.

 

GUI scale now set at 150% & I can read the on-screen messages clearly.

 

Many thanks!

 

This forum is the best!!

 

And now on to the 2nd problem....need flying lessons!!  ?