Widescreen Gaming Forum

I've been messing around with NHL 08, and I think this is the closest we're going to get to using a widescreen resolution in the game. Allow me to explain.

It would seem that the game does not recognize any resolution above 1600 x 1200. If you put either of those numbers higher (eg 1680 or 1920,) the game will cut off that remainder on the right side of the screen.

HOWEVER, there are 2 files, both with the exact same name. "sgsm4.cfg" One of them is in the main NHL 08 directory, and one of them is inside the file "fmisc.viv" in the NHL 08/preload directory. to get to that file, you need to extract it using the biggui program.

In BOTH of these files, you need to change the 1600 x 1200 resolution to whatever WS resolution you want to use. 1360 x 768, 1680 x 1050, or 1920 x 1200. Save the sgsm4.cfg that was in the NHL 08 directory to the same spot, and then after you edit the file that was inside fmisc.viv, you need to import it back into fmisc.viv using the biggui program. Make sure you hit "Rebuild" at the top after you do that!

So now, when you go back in the game, depending on what resolution you pick, you will see different things. My native res. is 1920 x 1200, so I tried that first. It cuts off a pretty good portion of the right side of the screen, but it's no longer stretched. When I tried 1680 x 1050, it cuts off on the right, but very little (the "80" part of the 1680.) And finally on 1360 x 768, it cuts off nothing because both numbers are below the 1600 x 1200.

So, there you have it. All I can say is that it if you are ok with running a widescreen resolution below 1920 x 1200, this should be something that holds you over until something better actually comes along. It definitely does not stretch the players, and seems to work ok. And considering I use a 1920 x 1200, running 1680 x 1050 doesn't really bother me because it's a very small part that's cutoff.

If you try this and you're not impressed by it, by all means go back to what is there to begin with. But at least it's something, maybe what I've seen here will allow much more skilled people than me to find a way for 1920 x 1200 to work even! But it seems like the game just does not recognize anything above 1680 x 1050. Good luck to all.

Also I'd be interested in getting responses from people who try this with monitors that have lower than 1920 x 1200 native, just to see what happens on theirs.

Great find...

Just in case if anyone else is having trouble with these setting, if you have a 22" widescreen (supports a maximum resolution of 1680 x 1050), you will also need to change the registry entry to point to sgsm4.cfg since NHL08 setting will not let you choose a higher resolution than 1280 x 1024 (sgsm3.cfg). I tried changing the sgsm3.cfg to 1680 but it did not work.

Here is the path to the registry entry:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareEA SportsNHL08]
"GFX Mode"=dword:00000003

Change the from: 00000003 to 00000004

Result:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareEA SportsNHL08]
"GFX Mode"=dword:00000004

Thanks again.

Thx for sharing...but it doesn't work for me!

I have a 22 inch monitor with a 1680 x 1050 native resolution. After a clean install of the game I only had these choices in the game setting menu: 800 x 600, 1024 x 768 and 1280 x 1024.

My monitor is set to No scaling at all in the nvidia control panel. After modyfing the files...i have the same three options in-game but the image is moved to the left and I have a big black bar on the right side (this is when I chose 1280 x 1024)!

I tried the regedit but it seem that after going in the game...when I come back the value is set back to 3!

Good find, see I had no idea of that, 1920 x 1200 monitor for me.

Thank you for posting that! I will link someone else here as they were having questions

obie4life,

Select 1280 x 1024 in the game and exit.

Make the modification in both places (sgsm4.cfg) files and then set the registry to 4.

Go back in the game, and do not go in the video settings area or it will default it back to maximum suported resolution (1280 x 1024) <3>.

Simply select your season or play directly. If ever you go in there by mistake, simply set it back to 4 in the registry and it will work.

Good luck.

BTW, I am now trying to find a way to center it now, or strech the missing 80.

Wish me luck too...

I have the problem with it cutting off at 1680x1050 on the right side.

Yep, everyone is going to have it because unfortunately this game just does not register resolution numbers above 1600 x 1200. Any number higher than either of those will cutoff the remaining information, whether vertical or horizontal.

I'm poking around the files to see if there is a way to fix this part, but for right now we're just going to have to settle for this. It really doesn't bother me personally that much because it's not that much cutoff @ 1680 x 1050, but I understand if it bothers some. 1920 x 1200 though, I can't handle it as it obviously cuts off a pretty big chunk.

Please tell me where I can find this biggui program. I tried google but didn't find any download links.

Thanks!

EDIT: Ok, i found it. Tried and it worked! Thanks a lot! :D

UPDATE:

Got it centered now...

As mentionned before, I made a lot of testing trying to make it work and now got it centered (the last 80 from the 1680 is now 40 - 40 on each sides.

Here is what I did:

Since nvidia forceware drivers dont support custom resolution under Vista 64 bit, I downloaded RivaTuner and created a new resolution of 1600 x 1050 and then rebooted. Came back in Vista with a native resolution of 1680 x 1050 and edited both sgsm4.cfg files to 1600 x 1050. Loaded NHL08 and got the game running in 1600 x 1050 with 2 small black spaces on each sides. Looks realy good now and its less painfull to watch and play because its centered.

I think this is the best we will get, because I do not think that the game supports more than 1600 wide.

The other option would be to strech the rest of the 40 -40 with the -w extension on the target or by doing it with the windows drivers.

Thanks again mva5580 for that amazing find. You can also post this for me on the easports forum under your tread if you want...

Good luck to all.

My native resolution is 1440 x 900. After a fresh install, my only resolution options in-game are 1024 x 768 and 800 x 600. I tried the hack on both the sgsm4.cfg files, but when going back into the game I still only had 1024 and 800 to choose from.

So, I figured I'd try hacking the sgsm2.cfg file in the same manner as 4, since I only had the 2 resolution options to choose from. Now when I go into the game, it displays at 1440 x 900, but the game itself only takes up what looks like 1024 x 768 of the upper left of the screen, and there is a black bar along the right and bottom of the screen.

Any ideas on how to force this to actually display at 1440 x 900?