So I noticed a problem getting StarCraft classic to display correctly on a computer my dad was using. The game would launch ok but was in a box in the top left of the 1920×1080 screen.

I tried adjusting compatibility settings to 640×480 but it would change. I did manage to get it to display properly by changing the settings in the driver to 720×480 but this would need him to do this each time. I looked through the list of resolutions available in the driver and found that the screen was not providing a display resolution of 640×480 in the list of avalible roslution.

Being the computer was using nVidia drivers there is an option to add custom resolutions, I added 640×480 with a refresh rate of 60 Hz to match an old screen. The computer tested the resoltuion and was able to dsiplay on the monitor.

Once tested the option became avlaible in the display resolution list.

I then launched the game and it launch correctly now displaying a scalled 4:3 version of the game without sitting in a box in the top left corner of the screen.

This fix will probably work for other old Direct Draw games that operate at a low resolution. Be careful through as if the display test fails you may not be able to see anything on your screen.

Copies of the patches can be found on Internet Archive – Starcraft Patches