Can't see letters clearly in civ selection

Haven’t played for at least months, but it didnt used to look like this.

With AI suggestions here is a list of things I tried:


  • Close the game entirely.
  • Right-click Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition in your Steam Library and go to Manage > Browse local files.
  • Find the main executable file (AoE2DE_s.exe).
  • Right-click it, select Properties, and go to the Compatibility tab.
  • Check the box for “Disable Fullscreen Optimizations”.
  • Next, click Change high DPI settings at the bottom.
  • Check the box for “Override high DPI scaling behavior” and select Application from the dropdown menu. Apply the settings and launch the game.

  • In the game’s main menu, go to Options.

  • Under the Interface

    tab, toggle Smooth Serif Font off or on.

  • Under the Graphics tab, toggle Anti-alias Text.


  • Press Windows Key + R to open the Run window.

  • Type %userprofile%\Games\Age of Empires 2 DE\

    and press Enter.

  • Open the folder named with a long string of numbers (your Steam ID).

  • Open the mods folder, go to local, and manually delete any lingering layout, UI, or text files left behind.


If none of these resolve the rendering issues, run a quick Verify integrity of game files via Steam (Right-click game > Properties > Installed Files) to replace any broken default localized string tables. [1]


I did all that, and it has made 0 difference. Any suggestions?

fix was increasing desktop resolution, which changed aoe2 resolution.

For whatever reason, maximum resolution in aoe2 is whatever the desktop resolution is, and whatever the desktop resolution is what the aoe2 resolution changes to. (I play on Fullscreen fwiw)