This game from 2003 has only hardcoded 4:3 resolution, with the exception of one entry, quite low-res...

You can modify variables to force it, but the result will be a horizontally-stretched, vertically-cropped display!

The best solution is to run the game through ET: Legacy!


More info about ET: Legacy here:
https://steamoss.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2800452649

Because hardware and software have changed since 2003, the default settings badly run on modern systems

Quick walkthrough: bring up the console in-game with ~ or ² (the key below Escape on your keyboard), and type: /seta r_primitives 2
The press Enter to validate

I've already written what to do for RtCW for several performance issues, this one included, see:
https://steamoss.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=256261724

ET was supposed to be an add-on for RtCW, they run through roughly the same engine, so fixes for RtCW work for ET too!

Here again, outdated default settings!

By default, the HTTP download isn't enabled, resulting in reaaaally slow downloads (a few KB/s)

To fix this, bring up the console in-game with ~ or ² (the key below Escape on your keyboard), and type: /seta cl_wwwDownload "1"

Press Enter and done!

For more tweaking regarding multiplayer, see that RtCW guide of mine, also relevant for ET!
https://steamoss.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=166033677

Due to the game being old, ALT-TABbing doesn't work well...

People have coded various minimizers programs over the time to add a keyboard shortcut to actually properly minimize the game

For instance: https://www.wolffiles.de/index.php?filebase&fid=1832

You can go further by modifying the Field of View (FOV), increasing the frame rate cap, and more, to get a better experience out of the game

I've covered these aspects for RtCW, they work for ET too!

See the guide below
https://steamoss.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=166033677