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Author Topic: Screen resolution  (Read 9529 times)

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Derrek3D

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Screen resolution
« on: November 04, 2007, 11:01:33 AM »

Hello,

I know the issue of screen resolution has already been covered in previous threads but I couldn't find any definitive answer in any of the threads that I found.

If I choose 1280x960 (or any other 4:3 aspect ratio resolution for that matter) as my game's resolution, what will happen when I run the game on a system with a wide screen? According to my initial tests (on a 22" wide screen at 1680x1050), the game is simply stretched on the entire wide screen - which is exactly what I didn't want to see. Is there a way to run the game in its original resolution without stretching it? Maybe by filling the rest of the screen with black bars?

I know one can always run the game in its original resolution in windowed mode but that's not the solution I seek since it takes away from the immersion.
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odnorf

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Re: Screen resolution
« Reply #1 on: November 04, 2007, 11:13:25 AM »

This exact question has been answered before. If the game is gonna be centered (with black lines) or stretched is up to the gpu drivers. I know ATI has such an option and I guess nVidia should have one too.
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Derrek3D

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Re: Screen resolution
« Reply #2 on: November 04, 2007, 12:25:30 PM »

I've read about this in previous threads, as you say, and even tried it myself before starting this thread, but no matter what I do with my display adapter, the game is always stretched. I have an integrated Intel adapter and it has a "Display Expansion" feature with two options: "Full Screen (No Border)" and "Maintain Aspect Ratio". Neither of these, however, makes any change in the game. The game is always stretched. So did I miss something?

Furthermore, is it even ok, philosophically, for the game to be at the mercy of the display adapter?
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odnorf

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Re: Screen resolution
« Reply #3 on: November 04, 2007, 12:41:30 PM »

I don't know of any game that can overcome the way the gpu works in this aspect. It could only be done if the game automatically recognizes the screen resolution and adds black bars (which means fake it, not overcome it). But this isn't as easy as it sounds and, again, I don't know of the game that can do this. So, every known (at least to me) game is at "the mercy of the display adapter".
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Derrek3D

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Re: Screen resolution
« Reply #4 on: November 04, 2007, 03:09:11 PM »

Yeah, I meant something like that - recognizing that the aspect ratio of the screen is not the one used in the game and then center the game in black bars so that the display drivers won't stretch it. Is it very problematic to implement something like that? I mean, there are many wide screen displays in the market but there are also many normal 4:3 displays in the market so what can a developer do to ensure that so many people won't see his game distorted?
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Dudeldei

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Re: Screen resolution
« Reply #5 on: November 05, 2007, 12:37:02 PM »

Isn't it possible to create a window - not a fullscreen - without any bars and window handles, make it as big as the screen, black and place the game in the middle of it with the games resolution?
Like a game window in a true window?
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fireside

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Re: Screen resolution
« Reply #6 on: November 05, 2007, 05:46:50 PM »

Can't you just run the game in a window?
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Dudeldei

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Re: Screen resolution
« Reply #7 on: November 05, 2007, 07:43:44 PM »

A 1024x768 game on a 1680x1050 screen doesn't look very good imo. Scaling to the dimension is ugly on a tft.
A black background and the game in the middle would look best.
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Derrek3D

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Re: Screen resolution
« Reply #8 on: November 06, 2007, 02:17:21 PM »

Can't you just run the game in a window?
As I said in my first post, one can always run the game in a window but it greatly takes away from the immersion. I'd hate to have to play a full game in a window...

What Dudeldei said about running the game centered on a black background sounds perfect to me.
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Derrek3D

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Re: Screen resolution
« Reply #9 on: November 13, 2007, 11:20:28 AM »

After making some tests myself and after asking others to try and run my game on their systems, and after reading this recent GameBoomers thread http://www.gameboomers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&topic=15352, I've become convinced that my game will offer a significantly compromised experience for the vast majority of widescreen owners. Almost none of them had any feature, neither on their video adapter nor on their monitor, that provided them with the option to run the game in its original aspect ratio. Given the huge number of widescreen monitors out there, this has become a serious problem now and it keeps growing.

It could only be done if the game automatically recognizes the screen resolution and adds black bars (which means fake it, not overcome it). But this isn't as easy as it sounds and, again, I don't know of the game that can do this.
What are the actual problems involved in integrating such a solution into a game engine?
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odnorf

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Re: Screen resolution
« Reply #10 on: November 13, 2007, 11:42:27 AM »

http://master.math.upatras.gr/~odnorf/misc_images/catalyst.png

This option exist in the ATI driver settings for many years now and it does exactly what we are talking about. And nVidia users have told me that a similar option exist for their drivers too (although I can't confirm it). The only problem is with users that have intel integrated graphic.

As for the last question I'd better leave it for someone with more programming knowledge than me.
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IvanErtlov

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Re: Screen resolution
« Reply #11 on: November 13, 2007, 02:03:49 PM »

If you make the game the Game in 1280*1024, it looks pretty good on all machines, even on a 1650*1080 Display. After a few Minutes of playing, the eye (mind) doesn`t even recognize the distorted aspect ratio. I know that it isn`t the perfect Solution for people having less than 1024 height pixels, but it`s a pretty good compromise.
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Dudeldei

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Re: Screen resolution
« Reply #12 on: November 13, 2007, 11:20:58 PM »

hmm, I am not to convinced. I tried Schach-Welten and it DOES look distorted. Tft's are very bad in scaling, it looks smeared.  I did an application with GameMaker some time ago and what's nice is that I can switch between (scaled) full window without borders etc. and normal window. The full screen window thing keeps the correct aspect ratio so I have some black borders, but that's ok. Of course if you need hardware acceleration you would need the correct full-screen. Wouldn't it be possible to create a correct aspect ratio screen and then paste the content in the middle?

E.g the game is in 1280x1024, the tft uses 16:10 , so the smallest res is 1650x1080, so WME creates a full screen in 1650x1050 and pastes the game content in the middle., without scaling.
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Derrek3D

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Re: Screen resolution
« Reply #13 on: November 14, 2007, 03:50:41 PM »

Dudeldei started a new thread on this topic in the Feature requests forum: http://forum.dead-code.org/index.php?topic=2487.0
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Dudeldei

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Re: Screen resolution
« Reply #14 on: November 14, 2007, 04:53:10 PM »

Yes, because I have searched the forum here and read many requests about it and I think that many (commercial) games would strongly benefit from it.
IMO it's a really important feature.
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