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Widescreen fix!

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SgtThompson

Grizzled Veteran
Aug 15, 2006
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#1
Those who have widescreen, like myself, are slightly gimped due to the method used to display the game in that resolution. Instead of extending the view horizontally, the top and bottom of the screen are cropped. I would like to suggest a better method of rendering widescreen.

Add horizontally, don't subtract vertically!

The red lines indicate where the image is cropped. These are screenshots I took in 1280x1024 and 1680x1050.

RedWideScreen.png
 
#2
Cropping or extending the view are both real wide screen methods. As long as circles are still circles and squares are still squares. If you say want more fov (aka zooming out). Best would be to keep the current cropping system but allowing people to slightly change fov so that 4:3 and 5:4 users can in all cases see the same amount of details so wide screen users don't get an advantage over others.
 
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#4
Zetsumei said:
Cropping or extending the view are both real wide screen methods. As long as circles are still circles and squares are still squares. If you say want more fov (aka zooming out). Best would be to keep the current cropping system but allowing people to slightly change fov so that 4:3 and 5:4 users can in all cases see the same amount of details so wide screen users don't get an advantage over others.
Click to expand...

People don't buy widescreen just to have a rectangle for a screen. They buy it to see more.

I am aware that both cropping and extended are both methods. I'm saying that cropping puts widescreen users are a DISadvantage. If extending the view gives us an unfair advantage, then the same could be said about Anti-aliasing and Anisotropic filtering. It would be considered an unfair advantage by giving a player more clarity thus allowing them to see the enemy better. Someone having a faster video card can also be an unfair advantage because their game doesn't lag up while another player's does. A laser mouse could be an unfair advantage to people using ball mice. The list goes on...

Look at the list HERE for games that did it right. All Source games, F.E.A.R., Call of Duty, Oblivion... even Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates uses the "Hor+" method.
 
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#6
Pan & Scan in all its glory! I hate it when they do that with movies but movies are shot in widescreen and cropping them up for a 4:3 screen just makes them look wrong. Black bars for the win, I say!
RO on the other hand was "shot" for a 4:3 screen, so I think it's only fair if widescreen fanatics get to enjoy the beauty of black bars too for once.
Oh, the social jealousy. Let me chime a Minnesang onto thee!

On a more serious note:
I for one couldn't care less whether or not some people get to see more than I do, even if I tried. So what? It's not a gamebreaker in any situation I could imagine off hand.
On the other hand, why can't you just live with the disadvantage and be happy that your HUD is fully visible and your image isn't streched?

I'm firmly against unjustified discrimination, but I'm not a friend of unjustified affirmative action either...

Make a poll and let that decide.
 
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#7
I really, REALLY don't see why anyone would like the current method. At widescreengamingforum.com, you can ONLY be rated gold if you use Hor+. Everyone on that forum uses widescreen and they agree unanimously that extending the screen horizontally is the best way to view the game with a widescreen monitor.

Also, what about people with 3 monitors? They paid a lot of money for all that viewable area. I don't think RO even supports that, but if it did, would you crop that too? It would look like you were wearing a stechhelm to the battle.

The "zoom" effect doesn't really look right IMHO.

Look at this comparison. This is the important question you have to ask yourself. If YOU had a widescreen monitor, which would you choose?

HOR+
VERT-
 
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#9
SgtThompson said:
....
Look at the list HERE for games that did it right. All Source games, F.E.A.R., Call of Duty, Oblivion... even Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates uses the "Hor+" method.
Click to expand...

Are there no UT engine games on the list? or am I overlooking them?
If not, perhaps there is your answer.

From the same forums, this thread has some info on forcing the engine. I don't know if it applies to RO or if it even works t.
http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17&highlight=engine

I'm not a programmer, but if in fact the game engine does not fully support the newer technology (or does it less gracefully), isn't it a little unfair to brow beat it for something it can't do?

Floyd
 
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#10
The engine can handle it fine in the mod you could adjust things pretty easy. And because of bugs in the engine people could make binds to set the fov to 20 and basically get a sniper rifle view thats why it was locked in ost front.

Widescreen is in the proper aspect ratio and there aint such a thing as an ideal widescreen fov because the "correct" fov depends on the width of your screen and the distance to the screen. There is nothing that needs to be fixed because nothing is broken, if you don't like the implementation or want something like that why not ask for that.

Beside i have a wide screen monitor and had a wide screen monitor for the past 10 years or so. And i don't mind hor+ or ver- in ro ver- gives you more of an advantage probably anyway. Aslong as circles are circles and not ovals wide screen works as it should ..

At the top or bottom not much important information is there anyway.

I don't mind the ability for people to change the fov to get more or less zoomed in view. But not only wide screen users should be able to set it but everybody.
 
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#15
Why not? The screen isn't streched, The HUD is visible and if you really think the widescreen view matches your real field of view better then I can't see why you wouldn't want to play on one just because the image is cropped at the top and at the bottom!?

This is less of a disadvantage than the one 4:3 users would have if the widescreen-image was extended at the sides, because a lot more is happening on a horizontal level in RO!
 
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#18
"MARKET RESEARCH FIRM iSuppli estimates that sales of widescreen desktop monitors will skyrocket over the next few years, eclipsing your average flat 4:3 panel screen.
Sales to people will reach 35.8 million units this year(2006), and by 2009 will be the dominant force in the market, with sales reaching $6.7 billion by 2007, and to $20.9 billion by 2011."

4:3 is dead, it made sense when RO was released but the market is swinging the other way, this should be properly patched if the devs are still patching this game.

I use a lcd 1080p as my monitor and i have to say, even with the widescreen fix, the game looks like **** cropped that way. NOTE: 1080p 1920x1080 doesnt work btw....

Besides its not the screen shape that gives an advantage its the size, whether i play in widescreen or in 4:3 (with black bars at either end) the real advantage is that i have so much screen to look at, where most people see a couple pixels on the monitor as an enemy far away, i see something thats 1cm(1/2inch) big very easy to aim at.

As most women say its the size not the shape that matters :p
 
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#20
Actually disagreed, ergonomics matter a lot. Orginal idea (iirc)behind the widescreen was to capture more horizont to film, sure yuo can film the sky, but that is pretty boring most of the time. Also in computers yuo benefit from it in user ergonomics. Ie. I personally use 2 browsers at the same time etc.
Sure I could do this 4:3, but i don't even necessarily want to "see" the whole document at on time, but often I need to see multiple one.

Efficiency is the name of the game.

Quot:
Slightly curved on is the optimal to hit the "sweet spot" from most positions. If it is optimal ergonomics it can be slighty smaller to be acceptable. If it is smaller it is easier to maintain longer which translates to better endurance or less time spent on the gym and more working. More time working means more money and that translates to more chocolate.
Unquot:
Or sumfink along those lines.
As mine is straight yuo must now excuse me for my kegels.
 
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