Widescreen gaming rocks

[Lord Athlon]

Originally posted by: Mem

Originally posted by: n7
No, no it doesn't.

See, something most people seem to be blind to is the fact that most online multiplayer fps games do not actually support widescreen, regardless of what the resolution is set to.

So then you get a lovely stretched distorted picture, no bigger or better than if you weren't running WS...

I heard so much hype about WS before i got my WS display, & now that i have one, i can say that WS gaming isn't all that.

Unless you happen to be lucky enough to be playing games that actually support WS.

As for BF2 there is a way round that to support WS mode ie....

Widescreen Support

Method

BF2 gets it's WS support through a Command Line edit:
"C:\Games\Battlefield 2 Demo\BF2.exe" +menu 1 +fullscreen 1 +szx 1920 +szy 1200

So even that is not a problem.

It's still a problem because it's not true widescreen.The game is VERT - (crop the top and bottom) instead of HOR + (extra view to the sides without cropping) and the HUD is stretched with the command line/shortcut trick.There is also no possible way to adjust the FOV via the ini.The bottom line is that someone with a 16:10 monitor actually see less on the screen than someone using a 4:3 monitor.

It would be easily fixable in a patch but DICE/EA refuse to do so.They claim that adding true widescreen support would be an unfair advantage for those using a WS monitor due to the extra viewing area.That's BS because 1) WS users are now at disavantage compared to the 4:3 users and 2)It's like saying that the game shouldn't support joysticks because it give an unfair advantage to the jet pilots.So lik i said they are indeed retarded

Now sorry for the rant but i feel better

 

[Xerin7]

I'm thinking about upgrading my 4:3 CRT to an LCD and need to decide whether to move to widescreen or not. I have no plans to watch movies on my pc, so widescreen is irrelevant there.

Could someone explain to me WHY you think widescreen gaming is better?

Are there any games out there which actually provide MORE viewing area with a widescreen than with a 4:3 format? As noted in this thread, my understanding is that you actually get LESS viewing area since the top and bottom of the 4:3 screen are cropped out.

 

[RampantAndroid]

Originally posted by: n7
No, no it doesn't.

See, something most people seem to be blind to is the fact that most online multiplayer fps games do not actually support widescreen, regardless of what the resolution is set to.

So then you get a lovely stretched distorted picture, no bigger or better than if you weren't running WS...

I heard so much hype about WS before i got my WS display, & now that i have one, i can say that WS gaming isn't all that.

Unless you happen to be lucky enough to be playing games that actually support WS.

A lot of games have a neat little FOV angle you can set yourself (the FOX for 16:10 is around 110 degrees) - only asinine games like the BF games just stretch it (and Americas Army because they are nuts about limiting variable values through PB)

EVERY game has some sort of support for WS, its just in the camera settings they program in.

 

[Lord Athlon]

Originally posted by: Xerin7

Are there any games out there which actually provide MORE viewing area with a widescreen than with a 4:3 format? As noted in this thread, my understanding is that you actually get LESS viewing area since the top and bottom of the 4:3 screen are cropped out.

http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/wiki/index.php?title=Master_Games_List_-_A

You need to look at HOR + games if you want the extra viewing area (true widescreen).Some games you get it natively (IE : Half Life 2) while for some others you need to edit a file/hack to get it (IE : Doom 3). Games that don't support widescreen are either VERT - (cropped on top and bottom , not that bad but annoying) or stretched (ugly as hell).

I went from a CRT monitor (Mitsubishi DiamondPro 930SB) to a widescreen LCD (Samsung 940BW) and while i had my doubts at first , i can now say that i will never go back .There a few inconvenients to WS (lack of support in some games you may play) but overall 16:10 is much better than 4:3.

Once you go widescreen you never go back.

 

[Xerin7]

Athlon, can you explain WHY you like widescreen better? Is it that the screen better reflects our natural peripheral vision, is it easier on the eyes, is it because you get more horizontal info, or what?

 

[noreaga0221]

I bought the same monitor and its awesome for the price. I'd like to pick up a 2nd one in the future.

 

[Ackmed]

Originally posted by: Mem

As for BF2 there is a way round that to support WS mode ie....

Widescreen Support

Method

BF2 gets it's WS support through a Command Line edit:
"C:\Games\Battlefield 2 Demo\BF2.exe" +menu 1 +fullscreen 1 +szx 1920 +szy 1200

So even that is not a problem.

Except you get no more game, than a 4x3 image. It wont adjust the FOV. Its not WS, and its the biggest complaint I have with the BS series. At least with the original BF 1942, you could change the FOV, you cant anymore. Which is simply idiotic, and ignorant. Imo. Lots of reviews ding games now for not supporting WS, as they should.

In games such as HL2, you get MUCH more on the sides of a game, and a little off the top.

 

[BFG10K]

I must admit that I'm tempted by the new revision of Dell 30" that's coming soon.

"C:\Games\Battlefield 2 Demo\BF2.exe" +menu 1 +fullscreen 1 +szx 1920 +szy 1200

This is what N7 was referring to when he said most people don't understand how widescreen works.

Most games will run at whatever resolution your system supports so setting the resolution isn't the problem. The problem is most games default to 4:3 aspect so when setting widescreen they have to be aware of this and adjust the FOV accordingly (or allow you to do it).

If you can't adjust the FOV (or equivalent) you simply get a 4:3 image stretched to 16:10/16:9 (or whatever your display uses) so you're not really seeing more at all, you're just distorting the image.

 

[Mem]

Originally posted by: BFG10K
I must admit that I'm tempted by the new revision of Dell 30" that's coming soon.

"C:\Games\Battlefield 2 Demo\BF2.exe" +menu 1 +fullscreen 1 +szx 1920 +szy 1200

This is what N7 was referring to when he said most people don't understand how widescreen works.

Most games will run at whatever resolution your system supports so setting the resolution isn't the problem. The problem is most games default to 4:3 aspect so when setting widescreen they have to be aware of this and adjust the FOV accordingly (or allow you to do it).

If you can't adjust the FOV (or equivalent) you simply get a 4:3 image stretched to 16:10/16:9 (or whatever your display uses) so you're not really seeing more at all, you're just distorting the image.

I know what he means,unfortunately all you can do are hacks for games that don't have native support for WS,this shows clearly what he means, link .However lot of games have native support for WS and I expect that to increase with time as WS LCDs become more popular.

 

[Painman]

The complaints I see in this thread almost all boil down to game X, Y or Z not implementing it properly, or not at all.

Holy news flash, Batman. That does not mean widescreen sucks. That means your fave game is showing its age, and/or its developer/publisher sucks. And/or your WS monitor make/model/revision sucks.

Way to put the cart before the horse.

 

[MustangSVT]

Can anyone figureout how to run Icewinddale2 in WS??