Full screen --> distortion
by Very Interactive Person · in Torque Game Builder · 11/17/2007 (5:19 am) · 6 replies
When i run my game (www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLIYaJHe2Rg) in full screen, on some pc's everything is distorted. That's becuase of funky screen size's. Looks like most new screens are almost square or widescreen.
Does anyone have any ideas to fix this? I would like to have my game displayed on screen without changing the proportions. So, if the user has a widescreen, maybe display a black band on both sides, instead of stretching the game accross the screen.
Does anyone have any ideas to fix this? I would like to have my game displayed on screen without changing the proportions. So, if the user has a widescreen, maybe display a black band on both sides, instead of stretching the game accross the screen.
About the author
#2
So there's absolutely no way to detect this and automatically choose the right layout?
11/17/2007 (6:51 am)
Hmmz, I was afraid this would be the answer :(So there's absolutely no way to detect this and automatically choose the right layout?
#3
I actually may end up offering a "fullscreen", but the only difference will be that there is a black border around the 960x600 window. Hopefully that works. Man, I just thought of that now, that's a great idea!
11/17/2007 (6:31 pm)
Very strange things happen when I mess with res in TGB. Like the sides being cut off, or everything being stretched out. I've decided to force a 960x600 windowed mode. Funny since I hate it when games don't give you a choice, haha!I actually may end up offering a "fullscreen", but the only difference will be that there is a black border around the 960x600 window. Hopefully that works. Man, I just thought of that now, that's a great idea!
#4
It basically involves editing the mainScreen.gui file (Preferably because the user changes the resolution settings ingame, but I suppose you could write some simple resolution detection scripts to find the best one to start with.)
You adjust the mainScreenGui object to set the entire screens resolution, and then you change the sceneWindow inside of that to compensate in case the resolution you designed the game to run in is shaped different from the monitor.
Many game designers operate under the false assumption that all users have control over what aspect ratio their monitors display while in fullscreen mode. This may be true of some monitors/videocard combinations, while untrue of others. Never design under the assumption that the user is going to tweak his system just to play your game. In my experience, if I can't make something work within the the game's setup panel, it gets uninstalled in the blink of an eye.
Anyway, good luck getting your game to function in widescreen. It looks pretty polished!
11/17/2007 (10:30 pm)
Check out this thread if you want to see how another user handled it. www.garagegames.com/mg/forums/result.thread.php?qt=63728It basically involves editing the mainScreen.gui file (Preferably because the user changes the resolution settings ingame, but I suppose you could write some simple resolution detection scripts to find the best one to start with.)
You adjust the mainScreenGui object to set the entire screens resolution, and then you change the sceneWindow inside of that to compensate in case the resolution you designed the game to run in is shaped different from the monitor.
Many game designers operate under the false assumption that all users have control over what aspect ratio their monitors display while in fullscreen mode. This may be true of some monitors/videocard combinations, while untrue of others. Never design under the assumption that the user is going to tweak his system just to play your game. In my experience, if I can't make something work within the the game's setup panel, it gets uninstalled in the blink of an eye.
Anyway, good luck getting your game to function in widescreen. It looks pretty polished!
#5
1. Provide layouts for the 2 types of resolutions (4:3 and 16:10), using the same assets. You don't change the graphics, just their location on the screen.
Con: more work
Pro: You can use the GUI builder
2. Make a dynamic user interface. I've seen a document recently that mentions this. I'll have to take a look into that. That might make the problem go away entirely, as the user interface is adapted to the player screen.
Con: You can't use the GUI builder (afaik)
Pro: code once, works anywhere
cheers,
--
Nebulagame development
My personal blog
11/18/2007 (6:37 am)
Take into account that choosing a resolution like 800x600 for your game, and putting a black border around it, might make the game impossibly small for people using their monitors in 1280x1024. For my game, I'm considering one of the following:1. Provide layouts for the 2 types of resolutions (4:3 and 16:10), using the same assets. You don't change the graphics, just their location on the screen.
Con: more work
Pro: You can use the GUI builder
2. Make a dynamic user interface. I've seen a document recently that mentions this. I'll have to take a look into that. That might make the problem go away entirely, as the user interface is adapted to the player screen.
Con: You can't use the GUI builder (afaik)
Pro: code once, works anywhere
cheers,
--
Nebulagame development
My personal blog
#6
I'm not exactly sure what you mean by ways 1 and 2. Basically, does 1 use the GUI builder and 2 does not?
I'm actually working on replacing as much of the GUI builder objects with scene objects at the moment in my project, Glatte. It actually works pretty well once you get mouse events down, and it looks absolutely stunning compared to the standard GUI builder method. As I believe you mentioned, it scales with the resolution as well, unlike any GUI elements. The only problem is that using some GUI is inevitable, though the things that you can't get around aren't normally very graphical, the worse thorn in my side at the moment is the text edit control. I suppose making two different GUI files and just changing the position of the text edit control isn't too bad! ;)
11/18/2007 (12:41 pm)
Thanks for the thoughts, David.I'm not exactly sure what you mean by ways 1 and 2. Basically, does 1 use the GUI builder and 2 does not?
I'm actually working on replacing as much of the GUI builder objects with scene objects at the moment in my project, Glatte. It actually works pretty well once you get mouse events down, and it looks absolutely stunning compared to the standard GUI builder method. As I believe you mentioned, it scales with the resolution as well, unlike any GUI elements. The only problem is that using some GUI is inevitable, though the things that you can't get around aren't normally very graphical, the worse thorn in my side at the moment is the text edit control. I suppose making two different GUI files and just changing the position of the text edit control isn't too bad! ;)
Chaim Krause
Chaim Gang
One option you have is to provide 4:3, 16:9, and 16:10 layouts and allow the user to choose one.