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[PST:EE] Please give us resolution options

Please let us specify what resolution we render the game at, independent of window and desktop resolution.

What do I mean? I like to to appreciate the art in the IE games - the maps, character sprites, that kind of thing. My main desktop monitor is 1920x1200, and I always disable zoom because I don't care for it. If I play any of your EE games in fullscreen, that means I'm watching ants crawl around the screen in 1920x1200. Enable zoom you might say! But, there's another way where I can have even better control of the game resolution without enabling zoom: I can change my desktop resolution. If I do that, I can play IWD:EE in 1280x800, a resolution that actually lets me see the detail in the art.

But why, in 2017, do I need to change my desktop resolution to play a game in that resolution? Why can't I select the resolution for the game to render in, and have it stretch to full-screen?

Or, even better, make it completely independent of fullscreen mode. That way, those of us with multiple monitors don't have our desktop composition screwed up on the secondary monitor by a fullscreen game changing our desktop resolution.

You might think this is a crazy request, but it actually isn't. The reason it isn't implemented in the EEs is because it wasn't considered, that's it.¹ If I can play Fallout 2 in a borderless fullscreen window, with the window rendered at 1920x1200 but the game rendered at 1280x800 and occupying the ENTIRE 1920x1200 window (yes, no letterboxing or black bars), I believe Beamdog can implement the same.

Give us the option please, even if it's officially unsupported and via an ini tweak.

@TrentOster @Avenger_teambg

¹ Some technical details. In windows, there are generic APIs / 'hooks' that deal with the resolution of a window. It's one of the many tools the borderless widescreen gaming community has used to develop programs that make, well, borderless fullscreen windows. OpenGL, which I believe the EEs render with for Windows, supports exactly what I've asked above. The EE internal renderer (or 'game') outputs to the game window (the 'window' I specify above) to be drawn and managed by the OpenGL API. Think of the game as a picture, and the window the picture frame. This API allows the management of the game window such that content fed to it can be stretched (aspect ratio correct or incorrect, but ofc we want correct) to occupy the full window. That's how you get what I've asked for. It is not programming black magic, it is not arcane or obtuse - but I don't think there's been a clear demand for this feature before so it hasn't been considered.
CrevsDaakBlackorbBaptorTeflonsolthane

Comments

  • agrisagris Member Posts: 581
    with the announcement today, i think this needs a *BUMP*
  • dos350dos350 Member Posts: 18
    can i suggest u play in window'd mode !
  • agrisagris Member Posts: 581
    ineth said:

    Does lowering the screen resolution really give better results than using the zoom feature?

    Yes.

  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,714
    If we figured out correctly from the OP, you want to be able to set the resolution of the game, then enable full screen mode without the game being rendered at the resolution of the monitor it's being displayed on.



    We added zoom so you can make the world bigger while the UI stays the same size.

    In our opinion, games look best running at the native resolution of the monitor.
  • agrisagris Member Posts: 581

    If we figured out correctly from the OP, you want to be able to set the resolution of the game, then enable full screen mode without the game being rendered at the resolution of the monitor it's being displayed on.



    We added zoom so you can make the world bigger while the UI stays the same size.

    In our opinion, games look best running at the native resolution of the monitor.

    Hey Julius, thanks for the reply. Yes, I want to render the game at a lower resolution, and have that stretched to occupy my fullscreen desktop resolution. I disagree with your final comment though, which is the point of my original post. Any chance of letting us specify resolution? There's about two decades of games in which developers let the user pick the resolution.

  • KaliestoKaliesto Member Posts: 282
    I would also like to see this for BGEE games to be running in 640x480 as a mod, I think it will be good for players who want that nostalgia back, and also I think the games tend to look better that way.
  • BelegCuthalionBelegCuthalion Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 453
    edited March 2017
    This was discussed a lot in the past, and i still don't really get why the graphics card driver (which is basically doing the same on another level) or even the LCD screen itself that can be abysmal or rather okay) should be able to provide better results than the software could with zooming.

    I get it if it's for performance, rendering low-res, then scaling it up is cheaper than rendering full res, but this is not really a concern in IE games in 2017.

    So what is really the benefit in this?
    Wouldn't it be sufficient if we could define what zoom level "zoom locked" actually means, so we can preset one as scaling factor ingame even if we don't want to use the zoom feature dynamically (and still get sharp UI elements sideway)?

    That said, of course I'm not opposed to have such a feature available, i just don't get it from my perspective what exactly would be different (better) with it.
  • agrisagris Member Posts: 581
    edited March 2017

    This was discussed a lot in the past, and i still don't really get why the graphics card driver (which is basically doing the same on another level) or even the LCD screen itself that can be abysmal or rather okay) should be able to provide better results than the software could with zooming.

    I get it if it's for performance, rendering low-res, then scaling it up is cheaper than rendering full res, but this is not really a concern in IE games in 2017.

    So what is really the benefit in this?
    Wouldn't it be sufficient if we could define what zoom level "zoom locked" actually means, so we can preset one as scaling factor ingame even if we don't want to use the zoom feature dynamically (and still get sharp UI elements sideway)?

    That said, of course I'm not opposed to have such a feature available, i just don't get it from my perspective what exactly would be different (better) with it.

    Let me help you get it then. To your question, would a locked zoom level satisfy me? Yes, as long as all filtering of the sprites and maps associated with zooming is disabled. But now, doesn't that sound more complicated than letting us set the game resolution? I don't care to have zoom as a feature, actually I find it annoying, and the effects applied to the character sprites upon zooming are ugly IMO. Also, having to manually 'set' my zoom level every time its reset (either on purpose or because I flubbed the mouse wheel) is fiddly and imprecise.

    Let me just select a resolution and play the game without the 2010-era scaling filters / cel shading etc.

    These old games aren't meant to be played from a birds eye view, beamdog knew this so offered zoom. The feature itself is an acknowledgement of that fact. Zoom works for some people, I want to select the resolution and disable zoom.. an arguably simpler, easier solution. But here we are.


    edit:
    Kaliesto said:

    I would also like to see this for BGEE games to be running in 640x480 as a mod, I think it will be good for players who want that nostalgia back, and also I think the games tend to look better that way.

    Well that's nice, but not what I'm talking about. I not running the EE's on a Win98 VM emulating Pentium 1 performance hooked up to a CRT monitor. I don't want nostalgia. I'm talking about selecting a moderate resolution that is lower than our desktop, but still widescreen and allows for the appreciation of the game's art without filters applied and having to think about / set the zoom level. Fullscreen 1280 x 720 on a 24" 1080p monitor does that nicely, or 1440x900 on a 16:10 equivalent.
    Post edited by agris on
    solthane
  • agrisagris Member Posts: 581
    edited March 2017
    Hey @JuliusBorisov it seems that the RPS review didn't like the lack of resolution options, and preferred to play fullscreen in a lower resolution.

    Is Beamdog considering giving players the option to play the game in resolutions that are lower than their desktop's?
  • marxzoemarxzoe Member Posts: 3
    I have the Eizo EV2730Q monitor, which is a monitor with the resolution 1920x1920.

    The ratio 1:1 is, of course, the perfect ratio for games like PST.

    Unfortunately, this resolution is not supported by PST:EE (letterboxing).

    I, too, would like to change the games display resolution, if at all possible.
  • agrisagris Member Posts: 581
    edited April 2017
    marxzoe said:

    I have the Eizo EV2730Q monitor, which is a monitor with the resolution 1920x1920.

    The ratio 1:1 is, of course, the perfect ratio for games like PST.

    Unfortunately, this resolution is not supported by PST:EE (letterboxing).

    I, too, would like to change the games display resolution, if at all possible.

    Interesting monitor, I never knew such a creature existed. Looks good for CAD as well.

    Unfortunately, it appears that letting the user select the resolution to play in violates a deeply held philosophical belief at Beamdog. I do not understand why, but their lack of interaction and condescension regarding this issue has made it clear enough. For decades users have been able to select resolutions, but sadly that is not the case here.

    However, ghostdog's widescreen mod for the original PST will definitely support your 1:1 aspect ratio. You can read about it and download here: http://www.shsforums.net/forum/571-ghostdogs-pst-ui/

    As there is no zoom in the original IE games, I suggest you play at either 1/2 or 2/3 of your native X and Y resolution, i.e. 960x960 or 1280x1280. The 960^2 resolution will give you the most crisp text and art as nothing needs to be rendered via anisotropic subpixels (1 game pixel perfectly maps to 4 of your LCD pixels), but I've found that 1280 horizontal is the most pleasing on the eye for the IE games on ~24" monitors.

    If you get Ghostdog's UI mod running, please post a picture! I don't think anyone has ever seen PST in a 1:1 aspect ratio.
    Post edited by agris on
    MakeAthkatlaGrtAgain
  • SpaceOrcSpaceOrc Member Posts: 3
    edited April 2017

    In our opinion, games look best running at the native resolution of the monitor.

    Created this forum account just to reply to that, this kind of responses make my blood boil. What is the problem with giving people some OPTIONS? If you think it's best, leave it as default and other settings will be found by people that look for them.

    Currently PST:EE at 1440p is zoomed out too far for me. If I zoom in the interface is crisp, but the game viewport is lower fidelity and it just looks odd (and whenever I nudge the mouse wheel it changes the zoom level as well - I'd be cool to be able to just lock it/disable the wheel). And some artwork within the interface is still lower res.

    I can get used to play games in 640x480 after literally 5 minutes, I'd like to try this one in maybe 720p to keep the look more consistent.

    edit: Found an option to lock the zoom. Would have been A LITTLE better if i could zoom half-way out and then lock it where I want it but it just snaps back to either full in or full out depending on scaling option. Again, missed opportunity.
    Post edited by SpaceOrc on
    agris
  • BluddyBluddy Member Posts: 20
    I was happy to buy PST:EE, but I just don't get Beamdog here. When QA tested the game and zoomed in, didn't they notice the picture gets really ugly with nearest neighbor? I never experienced anything as ugly as this when I originally played PS:T. What gives? In BG:EE, I can zoom in and I get nice filtering. Why can't I get to appreciate the art of PST zoomed in?

    I simply cannot fathom Beamdog being unaware of this issue. The slightest mouse wheel movement causes the art to become ugly and distorted. It just makes no sense. I want to zoom in. I want to see the little details, but not when it ruins the picture quality so much.

    Seriously, what's going on here? How is Beamdog presenting this as an 'upgrade'? I honestly thought it was a bug, and I'm shocked to hear that Beamdog believes this is how the game should behave.
  • marxzoemarxzoe Member Posts: 3
    agris said:


    If you get Ghostdog's UI mod running, please post a picture! I don't think anyone has ever seen PST in a 1:1 aspect ratio.

    Right now I can show you the next best thing: I'm currently playing "Torments: Tides of Numenara". This is a picture of the EV2730Q playing this game:



    This is Civilization V:



    This monitor is perfect for map based games (and for work, actually). Not so much for shooters, but these I am playing on my TV.
    AndreaColomboagris
  • AndreaColomboAndreaColombo Member Posts: 5,524
    @Bluddy - Try the compatibility renderer. It should still be applying Catmull-Rom Bicubic to backdrops.
  • BluddyBluddy Member Posts: 20

    @Bluddy - Try the compatibility renderer. It should still be applying Catmull-Rom Bicubic to backdrops.

    I got this suggestion on the gog forum as well. A few points:

    a. It works on my Windows machine, but not on my Mac/Android etc which doesn't have DirectX, which is what the compatibility renderer is based on, as opposed to OpenGL, which is the new renderer.
    b. It does indeed look beautiful with filtering -- PST has the nicest art of all Infinity games IMO.
    c. I've checked, and all the other EE titles - BG:EE, BG2:EE and IWD:EE have an OpenGL renderer that also does filtering with zoom. This makes it seem like someone forgot to copy the renderer code when creating PST:EE ie. it's a bug. The code is there in the other games and just needs to be copied over to Torment.
    d. I'm again amazed that nobody picked up on this issue. Where was QA?
    MakeAthkatlaGrtAgain
  • Jody_BerendoJody_Berendo Member Posts: 2
    Yeah Beamdog, I agree with everyone above. I have a 4k monitor and the zoom scaling algorithm is really bad. Give us the option to select our own resolutions or fix that zoom scaling. Make it snappy, because your replies sound arrogant.
    In the meantime I am returning this on Steam. When I hear you've fixed these problems, I'll repurchase.
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,714
    @Jody_Berendo We certainly hear players. I've passed the feedback in this thread to the developers.

    There's a bug logged in for the zoom scaling issue - http://support.baldursgate.com/issues/30519.
  • Jody_BerendoJody_Berendo Member Posts: 2
    Okay, thanks for the reply. I do plan to repurchase once the scaling issue at least is resolved. I'll keep checking in. Do enjoy your other EE's.
  • DayntheBoldDayntheBold Member Posts: 5
    May I suggest this for tabs also? I wonder if automatic scaling affects performance because when I zoom in on my Galaxy, the game is much smoother.
  • agrisagris Member Posts: 581

    @Jody_Berendo We certainly hear players. I've passed the feedback in this thread to the developers.

    There's a bug logged in for the zoom scaling issue - http://support.baldursgate.com/issues/30519.

    Please be aware that most of us want the ability to select a resolution, lock the zoom at that resolution and disable any other scaling, not a 'less blurry' zoom filter.
  • PeccaPecca Member Posts: 2,174
    agris said:

    @Jody_Berendo We certainly hear players. I've passed the feedback in this thread to the developers.

    There's a bug logged in for the zoom scaling issue - http://support.baldursgate.com/issues/30519.

    Please be aware that most of us want the ability to select a resolution, lock the zoom at that resolution and disable any other scaling, not a 'less blurry' zoom filter.
    If I understand it correctly, the game uses scaled interface with a functionality that displays the UI in high resolution (unlike previous EEs), so the UI looks exactly the same on every resolution. What changes is the game world - area images and character animations, which are low res and unlike UI they are subjected to zooming. Therefore the hypothetical option to change resolution would have the exact same effect as zooming, so (apart from proper zoom lock) the scaling algorythm is the only thing that matters here.
  • beobeo Member Posts: 143
    edited May 2017
    Better scaling algos need to be implemented. ineth posted a good example. Is there any technical reason why Beamdog went with an inferior ones?
  • agrisagris Member Posts: 581
    Just a reminder that here, in 2018, we still can't set a fullscreen resolution for any of the EEs. Beamdog, please listen to your customer base, reviewers, etc. We want to set a fullscreen resolution, disable zoom and all filters.

    Thank you.
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,714
    This is a known request, @agris. Can't comment if it's possible to implement.
  • UlkeshUlkesh Member Posts: 207
    I add myself to the list of people asking for this feature.
  • mr_planescapistmr_planescapist Member Posts: 19
    edited May 2022
    I've nearly given up on all the EE versions giving us resolution options or just plain better scaling options.
    I am back at the classical versions of these games, and they look way better. The colors pop, and smooth gradient. The EE somehow butchered the original art. Its pixelated mess and seems super compressed. Colors are muted.
    Check out the blood pools.
    mytib877074f.png
    8be3pjmzo6ou.png
    l1o5s3g3s3xe.png



    Post edited by mr_planescapist on
  • UlkeshUlkesh Member Posts: 207
    So basically the enhanced edition graphically is a downscaling from classic?
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