EvaUnit02 on 6/6/2009 at 19:40
Quote Posted by gunsmoke
I must have some super duper laptop, because my native is 1280x800, but whatever the resolution there is no change in quality. Kinda cool feature I have is that when you play a game in 4:3, it automatically black bars the sides (you can switch this feature off if you want), so it avoids the stretching.
That's called 1:1 pixel mapping, a feature that you find in more expensive LCDs (usually no TN panel monitors). It's superior to GPU-assisted scaling.
When it comes to 3D games, the higher the resolution, the better IMO. For example, the Dark Engine games look the better than they ever have thanks modern hardware and hacks like DDfix and the resolution patch. DDfix forces T1 to be displayed in 32-bit colour, the resolution patch provides resolutions that are normally unsupported by the game (+ An increased horizontal FOV to accommodate the extra information granted by 16:10.) Finally from the GPU driver control panel, I can force 16x Aniostropic Filtering and 4xMSAA+1x2SSAA.
As for 2D games, I'm perfectly fine with running them at their default resolution if I have to. I also don't mind looking a pixellated sprites at all, scaling filters that artificially sharpen the sprites look like shit. Fuck SuperEagle, SuperSAIx2, etc.
I have DOSbox upscale basically all necessary games to my monitor's native resolution of 1680x1050 (+ window-boxed to preserve the original aspect ratio), it looks a hell a of lot better than actually running then at their default resolutions.
Quote Posted by dethtoll
Fallout 1 being mostly a bunch of brown and green sprites on a bunch of brown and brown tiles is a good part of its charm.
Your tune may change when you're inevitably forced to switch to an LCD.
demagogue on 6/6/2009 at 20:08
Old graphics can still have charisma.
I still enjoy playing old games on emulators, so there must be something about them...
I think one thing simpler graphics have going for them, if I had to say something about it, is abstraction. Games are first about interacting with stuff, so what's important about objects is what they mean to you. When you simplify the graphics, then important things get really abstracted to a few pixils. It's not like a real gun in his hand, like a modern game would have to recreate; it's the abstract idea that this guy shoots. So the sprite is more like a floating concept than trying to be a real guy. It's a similar idea to why boardgames can get away with simple blocks of wood for pieces; it's abstracted down to the very root of its function.
In certain circumstances, depending on what you're trying to do in your game, that could be a good thing.
Poetic thief on 6/6/2009 at 20:21
Eva-unit,
are you saying that it's the LCD screen on my laptop that's mainly responsible for this? LCD screens have trouble with pixel scaling.
Would that explain why higher resolutions look artificially sharper (and thus more pixelated) ?
Also, since 800*600 is below the LCD screen's native resolution, it appears blurrier and eliminates that weird artificial sharpening of the textures.
hm...I suppose that on other monitor types (like CRT) they don't have this artificial sharpening issue and higher resolutions actually look good...
june gloom on 6/6/2009 at 20:22
Quote Posted by EvaUnit02
Your tune may change when you're eventually forced to switch to an LCD.
I may have to switch soon. My mom's boyfriend is (though I'm not supposed to know) getting an LCD monitor for me and I'm going to
have to use it. I keep asking mom to drop hints that I don't like LCD monitors and she keeps not doing it because she likes LCDs and thinks I should too.
I just hope it's one of those good ones that aren't blurry messes without proper color correction, but I'm not holding my breath.
Poetic thief on 6/6/2009 at 20:30
Quote Posted by demagogue
I think one thing simpler graphics have going for them, if I had to say something about it, is abstraction. Games are first about interacting with stuff, so what's important about objects is what they mean to you. When you simplify the graphics, then important things get really abstracted to a few pixils. It's not like a real gun in his hand, like a modern game would have to recreate; it's the abstract idea that this guy shoots. So the sprite is more like a floating concept than trying to be a real guy. It's a similar idea to why boardgames can get away with simple blocks of wood for pieces; it's abstracted down to the very root of its function.
In certain circumstances, depending on what you're trying to do in your game, that could be a good thing.
excellent post.
It's like how some people love Planescape torment, whereas others think there's just too much darn boring text to read. Not everyone can appreciate abstraction in their games.
EvaUnit02 on 6/6/2009 at 20:41
Quote Posted by Poetic thief
Eva-unit,
are you saying that it's the LCD screen on my laptop that's mainly responsible for this? LCD screens have trouble with pixel scaling.
The thing about LCDs is that they only support ONE resolution. Anything that is lower than that native resolution will usually look blurry/hazy, and if you're running a 4:3/5:4 Aspect Ratio (AR) resolution on a 16:10/16:10 display without window-boxing - stretched.
The 1:1 pixel mapping technology is a work-around for this, but only more expensive displays have it. The alternative is use GPU-assisted scaling. If yoi have an Nvidia card, then I highly recommend enabling "Fixed-Aspect Ratio Scaling" from the Nvidia Control Panel, things will look a lot better and fullscreen AR resolutions will be window-boxed.
ATI drivers have a similar feature, but I don't know what it's called.
Quote:
Would that explain why higher resolutions look artificially sharper (and thus more pixelated) ?
Are you talking about in 2D games specifically? Please clarify.
With 2D graphics in older games, they are usually created/rendered at a specific resolution. So if you scale them to higher resolutions, then yes they will become pixellated.
The solution to pixellation of 2D graphics:-
-Literally recreate the 2D graphics from scratch at the higher resolution, including every single animation. Eg, this is what they did for the Super Street Fighter 2 HD remake.
-Use scaling filters that artificially sharpen the lines/edges. I.e. most emulators offer a selection of scaling filters such as SuperEagle and SuperSaix2.
Images based on bitmaps will become pixellated when upscaled. A good example is are usual application icons embedded into a program's EXE. Vector graphics on the other hand are designed to scale to whatever resolution you have set. Modern Flash games are usually made with Vector graphics.
Renzatic on 6/6/2009 at 21:25
Quote Posted by dethtoll
I just hope it's one of those good ones that aren't blurry messes without proper color correction, but I'm not holding my breath.
All LCDs are blurry (or rather hazy) messes without proper color correction. Out of the box, 99% of LCDs are calibrated to be shown in brightly lit environments. Like display shelves at Best Buy and all those other good places. The first thing you should do is tweak the everliving shit out of the color and contrast, or you'll never be happy with it.
I spent three days screwing with color temps, brightness settings, and a couple of good calibration programs before I was happy. By the time I was done, I could barely tell the difference in dark colors between the LCD and my old CRT.
Poetic thief on 6/6/2009 at 22:01
Quote Posted by EvaUnit02
Are you talking about in 2D games specifically? Please clarify.
With 2D graphics in older games, they are usually created/rendered at a specific resolution. So if you scale them to higher resolutions, then yes they will become pixellated.
So I'm not crazy after all! When I use the widescreen mod for baldur's gate 2, the higher resolutions looked worse and more pixellated. I'm glad that there's a reason for this and it wasn't just me.
Something similar also happens with 3-d games too, but it's not as drastic as in 2-D games. If I use the widescreen mod on thief, the higher resolutions look sharper and slightly more pixellated than 800*600.
Quote Posted by EvaUnit02
@Poetic thief
ClearType Fonts are basically anti-aliased. The end result should be a far improved Windows desktop experience, regardless of if you're running an LCD or CRT.
Thanks for the tip ! I never knew about this. Awesome.
Renzatic on 6/6/2009 at 22:08
Quote Posted by Poetic thief
So I'm not crazy after all! When I use the widescreen mod for baldur's gate 2, the higher resolutions looked worse and more pixellated. I'm glad that there's a reason for this and it wasn't just me.
That'd be the case if it were upscaling. Thing is, I thought the Infinity Engine games (and the accompanying high res mods) scaled the maps and sprites so they'd fit pixel perfect at whatever resolution you were running in.
