BioShock Gameplay Review

That seems to be disregarding the whole point of widescreen in the first place though. That it gives you a more natural field of vision. Surely having the most natural view for each monitor choice is utterly essential in a first person shooter?

I think what they've done is correct to keep the game experience the same across both formats.

Originally Posted by K
That seems to be disregarding the whole point of widescreen in the first place though. That it gives you a more natural field of vision. Surely having the most natural view for each monitor choice is utterly essential in a first person shooter?

But you're not getting any less because the widescreen monitor has more pixels for the same size screen anyway, the engine just renders it in 4:3. My "widescreen" reality isn't squished, I simply look up and down.

It's also why people played Sup-Com as far back as humanly possible, even though it looks great close up: because you could see more, but it detracts from the gameplay feel in Bioshock. You just don't notice when you're playing unless you're particularly looking for it.

Using an exaggerated field of view for one format and not the other is not really going to keep the game experience the same for both formats, it's actually diminishing one and not the other.

Just look at how a game like Half-Life 2 handles this issue. It's perfect. You will have an equally brilliant experience in either format, wide or full.

Look, I'll go buy you a new bottle of milk if you've spilt it.



:P

ah well, i was expecting extra on each side when i bought my widescreen monitor.

so on a widescreen monitor, is it better to run a stretched 4:3 resolution or run a 16:10 resolution?

the 360 version posted above is similar to having 1280x1024, and stretched.

No, it'll look pish at non native res.

;) Hey, it doesn't even affect me yet! I don't even own a PC or a 360 at the moment. Haha. The point is valid though. A more immersive experience will be had with the correct FOV relative to each format. Just like in Half-Life 2, for example.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:CounterStrike_AspectRatioComparison.png

Tim's playing around in the .ini file and has found and FOV edit but it's in the editor engine only :( There's nothing in the normal renderer that will allow you to change it from 75.0 to 82.2 for 16:10.

He is playing with changing the Physics engine from 2 threads to 4 :D

Oh joy, I get the game, and whadda ya know.

I can't run it.

I'm tired of not being able to run games...

You probably should've checked first.

Originally Posted by wafflesomd
Oh joy, I get the game, and whadda ya know.

I can't run it.

I'm tired of not being able to run games...

Upgrade like everyone else then?

Originally Posted by K
That seems to be disregarding the whole point of widescreen in the first place though. That it gives you a more natural field of vision. Surely having the most natural view for each monitor choice is utterly essential in a first person shooter?

As I explained before, 4:3 is more like your natural field of vision.

However widescreen places more emphasis on the horizontal axis - which is good for games where you tend to be looking left an right. By cropping the vertical axis, they are not diminishing your horizontal view. If they cropped the horizontal axis for 4:3 users they would lose part of the more valuable screen real estate.

Originally Posted by Bindibadgi
But you're not getting any less because the widescreen monitor has more pixels for the same size screen anyway...

Typical 19" monitor = 1280x1024 = 1,310,720 pixels
Typical 19" widescreen = 1440 x 900 = 1,296,000 pixels

Or how about 1600x1200 vs 1680x1050?

Widescreen monitors tend to have less pixels that there traditional equivalent.

Show me a 4:3 24" monitor (1920 x 1440) and I'll concede widescreen has less pixels.

Originally Posted by cjmUK
Widescreen monitors tend to have less pixels that there traditional equivalent.

You have the equivalents wrong, widescreens have more pixels.
4:3 = 16:9
1024x768 = 1366x768
1280x1024 is 5:4 not 4:3 and theres not really a WS equivalent as it would need a res of 1820x1024
1600x1200 = 1920x1080 (1920x1200 16:10)

Originally Posted by cjmUK
As I explained before, 4:3 is more like your natural field of vision.

However widescreen places more emphasis on the horizontal axis - which is good for games where you tend to be looking left an right. By cropping the vertical axis, they are not diminishing your horizontal view. If they cropped the horizontal axis for 4:3 users they would lose part of the more valuable screen real estate.

Err, no it isn't. Not even nearly. Your human vision is much wider than it is taller. This isn't some matter of opinion, this is a fact. Your horizontal peripheral version is around 170 to 190 degrees, vertically it's more like 100 degrees. That's about 18:10 or 9:5... Which is far closer to 16:9 than 4:3. How are you disputing this?

Originally Posted by LeMaltor
Upgrade like everyone else then?

Your welcome to buy the parts for me.

Contrary to popular belief, not everyone can afford new parts.

deleted./

Originally Posted by wafflesomd
Your welcome to buy the parts for me.

Contrary to popular belief, not everyone can afford new parts.

Contrary to your belief, everyone can get a job and earn money for new parts.

Originally Posted by wafflesomd
Your welcome to buy the parts for me.

Contrary to popular belief, not everyone can afford new parts.

True, but to run the latest games you need the latest parts

Originally Posted by wafflesomd
Oh joy, I get the game, and whadda ya know.

I can't run it.

I'm tired of not being able to run games...

So you bought the game without finding out if your machine matched the minimum requirements and now your moaning it doesn't run?

Originally Posted by wafflesomd
Your welcome to buy the parts for me.

Contrary to popular belief, not everyone can afford new parts.

Send to:

Trusted Reviews,
England

FAO: Archangel

kthxbye.

Or try reading the min specs?

Originally Posted by steveo_mcg
True, but to run the latest games you need the latest parts

not necessarily... but you do need a PC that's reasonably up to date. People are running the demo just fine on last year's mid-range for example - it'll also run on a 6600 GT... at 640x480/800x600 :)

Originally Posted by wafflesomd
Your welcome to buy the parts for me.

Contrary to popular belief, not everyone can afford new parts.

But you cannot expect to keep playing the latest games if you do not upgrade, the only thing anyone can say if you lack the hardware to play it is -> get the hardware to play it. What specs have you got, it could not work for a number of reasons btw...

Originally Posted by Tim S
not necessarily... but you do need a PC that's reasonably up to date. People are running the demo just fine on last year's mid-range for example. :)

I know i should really have put more sarcasm smileys in that. I'm still running a 939 A64. :'(