Aspect ratio correction is broken

[GenL]

No matter what i do, i can't get the game look right in fullscreen on my 5:4 monitor with native 1280x1024 resolution.

My guess is that currently this option is just not working, because it's not being saved and not being applied - seems like it just displays the ratio of selected resolution and has zero effect on the actual game.

The only case where i can see the game displayed perfectly is any 16:9 resolution in windowed mode. Otherwise everything (gfx, fonts, menus, gui) is too stretched.

[DW_Stephen]

Hi GenL, this is happened before but the older fix should still apply as a work around in the mean time until this issue is fully fixed.

Temporary solution:
1. Load the game
2. Go to Graphics Options
3. Change the resolution to something different than your monitor
4. Click Apply
5. Choose your desired resolution now
6. Set the correct aspect ratio (even if its set to it already, just click on it again)
7. Click Apply

A screenshot of the stretched HUD would also be appreciated,

Cheers!

[GenL]

Thanks. Here is what i tried:

1. Originally how the game looked in 1280x1024: loading (http://i36.tinypic.com/hryp9l.jpg) (notice the fonts and the turbine), gameplay (http://i33.tinypic.com/2d7v81g.jpg).

2. After i lowered the resolution, then changed it back to 1280x1024 and selected 5x4 (although it was already selected): loading (http://i36.tinypic.com/hryp9l.jpg), gameplay (http://i34.tinypic.com/miymja.jpg). Seems a lot better, but see below...

3. After i restarted the game without touching any settings: loading (http://i36.tinypic.com/hryp9l.jpg), gameplay (http://i33.tinypic.com/2d7v81g.jpg).

4. After i set the resolution to windowed 1280x720: loading (http://i34.tinypic.com/t8t6l5.jpg) (notice the fonts and the turbine), gameplay (http://i37.tinypic.com/rifexe.jpg). Both perfect.

And here is a comparison (http://i36.tinypic.com/124y6vr.jpg). Seems stretched to me.

[DW_Stephen]

Oh it looks like an old bug has come back alive again although i cant reproduce this on my other monitor.

Im not sure why your settings arent getting saved though but i have something you can try - forcing a screen resolution in your launch options.

Add this to your DF launch options:
-Graphics.width 1280 -Graphics.height 1024

Hopefully that will run DogFighter at the correct resolution everytime and not reset it. Note: You may need to add that line, launch the game, change the graphics options to 1280x1024, then restart the game again (making sure the launch command hasnt changed).

That should prevent you from having to use the previous fix everytime you load DF as its resetting your config everytime you restart it. let me know how that goes!

[GenL]

Add this to your DF launch options:
-Graphics.width 1280 -Graphics.height 1024Didn't help. Actually i don't see how it could help, because the aspect ratio is always saved into the registry, and it was always 5:4 for me, but the game looks better only if i re-apply that temporary fix you described, and until i exit the game.
There should be an option to force aspect ratio with a commandline maybe...

Anyway the correction still looks incorrect to me (for 5:4 resolution at least), like i showed in the last link.

[DW_Stephen]

I see exactly what you mean now and just had a little talk about the HUD in the office here with someone who explained it in full (Also noticed a bug in your screens with the weapon icon offset in the windowed and full screen). 5:4 isnt actually a supported native resolution by DogFighter, what happens is that the 4:3 is taken and stretched to fit in a 5:4 screen (i think the same happens with 16:9 to 16:10).

The bug for the settings being reset is already logged into our systems and if i hear anything new about that one then ill let you know. Unfortunately i think you either need to use the first fix everytime to make it look less stretched in fullscreen or run in windowed mode.

Here is the command line for the aspect ratio, although im unsure that it will make a difference - worth a shot?

-Graphics.aspectRatio "16:10"

Im really sorry that I cant provide a permanent fix (or one that fully works) but i hope you enjoy the game until we fix this!

[GenL]

Thank you for explanation, this makes sense about stretching 4:3 mode.
Tried this commandline option with 5:4 and "5:4" - didn't help. Overall it's not a big deal to me - there is an option to scale all resolutions correctly with black bars in GPU driver settings, plus the game will stay with me when i buy a new 16:9 monitor anyway :)

Afterall it seems to be a problem of hud and overlay elements only, the actual game is rendered fine in every mode for me.

[DW_Stephen]

Update: HUD should no longer be stretched in the next update, it will be scaled dynamically from now on.

[Hypernova]

HUD indeed seems fine, I'm not sure if the rest is fixed though. At least three things are still certainly stretched: The loading wheel, mouse pointer, and the aiming mark. I think the team logo, etc. is stretched as well. Hope it get fixed.

[DW_Stephen]

Thanks Hypernova, ill make a note of it.

edit: they look fine to me :( perhaps you could send us a screenshot?

[Hypernova]

Sorry for the late reply Stephen. Here are the three screenshot for cursor, loading wheel, and aiming mark respectively. Note that I have the same ratio when doing fullscreen. I took the screenshots in Windowed mode since it's easier.

http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/6897/df1p.th.jpg (http://img408.imageshack.us/i/df1p.jpg/)
http://img593.imageshack.us/img593/3608/df2x.th.jpg (http://img593.imageshack.us/i/df2x.jpg/)
http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/5230/df3y.th.jpg (http://img843.imageshack.us/i/df3y.jpg/)

[DW_Stephen]

hmm they definately look fine to me, I'll get someone to double check this to make sure.

Edit: Sean has confirmed everything is fine.

[SCHUMI_4EVER]

everything looks fine to me in those shots as well, just the res they were taken at is quite odd

[Hypernova]

hmm they definately look fine to me, I'll get someone to double check this to make sure.

Edit: Sean has confirmed everything is fine.

Wait. Am I the only one who see that at least the loading wheel is definitely not a circle? And as I said, the aspect ratio is exactly the same even if I do my native resolution. My native resolution is 2560x1600. Here's an example (sorry for the big image):

http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/9619/dffull.jpg (http://img819.imageshack.us/i/dffull.jpg/)

Please take a look again. It is definitely wrong. If I use any 16:9 resolution in the setting then aspect ratio is correct, but I don't like black bar (and I shouldn't have to have it). I can see thay the cursor and aiming mark is harder to be noticed, but no matter how hard I try, I cannot see the loading wheel as a circle! If you still suspect that I took the screenshot incorrectly, I can take a picture of my monitor to make my point.

[DW_Stephen]

Sean will have another look at it, thanks for submitting this Hypernova!

[presuming ed!]

I've got exactly the same thing on 1280x1024 at 5.4. The loading wheel and the crosshair are skinny like in Hypernovas post

[SCHUMI_4EVER]

Right after doing some of my own testing I can confirm the issue does indeed exist (hard to see in a screenshot though, it's best seen when going from 1600x900 to 1280x1024). It seems the game has incomplete anamorphic behaviour. In other words it's basically locked to 16:9 and will stretch that for all other Aspect Ratios (whereas propper anamorphic behaviour usually letterboxes).
Also another strange thing is 1280x720 (which is otherwise known as 720P and is 16:9) gets stretched onto my 16:10 screen (but doesn't seem to suffer stretching as badly as my native 1680x1050 res) but 1600x900 which is also 16:9 displays propper anamorphic behaviour and letterboxes itself.

When going from 16:9 to 16:10 (and it seems 4:3) the stretching is rather small (which is why I never noticed) and can only be seen after experiencing the target in 16:9 and then switching back to 16:10. 5:4 has massive stretching though.

edit:
Hmm it seems only the Hud and menu items display stuck anamorphic behaviour...the actual gameplay seems Vert- (meaning loss of vertical real estate)...which is a shame...

[morphium]

+1.

I've also seen it. It's nothing worth writing home about, but if a quick fix can get us perfect HUD scaling, then all the more for the better.

[Hypernova]

If the game can only be rendered at 16:9, then could you add a 16:9 equivalent of 2560x1600 (2560x1440)? Actually, I think you should add it either way.

[mooTV]

Sorry lads this is WAY down our list of priorities at the moment and will likely take some time before it is fixed. It is in our system however.

[Hypernova]

Ok. Don't want to be dramatic but let me say I'm disappointed. Can you at least do my last request (add 2560x1440)? Seems like a quick fix to me. I know nothing about your code so I might be wrong of course.

[mooTV]

As previous stated Hypernova, I can't promise anything just yet. I'm sorry but we are doing our best and would like to have a new level out before Christmas.
We are also doing our localization now. This is our priority.
Sorry mate.