Letterbox mode greyed out

[remixor]

I hope these aren't stupid questions, but I've searched the documentation and the Beginners and Technical boards and not found answers.

Regarding letterboxing, my letterbox option is greyed out in my General Options screen, and I can't seem to figure out how to change that.  I'd like to use letterbox mode for my game.  

Also, it says "Use letterbox (320x240 / 640x480)" as the explanatory text for that option, but I was under the impression that letterboxing made it 320x200 or 640x400.  Is this an incorrect assumption, or is it saying that letterboxing can only be USED in those original resolutions, as opposed to the new 800x600?  

Also, is it possible to have certain screens NOT be letterboxed if we use that format for the rest of the game?  For example, I want my logo and intro screens to be fullscreen, but the rest of the game itself to be letterboxed.  

And finally, when I choose 640x480 resolution, why does the room settings screen say "Relative Size: 320x200"?  I'm not sure I understand the concept of relative size, and even if I did, I don't understand why it's 320x200 instead of 320x240, since I'm working in 640x480 instead of 640x400, which I guess is what I want to be working in.

I hope I haven't confused myself into thinking letterboxing is the opposite of what it is.  If that's the case, about half of those questions are even stupider than I already realize they are.  Thanks for any help anyone can give.

[Erica McLane]

When you start a new game you are asked to select a resolution and after that you don`t have to worry about the letterbox mode. The checkbox won`t be greyed only if your game is in 320x200 or 640x480 resolution.

[remixor]

Thanks for your response.  Since I've already started my game in 640x480, are there any downsides to simply making the background with black bars above and below as part of the background itself?

And if possible could someone maybe address my question about "relative size"?  It's not super important I guess, but it doesn't make sense to me.

Thanks again.

[Cerulean]

There would be no problem, but you can also just make your background 640x400 and it will be put in the center.

The history is that AGS originally used actual 320x200 resolution, and when the "letterbox" feature was first added, its purpose was to show the 320x200 game on a 320x240 resolution screen for a square aspect ratio, and it happens to look like a letterboxed movie. The ability to use the rest of the 320x240 screen was added later, but the name of the mode stuck.

"Relative size" is the size for gameplay purposes. AGS processes clicks in a high-res game as if it were low-res, passing coordinates as, for instance, (5,5) when the player clicks on what is actually (10,10) or (9,10) of the screen. If you are told that your room's relative size is 320x200, then you have in fact loaded a background that is 640x400, which is, as I said, fine.

The only snag would be if you had a vertically scrolling room that you still wanted to appear letterboxed. The workaround for that would be to make permanent black GUIs covering the top and bottom of the screen.

[remixor]

Ok, I get it now.  Thanks for your explanation  

[RickJ]

remixor:  I;m old but no an old timer and Your question touv=ched on issues I have been unsure about for quite a while but have lacked the courage to ask about.  So please don't feel bad at all.

Cerulean:  I have been confused about this from the begining.  Since you seem to have an understaning of the actual facts as well as a historical perspective, perhaps you could elaborate more and give a longer explanation of the difference in resolutions, other than the obvious of course.