[TEST] Custom Resolution build (based on 3.3.0 / 3.3.1)

Started by Crimson Wizard, Thu 19/09/2013 18:05:19

Previous topic - Next topic

Ali

Quote from: Ascovel on Mon 07/10/2013 17:36:25
Would it be complicated to separate the font rendering from the rest of the image? So that we can e.g. have specific font sizes preloaded for specific screen resolutions.

Out of interest, why would that be useful? Surely the font size would usually be relative to screen size?

Crimson Wizard

Well, I am glad this one at least works :).
I'll be merging latest 3.3.0 fixes and additions here some time later.

Quote from: Ascovel on Mon 07/10/2013 17:36:25
Would it be complicated to separate the font rendering from the rest of the image? So that we can e.g. have specific font sizes preloaded for specific screen resolutions.
You mean different fonts, depending on scaling? Hmm, there's nothing like that in AGS right now. But, hypothetically, I think, it is possible to make one fonts substitute others in font array after resolution has been established. Question is, what would be a better approach to this, from editor's perspective. Should we define "font aliases", that are not real fonts, but just a placeholders, filled in at runtime? Or should there be a property per each font, like "substitute by"/"override which font"? This idea may seem trivial at first, but really, there's much to think about.

Snarky

... and Wadjet Eye might be able to get high-res text in 320x200 games and avoid ugly scaling artifacts! (nod)

Crimson Wizard

You know, it is actually possible to substitute game font by placing a font file with identical name in the game folder ;)?
I think I mentioned that somewhere already, but AGS first seeks for its files on disk, and then in the game package.
That's not very convenient, but may be used as a workaround.

Igor Hardy

Quote from: Ali on Mon 07/10/2013 17:38:51
Quote from: Ascovel on Mon 07/10/2013 17:36:25
Would it be complicated to separate the font rendering from the rest of the image? So that we can e.g. have specific font sizes preloaded for specific screen resolutions.

Out of interest, why would that be useful? Surely the font size would usually be relative to screen size?

The fonts don't always scale down very well. What I meant is, if it would be possible to have a non-scaled font over a scaled image of everything else.

Radiant

I would be interested in using a custom resolution for future projects, e.g. 800x500 (which is the 10:9 variation on 800x600, really).

Crimson Wizard

#26
Quote from: Ascovel on Mon 07/10/2013 18:18:36
What I meant is, if it would be possible to have a non-scaled font over a scaled image of everything else.
No, definitely not. (Unless using hacks so terrible  that I refuse to even imagine them :tongue:).

Text is usually not a separate image, but integrated with something else, like gui surface, overlay, even room background. It may have several additional post-effects applied (like something being drawn over). It may be printed on an object/character view frames, which, in turn could get tinted or drawn with partial transparency, etc, etc.

Besides, scaling inconsistency may (will) break proportions and constraints.
It will be hard (if not impossible) to properly calculate the size of text windows, and other objects, which usually depend on text size.

Ali

I see Ascovel's point about downscaling fonts. If it's not possible to avoid downscaling, perhaps addressing the current weaknesses of anti-aliasing for TTF would be a good compromise. If a heavier, softer AA was available for fonts, it might look less nasty when shrunk?

Igor Hardy

#28
Quote from: Crimson Wizard on Mon 07/10/2013 18:33:08
Quote from: Ascovel on Mon 07/10/2013 18:18:36
What I meant is, if it would be possible to have a non-scaled font over a scaled image of everything else.
No, definitely not. (Unless using hacks so terrible  that I refuse to even imagine them :tongue:).

Text is usually not a separate image, but integrated with something else, like gui surface, overlay, even room background. It may have several additional post-effects applied (like something being drawn over). It may be printed on an object/character view frames, which, in turn could get tinted or drawn with partial transparency, etc, etc.

Besides, scaling inconsistency may (will) break proportions and constraints.
It will be hard (if not impossible) to properly calculate the size of text windows, and other objects, which usually depend on text size.

Oh, I see. I was afraid that might be too problematic for AGS, but I thought some other software does that. Apparently not - it only generates trouble.

Quote from: Ali on Mon 07/10/2013 18:41:35
I see Ascovel's point about downscaling fonts. If it's not possible to avoid downscaling, perhaps addressing the current weaknesses of anti-aliasing for TTF would be a good compromise. If a heavier, softer AA was available for fonts, it might look less nasty when shrunk?

Ali, what about this plugin by Calin?

http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=44359.0

Could that be the better alternative?

Crimson Wizard

Quote from: Ascovel on Mon 07/10/2013 18:49:51
Oh, I see. I was afraid that might be too problematic for AGS, but I thought some other software does that. Apparently not.
Well, maybe some do... at least some may use different scaling levels for different layers. Like game world rendered with one scale, but guis rendered with another scale as a separate process. I don't know. This all depends on how game image is constructed.


Quote from: Ascovel on Mon 07/10/2013 18:49:51
Ali, what about this plugin by Calin?

http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=44359.0

Could that be the better alternative?
BTW, I was considering to implement sprite fonts as a native capability of AGS. Maybe we will at some point. WFN fonts are, essentially, sprite fonts, just with limited functionality.

dbuske

Works wonderfully at 1280x720.  I've had no crashes at all.
What if your blessings come through raindrops
What if your healing comes through tears...

Igor Hardy

#31
I tested the build with Calin's FontSprite plugin (scaled from 720p to 540p) and it looks much better while still the scaling produces slightly messed up edges for some letters. Nothing more can be done I guess since the native resolution isn't much higher than the target.

Alas, supposedly 720p is low res for indie adventure games in 2013 :~(

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/11/04/wot-i-think-lilly-looking-through/

Knox

Quote from: Ascovel on Mon 04/11/2013 21:15:48
Alas, supposedly 720p is low res for indie adventure games in 2013 :~(

Man that's a downer! :cry:
--All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.

monkey0506

Quote from: Ascovel on Mon 04/11/2013 21:15:48Alas, supposedly 720p is low res for indie adventure games in 2013 :~(

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/11/04/wot-i-think-lilly-looking-through/

The fact that he referred to 720p as an "incredibly low resolution", and even went to great lengths to assert how inconceivably small this is ("in 2013"!!!!), filled me with unfathomable rage.

Crimson Wizard


Snarky

Given that 1080p has become the de facto default PC screen resolution (which is why I'm still using my 1600x1200 monitor from 2004), calling 1280x720 "incredibly low resolution" seems a bit over the top. But by the same token, it's fair enough to question why they went with that resolution, when the art style clearly calls for the best resolution possible, when they apparently produced the background art in higher resolution, and when the game in fact runs in a higher resolution (as seen by the animations). Mixed resolutions is never a pretty sight, and the way the object graphics degrade as soon as they go from moving to fixed calls more attention to the issue than if they'd just used 1280x720 throughout.

Should we split this off to somewhere else?

Knox

Quote from: Crimson Wizard on Tue 05/11/2013 10:53:49
Erm... you guys can't be serious. This is irony, right?

Ha! Well if that guy thinks 720p is low-rez and the majority of gamers today think the same thing, well yea I have to admit that does suck (for me anyways).
--All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.

LameNick

Hi, i thought it might help with the progress if i mentioned the issues i had with this build so far:

if i use other resolution than one of the those available in the editor it rescales the background and sprites in the view

renderstyle=0 doesn't work, it crashes in directdraw, in direct x it either shows blank view or it stretches the view.

renderstyle=2 at 1280x720 fullscreen mode stretches the view in both dimensions not keeping the proportions. (my monitor's res.-1920x1200), otherwise it seems to work.

when i use the 320x200 resolution preset for some reason it downscales my character-sprite


is it only me or anyone else experiencing these issues?
How much wood would a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck could chuck wood?

Crimson Wizard

Quote from: LameNick on Sat 09/11/2013 23:28:14
if i use other resolution than one of the those available in the editor it rescales the background and sprites in the view
Well, it should do that, except when renderstyle is 0 and no scaling filter selected.

Quote from: LameNick on Sat 09/11/2013 23:28:14
renderstyle=2 at 1280x720 fullscreen mode stretches the view in both dimensions not keeping the proportions. (my monitor's res.-1920x1200)
1280x720 and 1920x1200 have different aspect ratios; if you run 1280x720 fullscreen on 1920x1200 monitor, it will become distorted.
Try setting your native desktop resolution in setup:
Code: text

renderstyle=2
screenwidth=1920
screenheight=1200


LameNick

Quote from: Crimson Wizard on Sun 10/11/2013 00:12:18
Quote from: LameNick on Sat 09/11/2013 23:28:14
if i use other resolution than one of the those available in the editor it rescales the background and sprites in the view
Well, it should do that, except when renderstyle is 0 and no scaling filter selected.

what i meant is if i use a background of the same resolution as i set in "acsetup.cfg", but its not the resolution that is set in the general settings, the background and sprites got distorted (e.g.: even in window mode it did show just a part of the background and upscaled version of sprite). However i tried it now again with 1600x800 resolution and in window mode it worked fine but with fullscreen renderstyle=2 it stretched the width of the view beyond my display while the height was shorter then height of my display, it worked as a scrollable background.

Quote from: Crimson Wizard on Sun 10/11/2013 00:12:18
Quote from: LameNick on Sat 09/11/2013 23:28:14
renderstyle=2 at 1280x720 fullscreen mode stretches the view in both dimensions not keeping the proportions. (my monitor's res.-1920x1200)
1280x720 and 1920x1200 have different aspect ratios; if you run 1280x720 fullscreen on 1920x1200 monitor, it will become distorted.
Try setting your native desktop resolution in setup:
Code: text

renderstyle=2
screenwidth=1920
screenheight=1200

well, the problem was that at renderstyle set to 2 it didn't maintain the right proportions, it showed the same results as if renderstyle was set to 1.
How much wood would a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck could chuck wood?

SMF spam blocked by CleanTalk