Matrix Games Forums

Scott,
 
The problem is more involved then just saying games need to support 800x600. A 3d shooter can get away with lower resolutions with a loss of looks. Wargames of the 2d variety have interfaces of a more static/fixed nature. There is only so much room for the amount of info you are trying to display. In most cases this would mean the actual game map would be very small and depending on static information you may have to right code for an entire different (less capable) interface. I know right now the new Flashpoint games bottom out at 1024x768. This is do to the information display and coding to support much larger displays, wide screens, and multiple monitors. Even then it is tough. Add in the need to be supportive to large fonts (a problem that happenend to a guy with Flashpoint Germany a couple months back) and it is trickier still. It would be great to be able to support everyone's equipment, but the reality is you just can't. Someone gets left out in the cold. The best we can do is tell you where the cutoffs are.
 
Probably not what you want to hear, but I hope it makes some sense. [:)]

Yeah, you get the reverse argument also. People that pay a large amount of money for their system usually arent going to settle for graphics that are outdated by a decade. On the other hand people that play wargames typically DONT have high end equipment,..... they dont need it to play the vast majority of war games. The fact is you need to support a variety of resolutions.

If a choice has to be made, when dealing with war games it obvious, you MUST cater to the lower specs that most war gamers are using. Otherwise you make your product unusable by a large portion of your customer base. The better choice would be to make it work for every resolution that is common.....800X600, 1024X768, 1280X800, 1440X900. That way you maximize the potential for sales. Whatever the reasons, the consumer typically doesnt care beyond the question 'does it work on my system?'

Oh BTW, I have a high end system, and run 1440X900. I have no problem running the game. I just understand the frustration a lot of people are having with this issue.

Scott: Yep, I totally understand what you're saying. The decision for that resolution was made due mainly to the amount of info we needed to display everything. I wanted most everything on ONE screen, rather than a lot of clicking to see info and popups going on. Early surveys we did supported the fact that the majority of people support the 1280x1024 just fine, so I figured it wouldn't be an issue.

Any future games I do for Matrix (or any other games for that matter) will top out at 1024x768, probably. That way I can support laptops and low end systems a lot better, but not sacrifice detailed screen displays with lots of info presented in an easy to read fashion.

Derek,

Why not allow for flexible resolutions? At a minimum I think you should support a widescreen alternative, since this is the dominant type of new display for both notebooks and desktops.

Yes, widescreen resolution is a must these days.

Actually, I don't intend on buying any new games that don't support it.  And limiting screen resolution to 1024x768 will lose you a sale with me. [:-]  I have lots of available display space and if it is stretched out to insanity or I keep the original aspect ratio (with my video drivers) which would only cover half my monitor area, then I'm a no go. [:(]

Well I've just bought this game and guess what, I didn't read the requirements properly.

I have a laptop and am always working away from home so I thought I'd get a good strategy game and a friend of mine recommended this.

I know it's my fault for not reading the specs but if anyone has found a work around so that I could see the other half of the screen that would be great.

I did try the earlier solution but it didn't work.

Anyway regards Fred

I never buy games that limit the res. All games should come with a choice of resolutions these days. A fair few of Matrix stable have low res specs. SSG games for instance are all fixed below my widescreen res. Which means it stretches the pic so it ends up looking awful.