Would a high-res (or widescreen) map mod be theoretically feasible?

[Grotius]

I don't know much about modding, and I know I'm asking about a huge project, but I'm curious: would it theoretically be possible to create a mod with a widescreen and/or high-res version of the map, along with matching art for ships, planes, etc? I ask because I now have a gargantuan 30-inch wide widescreen LCD that runs at a native 2560 x 1600 resolution (!). Few people are insane enough to have THAT big a display, but from reading the threads on widescreen/high-res support for WITP, I know that some players are using LCDs running at 1920 x whatever.

Suppose I got ambitious, fired up Photoshop, and tried to make a 1920 x 1080 version of the game map. (Suppose further that I used Andrew Brown's map as a guide.) Would it even run with WITP? Does the game require a map at 1024 x whatever resolution? Likewise, suppose I found myself with endless time (which I lack) and made 1920 x 1080 versions of plane and ship graphics. WOuld that crash the game?

Apologies if this is a clueless question, but I'm curious enough to ask.

[el cid again]

You can buy a special video card for your PC that will give you a special wide screen capability - you can use 2, 3 or 4 monitors side by side - and they act as one! This is popular among those who do stock work and some electronic drafters and map people.

[Grotius]

Thanks for your reply, but with this huge widescreen monitor, I've got more than enough screen real estate!

Anyway, I don't think I asked my question very clearly. What I meant was: could an artist create higher-resolution versions of the existing game map so that the game would look sharper in a higher resolution? From what I can tell, the stock map comes in a series of .bmp's that mostly are 1500 x 1500 pixels. Andrew's map is the exact same size. What if one painted replacement maps that were, say, 3000 x 3000 pixels? Would the game still work, or would it crash? Along the same lines, what if an artist were to "stretch" the map so that it would look better on widescreens?

[Andrew Brown]

ORIGINAL: Grotius

Thanks for your reply, but with this huge widescreen monitor, I've got more than enough screen real estate!

Anyway, I don't think I asked my question very clearly. What I meant was: could an artist create higher-resolution versions of the existing game map so that the game would look sharper in a higher resolution? From what I can tell, the stock map comes in a series of .bmp's that mostly are 1500 x 1500 pixels. Andrew's map is the exact same size. What if one painted replacement maps that were, say, 3000 x 3000 pixels? Would the game still work, or would it crash? Along the same lines, what if an artist were to "stretch" the map so that it would look better on widescreens?

I could be wrong but my understanding is that the game resolution is fixed at 1024x768. I must admit, though, that I have never tried loading the game with larger map panels. My guess would be that it would not work, but it would be interesting to try it out.

The other constraint, besides the display, is the map data, which is fixed at 149x149 hexes.

Andrew

[Grotius]

Thanks, Andrew. You're probably right about the game resolution, but I'm curious enough that I might try. I might replace one of the WITP map files with a higher-pixel-count map and see if the game will run, and if so how it looks...