#7450 closed feature request (wontfix)
FM-TOWNS: Enable aspect ratio correction
| Reported by: | SF/vood | Owned by: | sev- |
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| Priority: | low | Component: | Engine: SCUMM |
| Version: | Keywords: | ||
| Cc: | Game: |
Description
Aspect ratio correction cant be enabled in fm-towns games. I believe fm-towns original screen resolution was 320x240, but anyway lucas ports still used the original 320x200 resolution, so even in the original computer they had black bars and a streched image. Fortunatly we can solve this in scummvm, but for some strange reason (probably the aspect correction routine doesn´t know what to dos with an original 320x240 screen), It doesnt work.
Ticket imported from: #1326700. Ticket imported from: feature-requests/266.
Attachments (2)
Change History (17)
by , 19 years ago
| Attachment: | fm_default_aspect_ratio.jpg added |
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comment:1 by , 19 years ago
| Summary: | Aspect ratio correction not working at all → FM-TOWNS:Aspect ratio correction not working at all |
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comment:2 by , 19 years ago
ScummVM only knows how to stretch 320x200 images, and their multiples, 640x400 and 960x600. The version 3 FM Towns games (Indy 3, Loom and Zak, I believe) use 320x240, so they can't be stretched.
Now, I don't own any of these games (and probably never will) so I have no idea why this is, or whether or not they actually *use* the extra 40 pixels for anything. But I am fairly sure that this is the reason you can't use aspect ratio correction on them.
comment:3 by , 19 years ago
Aspect ratio correction appeared because it really took place on hardware. I.e. 320x200 isn't 4:3 so it was scaled by factor of 1.2. FM-TOWNS natively ran in 640x480 and LEC 320x200 graphics was padded to 320x240. Afaik some games even used lower 40 pixels too.
Yes, our aspect ratio correction turns on only if screen height is exactly 200, i.e. it just doesn't apply for FM-TOWNS'es 240. (TOWNS comes from last name of some scientist Townes, so it's singular)
Though I don't know should we really reject this item. At least this is not a bug but a feature request. Moving it there and lowering priority as all other FM-TOWNS stuff.
comment:4 by , 19 years ago
| Component: | Engine: SCUMM |
|---|---|
| Game: | Zak McKracken |
| Priority: | normal → low |
| Summary: | FM-TOWNS:Aspect ratio correction not working at all → FM-TOWNS: Enable aspect ratio correction |
comment:5 by , 19 years ago
ZakTowns uses more than 200 pixels. It uses the added space to show more inventory (good idea, and was fairly easy to implement for them, too). Interestingly, it doesn't seem to use all the 240 pixels, though -- about 20-25 pixels at the bottom stay black. I am not sure if those are ever used in the game...
There are two possible "solutions" to the whole issue, I think: 1) Allow activating the aspect ratio correction for 320x240 games, too. The result would be 320x288, which wouldn't fit on many small screen devices. 2) Try to cut down the game to 320x200. In the case of ZakTowns, that would imply the game inventory needs to be restricted in size, probably the same for Indy3.
I have no idea at all how Monky Island on FM-TOWNS works, though -- everything I said here might be moot for that...
comment:6 by , 19 years ago
Well, I mostly play on a window, (and I guess many other people also), so I think allowing an optional aspect ratio correction wont make any hurt.
comment:7 by , 19 years ago
Unlike Zak McKracken, Indy 3 does not have the extended inventory, ie. there are only 3 lines, exactly like the PC VGA version. It would make perfectly sense, just running the game at 320x200 instead of 320x240, I'd say. You still could just disable aspect ratio correction, if you prefer the squeezed image, then.
comment:8 by , 15 years ago
I'm not sure the aspect correction is important for these games anyway (except maybe for Indy4).
The graphics of Scumm games up to MI2 (and maybe later) were drawn with square pixels in mind. This is very noticeable in the Zak intro (the earth is ovoid with aspect correction, and round without) and in the first Largo scene in MI2 (Guibrush becomes short and fat when Largo holds him above his head with aspect correction but keeps normal proportions without).
comment:9 by , 15 years ago
zorbids statement confused me somewhat, so I had to check it... Actually (and quite logically) it is the exact opposite of what zorbid said. Without aspect ratio correction the earth in the Zak intro is ovoid, with enabled aspect ratio correction it is an (almost) perfect circle. So aspect ratio correction IS important for FM Town too. Without it, you have to play them without correction. The earth in the intro is just as ovoid in the Town Zak as in the PC Zak with disabled apect ratio correction.
I don't think it would be very hard to do. Just cut off the black bar at the bottom and/or crop the inventory to the size of the original version.
I'd really appriciate that feature, because the FM Towns version of Zak is definitely the best one, but you can't play it with the correct aspect ratio for now.
comment:10 by , 13 years ago
After giving this a second thought, I am rejecting this request. The original games were intended to be squashed.
comment:11 by , 13 years ago
| Owner: | set to |
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| Resolution: | → wontfix |
| Status: | new → closed |
comment:12 by , 9 years ago
Ouch..11 years later, and I still disagree with the decision taken. Yes, FM-Towns originally showed the image squashed but only because there was no way to use the correct aspect ratio in that hardware. Keeping in mind the correct aspect ratio is the PC one I can't see why an optional option to correct it in FM-Towns could'nt be included.
One could argue ScummVM is trying to keep itself as faithful as possible to the original source...but then why games have options like HQ or SAI filters? Those were not avaible in the original versions and they change the image much more radically than a simple aspect ration change.
In my opinion a simple cropping of the unused black space plus aspect ratio correction would improve A LOT FM-Towns games.
Please reconsider it.
Thanks in advance.
comment:13 by , 8 years ago
Sev, I think you should give this more consideration.
While I understand your point about the games originally being this way, this, as you said, could be a feature and most certainly an optional one at that. So of course it would not be forced upon the user.
Furthermore, as SF/Vood said, other options in ScummVM alter the appearance of games to a much higher degree than stretching the image out a few pixels (in my opinion).
I think it's worth revisiting this, but that's just my two cents. I would love to see this feature in ScummVM.
comment:14 by , 8 years ago
I've really got to agree with vood and lukeman3000 here, especially after reading this old forum thread: http://forums.scummvm.org/viewtopic.php?t=5663
This would make for an absolutely incredible enhancement (even if it were purely optional), and only requiring some simple cropping/modification in the case of Loom and Zak McKracken. I mean, the visuals are clearly (and needlessly) distorted when displayed at the default 320x240 resolution, and the only reason Sev provides for not implementing such a fix is that these games were somehow 'intended to be squashed,' despite all the available evidence indicating the exact opposite?
It's no wonder people are dissatisfied with this decision.
comment:15 by , 6 years ago
| Component: | → Engine: SCUMM |
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Thats how it looks