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[tesselode]

So I was playing Galaga at someone's halloween party recently (they had an arcade machine in the basement), and I noticed something: the screen is extremely tall. The main difference this makes to the gameplay is it makes it harder to look at both what you're shooting and what's diving towards you at the same time.

Anyway, discuss the effects of screen size on a game here.

[noah!]

*for best results, imagine the following spoken in an 80s game-commercial narrator voice*

Hey punk! You think Galaga's hardcore? Try Darius!!

D-D-D-D-D-D-



*end transmission*

Yeah, screen size is important I guess, but I think it's more worthwhile to achieve a balance between sprite size and screen size. After all, nowadays everything can be rescaled, so really it's up to you to decide what resolution to natively strive for, and then scale up/down from there.

That being said, I'd really like to see some people experiment with breaking out of the 4:3 box; see what cool things you can do with really thin/wide screen sizes. Maybe even throw the box model out altogether and design for circular/polygonal/horseshoe displays...

[rek]

Small Worlds slowly zooms out the more you explore the game space until the entire level is revealed/beaten. This mechanic (if that's the right term) could be taken further by adding enemies that get smaller and smaller, precision jumps that get more difficult, or multiple things scattered about the level need to be paid attention to, as detail is lost in the zoom.

This has nothing to do with the dimensions of the screen itself, but I think it's related enough to warrant a mention.

[Danmark]

So I was playing Galaga at someone's halloween party recently (they had an arcade machine in the basement), and I noticed something: the screen is extremely tall. The main difference this makes to the gameplay is it makes it harder to look at both what you're shooting and what's diving towards you at the same time.

You could make a projection where the (2D) world is mapped onto a quarter cylinder, lain lengthwise across the width of the screen, with its highest part along the bottom of the screen, and lowest along the top. The top of the screen corresponds to a constant & large distance from the camera, and the bottom to a distance of 0. Objects further away would appear increasingly squashed vertically, but the player could still recognize & react to them.

[Richard Kain]

I love the fact that there is so much more screen real-estate these days. I would love to see a developer produce a game that is made to be played on a widescreen monitor/TV that has been turned on its side. (a super-vertical shmup)

[Core Xii]

I would love to see a developer produce a game that is made to be played on a widescreen monitor/TV that has been turned on its side. (a super-vertical shmup)

...why not just make it a horizontal shmup?

[Player 3]

I love the fact that there is so much more screen real-estate these days. I would love to see a developer produce a game that is made to be played on a widescreen monitor/TV that has been turned on its side. (a super-vertical shmup)

Pinball arcade game. Lightbulb...If I don't come back, keep discussing.

[Richard Kain]

Pinball arcade game. Lightbulb...If I don't come back, keep discussing.

That...is a great idea. An excellent way to take advantage of modern displays in a vertical arrangement.

...why not just make it a horizontal shmup?

Vertical shmups just aren't the same as horizontal shmups. There's a different feel to them, and a different approach to designing them. The shift in perspective affects how the player views the experience. Also, there are some monitors that come with the ability to rotate them vertically. Having a monitor rotated vertically is becoming very popular among programmers.

[Player 3]

Pinball arcade game. Lightbulb...If I don't come back, keep discussing.

That...is a great idea. An excellent way to take advantage of modern displays in a vertical arrangement.

But the problem with laying the monitor at the same angle is depth. It's just not the same. Maybe the camera's perspective can be ninety degrees above the table while the monitor is projected like a building. This may seem like an excellent project.

[Uykered]

I don't know if players would be prepared to balance their monitors on their sides.

Here is 20+ pages of "tate" setups.
http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=7715

[Player 3]

I don't know if players would be prepared to balance their monitors on their sides.

Here is 20+ pages of "tate" setups.
http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=7715

The problem with that is that these are dedicated shmup-shmucks and always have the monitor/TV on hand. The average player is too lazy.

[BrixxieBee]

Moldering uses a resolution of 912x384. What kind of ratio would this be considered?

[dustin]

I thought the control setup on the wonderswan was so cool because you could play with it horizontal (gba style) or vertical...

[Danmark]

Moldering uses a resolution of 912x384. What kind of ratio would this be considered?

19:8 or 2.375

A basically unheard of wide ratio.

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

I would love to see a developer produce a game that is made to be played on a widescreen monitor/TV that has been turned on its side. (a super-vertical shmup)

games like this exist for ipad/iphone/mobile phones -- their screens are often taller than they are wide

[Core Xii]

Also, there are some monitors that come with the ability to rotate them vertically. Having a monitor rotated vertically is becoming very popular among programmers.

I can say from personal experience that such monitors are terrible. I had one; It was buggy, unwieldy and all around inconvenient. I'm anal enough about the precise positioning of my static monitor, I can't even imagine fiddling with a rotating one. What if I can't get it straight?

[rivon]

I believe that it has position "locks". It definitely isn't free 360 degree movement.

[Richard Kain]

Yes, I know that Dell in particular produces wide-screen monitors that can be re-adjusted for vertical alignment very easily. They lock into place for vertical alignment as well, there's no need to calibrate them when shifting their orientation. And I know that most modern graphic cards will give you the option of rotating your display as well.

Naturally, the ideal solution would be for a fixed orientation display for a particular game, such as is found in arcades. And thanks to how most game engines work, it should be possible to provide scaled and letterboxed options for anyone who is unwilling (or unable) to tip their screen on its side.

[rivon]

I'd love to have a rotatable monitor now cause that 1366x768 laptop screen is too damn low for programming. 1920 height on the other hand would be awesome...

[Player 3]

People wanted wider monitors, and then they wanted taller monitors...

We should just have square monitors and life would be a lot simpler.

We were close enough with 5:4 and 1280x1024. Can we discuss the topic with Tempest involved?