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2D Interface size


:FI:Macca

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Have been asking for this forever. My monitor is 1920x1200 and what should be an enjoyable read is a real chore.

If the interface cannot do this of it's own accord then perhaps include directories for each briefing resolution and have a switch to point to them.

I of course refer to briefing and main menu resolutions as my main prob. But in game interface would also be good in larger resolution.

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I recently got an android device for some (non-CM) work. Oy! Those tiny keypads and that tiny text! Makes the CM interface look like a freakin' billboard in comparison. :D

I suppose everything is relative. I use a dedicated pair of 'computer glasses' when I'm at the computer. If I had to play the game using my bifocals the fun factor would drop a bit.

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This was on the short list of ideas for v3.0. Charles said "you have no idea how difficult this is" and so I asked Phil. He said "probably pretty tough, but I'll look into it more and let you know.". His answer back was "oh my God, please don't make me do it!". And so it was removed from the list!

The primary problem is that OpenGL is not well designed for a 2D/3D game interface, which is what Combat Mission uses. Therefore, it's extremely inflexible and years of programming has made it even more inflexible. It is not going to change, unfortunately.

Steve

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This was on the short list of ideas for v3.0. Charles said "you have no idea how difficult this is" and so I asked Phil. He said "probably pretty tough, but I'll look into it more and let you know.". His answer back was "oh my God, please don't make me do it!". And so it was removed from the list!

The primary problem is that OpenGL is not well designed for a 2D/3D game interface, which is what Combat Mission uses. Therefore, it's extremely inflexible and years of programming has made it even more inflexible. It is not going to change, unfortunately.

Steve

Marco Bergman made a larger font mod for CMSF. What MB made (Thanks Marco) works but is not perfect. I recently uninstalled larger font mod for CMSF Mac Bundle.

Maybe a new Engine 3.0 larger font mod might work? I am running at 2560 x 1440 with a PC (non Mac) NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 4096 MB graphics with graphics settings maxed out and the games are... real pretty with mega mods... but the fonts are... tiny. The good about 2560 x 1440 fonts is if your monitor is close to your face you can read the tiny fonts (with my glasses) but you do not see the pixels on the screen.

"The primary problem is that OpenGL"... not a BFC issue as much as a resource priority / allocation issue.

With the next push to 4096 x 2560 true 4k ... CM will look more than superlative only inches from the screen and I suspect by then the adjustable font size.. though "pretty tough" will be resolved.

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This was on the short list of ideas for v3.0. Charles said "you have no idea how difficult this is" and so I asked Phil. He said "probably pretty tough, but I'll look into it more and let you know.". His answer back was "oh my God, please don't make me do it!". And so it was removed from the list!

The primary problem is that OpenGL is not well designed for a 2D/3D game interface, which is what Combat Mission uses. Therefore, it's extremely inflexible and years of programming has made it even more inflexible. It is not going to change, unfortunately.

Steve

Can we at least use that extra space for more 2D interface data? Or at least fill it in with a tiled texture?
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How about a zoom tool ;)

Just hook into the windows disability tools.

Yes, there is a "screen loupe" available in Windows 7 (at least, maybe others) which zooms in on portions of the screen--as Destraex says, look in the Disability Tools part of the Windows start menu. I just started using it for when I play games on my TV sitting on the couch, so that I can read the counter info. But so far I haven't tried it with CM.

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Rather than programming the ui to scale up and down with all the different resolution configs, which is a hefty programming task, why not make the ui set to a 1080p or 1200p standard. Most people have widescreen monitors so the default should accommodate the most customers. Another option to fill the extra space could be to expand the orders pages so they are all open at once as well as the oob page and ammo / damage page. Plenty of room to show more of the ui.

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For me the main problem here is the tiny briefing screen. Gotta look close at it, otherwise I attack instead of defend my positions ;) But seriously, it is a major pain in the rear. While I can live with small interface in-game the briefing size ain't making the experience any better.

BTW - would it be possible for the devs at least to provide the game with PDFs with briefing and map for each mission in a printer and eyes friendly format and size?

cheers,

M

P.S. When BFC will be making new engine maybe that would be not so bad to keep that issue in mind?

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I don't know if that helps you any but 'blender' (3D program, http://www.blender.org) is a 3D program with a highly configurable 2D interface, uses OpenGL exclusively and is open source.

Not the same thing :D That app was written to have everything in configurable windows. I suspect there's a ton of technical differences in terms of what their needs are vs. what CM's are. Plus, even if it were it would take longer to integrate someone else's code than to write our own.

Rather than programming the ui to scale up and down with all the different resolution configs, which is a hefty programming task, why not make the ui set to a 1080p or 1200p standard.

Still a major effort and then we have the problem of people not being able to run the game at all. While it might not be optimal to have the UI be small, it still works.

For me the main problem here is the tiny briefing screen. Gotta look close at it, otherwise I attack instead of defend my positions ;) But seriously, it is a major pain in the rear. While I can live with small interface in-game the briefing size ain't making the experience any better.

That is a different thing and it is possible we can do something about that one specific element.

BTW - would it be possible for the devs at least to provide the game with PDFs with briefing and map for each mission in a printer and eyes friendly format and size?

In theory yes, but it's not helpful to scenarios made by others. So at best it is a clumsy work around.

When BFC will be making new engine maybe that would be not so bad to keep that issue in mind?

You can count on that. We recognized this as a problem fairly early in CMSF development, but at the time few people were able to run at higher resolutions anyway so it wasn't a major concern for us (not that it would have changed things much). As time has gone on that's changed, but unfortunately OpenGL hasn't. When we get around to doing another game engine we will, for sure, not be using OpenGL.

Steve

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"zoom tool" Dugh?

Of course I never considered this until the suggestion fired through a few operative synapses :D

OSX - System Preferences - Accessibility - Zoom.... works with CMx2!

Set up your key commands and you are good for briefings and in game UI zooming / exit zooming.

Not the best of all worlds bit it works in my 2560 x 1440 dislapy playing CMFI/GL. I can read... w/o glasses!... the tiny font / UI icons etc.

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