GW and Widescreen - Guild Wars Forums

pamelf · Sep 13, 2007, 09:10 AM // 09:10

So, I'm currently building my new computer, getting the lot to put together this Saturday, when it occured to me that the monitors I am getting (2 19" LG Flatron Widescreens) may not be GW compatible.

Does anyone play GW on a widescreen monitor? I know Bioshock has Widescreen options, but not many other games on the market do. Does anyone know how widescreen may affect my gameplay if at all?

Targren · Sep 13, 2007, 09:21 AM // 09:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by pamelf

So, I'm currently building my new computer, getting the lot to put together this Saturday, when it occured to me that the monitors I am getting (2 19" LG Flatron Widescreens) may not be GW compatible.

Does anyone play GW on a widescreen monitor? I know Bioshock has Widescreen options, but not many other games on the market do. Does anyone know how widescreen may affect my gameplay if at all?

I play it on a 19in Dell WS LCD on my PC and on my Toshiba Qosmio 17in Widescreen. (the PC is in widescreen resolution, the Laptop is in 800x600 because of the weaker video chip). Both work just fine.

tasha · Sep 13, 2007, 09:43 AM // 09:43

I play my GW quite happily on a 19' Widescreen at 1440x900 (or thereabouts, I'm usually windowed ^^). You'll not notice any difference save more space to put things on the screen.

Abbel Calima · Sep 13, 2007, 10:10 AM // 10:10

I have a 19" Widescreen, GuildWars looks much better on it to my opinion.

You have more screen to place your stats somewhere, for me example; i put everything on the right side of the screen (radar, party panel, heroes panel, skillbar, health etc etc.), and still i have a big screen to see everything.
This gives me an advantage.

free_fall · Sep 13, 2007, 11:17 AM // 11:17

Looks great on my19" WS @ 1440x900; have the "interface" option set to large, though, as any smaller makes the text in chat too small to read comfortably.

Onarik Amrak · Sep 13, 2007, 11:30 AM // 11:30

I play widescreen on my laptop. 1280x800

Works perfectly, and it's much better than 4:3

Zodiak · Sep 13, 2007, 11:32 AM // 11:32

You'll notice a slight "Squash" either vertically or horizontally playing fullscreen 16:9 compared to playing guildwars in windowed mode in a standard 4:3

Guildwars supports widescreen resolutions but isnt made FOR widescreen resolution, hense the small distortion.

pamelf · Sep 13, 2007, 01:56 PM // 13:56

Thanks for all your feedback guys. My fears are allayed. I will stick with my original plan.

Dex · Sep 13, 2007, 10:31 PM // 22:31

I find that the vast majority of games made in the past couple of years support widescreen resolutions (including Bioshock now that someone was nice enough to spend the time creating a small hack to the game engine so the widescreen support has the "proper" FoV). Game engines that don't support widescreen are really starting to show their age.

I play on a 24" Dell 2407wfp, and I much prefer the 16:10 (yes, it's actually 16:10 on most widescreen PC monitors, which might be why there is distortion for some people in some games) to the 4:3 (some monitors are actually 5:4). I like having space for the UI components on the sides of the display so I can keep my field of view clear of obstruction.

On a side note, there's an app called GridMove (http://www.donationcoders.com/jgpaiva/gridmove.html) that is really nice for people with widescreen monitors. It allows you to set positions for windows in a grid so it's easy to display multiple windows at once on large displays.

KANE OG · Sep 14, 2007, 01:18 PM // 13:18

I have a 21 on my desk, and aside from getting used to it in general, it's worked great.

KANE

immortius · Sep 14, 2007, 03:38 PM // 15:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dex

I play on a 24" Dell 2407wfp, and I much prefer the 16:10 (yes, it's actually 16:10 on most widescreen PC monitors, which might be why there is distortion for some people in some games) to the 4:3 (some monitors are actually 5:4). I like having space for the UI components on the sides of the display so I can keep my field of view clear of obstruction.

Same monitor I use.

(Well, I actually use two monitors, but that is one of them).

Regarding Bioshock, it has been stated that Bioshock was designed on widescreen monitors and people who use normal monitors are getting bonus vertical rather than widescreen users losing vertical height. Take that as you will though.

pamelf:
For games that don't support wide screen, you can set things up so that instead of trying to scale to fill the monitor you get a centered image with black borders. Some monitors have this feature built in (like the one Dex and I use), while for other monitors you can find the setting in the ATi or Nvidia control panel. Warcraft 3 is a good example of a game where you need this.

Farrell-Zander · Sep 14, 2007, 03:46 PM // 15:46

I play on 1920x1200 on my laptop and it works fine

Steboy93 · Sep 14, 2007, 03:57 PM // 15:57

i play on a 21" moniter, and frankly, it's great, i would advise that you buy one

pamelf · Sep 15, 2007, 08:42 AM // 08:42

Well thanks for the feedback. I begin building my system in a half hour. With my widescreens.

cryptology · Sep 15, 2007, 08:53 AM // 08:53

Runs fine on my widescreen, but I prefer windowed anyway.

rong626 · Sep 15, 2007, 12:13 PM // 12:13

i play GW on my gameboy

Commander Ryker · Sep 15, 2007, 02:18 PM // 14:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by cryptology

Runs fine on my widescreen, but I prefer windowed anyway.

Wow, really? I use to run mine windowed until I changed to the highest setting, 1280x1024, and it is awesome. Anything less is just blah for me. I have a regular 19" viewable and can only imagine how good it would look on a wide screen.

Dex · Sep 15, 2007, 06:59 PM // 18:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by immortius

Same monitor I use.

(Well, I actually use two monitors, but that is one of them).

I have a second 19" LCD "sidecar" that I use to display reference material and BeyondTV Link while I'm doing other things, but I never use it for actually displaying games. Displaying a split screen GuildWiki/Mythbusters on it while I'm playing GW is nice, though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by immortius

Regarding Bioshock, it has been stated that Bioshock was designed on widescreen monitors and people who use normal monitors are getting bonus vertical rather than widescreen users losing vertical height. Take that as you will though.

Yeah, people have debated about this on various forums ad nauseum. Personally I find the widescreen FoV in Bioshock to feel "zoomed in" and unnatural, but that's probably because I play other games at widescreen resolutions that use a wider FoV. Luckily, RacerS from the Widescreen Gaming Forums whipped up a temporary fix that allows for adjustments to the FoV. The whole FoV issue is really a matter of personal preference...so it's nice to be able to adjust it to your comfort level.

Protagonist Hero · Sep 16, 2007, 05:23 AM // 05:23

lf guild wars wasn't widescreen then i probably wouldn't play it...but luck would have it it does support widescreen. I'm playing it on my dell 20 inch widescreen with resolution 1600 x 1080 which is the resolution that my monitor support

Commander Ryker · Sep 16, 2007, 02:45 PM // 14:45

The votes are all in and they were a resounding yes! So I'm closing.

Sep 13, 2007, 09:10 AM // 09:10	#1
pamelf Forge Runner Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Australia Guild: Lost Templars [LoTe] Profession: Me/Mo	GW and Widescreen So, I'm currently building my new computer, getting the lot to put together this Saturday, when it occured to me that the monitors I am getting (2 19" LG Flatron Widescreens) may not be GW compatible. Does anyone play GW on a widescreen monitor? I know Bioshock has Widescreen options, but not many other games on the market do. Does anyone know how widescreen may affect my gameplay if at all?

Sep 13, 2007, 09:43 AM // 09:43	#3
tasha Auctions Mod Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: UK Guild: Mystic Spiral [MYST]	I play my GW quite happily on a 19' Widescreen at 1440x900 (or thereabouts, I'm usually windowed ^^). You'll not notice any difference save more space to put things on the screen.

Sep 13, 2007, 10:10 AM // 10:10	#4
Abbel Calima Frost Gate Guardian Join Date: May 2007 Location: The Netherlands Guild: Envoys From Above [soul] Profession: Me/	I have a 19" Widescreen, GuildWars looks much better on it to my opinion. You have more screen to place your stats somewhere, for me example; i put everything on the right side of the screen (radar, party panel, heroes panel, skillbar, health etc etc.), and still i have a big screen to see everything. This gives me an advantage.

Sep 13, 2007, 11:17 AM // 11:17	#5
free_fall Wilds Pathfinder Join Date: Oct 2005	Looks great on my19" WS @ 1440x900; have the "interface" option set to large, though, as any smaller makes the text in chat too small to read comfortably.

Sep 13, 2007, 11:30 AM // 11:30	#6
Onarik Amrak Forge Runner Join Date: Mar 2007 Guild: Astral Revenants Profession: P/W	I play widescreen on my laptop. 1280x800 Works perfectly, and it's much better than 4:3

Sep 13, 2007, 11:32 AM // 11:32	#7
Zodiak Jungle Guide Join Date: May 2005 Location: Gatineau, Qc, Canada Guild: Kiss of Anguish [KISS] Profession: P/W	You'll notice a slight "Squash" either vertically or horizontally playing fullscreen 16:9 compared to playing guildwars in windowed mode in a standard 4:3 Guildwars supports widescreen resolutions but isnt made FOR widescreen resolution, hense the small distortion.

Sep 13, 2007, 01:56 PM // 13:56	#8
pamelf Forge Runner Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Australia Guild: Lost Templars [LoTe] Profession: Me/Mo	Thanks for all your feedback guys. My fears are allayed. I will stick with my original plan.

Sep 13, 2007, 10:31 PM // 22:31	#9
Dex Wilds Pathfinder Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Chicago, IL Guild: Black Belt Jones Profession: R/Me	I find that the vast majority of games made in the past couple of years support widescreen resolutions (including Bioshock now that someone was nice enough to spend the time creating a small hack to the game engine so the widescreen support has the "proper" FoV). Game engines that don't support widescreen are really starting to show their age. I play on a 24" Dell 2407wfp, and I much prefer the 16:10 (yes, it's actually 16:10 on most widescreen PC monitors, which might be why there is distortion for some people in some games) to the 4:3 (some monitors are actually 5:4). I like having space for the UI components on the sides of the display so I can keep my field of view clear of obstruction. On a side note, there's an app called GridMove (http://www.donationcoders.com/jgpaiva/gridmove.html) that is really nice for people with widescreen monitors. It allows you to set positions for windows in a grid so it's easy to display multiple windows at once on large displays.

Sep 14, 2007, 01:18 PM // 13:18	#10
KANE OG Banned Join Date: Oct 2005 Guild: Ogmios Graybeards Profession: W/	I have a 21 on my desk, and aside from getting used to it in general, it's worked great. KANE

Sep 14, 2007, 03:46 PM // 15:46	#12
Farrell-Zander Krytan Explorer Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Switzerland	I play on 1920x1200 on my laptop and it works fine

Sep 14, 2007, 03:57 PM // 15:57	#13
Steboy93 Furnace Stoker Join Date: Feb 2007 Guild: Trinity of the Ascended [ToA] \| Ex-Officer [TAM] Profession: W/	i play on a 21" moniter, and frankly, it's great, i would advise that you buy one

Sep 15, 2007, 08:42 AM // 08:42	#14
pamelf Forge Runner Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Australia Guild: Lost Templars [LoTe] Profession: Me/Mo	Well thanks for the feedback. I begin building my system in a half hour. With my widescreens.

Sep 15, 2007, 08:53 AM // 08:53	#15
cryptology Academy Page Join Date: Dec 2006	Runs fine on my widescreen, but I prefer windowed anyway.

Sep 15, 2007, 12:13 PM // 12:13	#16
rong626 Banned Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: hell Guild: Woot Profession: P/W	i play GW on my gameboy

Sep 16, 2007, 05:23 AM // 05:23	#19
Protagonist Hero Ascalonian Squire Join Date: Sep 2007	lf guild wars wasn't widescreen then i probably wouldn't play it...but luck would have it it does support widescreen. I'm playing it on my dell 20 inch widescreen with resolution 1600 x 1080 which is the resolution that my monitor support

Sep 16, 2007, 02:45 PM // 14:45	#20
Commander Ryker Site Contributor Join Date: Jun 2005 Profession: R/	The votes are all in and they were a resounding yes! So I'm closing.