Life Is Strange

Maxine may not be the most popular girl on the campus, but she's got a gift: rewinding time to rethink choices, undo mistakes, avert bad consequences. Suddenly caught in Arcadia Bay's tangle of secrets, only she can see that the whole city is on the brink of disaster... Life Is Strange is an episodic third-person adventure with an emphasis on atmosphere and the long-term effects of Max's actions. The story should be complete by July, 2015 although no official release date was announced for any of the remaining episodes.

Support Summary

Widescreen
Ultra/Super‑Wide
Multi-Monitor
4K Ultra HD
Support
Method
HUD
Cutscenes
FMVs

Game Information

Game Status:Released
Release Date:
Tested Version:Steam (Episode 1/5)
Play Styles:Single-Player
Setting:Supernatural

Screenshots Comparison

4:3 Screenshot
16:10 Screenshot
16:9 Screenshot
21:9 Screenshot
32:9 Screenshot
Eyefinity / Surround Screenshot
Solutions & Issues
Widescreen Solution & Issues:

Native "Vert+" support. Most 2D items (including photos, readable documents, Max's journal and smartphone) are formatted for 16:9 and squished in lower aspects.

To customize the FOV, see the methods described below.

Update: since the release of Episode 3 black bars enforce a 16:9 picture in all resolutions !

Ultra/Super-Wide Specific Solution & Issues:

2D elements stretch.

Fixing the Vert- FOV can be done in several ways...

  • Method 1: MaintainYFOV aka High FOV for Dummies

Very easy but modifies the look of the game drastically. Interaction widget is all over the place until Max closes in on the object/person.

Open the file %USERPROFILE%\Documents\my games\Life Is Strange\LifeIsStrangeGame\Config\LifeIsStrangeEngine.ini
Look for the line AspectRatioAxisConstraint=AspectRatio_MaintainXFOV
Replace MaintainXFOV with MaintainYFOV.

  • Method 2: bind FOV to key

Requires more effort but less damaging to the graphics and gameplay.

Open the file Steam\SteamApps\common\Life Is Strange\LifeIsStrangeGame\Config\DefaultInput.ini
Add the following line at the end of [Engine.PlayerInput]
+Bindings=(Name="Q",Command="FOV 83.93") // fixed hFOV for gameplay (default is 68 for 16:9)
Run the game and press Q to fix the FOV.

There are actually more than one baseline for FOV. To take good comparison screenshots, additional FOV keys were required:
+Bindings=(Name="E",Command="FOV 74.06") // fixed hFOV for cinematics (default is 59 for 16:9)
+Bindings=(Name="R",Command="FOV 96.42") // fixed hFOV for main menu (default is 80 for 16:9)

These values are for 2560x1080, use FOVCalc to get the right values for your resolution.

.exe fix for 2560x1080 that removes the black bares for that where introduced since episode 3:
http://www.file-upload.net/download-10718392/LifeIsStrange_21-9_fix.exe…

Eyefinity / Surround Specific Solution & Issues:

Barely playable: a fixed FOV causes the interaction widget to scale incorrectly. Other 2D elements stretch.

4:3 Screenshot
16:10 Screenshot
16:9 Screenshot
FOV 68 (gameplay default)
21:9 Screenshot
FOV 83.93 at 2560x1080
32:9 Screenshot
Eyefinity / Surround Screenshot
FOV 124.88 at 6060x1200
4:3 Cutscene
16:10 Cutscene
16:9 Cutscene
FOV ~59 (cinematic default)
21:9 Cutscene
FOV 74.06 at 2560x1080
Eyefinity / Surround Cutscene
FOV 16.22 at 6060x1200
4:3 FMV Cutscene
16:10 FMV Cutscene
16:9 FMV Cutscene
21:9 FMV Cutscene
Eyefinity / Surround FMV Cutscene
4:3 Menu
16:10 Menu
16:9 Menu
FOV 80 (menu default)
21:9 Menu
FOV 96.42 at 2560x1080
Eyefinity / Surround Menu
FOV 134.48 at 6060x1200
MaintainYFOV, 21:9 Gameplay
MaintainYFOV, 21:9 Cut-Scene
Interaction Widget at 6060x1200
Tallscreen Gameplay: default FOV at 1440x3440
Tallscreen Cut-Scene: default FOV at 1440x3440
Journal, 4:3
Journal, 16:10
Journal, 16:9
Journal, 21:9
Journal, 48:10
15:9 Resolutions:1280x768
Ultra/Super-Wide (21:9/32:9) Resolutions:
Eyefinity / Surround Resolutions:5760x1200
Multi-Monitor Types:
Multi-Monitor Layouts:3x1-L