No One Lives Forever 2 Widescreen fix WIP

[Wobak]

Hello, I started working on a NOLF2 widescreen fix and im looking for people to test it.
My ultimate goal is to make the game work on widescreens without manual editing but im not sure if i will get that far.

This is the first version, it allows you to pick widescreen resolutions in the display options: mediafire
To install, put the "WidescreenResolutions" Folder into the "Custom\Mods" directory and activate it under "Custom" in the launcher.

The original cshell.dll displayed only 4:3 resolutions in the options menu. I simply removed the check and recompiled it.
Next i will try to align the subtitles and tooltips etc. for 16:9 resolutions.

[GeneralAdmission]

Wobak

Thanks for sharing your work! Do you have plans to support resolutions besides 16:9?

[jackfuste]

To install, put the Folder with the .rez file in it into the "Custom\Mods" folder and activate it in the launcher.

.rez file should be placed into "Custom\Mods\widescreen\widescreen.rez"
Because if .rez file placed in "Custom\Mods\widescreen.rez", then the Custom button does not appear in the game launcher:

Custom.png (92.58 KiB) Viewed 33478 times

When .rez file is located in the correct folder, Custom button appears:

Custom_on.png (108.01 KiB) Viewed 33472 times

[Wobak]

yes, the rez file needs to be in a folder within "Mods", thats why i wrote the folder containing the rez file should be put into mods. i will formulate it differently in the first post to make it more understandable.

on another note:
ive moved the subtitles etc. and scaled down most texts in the menus. except for a few lists the elements dont go off the screen anymore and that should work with 16:10 aswell.

for multi monitor setups im not sure. most interface elements are positioned relative to the screen top ignoring the aspect ratio, so with a bigger width a larger portion is cut off at the bottom.

Edit:
I found the 1st person fov variables and the code was easier to edit than i expected. The game now saves the (horizontal) FOV in the display.cfg and it can be edited there. the vertical fov is calculated automatically.
Here is version 2 of the widescreen patch:

Features:
-Pickable widescreen resolutions ingame.
-Set horizontal field of view in display.cfg, vertical fov is calculated automatically.
optimized for 16:9:
-Interface texts scaled down so they dont overlap anymore.
-Subtitles etc moved up and are now visible in widescreen.



Known problems:
-The cutscene FOV is still the same
-Some lists in menus still go off the screen
-The "Back" button is still not visible even though it should be
-The popups (notes, intel etc.) have the wrong aspect, i havent found another way to prevent them from going off the screen yet

Download from here

I only tested the patch on 16:9 aspect, so i would appreciate feedback on how it works with 16:10 or other aspect ratios

[Revy]

Hey Wobak

Really cool to see some love for those old games! I even found my old NOLF2 CD case and it's still working.

As for some testing, whenever I try to start the game with 1920x1200 (16:10) it crashes on the loading screen. It works when using 1920x1080.

Cheers
- Revy

[Wobak]

thanks for the feedback. the loading, especially of cutscenes seems to be a little unstable to me. maybe thats because im making "release" and not "final" builds...
can you try to load/start a game with 16:10 a few more times?
if it still crashes can you try manually setting the resolution in the display.cfg and launch a game without the patch?

status update:
i got the cutscenecameras to adjust to the fov so there is no more stretching.
im now messing around with the menu fov, i corrected it so that the backgrounds arent stretched anymore but it now has black bars on the side :-/

[Revy]

thanks for the feedback. the loading, especially of cutscenes seems to be a little unstable to me. maybe thats because im making "release" and not "final" builds...
can you try to load/start a game with 16:10 a few more times?
if it still crashes can you try manually setting the resolution in the display.cfg and launch a game without the patch?

Well I tried it multiple times and also with a save after all the cutscenes but that didn't work either. I've also already changed the resolution through display.cfg. When I use 1920x1080 it works fine by using letterboxing.

Cheers
- Revy

[Wobak]

ok..thats weird :-/ i only removed the 4:3 check of the resolutions the game gets from the renderer, so they must all be valid.
I can play with all the resolutions the game suggests, even the weird ones like 5:3. when i set a 16:10 resolution in the display.cfg its reset ingame because the renderer doesnt support it so i cant test if it works for me.
do all the other non 16:10 resolutions work for you?

[scavvenjahh]

Hey Wobak, did you try contacting redrain85 ? He's the author of the Killer App Mod for Tron 2.0, and has extensive knowledge of the LithTech engine. He hasn't visited here in a while, but you could probably reach him through LDSO.net or ModDB.

All the links in the DR: http://www.wsgf.org/dr/tron-20

Nice going anyway

[Wobak]

thanks for the info! i didnt know about that because i never played tron.

status:
i changed one global variable to remove all stretching issues. sadly its also used for positioning so i now have to manually change the basepositions of all elements.


has anyone else tested the fix with 16:10 resolution?

[Wobak]

Due to the overwhelming response, here is the new version

Version 3 has all basic functions working.

Features:
-Pick supported widescreen resolutions in the display menu.
-Set horizontal FOV in display.cfg, vertical, menu, weapon and cutscene FOV are calculated automatically.
-Splashscreen, Menus and HUD elements are scaled and positioned properly and dont stretch anymore.
-Automatic crosshair scaling and manual tweaking. Previously it had a fixed resolution and didnt scale at all.

Installation:
1. Put the "WidescreenPatch" folder in "Custom\Mods" in the NOLF2 directory.
2. Run the launcher, click on "Custom" and check "WidescreenPatch"
3. Start the game, go to display and select the desired resolution.
4. Open the display.cfg file. If you havent previously launched the game with the patch enabled, the lines mentioned below wont be present and you can add them manually.
5. The line "FOV" controls the horizontal FOV,you can set it however you want. For 16:9 I suggest "90.0".
[optional]
6. The cutscene letterbox scales automatically, if you are unsatistfied with the size, change the "LetterboxPercent" value.
7. Open then the autoexect.cfg file.
8. The line "CrosshairSize" changes the crosshair size.
9. The Line "RightHUDPush" can be used to offset the HUD elements on the right to the edge of the screen. For 16:9 "30" is a good value.
Enjoy the game!

Known Problems:
-With a large display width the loadingscreen text may be cut off at the side.
This is due to the text being scaled with the resolution and background with the FOV.
-With a larger display width Kate will freeze before walking and afterwards disappear.
This is because the user was not expected to see such a wide region of the menu.
-Some menu elements dont line up with the box they are supposed to be in.
This is because their positions are calculated differently. That might be fixed in the future.

Download from Mediafire

[Androidmonk3000]

Runs great in single player, but when I try hosting a cooperative map the game just stays in the level loading screen. Any ideas?

[Micha]

Hello, i tried the patch in single player.
1920x1080 work fine, without stretching.
But it seems to be vert-
I made Screenshot in 1920x1080 and 1024x768 (without patch) and compare.
Is hor+ possible?
Or should i use another FOV? I tried 90.

So far great patch
Vert- is better than stretch

Thank You for the good work.

[Wobak]

I had the same problem with hosting but i thought it didnt come from the patch. Can you host normal mp games without the patch?

The fix is vert- but since you can set the horizontal fov yourself its also hor+ . For 16:9 you should set the horizontal FOV to around 106.

The next version will be hor by default.

[Androidmonk3000]

I had the same problem with hosting but i thought it didnt come from the patch. Can you host normal mp games without the patch?

Yup, I just tested it again. I usually run a co-op game over lan using livesforeverplus mod along with command line -rez CoopChars.rez, so I haven't much experience playing it online.
With livesforeverplus or even without any mod/command lines, I can still host over lan with no problems. But with this patch, whenever I try hosting a game, it just sits in the loading screen. Does anyone else have this issue?

[Wobak]

This patch wont work with livesforeverplus because both replace the same file. I dont know why it doesnt work with LAN games though - i didnt change anything mp related, i guess ill have to look into it

[lbarszcz]

Hi guys, I've been struggling with some issues with running NOLF2 on 64bit Win7 properly. The 1.3 patch as well as the Widescreen patch seem to have solved all of them, except for one thing. Every 2-3 minutes the game minimizes itself back to desktop. Doesn't matter what resolution I try running it in. I know the topic has been dead for some time now, but maybe there's someone out there with a similar problem:)

Interestingly enough (or not) I experience the same problem with MAFIA, also minimizes itself constantly to desktop, problem I did not have while using Vista (or any previous OS for that matter) a while back.

[Wobak]

NOLF2 runs fine on Win 7 64 bit for me (except for crashes when loading). Do you have something like a antivirus etc. running in the background that could disrupt the game?

[czarman]

I was hoping this Widescreen Fix will too work for CONTRACT JACK, since its the same Engine.

But unfortunate its crashing -> ServerDir.dll is missing after copying the missing dll from my NOLF2 Folder still crash -> Could not initialize Cursor!

Any Res over 1920 x1440 is crashing the Game (Contract Jack) but with your Widescreenfix i can go up too 3440 x 1440 (in NOLF2) Great FIX thou.

I use sweetfx in the screens.

[Wobak]

Yes, this patch will only work for NOLF 2. Contract Jack has a slightly modified version of the client so a widescreen patch needs to be based on its own source. It wouldnt be difficult to to apply the changes from NOLF 2 to CJack, just boring work.