NFS: ProStreet

[escrotumus]

Heads up all, but this game is pretty lousy. The menus are all squished and distorted if you launch the game in any desktop rez different from 1280x1024. There appears to be no support for ANY WS mode in the game at all. It also has no auto config for graphics options and defaults to the lowest settings. I have never seen a game with a menu this bad before. It's like a time warp back to 1998. The graphics are nice IF it decides to save the settings for you. It wouldn't save any options for me for the first 3 or 4 restarts of the game. This thing is a mess.

[Mesh]

It's pretty much a case of 'nothing's changed' as far as I can tell. I had bought NFS:MW and then Carbon, I'm still playing MW, why? Carbon won't run past menus, just plain crashes constantly, I had gotten a couple challenges done after install and it went downhill from there. ProStreet is again taking up the same engine, adding a couple shiny bits and dodads and feigning ws support to counter the previous's none and wait for suckers to pony up to crash from it.

I've put EA on a blacklist, three guesses why.

[escrotumus]

Yeah I forgot to mention that it has crashed on me twice already. If you accidentally double click on a menu when setting up your EA profile it CTD's....sheesh. Not buying an EA game is not an option any more with crysis, MOHA, etc. It's a love hate relationship with mostly a hate.

[redgun]

TBH, NFS has been getting worse and worse since Porsche. HP2 was still ok, but all that cheap japanese or VW tuning crap aka Underground, is just a kick in the face of any NFS fan.

[Mesh]

I actually bought NFS:U2 (my first NFS game ever) after playing the demo for some time. I haven't even played it, I'm just not a race fan, I like driving not racing, which is why I like MW best. Shame someone else can't rip the MW concept, well, the challenge against cops part, and make it using an engine without cheap 2d hacks and less than stable runtime.

[g00seberry]

Heads up all, but this game is pretty lousy. The menus are all squished and distorted if you launch the game in any desktop rez different from 1280x1024. There appears to be no support for ANY WS mode in the game at all. It also has no auto config for graphics options and defaults to the lowest settings. I have never seen a game with a menu this bad before. It's like a time warp back to 1998. The graphics are nice IF it decides to save the settings for you. It wouldn't save any options for me for the first 3 or 4 restarts of the game. This thing is a mess.

Eh? It works fine in widescreen, it's even Hor+ (check this thread) , i bet that it will be workable in surround, if not ingame, then with a hack.

[escrotumus]

It won't even load the game menus at all for me without severely distorting them when I start the game in a desktop triplehead mode. Why it should care what desktop rez I run when a totally different 4x3 rez is set in the menu of the game is beyond me. This game is a mess. It wouldn't save any graphics or control options at all either until I created a career...


There is also no option in my game to select any rez that is not 4x3. 1600x1200 is as high as it goes for me and no options in the list for anything WS. There appears to be no support at all AFAIK. It should see the resolutions that my hardware is capable of using direct from the video driver but obviously it isn't. I looked for some kind of .ini to add the necessary rezs but there also appears to be no config file for this that i can find.


I hope it's easily fixed for triplehead but either way they have some patching to do on this thing. It looks like a direct console port with all associated bugs.

[khula]

I hope it's easily fixed for triplehead but either way they have some patching to do on this thing. It looks like a direct console port with all associated bugs.

Hi there. So let me make sure I don't misunderstand you?..

The game is a mess?
It's a console port with all associated bugs?
All the posts in the widescreen section about it being Hor+ must be wrong?
But you hope they fix it for triplehead?

Er, why are you even bothering with it? I understand your frustration if the title doesn't correspond to what you expect.... but hey, why not post something constructive/helpful or learn how to fix it yourself for the benefit of the community...or just, play something else.

Just a thought...

[escrotumus]

Hi there. I'm 'bothering' with it as you say because I paid good money for it. Why else would you expect that I bother with it?? ;) In today's day and age it is RIDONKULOUS that game devs not code in proper WS support. I posted to let fellow triplehead users know not to bother wasting their money on this mess so as not to get taken to the cleaners like I did. Like I said, there is no .ini or .cfg file that I can see to add the necessary resolutions and the game appears to ignore the available driver resolutions circa 1998. Since I don't know how to hack game code like dopefish or racer then I don't see what I can add short of letting the community know not to waste their money like I did. It may very well work with a WS monitor but since this is the triplehead surround board then that issue is moot since those of us here use triplehead setups.

Have you posted anything worthwhile lately yourself or do you just troll around on the boards busting b@ll$ of those that try to warn the public about troublesome games released in an alpha stage? Something for you to think about...

[khula]

In today's day and age it is RIDONKULOUS that game devs not code in proper WS support. I posted to let fellow triplehead users know not to bother wasting their money on this mess so as not to get taken to the cleaners like I did.

Have you posted anything worthwhile lately yourself or do you just troll around on the boards busting b@ll$ of those that try to warn the public about troublesome games released in an alpha stage? Something for you to think about...

Hi there. I agree it's ridiculous, but we are a niche gaming community so you are already preaching to the converted with regards to proper widescreen support when you say that.

I actually like the game (even in 5:4 mode) so I wont go as far as to call it a mess just because of an overlooked/ignored triplehead issue. The game supports widescreen and appears to be Hor+ to boot. I don't think any game devs set out to support triplehead (with the possible exception of Overlord), it just happens as a result of good widescreen support and/or hacking by the community.

I didn't mean to 'bust your balls' and perhaps I was a bit abrupt and for that I apologise. But to call a game a mess because it doesn't do native triplehead is a bit harsh I think. By this standard, Bioshock is a mess and call of Duty 4 as both need hacks to support triplehead.

As for my meagre contribution to the community.. drum roll please. Check out my fantastic Freelancer guide. Yeah, i know. It's old, but hey it works!!

[JKeefe]

I don't think any game devs set out to support triplehead (with the possible exception of Overlord), it just happens as a result of good widescreen support and/or hacking by the community.

That's definitely not true. Off the top of my head, here are some titles where the developer clearly gave thought to a good triplehead experience (meaning not only does the game work well in triplehead, but the HUDs are on the center screen, the menus aren't distorted, etc.).

Lock On: Modern Air Combat
Wings Over Vietnam
Source-engined games (i.e. Half Life 2)
rFactor (with a separate viewport for each monitor)

Multiple genres. Multiple titles. Special triplehead features. It doesn't happen by accident, because most titles don't feature these little niceties. Some developers care about it and some don't. The ones who do deserve special recognition.

[ToLyAn]

Lock On: Modern Air Combat
Wings Over Vietnam
Source-engined games (i.e. Half Life 2)
rFactor (with a separate viewport for each monitor)

Don’t forget Live for Speed. As a matter of fact one of the devs has triplehead setup.

[RavenGT]

Before anybody bashes the game again, Need for Speed ProStreet does support 16:9, 16:10, 4:3, 5:4...along with +hor and no HUD stretches (oh snap, EA!) And there is no real FOV or whatever like a FPS, the FOV constantly changes with the speed. However I never tested triplehead so I don't know about that.

1680x1050, 16x AA, 16x AF, downsized to 1280x800 in Photoshop.

[escrotumus]

Hi there. I agree it's ridiculous, but we are a niche gaming community so you are already preaching to the converted with regards to proper widescreen support when you say that.

I actually like the game (even in 5:4 mode) so I wont go as far as to call it a mess just because of an overlooked/ignored triplehead issue. The game supports widescreen and appears to be Hor+ to boot. I don't think any game devs set out to support triplehead (with the possible exception of Overlord), it just happens as a result of good widescreen support and/or hacking by the community.

I didn't mean to 'bust your balls' and perhaps I was a bit abrupt and for that I apologise. But to call a game a mess because it doesn't do native triplehead is a bit harsh I think. By this standard, Bioshock is a mess and call of Duty 4 as both need hacks to support triplehead.

As for my meagre contribution to the community.. drum roll please. Check out my fantastic Freelancer guide. Yeah, i know. It's old, but hey it works!!

Well I meant it was a mess because of the wacked out menus when starting from a desktop triplehead rez (what's that all about??) and the lack of the game saving any of my option settings until I figured out that I had to enter a race in my career. I created a career and no options would save until I started a race day! It crashes a lot as well. That's what I meant when I called the game a mess and it still is in dire need of a patch imo. It is enjoyable I admit and I am having fun with it, but the game is a mess and is a beta at best. For lack of a better word it is 'consolized'.

[escrotumus]

Before anybody bashes the game again, Need for Speed ProStreet does support 16:9, 16:10, 4:3, 5:4...along with +hor and no HUD stretches (oh snap, EA!) And there is no real FOV or whatever like a FPS, the FOV constantly changes with the speed. However I never tested triplehead so I don't know about that.

1680x1050, 16x AA, 16x AF, downsized to 1280x800 in Photoshop.

How are you getting those 16x9 and 16x10 options? Is there a place in the game menu to change the aspect ratio to see these new resolutions? I have no options for any WS rez in my game graphics options and the highest rez is 1600x1200. My hardware does 2400x600, 3072x768 and 3840x1024 and none of those rez's are available as a choice in the nfs pro street graphics options. It appears that the game just ignores the windows driver settings and provides me with a list of the most commonly used 4x3 rez's. If there is an area to choose 16x9 in the nfs pro street options that unlocks these resolutions for me then i would be very grateful and eat a piece of humble pie for calling the game a relic but i sure haven't seen this option anywhere. Also why on earth would the game require me to start from a desktop resolution of 1280x1024 in order to not have distorted game menus? Even if the game resolution set in the game options menu is set to 1280x1024 if i start the game from a desktop rez of 3840x1024 it distorts all the graphics in the game and apparently takes the 1280x1024 game rez and tries to stretch it to fit 3840x1024 on a single monitor. It's bizarre!

[escrotumus]

[quote]Lock On: Modern Air Combat
Wings Over Vietnam
Source-engined games (i.e. Half Life 2)
rFactor (with a separate viewport for each monitor)

Don’t forget Live for Speed. As a matter of fact one of the devs has triplehead setup.

Test Drive Unlimited for all its quirks is a magnificent example of a game with triplehead support, trackir support, and perfect g25 manual transmission with clutch support. Flight sim 9 and 10 both perfect examples of support in a sim. I loved nfs most wanted but stopped playing it because of its lack of proper WS support at all, yet alone triplehead support (racer's patch just never did really fix the FOV issue well enough for me either). NFS pro street is not a games for windows game so I suppose we are lucky that it even supports WS at all....sigh.

[RavenGT]

[quote]Before anybody bashes the game again, Need for Speed ProStreet does support 16:9, 16:10, 4:3, 5:4...along with +hor and no HUD stretches (oh snap, EA!) And there is no real FOV or whatever like a FPS, the FOV constantly changes with the speed. However I never tested triplehead so I don't know about that.

1680x1050, 16x AA, 16x AF, downsized to 1280x800 in Photoshop.

How are you getting those 16x9 and 16x10 options? Is there a place in the game menu to change the aspect ratio to see these new resolutions? I have no options for any WS rez in my game graphics options and the highest rez is 1600x1200. My hardware does 2400x600, 3072x768 and 3840x1024 and none of those rez's are available as a choice in the nfs pro street graphics options. It appears that the game just ignores the windows driver settings and provides me with a list of the most commonly used 4x3 rez's. If there is an area to choose 16x9 in the nfs pro street options that unlocks these resolutions for me then i would be very grateful and eat a piece of humble pie for calling the game a relic but i sure haven't seen this option anywhere. Also why on earth would the game require me to start from a desktop resolution of 1280x1024 in order to not have distorted game menus? Even if the game resolution set in the game options menu is set to 1280x1024 if i start the game from a desktop rez of 3840x1024 it distorts all the graphics in the game and apparently takes the 1280x1024 game rez and tries to stretch it to fit 3840x1024 on a single monitor. It's bizarre!

This is the weird part. You're right that the options menu lacks a aspect ratio option but it seems to adjust itself automatically in my game. 1680x1050 comes out naturally out of the box, but my 8600GTS is weird and I had to make a custom resolution for 1280x800. I've seen some screenshots on this forum where people are getting 16:9 modes in 5:3 res, resulting in squished screens, hahaha. That's hilarious. But seriously, I have no idea. Actually, ProStreet is one of the better EA games this time around. Hasn't crashed once for me, and widescreen is surprisingly flawless.

[escrotumus]

Thanks Raven. I don't know what the deal is with this game. Maybe it is the 169.04 drivers and some kind of oddness with them and this game?? I don't have any issues with any other games doing this or crashing on me so I have to assume that it is the game. It sure would be nice to have this baby running in triplehead mode though, although even on my rig at 1280x1024 with settings all maxed the game doesn't run all that stellar. It's smooth and all but it's not like glass. Doubtful that it would run smoothly at 3840x1024 based on what I see at 1280x1024. I have been seriously pondering the idea of buying a lower end 24" monitor for these poorly coded games that have no comprehension of WS or triplehead support. Playing on a single 17" postage stamp monitor is for the birds! I have been spoiled by triplehead ;)

[RavenGT]

I'm currently using 163.75 WHQL Nov/6/07.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_163.75.html

Give it a go, see if it works.

[Paddy the Wak]

You can get TripleHead with the demo ... BUT ... it is very odd though and I haven't compared it to single screen so I'm not sure if the FOV is right ...

Using this res changer here ... http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/node/6795#comment-141791
As I say it is very odd ...
The game is displayed at 3840x1024 but the 3D world seems to be 1280x1024 kinda upscaled to 3840x1024 or something ...
Maybe 1920x480 or even 2400x600 but NOT 3840x1024 which it is set to and the size of the screenshots ... :?

These shots are using 4xAA ... as you can see the HUD seems OK but the 3D world is very pixelated.
Click to see full size ...