Assassin's Creed and the anamorphic bars ...

Amon Amarth · Post by **Amon Amarth** » 12 Apr 2008, 09:27

Well...the black bars are *slightly annoying, but I can deal with it. I herd the game was made under the 16:9 aspect ratio...hopefully it isn't true and you can see past the black bars on 16:10 monitors. We'll have to wait and see i guess.

EDIT : Paddywak ...
This has been split from the Assassin's Creed: Detailed Report to keep the DR on topic.
Some posts referred to both the pixelization issue and the anamorphic bars ...
I did my best to split the topic to reflect the various issues ... sorry if this has affected your posts.

infernus · Post by **infernus** » 12 Apr 2008, 14:50

Well...the black bars are *slightly annoying, but I can deal with it. I herd the game was made under the 16:9 aspect ratio...hopefully it isn't true and you can see past the black bars on 16:10 monitors. We'll have to wait and see i guess.

It's explained above that the whole game is anamorphic; 16:10 has black bars, though a lot smaller than 4:3 of course.

Post by **dopefish** » 12 Apr 2008, 17:07

I find this interesting. Do we praise this kind of widescreen support? Surely this is almost as lazy as vert-. Granted, it's more desirable but it's still, visually at least vert-, as you're 'physically' losing the top and bottom of your screen, even if you aren't losing any actual FOV.

This is actually how about 50+ percent of the games are on the 360. They are designed for 16:9, so when you run the console in 480p and set it to standard (4:3), then the game downscales to 640x480 and adds black bars. The other percentage of games either switch to vert+ for 4:3 or properly support hor- for 4:3.

Considering this is a console port to the PC, they've kept this behavior.

Post by **g00seberry** » 12 Apr 2008, 22:22

Word is that this issue does not occur in the DX10 version of the game. This likely explains why eZ` and StingingVelvet are not seeing the problem.

I run in DX9 I'm afraid ! :(

This is actually how about 50+ percent of the games are on the 360. They are designed for 16:9, so when you run the console in 480p and set it to standard (4:3), then the game downscales to 640x480 and adds black bars. The other percentage of games either switch to vert+ for 4:3 or properly support hor- for 4:3.

Considering this is a console port to the PC, they've kept this behavior.

I don't doubt this is correct, but this only enforces the fact that it is an incredibly lazy design decision. I don't think we should be praising this sort of behaviour, especially when the majority of users will be using a 16:10 resolution when playing on a PC.

Post by **The_cranky_hermit** » 12 Apr 2008, 22:30

I don't think we should be praising this sort of behaviour, especially when the majority of users will be using a 16:10 resolution when playing on a PC.

I think it's completely reasonable to say that the game was specifically designed for a 16:9 frame, and that the designers thought that tearing off the left and right would diminish the intended effect. It's actually easier from a programming perspective to tear off the sides than it is to letterbox a 16:9 viewport, so the fact that they've chosen the harder option (even for 4:3 mode) reinforces this. And I don't see why 16:10 users should have their experience made worse by black bars - to the user, it's really no different from watching a 16:9 DVD.

Tanuki · Post by **Tanuki** » 13 Apr 2008, 00:35

I think we need to remember some things.

The DR grades are not all inclusive. They are set requirements designed to apply to the mainstream users of widescreen displays.

We do not punish a game for not supporting 1360x768 if it supports our tested resolutions. We also do not punish a game for anamorphic behavior, regardless of the source data.

For grading purposes it is unfair to punish AC for the way they have implemented widescreen because at the time they made the game, this was, and still is, considered flawless behavior.

If this starts becoming more commonplace then I can understand wanting to discuss the possibility of tweaking the grading system for anamorphic content (static vs. dynamically created) but I do not think one game should cause any changes or heartache.

Post by **dopefish** » 13 Apr 2008, 03:44

[quote]
This is actually how about 50+ percent of the games are on the 360. They are designed for 16:9, so when you run the console in 480p and set it to standard (4:3), then the game downscales to 640x480 and adds black bars. The other percentage of games either switch to vert+ for 4:3 or properly support hor- for 4:3.

Considering this is a console port to the PC, they've kept this behavior.

I don't doubt this is correct, but this only enforces the fact that it is an incredibly lazy design decision. I don't think we should be praising this sort of behaviour, especially when the majority of users will be using a 16:10 resolution when playing on a PC.

I'm not saying it's correct, either. I'm just saying that this is how the majority of Xbox 360 games work. My statement was just to shed some light on why it is the way that it is. :)

Post by **The_cranky_hermit** » 13 Apr 2008, 04:16

Why not fully support all ARs?

Who says that Assassin's Creed doesn't? According to WSGF standards, it supports 16:9, 16:10, and 4:3 by way of anamorphic behavior.

I find it amusing that you start to mention artistic decision as well after the whole BioShock fiasco.

I actually never mentioned "artistic decision." But nevertheless, the argument is believable for Assassin's Creed when it wasn't for BioShock. If a dev truly felt that only one aspect ratio was appropriate for their game, they would letterbox it on less than 16:9 AR's so as to keep the focus on the viewport they intended. Assassin's Creed does this, and BioShock does not. It's more than reasonable to assume that the devs were careful to preserve an "intended" AR.

I think we have to decide whether we say "yeah this is close enough to what we want" or if we continue to strive for excellence with our DR and grading system.

I say we continue to strive for excellence by grading Assassin's Creed according to the same criteria we've developed over the years, and used to grade previous games with similar behavior. This game was certified two years ago:
http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/node/6243
Nobody saw anything wrong with its behavior then, and AC is only worse in regards that it has a bug affecting some widescreen resolutions.

And lets not forget about our TH2Go friends ...... It's hardly a perfect solution for them!

Sucks to be them, but considerations for TH users are outside the scope of WSGF Certification criteria for a number of reasons. If they want to start their own separate criteria for testing, reporting, grading, and certifying TH -compatible games, I won't protest.

Anyway, if you have more to say about anamorphism, I ask that it be in a new thread on the Insider's board, because anything more than can be said on the subject won't be about AC any more.

WidescreenWallaby · Post by **WidescreenWallaby** » 14 Apr 2008, 01:44

As far as i'm concerned, putting black bars in the image ruins this game for me.

I only care about filling up my screen rather than being absolutely "aspect ratio correct". I can take some distorting and stretching as opposed to losing 25% of my monitor's viewing area.

Maybe someone will release a patch to remove the "anamorphic" effect aka artists' vision. It's not MY vision.

StingingVelvet · Post by **StingingVelvet** » 14 Apr 2008, 04:53

As far as i'm concerned, putting black bars in the image ruins this game for me.

Whether you like the ratio or not, I can't imagine it ruining the game... that's being quite anal.

WidescreenWallaby · Post by **WidescreenWallaby** » 14 Apr 2008, 07:24

Not "completely" but it's still going to be a thorn in my eye.

Heck, i don't play any of my games that don't run at native res anymore... I have since turned off scaling so those games look tiny on my 30inch monitor.

Never forget, you the user also have rights. Just because the artist "forces" his "vision" on your product that you bought and paid for doesn't mean you don't have the right to fix his "vision" to your standards.

I'm sick of the consumer (gotta love that word, synonymous for slave aka corporate whore) getting shafted all the damn time.

Post by **Paddy the Wak** » 14 Apr 2008, 09:39

With big thanks to Racer_S ... :D ... 8)

He made this tool to remove the bars on the sides for TripleHead but it can also remove the bars from the top and bottom in widescreen ...

TripleHead info here ... http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/node/8818

The tool is DirectX 9 only at the moment ...
Download the tool from here ... CLICK ME
Unzip the tool anywhere you like ... I'm using XP and mine is in the games main directory/folder ... C:Program FilesUbisoftAssassin's Creed ...
Run the tool ... leave it running ...
Set it as follows for 1920x1200 ... or your desired resolution
Choosing your version of the game ... mine is the UK shop bought version.
EDIT: This Aspect setting in the screenshot below should work for all 16:10 resolutions.

Follow the instructions on the front of the tool to adjust the aspect Ratio/FOV if you so desire as it will vary for different aspect ratios ... 4:3 ... 5:4 ... ... etc.

Just input the res you are using for other resolutions ... the other settings should stay the same.
Start the game ...
Press the * key on the number pad to enable the tool ...
If for any reason the graphics get messed up going from menu to in-game or back ... just disable the tool with the / key on the number pad and re enable it with the * key ...

That's it ... enjoy ... :D

Before ... 1920x1200 ...

After ...
The HUD does stretch a little with this tool enabled.

EDIT: I updated the settings screenshot due the findings of Punisher|ITA ... see his post/s below ...

Sweetz · Post by **Sweetz** » 14 Apr 2008, 21:15

Sweet! Mad props to Racer_S once again. I wonder if this will fix the pixelization issue.

If it does, he's getting a donation.

Amon Amarth · Post by **Amon Amarth** » 14 Apr 2008, 21:33

Racer_S pwns once again!

Question: If I'm playing on 16:10 aspect ratio 1440x900 rez, what do I set the Aspect on the tool to?

Post by **Paddy the Wak** » 14 Apr 2008, 21:50

That is the same aspect ratio as 1920x1200 ... so use the setting in the screenshot of the tool above.

8)

Punisher|ITA · Post by **Punisher|ITA** » 16 Apr 2008, 12:16

This solution has a very bad bug... look:

Post by **Paddy the Wak** » 16 Apr 2008, 12:56

As far as I can tell it is only there in the pause menu ... is that really so bad ?

Punisher|ITA · Post by **Punisher|ITA** » 16 Apr 2008, 13:49

As far as I can tell it is only there in the pause menu ... is that really so bad ?

Nope it is present always when there is the blooming effect... anyway I saw that playing with Aspect Ratio could fix it.

Post by **Paddy the Wak** » 16 Apr 2008, 14:21

...anyway I saw that playing with Aspect Ratio could fix it.

That is good news ... I haven't seen it in the game.
What is the setting that you have for the aspect ratio that fixes it ?

Thanks ... :D

Punisher|ITA · Post by **Punisher|ITA** » 16 Apr 2008, 16:24

[quote] ...anyway I saw that playing with Aspect Ratio could fix it.

That is good news ... I haven't seen it in the game.
What is the setting that you have for the aspect ratio that fixes it ?

Thanks ... :D

The perfect setting for 1680*1050 is 0,6247!!! Perfect simmetry for both nitid and blooming scenes.

Widescreen Gaming Forum