Assassin's Creed and the anamorphic bars ...

Post by **Paddy the Wak** » 16 Apr 2008, 16:37

Thank you ... 8)
I have updated the settings screenshot above ... :)

Punisher|ITA · Post by **Punisher|ITA** » 16 Apr 2008, 16:46

Thank you ... 8)
I have updated the settings screenshot above ... :)

Mate I don't know if with your res. it is the same!

Post by **Paddy the Wak** » 16 Apr 2008, 17:10

Whilst I hadn't noticed it in-game I double checked ... you are correct all be it mine didn't look quite as bad as yours ...
Your setting works better for 1920x1200 too.

Thanks for the heads up ... 8)

Sweetz · Post by **Sweetz** » 17 Apr 2008, 05:22

Well Racer_S's hack worked very briefly for me to get rid of the pixelization.

I started the game and enabled the tool, and the screen shifted by a couple pixels, but the pixelization problem was still there.

I then exited and restarted the game and this time the problem was gone! However, the next time I went back to the animus, the display was missing, so I disabled the hack and the pixlization came back and didn't go away when I re-enabled it.

So far I haven't been able to duplicate this again, all subsequent attempts had the pixelization. In general the behavior of the hack seems rather erratic; disabling/reenabling the hack shifts the screen around in odd ways and seems to do something a little different each time.

Racer_S's hacks work by modifying values in memory, correct? Well I have the Steam version of the game, so perhaps the addresses when running are a bit different than the retail version hence the erratic behavior because it's not modifying the right addresses all the time?

<<K.A.I.N>> · Post by **<<K.A.I.N>>** » 18 Apr 2008, 14:32

Hi guys... I just registered to make this post. First of all thanks to Racer_S and Paddy the Wak !!!! :D
I did not buy a Samsung SyncMaster 226BW 22" to have black bars on my screen when game developers quit developing before the game ported perfect. So having those black bars was a pain in the ass. Lets hope is being fixed in the first pach. I mean if a tool/hack can fix it so can they.

However acFOV2.exe is not perfect either.
When I downloaded the rar I extracted the exe in the same map as Assassin's Creed. I opened the file and I used the following configuration.

When I started Assassin's Creed nothing happened. I still had the black bars.
When I was playing the game and in the 3D modus pressing the * button did not do anything. So I restarted both AC and acFOV2 acouple of times and suddenly it did work. But only in the vertical way. When activating by pressing * in game I could use + and - to change the vertical FOV. I still had black bars. So then I started to change the acFOV2 settings and I tried this.

Then I opened the game ... fooled around changed the resolution to something else and back and then when I restarted AC --> BOOM
It instantly restarted WITHOUT the black bars. Also everything was perfect 16:10. The menu ... the animus and in also in game there where no black bars.

But today when I restarted AC the black bars where there again.

But now I found a permanent solution.

1) You start acFOV2.exe and you use these settings

2) Before you start Assassin's Creed you press * to activate the program
3) You start Assassin's Creed and you have perfect 16:10
It even fixed ALL of my pixelization problems.

Of course I don't know why acFOV2.exe behaves like this. I am not a programmer just a gamer. Also I don't know why "Right" and "Bottom" don't work for me but "Left" and "Top" does. Maybe I misunderstood the settings in the first place. Anyway on my system it works now and it works every time! Thank you guys so much and lets hope there will be a patch very very soon.

System =
Win XP X64
8800 GTX with GeForce Release 174 beta drivers

Post by **Paddy the Wak** » 18 Apr 2008, 14:53

@ Stevedroid
Sorry the tool is behaving this way for you ... as you say it could be your Steam version ... the tool certainly doesn't behave erratically for me.
It was never designed to remove the pixelization some are experiencing ... it is just a bonus that some found it helped.

@ odraciRRicardo
Hello ... welcome to the forum ... :D
I hear what you are saying ... Racer_S should see this and you never know he might take a look at what you are suggesting but he is a busy guy so don't count on it.

@ <>
Hello ... welcome to the forum ... :D
Interesting that it behaves this way for you ... I wonder if it is because you are using Win XP X64 ?
Whatever ... I am glad you found a solution using the tool ... and it may help others.

8)

StingingVelvet · Post by **StingingVelvet** » 18 Apr 2008, 14:57

<> wrote: So having those black bars was a pain in the ass. Lets hope is being fixed in the first pach. I mean if a tool/hack can fix it so can they.

I really don't think they look at it as a problem to be fixed, it ran in a firm 16:9 ratio on consoles as well... it seems to be the way they want you to play the game.

<<K.A.I.N>> · Post by **<<K.A.I.N>>** » 18 Apr 2008, 15:39

Well if enough people report this as a bug or something unwanted why would they not change it? After all if it can be fixed with a hack that overwrites some memory they could easily make a patch for it.
But do they really want it? Also for proper closing of the game you need to press 11 buttons!
Come on ... we are pc gamers... so they should treat us like that and not like console gamers who just have to live with the fact that they cannot customize there games or hardware at the same level.

@ Paddy the Wak
What is the difference between Left/Top and Right/Bottom ?
Was it intended to only use Right/Bottom?

Post by **Paddy the Wak** » 18 Apr 2008, 16:03

<> wrote: @ Paddy the Wak
What is the difference between Left/Top and Right/Bottom ?
Was it intended to only use Right/Bottom?

It is just meant to be your screen size ... so Top and Left should be 0 as in you want the black bars to be at 0 and Right is your X resolution and Bottom is your Y resolution such that the bars are in those positions thus not showing.
It is odd that it is working the other way around for you ... :?

Reinert · Post by **Reinert** » 18 Apr 2008, 17:07

For 1440*900, .6249 works perfectly, corrects the dof bug posted before.

StingingVelvet · Post by **StingingVelvet** » 18 Apr 2008, 20:08

<> wrote: Well if enough people report this as a bug or something unwanted why would they not change it?

I'm just saying don't expect anything, I doubt they look at it as a real concern.

Sweetz · Post by **Sweetz** » 18 Apr 2008, 22:42

@ Stevedroid
Sorry the tool is behaving this way for you ... as you say it could be your Steam version ... the tool certainly doesn't behave erratically for me.
It was never designed to remove the pixelization some are experiencing ... it is just a bonus that some found it helped.

Oh I totally understand, but I'm really jealous of the people for whom it is removing the pixelization issue. :)

Again, I'm not totally sure how Racer_S's hacks work. My guess is they're either:
a) A memory hack that modify values in memory based on some offset that Racer_S figures out. Essentially an automated ArtMoney hack.

b) A DirectX wrapper that intercepts and changes calls to DirectX viewport functions.

If it's (a), it would be heavily dependent on having the correct memory offsets - and actually could cause big trouble if it's touching the wrong values. It's not improbable that the Steam version might have a slightly different layout in memory - slight enough that sometimes it modifies the correct memory values, but not other times.

I'd also throw out a guess that that's why people with the no-cd version are having troubles too. The executable is modified so the layout in memory might be a bit different as a result.

I'm not sure if there's a way Racer_S can track down the memory offsets in a more dynamic manner, or if he would simply need track down and add options for every different flavor of the game.

------

<>: What version of the game do you have? Steam or retail or "other" (shame, shame)? Are you using a no-CD patch?

Are you sure the key isn't the step that you active the hack before you start the game? This had not occurred to me, I figured the hack wouldn't even intercept the key press if the game had not been started, but I'll have to try it out.

Post by **Paddy the Wak** » 18 Apr 2008, 23:17

I dunno how Racer_S does it ...
I am using the reloaded noCD/DVD from game copy world.

Sweetz · Post by **Sweetz** » 19 Apr 2008, 00:36

Are you sure the key isn't the step that you active the hack before you start the game? This had not occurred to me, I figured the hack wouldn't even intercept the key press if the game had not been started, but I'll have to try it out.

Whoa, it seems that might be it. I pressed * before starting the game, and it seemed to work correctly then. Even enabling/disabling within the game worked, with the pixelization showing and then disappearing based on whether the hack was disabled/enabled.

---update---

Tested a bunch more times and that's totally it. You have to press * before you even start the game.

Racer_S is getting a donation as soon as his sight is unhacked (seriously what assholes, why would anyone hack his site).

Post by **Paddy the Wak** » 19 Apr 2008, 17:20

I have a 5 year old 17" Dell E171FPb LCD monitor.

I have tried everyone's suggestions and cannot remove the black bars.
My resolution is 1280x1024 with a 75Hz refresh rate.
My aspect ratio is 5:4.
I am not sure where to place the Aspect Ratio bar at.
What number am I to use?

I open the tool, press * (asterisk).
I open AC (Windows XP SP2 x86 DX9).
The black bars are there.

Start the tool ...
I understand (but haven't checked for myself) that for 1280x1024 you should set the aspect ratio in the tool to ... 0.7984 ...
Leave Top and Left at 0
Input your res in Right and Bottom ...
Use the radial button/check mark for your version of the game ...
Leave the tool running ...
Start AC ...
Once it is up in the menu or in the game press the * key on your number pad

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 should sort out the messed up graphics.

... 8)

Leapo · Post by **Leapo** » 19 Apr 2008, 23:03

There's a fix for the blurry-scanline-ish problem people are having at 1680x1050; you'll still have black bars, but the scaling issue will be gone and you'll have a nice clear screen. This is a quick guide for making the necessary adjustments in Nvidia's drivers, I'm not sure of the method (or if this is possible at all) with ATi's drivers.

1. Right click the desktop and cselect "NVIDIA Control Panel".
2. Under "Display" select the "Change Flat Panel Scaling" sheet.
3. Set the scaling mode to "Use NVIDIA Scaling with Fixed Aspect Ratio". Click Apply.
4. Under "Display" select the "Manage Custom Resolutions" sheet.
5. Click "Create". Set "Horizontal Desktop Pixels" to 1680. Set "Vertical Desktop Pixels" to 945. Click "Test" and the custom resolution will be added.
6. Launch Assassin's Creed and set your screen resolution to 1680x945.

This feeds Assassin's Creed a 16:9 resolution, so the game removes the black bars and leaves the scaling up to the drivers (which is why we just changed the scaling mode to keep the game from being stretched vertically).

Leapo · Post by **Leapo** » 20 Apr 2008, 06:32

It's not stretching the image vertically, take a closer look, it's actually making the FOV smaller to match your monitor's aspect ratio. If it were simply being stretched vertically, everything would look taller on the full screen shot, but it doesn't, you just lose stuff off the sides because your aspect ratio is narrower.

Post by **Paddy the Wak** » 20 Apr 2008, 09:19

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.

Post by **Paddy the Wak** » 20 Apr 2008, 09:35

Leapo ... I copied this post of yours to the ... Assassin's Creed Discussion

There's a fix for the blurry-scanline-ish problem people are having at 1680x1050; you'll still have black bars, but the scaling issue will be gone and you'll have a nice clear screen. This is a quick guide for making the necessary adjustments in Nvidia's drivers, I'm not sure of the method (or if this is possible at all) with ATi's drivers.

1. Right click the desktop and cselect "NVIDIA Control Panel".
2. Under "Display" select the "Change Flat Panel Scaling" sheet.
3. Set the scaling mode to "Use NVIDIA Scaling with Fixed Aspect Ratio". Click Apply.
4. Under "Display" select the "Manage Custom Resolutions" sheet.
5. Click "Create". Set "Horizontal Desktop Pixels" to 1680. Set "Vertical Desktop Pixels" to 945. Click "Test" and the custom resolution will be added.
6. Launch Assassin's Creed and set your screen resolution to 1680x945.

This feeds Assassin's Creed a 16:9 resolution, so the game removes the black bars and leaves the scaling up to the drivers (which is why we just changed the scaling mode to keep the game from being stretched vertically).

<<K.A.I.N>> · Post by **<<K.A.I.N>>** » 20 Apr 2008, 15:32

So Ubisoft is working on a patch that will fix some bugs and glitches.
They also want to re implement Direct X 10.1. Apparently under Vista SP1 is somehow skips a render pass giving a higher frame rate of 20%.
Anyway I wonder if they will fix the pixelation and also if they will provide proper 16:10. And maybe a little better performance.

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