Battlefield 2 Widescreen - Definitive Discussion Thread

mattdasplat · Post by **mattdasplat** » 25 Jun 2005, 03:26

you will be happy to know that actually you are wrong, there is no cropping at all :D It plays exactly as if the game were meant to play in widescreen the way I've got it set up. No stretching either. I will get a couple of screen shots for you in a while

Post by **Paddy the Wak** » 25 Jun 2005, 07:33

@ mattdasplat ... :?

navigate to your [Battlefield 2 Demomodsbf2Settings] folder and open up the file VideoDefault.con in notepad, and change the line that says:

renderer.fieldOfView 1

to

renderer.fieldOfView 1.1

This does not work .... see for yourself ...

I will get a couple of screen shots for you in a while

If you do get a difference then post the screenshots before and after the renderer.fieldOfView change (with your character in exactly the same position at the start of the round.)
So far no one has been able to do this because it does not work... the top and bottom get cut off.

Exempt · Post by **Exempt** » 25 Jun 2005, 12:13

[quote]
Hmm...I just ordered this same monitor from Dell (2405) it hasn't shipped yet. Are you saying that even with a brand new fresh unaltered install of BF2 it won't even launch? With sz values of
1920 and 1200, the shortcut fix works but only for my 23" apple cinema
monitor which is same native res as your Dell 24". That is, other values
like 1680x1050 don't work, game won't launch, no error message.
Also, I have a 61" Samsung DLP TV wit 1280x720 native res.
On that monitor, the shortcut fix does not work, game won't launch,
go figure.

I have a 46" Samsung DLP and I have tried editing all combinations of the .con files and adding the string to the target in the shortcut and nothing works. I get a black screen then it crashes to desktop.

Very frustrating, and reason enough for me to not buy the game. Hell I can't get any res over 1024x768 and even with maxed AA and AF it still looks like trash.

GG DICE :roll:

I have the same exact samsung and Ive tried just about everything there is, I am ATTEMPTING to play the actual game, not the demo, and am VERY displeased that I cannot get the game to go past the stupid retrieve account page. Ive contacted an EA tier 1 and tier 2 technician and they are supposed to follow up with yet another tier 3 technician on Monday, its very very frustrating and annoying, its like having manual window openers for a ferrari, it just doesnt make any sense why a great game with outstanding graphics doesnt work on widescreen... Ive also tried on my 32" JVC with same native res of 1280x720, and on my 23" insignia with same 1280x720 res, all of them crash at the same point. It does work on my 20" dell, but only at 1024x768, and even with all settings maxed up, it doesnt look to great, and for some reason, on a 3.8ghz intel 1gb corsair ram, 6800 ultra, it rus like crap, very laggy. Im hoping EA is staying up all night and day to correct these problems...

Post by **Paddy the Wak** » 25 Jun 2005, 14:36

Hello Exempt ...
Is your problem that you can't log in at the retrieve account page or does it crash at the login screen ?
If it is a log on problem ... this might help ...
http://www.eagames.com/official/battlefield/battlefield2/us/editorial.jsp?src=communityupdate_061005&ncc=1

Also if you make changes to the .con files it will crash back to desktop... the way to set up widescreen resolutions is to add the string to the target in the shortcut ...
+menu 1 +widescreen 1 +szx 1920 +szy 1200

hope this helps ... :D

Exempt · Post by **Exempt** » 25 Jun 2005, 15:16

Its crashing when it should be loading up the actual game, where you have all your options and selections, its not a login problem, since I can login on my server, and it works fine on th server, which is using a 20" dell. Just cant get it to work on any rig that is using 1280x720 native res. Ive tried entering in the +syz thing but with my resolution and that didnt work either :( I really want to play on my main rigs.

Post by **Paddy the Wak** » 25 Jun 2005, 16:07

Just some thoughts ... I duno if they will help ...

Do you have ..
+widescreen on your shortcut or +fullscreen... ?

Could it be the refresh rate ? ... :?

You say it works on the 20" ... is that using the same comp ?
The reason I ask... I hear some people are having crashes to do with their cd/dvd drive ... when they try a nocd it works ... pointing the problem at the cd/dvd drive.

JoJo · Post by **JoJo** » 25 Jun 2005, 17:00

I don't know if this has already been stated but I may as well try and help out a bit.

I was having problem getting BF2 to run at 1680x1050 on my 6800GT, everytime I tried to run the game I just got a black screen then dumped to the desktop.

Well I found a solution, make sure you have 'Display Adapter Scaling' selected in your display properties (see below):

Also in the target box in your shortcut you should add +szx 1680 +szy 1050 where 1680 and 1050 is your desired resolution. DO NOT ADD AND ' OR " IN THE BOX.

I have no clue how to fix the FOV yet though...

Hope that helped a few people out.

Post by **Paddy the Wak** » 26 Jun 2005, 07:40

Re: FOV issue I posed here ... ...

http://forum.eagames.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=1453&highlight=samsung

EA's site admin responded ...

If you post constructive feedback here it will reach the developers, I can promise you that. I wasn't aware that the command line option to change resolution messes with the FOV when you use a widescreen res. I'll pass this one onto the developers.

So get over there and add your constructive 2 cents/pennies ... :wink: ... let em know just how many of us want this.

nbloem · Post by **nbloem** » 27 Jun 2005, 16:34

so is the command line supposed to be with +widescreen OR with +fullscreen?

can someone get it straight?

Kazak4x4 · Post by **Kazak4x4** » 27 Jun 2005, 22:51

+fullscreen has nothing to do with the WS, it only sets the game to run in Windowed or Full Screen view. You can put +widescreen in there, but not putting it has the same effect... basically doesn't do anything.

+szx 1680 +szy 1050 is what stretches the default res (in our case it's 1024x768) to the specified resolution to look semi decent.

SKiNNiEH · Post by **SKiNNiEH** » 28 Jun 2005, 09:56

For people experiencing problems starting the game, i suggest trying the following:

Edit not only the 0001 profile, but ALL OTHER profiles including the Default to exactly the same setting. I have every reason to believe BF2 is using the Default profile to do the initial startup of the game, until you select your player.

The reason i am posting this, is because yesterday i switched from CRT (85Hz) to a TFT (60Hz). The game didnt want to start, so i first edited the 0001 profile. When that didnt work, i also changed the DEFAULT profile to 60Hz and after that it booted up just fine.

X-ray Doc · Post by **X-ray Doc** » 05 Jul 2005, 07:03

Exempt, you're trying to run BF2 at 1280 x 720 correct? I assume you've tried adding the +szx 1280 +szy 720 to the shortcut path. This worked fine for me and I'm using a projector that has the same DLP chip as your Samsung TV. But, 1280 x 720 had to be a valid video card resolution first! You can't just add the shortcut additions without also adding 1280 x 720 to your display options. If 1280 x 720 is not a normal resolution choice, try adding this with PowerStrip first. I did this for 960 x 720 and then added the shortcut additions and the game displays fine. I'd rather play in a non stretched 4:3 environment rather than a stretched 1280 x 720 environment. By using 960 x 720 I get a full height game display with black bars on both sides and a non distorted 3D world. I'll use 1280 x 720 if DICE or EA Games ever allow FOV changes.

HoodooGuru · Post by **HoodooGuru** » 06 Jul 2005, 18:33

I've recently been researching the Battlefield Recorder feature, and came across a feature to RECORD WIDESCREEN DEMOS in the game engine. I can only conclude that BF2 CAN SUPPORT widescreen (via a hack).

The trigger was +FOVX 90, so try entering "+FOVX 100" in your command line to see if you can force widescreen FOV in gameplay.

X-ray Doc · Post by **X-ray Doc** » 06 Jul 2005, 21:52

Well HoodooGuru, I really appreciate your thoughts. I was very hopeful that you were on to something. But unfortunately, it doesn't seem to work. When I add "+FOVX 100" or any other number to the end of the shortcut path, nothing changes.

The resolution entries sort of work. but not properly. Normally, when you enter a widescreen resolution without an appropriately increased FOV, the game world stretches side to side. (At least that has been my experience with widescreen gaming to date.) But in BF2, when you enter a 16:9 aspect ratio resolution such as 1280x720, it actually zooms the image instead of stretching it. That is why Paddy the Wak's observations are correct. The game world is not stretched, but you lose portions of the top and bottom which are zoomed off the display. As I see it, this is not a great compromise. You see absolutely no extra information side to side but actually lose information top to bottom. So even though I don't like seeing black bars on my widescreen image, I think for now that is the better option. I use "+szx 960 +szy 720" to get a non standard 4:3 resolution and then just live with the side bars.

Everyone, keep posting at the EA Games Battlefield 2 forum. Paddy the Wak posted the link earlier. I think we're going to need EA Games/DICE's help in order to get FOV changes to work. :cry:

SKiNNiEH · Post by **SKiNNiEH** » 06 Jul 2005, 23:42

Maybe a bit of a brainwave, but if fovx exists, would fovy exist too? Maybe you need to set both in order to get the desired result. Or, fovz for depth?

SKiNNiEH · Post by **SKiNNiEH** » 06 Jul 2005, 23:58

update... gave that a little try:

"D:GamesBattlefield 2BF2.exe" +menu 1 +widescreen 1 +szx 1920 +szy 1200 +fovx 90 +fovy 90

It seemed more widescreen to me! But one thing i have to say... i'm all Heinekened up at the time of this posting. The 2d part was still the same way though.

X-ray Doc · Post by **X-ray Doc** » 07 Jul 2005, 05:12

You know, I also wondered about an FOVY. But I don't believe that makes sense. My understanding of the "field of view" setting in games is that it represents your horizontal field of view measured in degrees. Now, granted, there does exist a vertical field of view as well. But I've never seen that specified as a changeable setting in the game. Besides, when going from a 4:3 screen to a 16:9 screen you'd want the vertical FOV to stay the same and just increase the horizontal FOV. Unless you do careful in game comparisons looking and standing in the exact same spot, you can't be sure that your FOV changed. I'll bet in your case it's the Heineken. 8)

Edit: I also think that 90 is the default FOV, so you need to try 100 or 106.

SKiNNiEH · Post by **SKiNNiEH** » 07 Jul 2005, 11:21

EDIT: changed it from big pictures to links. Make sure you expand them to their full size when you look at them.

Okay... now that i was sober, i thought lets give this a good test.

1. "D:GamesBattlefield 2BF2.exe" +menu 1 +widescreen 1 +szx 1920 +szy 1200 +fovx 106 +fovy 106

http://www.xs4all.nl/~skinny1/screen005.jpg

FOV settings don't do much here.

2. "D:GamesBattlefield 2BF2.exe" +menu 1 +widescreen 1 +szx 1920 +szy 1200 +fovx 90 +fovy 90

http://www.xs4all.nl/~skinny1/screen006.jpg

Here the FOV settings don't do much either.

3. "D:GamesBattlefield 2BF2.exe" +menu 1 +widescreen 1 +szx 1920 +szy 1200 +fovx 60 +fovy 60

http://www.xs4all.nl/~skinny1/screen007.jpg

Definately, fovx and fovy don't work. The 3 screen are all the same.

4. "D:GamesBattlefield 2BF2.exe" +menu 1 +fullscreen 1
(this is 1600x1200, notice the difference between +widescreen 1 and +fullscreen 1)

http://www.xs4all.nl/~skinny1/screen008.jpg

Now here is the interesting part. We already know that vertically we can actually see more in 1600x1200 than we do with the widescreen settings. This is visible in the smokestack to the right.

But, if you look closely to the side of the smokestack, you can see just as much horizontally if not slightly more in the 1600x1200 setting than you do widescreen! This is visible when checking the / stilts of the smokestack.

Now, the ONLY THING that i can see that is actually widescreen 3d, is the weapon and arms. If you check the left arm, you can see more of it. The rest of the 3d is just slightly zoomed. This is also visible in the text in the middle of the screen when compared to the knife that is being balanced.

HoodooGuru · Post by **HoodooGuru** » 07 Jul 2005, 14:05

From the Battlefield Recorder demo.cmd file. If widescreen can be enable in the demo capture, I can only imagine it CAN BE DONE in gameplay. Keep trying!

(Maybe it's +FOV 1 to override FOV settings, followed by +FOVX 120 to set the FOV wider)...

echo - The format of the window can be changed to E3-wide with +w and to
echo - a mini-window with +m:
echo -
echo - demo +r +w foo mycam
echo -
echo - It can also be set to custom settings with +width and +height
echo -
echo - demo +r +width 640 +height 400 foo mycam
echo -
echo - The render fps can be changed with +fps:
echo -
echo - demo +r +fps 24 foo mycam
echo -
echo - And the default fov can be overridden with +fov:
echo -
echo - demo +r +fov 120 foo mycam
echo -
echo - To render panoramic (360 degree) output to 10 separate AVIs:
echo -
echo - demo +r +p 10 foo mycam
echo - (where 10 is the number of slices in a 360 rotation)
echo -
echo - To render panoramic (360 degree) output to a single AVI:
echo - (Note: Not many codecs support this format.)
echo -
echo - demo +r +p 1 foo mycam

AND THIS:

if "%1"=="+fov" set _OVERRIDEFOV=%2&&shift /1&&shift /1&&goto parse

AND THIS:

::--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
:: SIZE
::

:size_default:
set _WIDTH=%_USERWIDTH%
set _HEIGHT=%_USERHEIGHT%
set _FOVX=90
goto parse1

:size_wide:
set _WIDTH=1620
set _HEIGHT=405
set _FOVX=160
goto parse1

:size_mini:
set _WIDTH=400
set _HEIGHT=300
set _FOVX=90
goto parse1

:size_panorama:
set _WIDTH=1024
set _HEIGHT=768
rem set these for super-fast testing
rem set _WIDTH=200
rem set _HEIGHT=150
set _FOVX=36
goto parse1

::--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

HoodooGuru · Post by **HoodooGuru** » 07 Jul 2005, 14:11

AH HA!!!! Found the author's email addresses at DICE!!!

echo - DEMO.CMD usage:
echo - Author: [email protected], [email protected] [withheld]

I have ALREADY CONTACTED THEM to ask about setting FOV width in gameplay. I will post their reply here.

Widescreen Gaming Forum