Painkiller

[The_cranky_hermit]

Widescreen Grade: B
Ultra-Widescreen Grade: Incomplete
Multi-monitor Grade: B
4k Grade: Incomplete

Read Full Detailed Report - Painkiller

You play as Daniel Garner, a seemingly regular guy who has just been killed in a horrific car accident. Trapped in a dark and unwelcoming world between heaven and hell, you struggle to uncover the reasons why you've been denied entry into heaven. Awaiting your purification, you must fight through an endless number of demon soldiers as you attempt to stop the imminent war.

4:3

16:10

16:9

3x1

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[pubjoe]

Thanks, I love this game, but haven't played it since I got my widescreen.

Also, you've just reminded me that I've been waiting for a copy of painkiller black that I ordered about 10 months ago!!! ...Forgot all about it! :?

[X-ray Doc]

The exact FOV to use for a 16:9 screen is:

Cfg.FOV = 111.002536

And this truly is a terrific game, both single and multiplayer!
8)

[Ascii_Aficionado]

what's special about the Black Edition

[The_cranky_hermit]

Basically, it's Painkiller plus the expansion pack on a single DVD-ROM.

[Ascii_Aficionado]

Basically, it's Painkiller plus the expansion pack on a single DVD-ROM.

Thank you, that rocks. I tried looking for a US release but I can't seem to find one anywhere.

[LordJuanlo]

I installed this game yesterday and applied all available patches (up to 1.64 I think) and it DOES work at 1920x1200. I can select the resolution at the game menu, so I don't need to mess with the INI file (well, only for the FOV).

The expansion (Battle out of Hell) also works at 1920x1200 (they are launched from the same executable). I only have one problem, I must force vSync from the nVidia panel or the game will act very weird (at any resolution). Sudden slowdown, de-sync and all sort of strange things, like the game internal clock was mad. But with vSync it works like a charm

[The_cranky_hermit]

Thanks for letting me know. Now that I have a 24" monitor, I am able to test this properly. I did, and you are correct, it does support 1920x1200 resolution. I have no idea why my previous hack worked for every resolution except 1920x1200.

==Grading==

Calculated grade: B

Major unresolved issues:
None.

Minor unresolved issues:
None.

Summary of widescreen-related flaws:
.ini solution.
Stretched tarot card and level select screens.
Stretched FMVs.

Cranky's coverage estimate: 100%

[LordJuanlo]

Glad it worked for you too. Another note for Painkiller players: this game has serious issues with multicore CPUs, so it does not work always fine. I posted before I had to force vSync to get it to work properly, but it does not fix it.

The only way to get rid of problems on modern CPUs is to set game affinity to one core, either by alt-tabbing when starting the game and doing it with task manager, or by using imagecfg.exe util (google it and you will find it) to permanently set affinity to one core on Painkiller.exe. I now it's kinda offtopic in a widescreen forum, but it may be useful for people playing with modern computers.

[Olevia_Tim]

I have the original Painkiller, I could load it up and check it at 1366x768. I have the Olevia 32" and that is my native res. I suspect it'll work. In fact, I'm gonna load it up and see as I'm curious. Will report back in a little bit. :)

[Olevia_Tim]

I can confirm that this game also supports 1360x768 on my monitor. I have the original Version updated to the latest patch (v1.64).

Without the patch it does not support it on the original version, but patched it does. CFomplete support via the video options page inside the game. Very cool. 8)

[Sir Random]

The exact FOV to use for a 16:9 screen is:

Cfg.FOV = 111.002536

And this truly is a terrific game, both single and multiplayer!
8)

For standard widescreen users (like me), who are probably wondering what the exact FOV for a 16:10 screen is, I've used X-ray Doc's formula to work it out (and save you all from the horrors of Inverse Tangents etc. :D)

The exact FOV to use for a 16:10 screen is:

Cfg.FOV = 105.2686

X-ray Doc's FOV formula:
http://www.htpcnews.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=8444


Painkiller is one of my all-time favourite shooters, and it's even better in glorious widescreen :D.
I love the weapons, monsters, level design, graphics, gameplay, physics, I could rant on about this game for hours... :)

[The_cranky_hermit]

There's an FOV Calc on this very website.

[Olevia_Tim]

Glad it worked for you too. Another note for Painkiller players: this game has serious issues with multicore CPUs, so it does not work always fine. I posted before I had to force vSync to get it to work properly, but it does not fix it.

The only way to get rid of problems on modern CPUs is to set game affinity to one core, either by alt-tabbing when starting the game and doing it with task manager, or by using imagecfg.exe util (google it and you will find it) to permanently set affinity to one core on Painkiller.exe. I now it's kinda offtopic in a widescreen forum, but it may be useful for people playing with modern computers.

This is an issue with MANY games and simulators. If you have problems with ***anything at all*** I highly recommend that you set the affinity to one core before you change anything. I've seen this issue so much I don't even think about it anymore. It's the first thing i do after reloading WHQL drivers when i mess with freinds systems that are having issues. The reason i load WHQL drivers first is because corrupted drivers or non WHQL drivers can cause a myriad of problems and I have to narrow the field down first by using standard drivers.

If you have a Core Duo and you have issues with any game set that affinity to one core first. If you don't, you may just make a bunch of changes you'll ahve to undo later.

Also, when messing with stuff like this, make one change at a time, then test, then make another, then test. if you make multiple changes you won't know what fixed it.

Hope this helps some folks.

[Deusfaux]

how do you configure this game when it's over STEAM?

[The_cranky_hermit]

Probably the same way. You'll need to figure out what the GameDir is. All of my non-Valve games in Steam are located in SteamAppscommon. Try looking there. If you see a folder that looks like it contains your game, then that's your GameDir.

[Resistance156]

I'm running Painkiller Battle Out of Hell v 1.64 (I think that's the latest). Where can I select 1920x1080 as my resolution? In the options menu it only goes up to 1440x900. I tried changing it in the config file, but after I got to the menu, I found it defaulted to 320x240, hehe...

Is there a patch later than 1.64 out?

[The_cranky_hermit]

What's your display's native res?

[Resistance156]

What's your display's native res?

1920x1080

When I originally copied the game over, the native res on the current computer was 1440x900 (laptop), but I never ran the game before using the HDMI output to my 1920x1080 screen, so I don't know why that would even make a difference...

And by "copy" I mean I copied the original folders over from another computer rather than re-installing it fresh, patching it, and moving the save games over. The computer it was copied from used a CRT monitor, so native res wasn't an issue, it went up to 1600x1200.

That's generally worked fine for all other games, but maybe this requires a fresh install?

[Tanuki]

1920x1080

When I originally copied the game over, the native res on the current computer was 1440x900 (laptop), but I never ran the game before using the HDMI output to my 1920x1080 screen, so I don't know why that would even make a difference...

And by "copy" I mean I copied the original folders over from another computer rather than re-installing it fresh, patching it, and moving the save games over. The computer it was copied from used a CRT monitor, so native res wasn't an issue, it went up to 1600x1200.

That's generally worked fine for all other games, but maybe this requires a fresh install?

Uh yeah, that is not a great habit to have. Many games use the registry to store settings and data. And some store files outside of the game directory. None of which would be copied over.