Widescreen Gaming Forum

I can't really give the game a grade based on the screenshots provided here; they aren't all from the same place. I actually have some screenshots myself, so I'll let you use my own.
*will post them later*

well, there is no way how to pause the game, if you mean those two "zoomed in" screenshots. I wanted to provide screenshots, that show the game, when you are zoomed in, but.. if you can help this report with better screenshots, why not :D otherwise, i would take better ones myself. Thank you

Works spectacularly in 16x10 as well!

In terms of widescreen, this game is an oddball. First of all, it's important to note that this is not a 3D game in any way. The earth in this game is not a 3D globe, it is a 2D vector rectangle where the top sides end and the left and right sides are seamlessly "connected" without forming a curve. If you can, imagine a conveyor belt where the outside of the belt has a map of the earth on it, and the underside has a length of zero.

Since the map is 100% 2D vectors, you can actually take zooming into consideration here, because in a 2D environment, moving the camera backwards is the same thing as zooming out (it's a different thing in 3D environments). Anyway, if you zoom out all the way, it is anamorphic.

4:3


16:10


16:9



But if you zoom in all the way, it's vert -.

4:3


16:10


16:9



And perhaps another way to look at the game; zooming to an intermediate level, to the point where you get ideal vertical coverage for any given situation. In this case, it is hor + (look at the right edge of each picture)

4:3


16:10, zoomed out a bit


16:9, zoomed out a bit more


In my opinion, the third example is the best representation of Defcon's widescreen handling. The second example is not a good one at all, because in any situation where widescreen is vert - and vert - is not desired, you can just zoom out a little bit to make it hor + (again, this doesn't work well in 3D games). So I think this game should be classified as "Hor +."

I think it's unlikely that anyone will disagree with me here, but just in case someone does, I'm going to wait at least 20 hours before grading so that anyone who wants to debate this has the opportunity to. If there's no controversy in 20 hours, I'll grade this and add it to the MGL.

I decree cranky is correct... :wink:

Also, these guys developed Darwinia, which is a certified game.

List of widescreen resolutions that were not tested: 1440x900, 1920x1080, 1920x1200

I've got the full version and 1440 x 900 is supported. I would imagine the others would be as well.

==Multiplayer support==

Multiplayer has not yet been tested!

At the moment there is a problem withe the Metaservers that can lead to not being able to connect to game servers. Likely due to high traffic.

There's also a bug when switching the number of audio channels from 32 to 64.

Also, these guys developed Darwinia, which is a certified game.

Although it is likely that Defcon meets certification requirements, I wouldn't make any judgements or assumptions based on previous merits. Off the top of my head, Civ IV had worse support than Civ III, Serious Sam II had worse support than Serious Sam FE and SE, and Deus Ex: Invisible War had worse support than Deus Ex.


==Multiplayer support==

Multiplayer works the same as singleplayer.


==Grading==

Calculated grade: B-
Potential grade: Certified

Major unresolved issues:
Is 1920x1080 supported?
Does the full version have any singleplayer anomalies?

The full version, like the demo, has no cut-scenes.

One note about the music. It cannot be turned off. If you listen closely you can hear coughs in the background. Listening to this in surround sound lends to the notion that you're deep inside a bunker watching the world being destroyed.

I have a Dell 2405FPW, and can verify that Defcon runs very nicely in 1920 X 1200.

It also stuck to a frame rate of 60FPS using dual 7800GT's, occasionally dropping to 55FPS when there were a lot of units, nukes and blasts going off on screen.

From playing it, I can only see that in this game having a widescreen monitor is an advantage since the world map display fits nicely onto a wide-screen.

I can't imagine how people could play it on a 1280 X 1024 monitor.

Excellent game, just something which needs clearing up in the first post - it supports up to 6 players, not 4 in the full version.

I bought the game today - full version. It supports 1920x180 and 2560x1600. All of the demo-tested resolutions work fine. The demo client is the same as the download "retail" client. You simply enter your SN to unlock it. Also updated to v1.1. The change log doesn't list any changes to screen support.

I assume the "full" version doesn't have any gameplay modes or views other than the vector world map you see in the demo?

Nope. Exact same as the demo (same client download). I played through the tutorial.

Then let DEFCON be considered "certified."

I played it in widescreen when the demo came out, I don't really see anything that shouldn't let it have the A+... the "black bars when you zoom all the way out" thing is a non-issue, it happens in the 4:3 mode as well, it's just to let you zoom out further than the world is "tall".

TH information:

Although TH resolutions are natively supported, you shouldn't play this at anything wider than 16:9. The upper and lower portions of the WORLD get cut off. You'll never be able to see them. Ever.

1024x768 4:3, max zoom out


1920x698 "Ben-Hur" mode, max zoom out


Both pictures are zoomed all the way out, and you can't scroll up or down. TH users won't be able to nuke Antarctica, Greenland, Norway, or Sarah Palin's house.

...or Sarah Palin's house.

The hopes and dreams of aspiring Democrats have been forever crushed...

Although, you must wonder: how is it possible to make the world wider without stretching?

You can't. But if I had programmed it, I would have made max zoom in Ben-Hur mode look like this:

[quote]...or Sarah Palin's house.

The hopes and dreams of aspiring Democrats have been forever crushed...

Some Republicans too.