Widescreen Gaming Forum

I REALLY disagree with the policy of requiring screenshots to even list what the game's behaviour is.

I think images are essential and should be there ASAP; but to force people (esp newcomers!) to dig through threads in different forums for the basic information of whether it's Vert- or Hor+ or whatever is ridiculous - just because nobody has found the time to do screencaps.

I've been coming here since the site was just getting ramped up, and the #1 use for it remains: going into the list, finding the game in question, and seeing what kind of widescreen a game does, if any, and how to enable it.

As soon as the game is released we can answer the first part of that question, and really that answer needs to be somewhere highly visible for everyone's benefit.

Mucking around in patches and details of things probably belongs in the forums as those are active, ongoing discussions.

It's been really frustrating over the last year watching high profile after high profile release not even get an entry in the games list.

And here I am digging around in the forums time and time again looking for an answer to a really simple question. Does X have widescreen? Is it Hor+ or Vert- or what?

America's Army 3
Battlefield Heroes
BioShock 2
Brothers in Arms Earned in Blood
Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2
Command and Conquer 4
Dark Messiah of Might and Magic
Guild Wars 2
Mass Effect 2
Medal of Honor: Airborne
No One Lives Forever
SiN
Soldier of Fortune
Star Trek: Elite Force 2
Star Wars: Battlefront
Starsiege: Tribes

Where are they?


While I'm at it - I think if a game can only get widescreen with a source port, it should be made more clear that's what the entry in the list is referring to. Right now I don't know if the first 2 Quake games have inferior widescreen to the source ports, or no widescreen at all. The information should stick to covering the original games first and foremost, and suggestions of 3rd party source ports can be there, but not in place of, this info.

And just noticed this - the retired list (what the hell is that, even?) makes finding a game more difficult than it should be, moreover it is poorly formatted on several pages and the games are not alphabetical. It's obnoxious that looking for a game starting with "Da" could be found on one of three places on an otherwise alphabetical list - instead of just one, like it should be.

Dark Messiah of Might and Magic:
http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/wiki/Dark_Messiah_of_Might_and_Magic

Bioshock 2:
http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=18374

Day of Defeat: Source (did you mean the original?)
http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/wiki/Day_Of_Defeat:_Source

Just because you can't find the information doesn't mean it's not there. The fact is that many games don't have Detailed Reports, because it is up to the forum users to make the detailed reports. Some of us are lazy, some of us don't have the time, and some of us just simply don't own the games.

If you own any of the ones you're looking for information on, feel free to make a detailed report yourself...

The screenshots are important, because you can't just take someone's word that the game is "this way" (proven time and time again).

What? Detailed reports and screenshots are above any beyond the "report" - either the game has widescreen, or it does not. And that widescreen is Hor+ or Vert- or something less common.

That can and should go in the games list at the game's release. It can be updated as things change, and screenshots can be linked as someone takes them, and a detailed report can be added as someone writes one.

But holding the whole damn thing back and making it so much more of a pain to get to the important information - because why exactly?

Give visitors the option of how in depth they want to learn about a game and it's widescreen behavior. Which means give them the option of knowing the bare minimum - which in reality is all that anyone needs 90% of the time.

Oh, the game is native Hor+? Then I don't need to see screenshots or read anything more about it. I can buy it now, or install and know how to get widescreen. The end.

Digging the forums is not as abnormal as you seem to think, because the question "Is this game Hor+?" is not always a simple one to answer.

I tried to make "instant wiki updates" with minimal info gathered from forum discussions, and failed. We need screenshots because information without proof is worthless, that's all there is to it.

Even though we have Vert- screenies of Supreme Commander, some people want to believe it's a Hor+ game...
GRAW2 was reported as Hor+ but screenies allowed us to see it is in fact Hor+/Vert+, which proved to break multi-mon support...

Widescreen support is user-based info, so it sure takes time as we need evidence that everybody can access, and it's hard for the handful of volunteers to keep track of everything, but that's the price of accuracy. As long as "pro" reviewers fail to see the importance of reporting details on widescreen support or lack thereof in newly released games, you'll have to use the WSGF in every possible way. Is it so bad ? :wink:

It's late so here's my brief response.

You talk of contentious games, but I bet the majority of the examples I listed are clear cut one thing or another.

I mean, if I have to go to the forums and get an answer from people about a game (say CODMW2) ANYWAYS, why can't that answer just be expedited to the games list?

Or if there's a debate about a game, throw down a link on the games list TO that debate.

Do you follow me? Do you know how much more infinitely helpful and useable the site would be if the entry was indeed "Supreme Commander - Special Case - (Link here)"

But leaving all these games off the list completely is not the best answer - we can do better than that. It makes it look incomplete and months behind, when the fix takes literally seconds or minutes for them all.

Without screenshots a user coming to the site has to take someone at their word anyways - is that word "useless" without "proof" ? I want to know of CODMW2 has widescreen, and how it's implemented. Why make me start another forum thread to ask this when it's been common knowledge for over half a year what it does?

It's still, without screenshot proof, the best info available. So put it in a place people can find it in a few sensible clicks.




I may sound snarky, but I seriously love this repository of good info (I have grown up as shooters have), and I just want to see it presented in a less frustrating way - which is totally within the realm of possibility without a lot of effort.

other related ideas - reward people who fire back screens of newly released games first

That's a brief response?


Far as the topic goes, I'm fairly ambiguous. On one hand, it'd be nice to just have a text explanation of what WS and TH behaviour is, but then we'd get people stating things are may not be accurate, which is where the proof comes into play in the form of screenshots. Unfortunately, a lot of folks still don;t know what proper widescreen is.

Hell, just the other day i had to try very hard to convince a person of that when he was certain that recent movies releases were cropped from 4:3 to fit wide displays.... I shit you not.

Plus I never have a problem with digging into forums for the answers I'm seeking.

Your proposed situation isn't problematic at all though.

If people are saying things may not be accurate, and screenshots need to come in to play, then someone has a motivation to take them, and this in-depth discussion can all be done in the forums.

Is someone going to challenge COD6's behaviour? Let them. All the regulars and smart people know how straightforward the game is. If you want to get technical, head to the forums.

Again, there is no good reason not to post the best information available in a much more accessible and visible place.

For every suggestion it would cause problems, there's like 10 simple ways of dealing with it. Put a damn star* next to the entry to note that screenshots are still forthcoming.

I'm not sure getting heated debates about whether or not this or that game is widescreen is the solution ...

Counter #541

People can still and DO debate any game on the list.

No excuse for leaving any game off of it, once it is available for people to play.

Counter #223

What's wrong with putting the game on the list and saying "currently debated" with a link to the debate?

It's been really frustrating over the last year watching high profile after high profile release not even get an entry in the games list.
And here I am digging around in the forums time and time again looking for an answer to a really simple question. Does X have widescreen? Is it Hor+ or Vert- or what?

Where do you think that information comes from? We don't have a magic ball that tells us the answers. It's WSGF users like yourself who provide this information.

While I'm at it - I think if a game can only get widescreen with a source port, it should be made more clear that's what the entry in the list is referring to. Right now I don't know if the first 2 Quake games have inferior widescreen to the source ports, or no widescreen at all. The information should stick to covering the original games first and foremost, and suggestions of 3rd party source ports can be there, but not in place of, this info.

That's more or less what the policy is. The first two Quake games have no widescreen support at all. The original versions aren't listed first simply because there's nothing to say about them. If you want to play them in widescreen, you need a source port.

Conversely, Deus Ex in its original form *does* support widescreen. There's a DX10 port that supports widescreen better, and it's mentioned in the DR thread, but the original comes, as you say, first and foremost.

And just noticed this - the retired list (what the hell is that, even?) makes finding a game more difficult than it should be, moreover it is poorly formatted on several pages and the games are not alphabetical.

Maybe you'd like to build us a robust database web application and a robust search engine with auto-alphabetical formatted output. As it stands, the lists have to be manually maintained, and they got cluttered to the point where doing this was unwieldy. Getting rid of the old and unpopular games seemed like the best solution, and one community member had the bright idea of moving them to a secondary list right below the main ones.

Yeah, people complained about it then too. But not one complainer expressed any desire to pitch in and help with the job.