Screen Res Question

[Noypi53]

Desktop is at 1280x1024.
Laptop is at 1280x800

I normally prefer games that can run on my laptop for the same reasons as mentioned by Banquet.

[Alex777]

I do most of my gaming on a laptop (1280 x 800) and strongly prefer games which will run in that environment.

[bink]

Stormcloud,

In the consumer space, laptops have a greater market share than desktops.  Laptops comprise 33% of unit shipments, but businesses buy a greater share of desktops.  The laptop market is growing faster than the desktop market.  This is being driven by the decrease in both the cost and performance gap between laptops and desktops.

http://www.physorg.com/news98005202.html
http://www.mindbranch.com/PCs-Global-Guide-R313-24678/
http://www.macworld.com/news/2007/07/18/shipments/index.php

However, I don't know why consumer laptops are increasingly converging on 1280x800 as a popular resolution - I think it is partly driven by cost and partly by general usability (i.e. people can't complain that text is too small).  HP is the #1 laptop reseller, and almost all their consumer models run 1280x800.

Taking this into account (without looking at issues such as your target demographic, and what they use), I would suggest the following:

1.  1280x800 resolution to allow a majority of laptops to run the game
2.  1280x1024 as your standard desktop resolution.

Potential additional resolutions for users with higher specs:
3.  1680x1050 and 1600x1200 resolutions for widescreen LCD/laptop and desktop LCD displays.

I feel that in this Windows era, game resolutions should be easily scalable and not hard-coded.  Generally, games that have hard coded engines use legacy engines.

Why won't the resolution be fully adjustable?

Thanks,

winovin

[StormcloudCreations]

This is something that may change at some point, as there are still a few who just use laptops for gaming apparently. 1280x800 may become available at some point. It wasn't adjustable, as the engine was designed to display all the info (and there can be a lot) at a certain res. There are automatic resizing .OCX's available, but I was afraid it wouldn't look its best. I may be open to a concession at some point.

[bink]

From http://www.displaysearch.com/press/?id=1409 for Q1 2007 LCD panel shipments:

23MM Notebook LCD panels

"Looking at the top three products, the 15.4" 1280 x 800 panel type was the most popular in Q1'07. It had a 47.5% share of notebook panel shipments. 14.1" 1280 x 800 was #2 in shipments with a 16.6% share. A larger wide-format type, 17" 1440 x 900, came in #3 with 6.7% unit share."

Or at least 16.3MM notebook LCDs (70.3% of the notebook market) that cannot run the game. I say at least, because there are also laptop screens at 1024x768.

38.5MM Desktop LCD panels
"the 1440 x 900 wide-type had a 20.3% share"

In total, 61.5MM panels, of which at least 24.1MM or 39.2% cannot run the game at a fixed resolution of 1280x1024. Again, this is ignoring the 1024x768 and other small panels which were not broken down in the survey results.


I agree wholeheartedly that it is better to optimize the game for a higher resolution. My preference when gaming is to use a desktop LCD at 1600x1200. However, I find I do most of my wargaming on the laptop because it is accessible when travelling, etc. I certainly don't advocate making the game run only at 1280x800, particularly if it compromises the game, but from a commercial point of view, I think this is the direction in which the market is moving.

[bink]

http://www.displaysearch.com/free/paneltrack/

This shows that about 10% of the notebook and desktop LCD market cannot display 1280x1024.

So basically your game spec will shut out 1/2 the market.

I do realize this is the market as a whole, and not necessarily the gamer demographic, but I would make the following anecdotal observations:

- Businesses are more likely to buy 1280x1024 monitors. The consumer trend is widescreen.
- Laptops/notebooks are overwhelmingly running 1280x800 displays. Again, consumer preferences are shifting towards notebooks.

[Alex777]

Derek, you did ask the question, so I assume you are open to weighing the answers you receive.  bink has given you the numbers and they tell the story.  I really do suggest you allow for 1280 x 800 as one of the available resolutions.

[bink]

ORIGINAL: StormcloudCreations

starman: Only at that res at this time. There is concern that people who can only run lower reses (mostly laptops) will get shut out of the game. From my own surveys with my own customers and info here, most run at that res (or higher) natively every day (or could if they wanted), so I don't feel its an issue at all. It will switch automatically to the 1280x1024 res during the game; you won't have to switch manually. Yes, your laptop would be fine (laptops with higher end screens/video cards probably won't have a problem).

Son_Of_M: Yes icons and text aren't super tiny, no.

Stormcloud,

You say that "There is concern that people who can only run lower reses (mostly laptops) will get shut out of the game", and then go on to say that "I don't feel its an issue at all"

I can't comment on your target demographic, but I would say that anyone going to college, or having attended college recently (say under 30 years old) would be using a laptop.

I think it is a serious issue to ignore laptops, particularly when wargames, with their relatively low system requirements, are ideally suited to laptop gaming.

Please note, I am not pushing 1280x800 for personal reasons, but am trying to present the data so you have a true picture of the state of the market. I sincerely wish that this game is successful (it looks great!), so that it will spur development of other of Dan's titles. To do so, it has to reach as large a potential audience as possible.

Maybe one solution (without delaying release) is to make 1280x800 support part of the 1st patch?

[Banquet]

ORIGINAL: bink

I think it is a serious issue to ignore laptops, particularly when wargames, with their relatively low system requirements, are ideally suited to laptop gaming.

Completely agree. Most wargames are suitable for laptops due to lower than usual system requirements.

ORIGINAL: StormcloudCreations

This is something that may change at some point, as there are still a few who just use laptops for gaming apparently.

I don't think it's a question of 'still a few who use laptops for gaming' I think it's more a question of a growing number. I've been using desktop PC's for gaming since 1990.. and C64's Atari's, etc before that. Only recently have I used laptops for gaming because they've started to become affordable.

Because there are limits to how upgradable a laptop is, and because proper gaming rigs are still much cheaper as desktops.. I still use a desktop for games such as Silent Hunter IV, Flight Sim X, etc

However lower req wargames are increasingly what I'm playing these days. Partly because I'm getting older and enjoy a more thinking type game, but also partly because they do run on a cheap laptop and are so much more convenient to play. The numbers of people who will want to use laptop resolutions is increasing, not decreasing.

I do understand converting Hornet Leader to a different res maybe a whole lot of work. I understand if it isn't feasible to do that work. As bink say, maybe in a patch?

I hope you're not regretting asking the question! [:D]

[StormcloudCreations]

Not at all, Banquet! In fact, I think I have a plan for converting it without *too much* work, but it may not look perfect, mind you. 1st patch is a possibility.

[Banquet]

That's great news!

[WhiteOwl]

I have an HP nx9420 laptop which i bought recently. It has a 1440x900 resolution, and is the only computer I own. If the 1st patch comes out quickly then no biggie, otherwise, it is quite a shame to not support this common resolution.

Cheers

[EagleMountainDK]

I REALLY like my native resolution of 1680x1050 [:)]

[StormcloudCreations]

If a patch comes out to support other reses, it would come out fairly quickly. So i'd say for now, don't let that influence your decision to buy the game or not.

[PDiFolco]

No problem with my home PC CRT, it's a native 1280*1024, but my laptop is 1280*720 so won't make it.
Note that 1280*1024 isn't a very practical res as it's neither 4/3 nor 16/9 ratio. 

[bink]

PDiFolco,
 
Which model laptop do you have?  1280 x 720 is a very uncommon resolution these days - the majority of laptops are 1280 x 800.
 
Bink

[PDiFolco]

ORIGINAL: bink

PDiFolco,

Which model laptop do you have?  1280 x 720 is a very uncommon resolution these days - the majority of laptops are 1280 x 800.

Bink

Oops my bad, it is 1280*800 indeed, and it's a common Fujitsu Amilo model 2yrs old.

[Zakhal]

1360x768 (widescreen) and 1024x768 are the only resos i have.

[HomeFries]

Another vote here for 12x8 resolution.  This is a game I would definitely use more on my laptop, as I could play it on the commuter train on my way home from work.

BTW, I'm very happy to see HL make it to the PC.  I have HL2 (PDF and Vassal) and Apache-Thunderbolt leader, so I'm a big fan of the series.

[maxstrike]

I have 2 laptops 1280x800 and 1440x900 both are less than 2 years old with my dell less than 9 months old. 1440x900 is very common for business class laptops (I am a developer), since they travel better than multimedia 17" laptops.
 
Its a shame, cause I had my credit card out and was gonna make the purchase.
 
 
D