Better Options

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Rado1
Posts: 775
Joined: Wed May 05, 2010 12:16 pm

Better Options

Post by Rado1 »

Improvement 1:

Note: this is maybe an older "forgotten" discussion, but would like to reopen it and hopefully come to some solution.

The Options dialog (opened when ZApplication.ShowOptionsDialog is switched on) displays just fixed set of possible resolutions in 4x3 aspect ratio. If application uses different ViewportRatio, e.g., 16:9, the Options dialog would offer corresponding resolutions, e.g., 640x360, 800x450, 1024x576, 1200x675 instead the current ones. Also when used CustomViewportRatio, someone would like to use non-standard resolutions to fit that ratio.

I suggest to add some property to ZApplication, e.g., PossibleResolutions (?), of type string with predefined format, e.g., "640x360, 800x450, 1024x576, 1200x675", which would specify what resolutions are displayed in the Options dialog. If specifying/parsing a string is too cumbersome, then e.g. a 2x* table can be used instead, or something better (any suggestion is welcome). The option "Use Desktop resolution" would be displayed always as the 1st and default item.

Improvement 2: Options dialog could use application icon.
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Kjell
Posts: 1910
Joined: Sat Feb 23, 2008 11:15 pm

Re: Better Options

Post by Kjell »

Hi Rado1,

Hmm .. we briefly touched on this discussion last year too. I personally don't see the point of changing the resolution ( on a LCD monitor ), so i wouldn't mind when the options dialog gets cut altogether.

K
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Rado1
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Joined: Wed May 05, 2010 12:16 pm

Re: Better Options

Post by Rado1 »

I want to use windowed mode for applications.
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Kjell
Posts: 1910
Joined: Sat Feb 23, 2008 11:15 pm

Re: Better Options

Post by Kjell »

Hi Rado1,
Rado1 wrote:I want to use windowed mode for applications.
Why not launch your game / application in windowed mode by default then? Or alternatively have a keyboard shortcut / button that lets you toggle between windowed and fullscreen?

Personally i think the better option would be to add support for reading-a-configuration-file ( .ini ) / executing-a-script BEFORE the Window is created, so you can start the application using the users preference. Right now you can only do this AFTER the window has been created already.

Anyway, how about something like this? Should look familiar to people who've encountered the Unity dialog, but a little more compact ..

Image

+ Perhaps the "banner" could be powered by ZGE itself, so you can procedurally generate it .. or create a small animation ( if you want ) :wink:

K
Imerion
Posts: 200
Joined: Sun Feb 09, 2014 4:42 pm

Re: Better Options

Post by Imerion »

+ Perhaps the "banner" could be powered by ZGE itself, so you can procedurally generate it .. or create a small animation ( if you want ) :wink:
That would be really cool! :)
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Kjell
Posts: 1910
Joined: Sat Feb 23, 2008 11:15 pm

Re: Better Options

Post by Kjell »

Hi guys,

Attached is a little proof-of-concept of the dialog for a game that has a aspect ratio of 16:9.

K
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Dialog.zip
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Rado1
Posts: 775
Joined: Wed May 05, 2010 12:16 pm

Re: Better Options

Post by Rado1 »

Kjell wrote:Why not launch your game / application in windowed mode by default then? Or alternatively have a keyboard shortcut / button that lets you toggle between windowed and fullscreen?
I want to offer different sizes of windows in windowed mode. Unfortunately, setting of ZApplicationCustomScreenWidth/Height in runtime does not work in ZGE now. ZApplication.ScreenMode works dynamically, but it does not offer 16:9 resolutions.
Kjell wrote:Personally i think the better option would be to add support for reading-a-configuration-file ( .ini ) / executing-a-script BEFORE the Window is created...
Setting of resolutions/window size in application and see it only at next restart would be quite cumbersome for users. I prefer either to have a launcher with proper settings, or to do it in application, but the changed setting should apply immediately.

The only thing I request is: the possibility to run the application either in fullscreen mode, or in windowed mode with aspect ratio corresponding to ZApplication's ViewportRatio or CustomViewportRatio. Does not matter too much whether it is achieved by launching dialog (called Options now) offering just relevant options or by setting resolution and window mode in application.
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Kjell
Posts: 1910
Joined: Sat Feb 23, 2008 11:15 pm

Re: Better Options

Post by Kjell »

Hi Rado1,
Rado1 wrote:Unfortunately, setting of ZApplicationCustomScreenWidth/Height in runtime does not work in ZGE now. ZApplication.ScreenMode works dynamically, but it does not offer 16:9 resolutions.
I agree that should be fixed ( even though you can already work around it using DLL calls ).
Rado1 wrote:Setting of resolutions/window size in application and see it only at next restart would be quite cumbersome for users. I prefer either to have a launcher with proper settings, or to do it in application, but the changed setting should apply immediately.
That's what i meant. The first time you launch a application ( and there's no configuration file present yet ) it uses whatever is the default. Then from a options menu inside the application ( and / or using keyboard shortcuts ) the user can configure the resolution / window the way they want ( with changes happening immediately ). This then gets saved into a .ini file, so the next time they start the application it uses those settings again automatically.

K
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