Dual Monitor (Spanning) - Vertical Pan and Zoom Issue

[Nimcosi]

Great Game.
After experimenting it appears the game will run in a dual monitor setup when the screen is spanned (extends across both screens) at a resolution of 3360x1050.
While the main menu and options are all normal and usable , once in the game the world map is not fully viewable. While you can pan horizontally, any attempt to pan vertically will result in minimal movement with no change in the view. Additonally. the zoom function only pulls back so far, and when it stops the extreme upper and lower portions of the map are not visible.

While I understand this is probably out of scope for the use of the program, the ability to see the entire world across 2 monitors is darn nifty.

Are there any preferences file tweaks I can use to correct the situation? If not is there any chance this could be addressed in the future?

[NeoThermic]

First and formost screenshots of the problem might help.

As for tweaks assuming you've edited the prefrences.txt file to do the resolution, there's not much else that can be done. If it works then thats great, if else then unfortunate.

NeoThermic

[Nimcosi]

First and formost screenshots of the problem might help.

As for tweaks assuming you've edited the prefrences.txt file to do the resolution, there's not much else that can be done. If it works then thats great, if else then unfortunate.

NeoThermic

I will be happy to mail someone in support a screenshot, but posting a 3360x1050 screenshot would be a waste of bandwidth.
Also the game detects 3360x1050 and will play at that resolution (with the above issue), so no preferences.txt tweaks needed as of yet.

[bungree]

I'd also love to see this fixed. The game looks absolutely AMAZING spanned across dual widescreen monitors... it's a shame that you can't play it.

Here's a couple screenshots. Notice in the first one that the title screen appears to be OK. However, in the second one you can see what the problem is. Alaska is nearly missing, and Russia is gone as well. Which is a big deal when you're trying to play as Russia. Or against, I would imagine.

I will also back up Nimcosi that there was no tweaks done to the pref file at all. The game detects 3360x1050 as a valid res.

(Screenshots shrunk to 33% to save on bandwidth. But you can still easily see the problem.)
http://www.chaoslogic.net/random/widedefcon1.jpg
http://www.chaoslogic.net/random/widedefcon2.jpg

[Steven]

Man, those screenshots are awesome. You're right, though, that's certainly an issue.

[Jasmin]

Issue still exists as of V1.2, would really be nice to see this fixed. To clarifiy once again: When running resolutions (even on one monitor) which have a much larger width than height, we can't zoom out enough to see the entire map and dragging/moving the map vertically also doesn't work or only to a very limited amount, so basically we can never see the entire map!

Was kind of a disappointment to me, after I acquired a copy of the game yesterday, since I planned using it with horizontal span across two monitors.

[captainslow]

I have this same problem. As far as I can tell, it's a matter of zoom. Since the map has certain proportions, on dual screens at high resolutions, you would have to be able to zoom completely out to see north and south, and that would cause the map to replicate east and west. Fully zoomed out, you wouls see, for example, America at both the extreme left and right. Which is something I'm not sure the graphics engine allows for. Oh, well... It doesn't stop me from playing.

[death_hawk]

I have a similiar issue with 3840x1024.

If anyone has a solution, please post it!

[frenchfrog]

Fully zoomed out, you wouls see, for example, America at both the extreme left and right. Which is something I'm not sure the graphics engine allows for.

I think you pretty much nailed it.

[Jasmin]

Fully zoomed out, you wouls see, for example, America at both the extreme left and right. Which is something I'm not sure the graphics engine allows for.

I think you pretty much nailed it.

Well, maybe it would be possible to allow zooming out fully, but when we (while zooming out) reach the point, where the map would have to be drawn partly twice, just cover it up with black bars or some borders, thereby not using the full screen real estate, but when zooming in again go for full screen width again (as soon as nothing has to be drawn twice)?

[hellcatv]

I would be very happy if you just couldn't zoom out to that extreme---and instead it would only allow zoom outage until you can see everything....maybe only vertical pan...

it doesnt' make sense to me why (when I'm *completely* zoomed in at 3200x1200) I can't scroll to the top of the map--that shouldn't violate your invariant of everything being drawn exactly once...

I'm all for the black bars solution as well that come when otherwise things would render twice

[Jasmin]

it doesnt' make sense to me why (when I'm *completely* zoomed in at 3200x1200) I can't scroll to the top of the map--that shouldn't violate your invariant of everything being drawn exactly once...

Actually I hadn't thought of that...I agree, working vertical scroll would also be great Maybe we can even have both, the black bars thing and working vertical scroll (when not zoomed out completely)...

[captainslow]

Good points, both of them. Admittedly, unlocking vertical pan/scroll might be easier than programming in the black bars, but either would solve the problem. Also, I wouldn't mind a full-screen map auto-resize that allowed you to keep zooming out, even past the map, filling the rest of the space with black if needed, and leaving only one world's worth of map in the middle. That would work nicely, also because it would allow us to move all the other windows to the sides, leaving a fully unimpeded map in the middle. ish.

So,

1 - unlock zoom and fill the rest with black: whole world viewable, but some screen real-estate unused.

2 - unlock vertical scroll: Full world viewable, just not all at once. No screen real-estate wasted, but no "whole world" view.

3 - black bars. Kinda the middle-ground between one and the other.

*Pokes Frenchfrog*

Hey. Look at this.

[danielmewes]

For a (non-perfect) workaround to the zoom problem on dual-screen setups: See http://forums.introversion.co.uk/defcon/viewtopic.php?p=103907#103907