Widescreen Gaming Forum

Hi there,

I have a question regarding the WS support for HL2:ep2/Portal/TF2

I have a old rigs... 6800GT with A64-3200. It runs ok @ 1024*768 resolution for HL2 ep2.

However, i have a Dell 24" (2407) monitor. When i tried to switch to Wide Screen (16:10) option, they only have 1600*1000 or 1920x1200 options to choose from.

At 1600*1000, my machine is barely runs with that high resolution. Is there anyway i can turn to lower res? Like, 1280x720, 1280x768 or 1280x800 ??

I tried to edit the short cut (-width xxxx -height xxxx) way, it returns to the default 4:3 ration and 800*600 resolution when the game boots up.

Any one can help me out here ??

Many thanks

Try the 16:9 resolution list.

If none look good on your monitor see if your desired widescreen res is listed on your desktop. If it is it should be available in the game. If not, you need to add a custom res to your desktop.

Are there anymore ways to get more aspect ratios? Say I want 1920x720 or something that's 8:3, is that possible?

Are there anymore ways to get more aspect ratios? Say I want 1920x720 or something that's 8:3, is that possible?

Valve places any aspect wider than 16:9 in the 16:9 list, in the video options. Check there. To actually get that ratio, you would need to set a custom resolution in Windows. Steps to do that are unique to using either ATI or NVIDIA. NV is easy, with a custom res in the advanced portion of their control panel.

Really? Is the FOV going to be correct?

You could try it and see.

But yes. The FOV and aspect ratio will be correct for the resolution. Selecting "aspect ratio" doesn't actually do anything except change the list of available resolutions. Once you've changed your resolution, the engine will then divide xRes by yRes to get your aspect ratio, and DirectX will give you the proper FOV for that aspect ratio.

Really? That's so cool. I wonder why other games don't do this. Any idea on how to make custom resolutions say if I have ATi? From what I've seen, nVIDIA's the only one that did it in the drivers, Intel and ATi have been outta luck here for years as far as I know. I've tried to make custom resolutions before, but the programs like powercolor something or other were always really too complicated.

I figured out a way to do it in a window at least: http://www.tweakguides.com/HL2_7.html
-width 1900 -height 720 (only works when windowed)

I also added -novid -heapsize 1024000 for tweaking the game to run faster since it probably doesn't cache as much without changing some other options. -novid is just convenient.

I do have a question. What say I have 2 monitors, I want to to the game in both but have the crosshair centered in my main one and have the rest of the game extended out to my second one. Possible?

I wonder why other games don't do this.

Don't do what? Most games work the exact same way - only you don't need to select the aspect ratio before choosing the resolution. Every resolution is available in one drop-down menu, and once you select it, the game divides to get the correct aspect ratio, and DirectX calculates the correct FOV. Same as Half-Life 2.

I do have a question. What say I have 2 monitors, I want to to the game in both but have the crosshair centered in my main one and have the rest of the game extended out to my second one. Possible?

You could try to fake another display. There was a thread or two in the mutli-display section of this site. I cannot find them but you could search or just make another thread there.