Screen resolution & Games in OS X

D

Dradts

Official Mac User
When a game changes the screen resolution under OS 9 (like to a smaller resolution), it usually messes up the windows of other applications which are running at the same time.
I mean, windows usually move to the upper left part of the screen, and they even often resize. This really sucked under OS 9 cause I always had to quit other applications before playing any games.

In OS X, this doesn't happen anymore. A game can switch from 1024x768 to 640x480 pixel resolution, and after quiting the game again, finder windows etc. will still b at the same spot like when I started the game. This is really, really cool! :)

But is this just a bug in X that windows don't change their positions when screensize changes, or will it stay that way forever? :)
It would suck if they removed this cool "feature"....
 
I've noticed this, too! I think it's a great idea/feature/bug... whatever you wanna call it.

One thing I've noticed, though: I have to play most of my games in 640x480 resolution, and with previous version of the OS (prior to 10.1) when the resolution changed to 640x480, I would get a full-screen of the game. Now, 640x480 is smaller than it used to be -- i.e., the screen has black bars around it... I can put up with this "smaller" view, though...
 
This is a feature.. not a bug. It was suppost to work this way in OS 9 (and did in some games some of the time) but it seems in OS X they got it right. That said, I have had some problems with windows moving around after I quit a game in OS X, namely UT X, but it was just the finder windows moving, not the other applications.

ElDiabloConCaca, what monitor do you have? I have had this same problem with my Apple ColorSync monitor, but I have found that its because the monitor stores the geometry information somewhere in its self; thus when it goes to a diffrent resolution it puts the geometry information for that resolution into play. So when a game goes to a resolution that is distorted or has black bars on it, i just modify the geometry info and it works good after that, without modifying the geometry for my main resolution.
 
Originally posted by ElDiabloConCaca
I've noticed this, too! I think it's a great idea/feature/bug... whatever you wanna call it.

One thing I've noticed, though: I have to play most of my games in 640x480 resolution, and with previous version of the OS (prior to 10.1) when the resolution changed to 640x480, I would get a full-screen of the game. Now, 640x480 is smaller than it used to be -- i.e., the screen has black bars around it... I can put up with this "smaller" view, though...
Click to expand...

I get this, too. It's because there's no recommended resolution for most monitors at 640x480, and so it seems to just pick one. Unfortunately, my 17" Apple Studio Display works quite nicely at 640x480 and 85Hz, but that's not what gets picked. This is odd, since it worked in Mac OS 10.0.4.

I've sent in a bug report about this, but until it gets fixed, you can pick the correct resolution in the Displays preference panel before open the game, and it'll stick when you start the game. At least, it does for Myst III.
 
I, too, have the Studio Display 17", graphite with VGA connector... unfortunately, it got the pop-dim-zoom symptoms, and shortly after that, it popped it's last dim-zoom cycle and went completely black. I've got a box on the way from Apple and am going to ship it away ASAP, and Apple said they'd fix it fre of charge... common problem, apparently.

At any rate, I've replaced it with a cheap-o CTX 17" from Sam's Club, and haven't played a single game yet with this new monitor. The one thing I LOVED about my Studio Display was that I could run 1024x768 @ 100Hz -- now THAT'S some high-frequency resolution! Hehe... this monitor gives me a paltry 85Hz @ 1024x768, so I'll be awaiting the return of my beloved Apple display.

I'm guessing the frequency it selects for 640x480 is decent -- it doesn't flicker -- it's just a bit smaller than the 640x480 picked under OS X 10.0.4. No biggie.
 
My 15" Apple Studio Display has a refresh rate of (Stupid (!@%^$*&!@$%!@&$^%!@$%*&^ board doesn't accept infinity symbols) infinty Hz. :D

Try to top THAT refresh rate. ;)
 
Try to top THAT refresh rate.
Click to expand...

Alright. My monitor has a refresh rate such that there exists a surjective function from it's refresh rates to P(R), the power set of the reals. Take that!

Sorry, I don't get much much any more.
 
... oh, wait. My mistake. My monitor actually runs at infinity! (that would be infinity factorial, for the math illiterate) Hz refresh rate.

I think that beats whatever weird thing you were saying. ;)
 
Actually, mines still bigger. I think it's for the best that this doesn't turn into a discussion about some of the different kinds of infinity. Let's bring this discussion back to, uhm, whatever it was about originally. Windows not moving, yeah, that's it.
 
Is that what we were talking about?

Are you sure???

I dunno... I thought it was about refresh rates and infinity and all that stuff.
 
Actually, it's probably best if we don't talk about windows staying in place. Otherwise, I'm going to start making random Dysfunctional Family Circus references, like "the poop keeps the window wer it is."
 
...OS 9 Classic Games still mess up all windows in X :rolleyes:

@LordOphidian:
Where do u know from that this nwmawpgilr*-feature ain't a bug?

Poop ain't working under 9 :D







(*"no-windows-move-around-when-playing-games-in-low-res" :D)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top