noob resolution question

[Black_Eye_90]

this is going to sound really stupid but I've just never really asked before

 

what exactly does resolution do? I mean I normally play kotor and kotor 2 at whatever resolution is standard.....

 

but I don't really know what changing the resolution will do?

 

I mean one time I changed the resolution for kotor just to try it out and my screen shrunk to a smaller size and it looked a hell of a lot better.......

 

I would like to find a way to make the game look better but with the screen staying the same

 

could anyone give me a quick answer on how to do this? how do I make my game look better? what exactly does resolution do? what would be a good resolution to set it too?

 

anyways sorry for the noob question

[BattleCookiee]

Resolution is the amount of pixels on screen.

 

The more, the better it starts looking...

 

And "advised" Resolution? Depends on the size of your monitor.

How many "inch does your monitor has?

[Black_Eye_90]

the screen itself is about 8 inches tall and about 11 inches across

 

hope that helps........

 

I would just really like to do a playthrough with it looking the best it can possibly be

[Cactus]

The resoloution is how many pixels make up the picture on your screen. The higher the resoloution, the more pixels used, so the more detail you can see.

 

Now, the higher the resoloution the more pixels your graphics card has to render, so it will make the game slower.

 

What moniter and graphics card do you have?

 

Also, with a smaller resoloution the more jagged the edges of models will look, because its compressing things into a smaller amount of pixels. On a large resoloution it has more pixels to use so edges look nicer.

 

AA (anti aliasing) smooths the edges of pixels, but decreases the speed the game can play at. So you have to decide which looks best for you.

[BattleCookiee]

the screen itself is about 8 inches tall and about 11 inches across

 

hope that helps........

 

I would just really like to do a playthrough with it looking the best it can possibly be

 

You either mis-calculated that, or your screen is even too tiny for 640x480.

 

The inches of a screen are measured in "inches while measuring like this: /

15" would be 800x600, 17" would be 1024x768, while 21" should be 1280x960.

 

Higher or lower I don't know about...

[Black_Eye_90]

oh lmao you mean inches diagonally?

 

I just gave you the width and length sorry about that

 

from the bottom corner to the top corner my screen is 14 inches

 

hope that helps more lol

[Cactus]

14" i thin you're probly looking at 800 x 640 as your resoloution for playing games then.

 

Saying that, i have an old 14" that does 1600 x 1200 at 75htz so i cant say.

 

i would try raising the resoloution and see what its like. Ever if we could tell wether the game would run smoothley at a higher res, its your opinion as what looks best.

 

I would advise keeping shadows and grass turned on as they barey make a difference, but i would make sure "soft shadows" is turned off.

 

x4 or x8 aniotropic filter

x0/2/4 Anti aliasing (thats upto you)

 

Medium or high textures

 

Vsync on

 

And frame buffer effects on too, i think.

 

I cant really go into detail or guess better than that unless you tell us your system specs.

[dufflover]

To get the optimal resolution (assuming LCD) go to your Windows Desktop/Display Control Panel and whatever resolution it is on will be the best resolution for your games. There is a lot more to this but for now I'll keep it simple.

[Cactus]

Doh, i never thought of it being an LCD.

 

Curse you, modern technology!

[Black_Eye_90]

k my desktop resolution is set at 1024 by 768 pixels

 

it is not a flat screen monitor just for reference, it it a pretty old monitor I believe however my computer is pretty new

 

so what resolution should I use in kotor

 

because every time I pick a higher number of resolution............the screen size shrinks, is that normal??

[Cactus]

Yes, your screen will appear to shrink, because its fitting more pixels into the same amount of pysical size. If you notice that the screen doesnt reach to the edges of your moniter like it used to though, then you need to fiddle with the buttons on the front of your moniter to make it fit correctly.

 

Still no system information from you, so i'm going to advise you use 1024 x 768 or 800 x 640 if you have an old computer.

[MarwinElMaco]

Here is a good guide if you really want to fine tune it.

It helped me allot and "Fraps" is a good program to test different settings and see what frame rate it gives.

http://www.tweakguides.com/KOTOR2_1.html

[Black_Eye_90]

thanks for the help everyone