Battlefield 2 & 2142 Widescreen Hack

[FPS[SONIC]]

I would think the author would update this for the new patch as he has versions for the other patches for both BF2 and Bf2142.

[Diamond621]

Can anyone provide final and definitive confirmation if PB treats this as legitimate in MP, or if it results in a removal from play?

[FPS[SONIC]]

I've used this for less than ten rounds of play and have had no difficulty with PB. However, I must state that this sounds better than it actually works.

For some reason there is some distortion to the view pane while panning. It can mess with your head and I decided to stop using it.

[Erhardt]

I've used it a couple times since last week, and another buddy who's had more time to play than me online has been using it non-stop, no problems.

Haven't had any visual issues with it either, I'm loving it to death. What kind of distortion are you seeing, sonic?

[FPS[SONIC]]

When I pan from left to right, I get some kind of weird distortion where things appear to be moving at an unnatural pace. It's kind of hard to describe, but it makes me feel rather disoriented--like I'm under the influence. While that might be fine for some, I don't like that feeling while I'm in 'hunting mode' if that makes any sense.

Perhaps it is my hardware. I'm running a 8600 GTS with the latest NVIDIA drivers on a 27" widescreen tv/monitor at 1280x768. Yes, I'm gaming on a budget. =)

[DeadlySin]

The only distortion I've been seeing is that everything/everyone is taller. The jittery zoom is still bugging me a bit though.

[n00bs4brkfst]

I would think the author would update this for the new patch as he has versions for the other patches for both BF2 and Bf2142.

I know the author. He's in my clan.

I can ask him for an update to it if ya want.

[Dopefish]

I'm the author of the program.

They don't allow widescreen in the game when they made it since it gives players an advantage. Yet when some third party creates a patch that gives us widescreen they don't call it cheating?

Something about this seems illogical to me...

The patch looks quite cool I am still hoping that 1.4 will have a true DICE supported widescreen mode... and I will probably still be hoping for that after 1.4.

By stating that, you are just following what you've read elsewhere. They didn't disallow it because of an unfair advantage. The BF2 engine was made when widescreen monitors weren't exactly popular. Since BF2142 is based on the same engine, it still lacks the widescreen support. When you consider that games generally take 2-3 years to develop, they weren't exactly preparing for widescreen.

They're not going to add widescreen support because it would require extensive work to the engine. The method I use works, but it suffers the problems of the engine itself.

It resets the sniper scope to 5:4 ever time you zoom in, still a pretty sweet mod. I just got done playing with it in BF2 a bit, driving is a whole new experince (like you have real FOV).

The default aspect ratio is 4:3, not 5:4. When you zoom in and out, it does not "reset" it. It just corrects the FOV. It appears to zoom out but it is actually correcting the zoom. By default it zooms in too far.

Any chance of this being ported to 2142 1.41?

Thanks

I will add support for v1.40 when it goes final. I am not going to waste my time on a beta. I understand the patch has been in beta for over 7 months, but I'll just wait for the final. :)



To clear up the issue with the crosshair when you zoom in, this is an issue with the engine. I cannot correct this.

This application basically reads the FOV from memory and it multiplies it by a factor for the aspect ratio chosen. Once it's calculated, it writes it back to the memory. The reason you notice a change when you zoom in and out is because I have to wait until the FOV stops changing before I multiply it and write it back.

This application is probably the greatest chance you have at widescreen support in the game. I do nothing more than change the FOV. All the flaws you experience are of the engine itself. You may find it acceptable and you may not. If you don't like it, you are more than welcome to going back to a cropped screen or a 4:3 resolution.

EA, DICE and EvenBalance (PB) have all unofficially said this program is fine to use on PB-enabled servers. If the status ever changes on it for whether they allow it or not, they will announce it.

[Seppuku]

It's awesome that someone took the time to put this together. I've had it for maybe 6 weeks. I used it in 16:10 (1680 x 1050 rez) solidly for maybe a week and then sporadically afterwards. Having a good deal of experience with it I have to say:

- The idea that true widescreen is a truly some sort of noticable tactical advantage is laughable. Compared to the actual hardware advantages you can get though high fps (via gfx cards & cpus) and low pings (via network connections), it is absolutely nothing in comparison. Nothing.

- As others have mentioned, using this gives enough extremely subtle distortion both to zooming and panning quickly that imo it's really not worth using. Every now and then I enable it and then remember why I don't use it and turn it off.

As to it's "legality", the PB people know about it and don't care. EA also knows about it and doesn't care.

[Elementalist]

Dopefish, great work and very interesting. As my confused posting earlier said, I didn't see how you could add 20% FOV when that information isn't provided by the engine. I wonder if I can ask you?

If the BF engine 'outputs' in 4:3 how can you do anything but just stretch it to make it 'widescreen'? Does the engine actually send more information out?

Just as a matter of interest I am a developer, but boring financial systems - nothing as interesting as graphics work.

Also, I'm assuming from your work close with the product of the engine that you can get a good idea of what is does and maybe how it works, so your comment "They're not going to add widescreen support because it would require extensive work to the engine" is a bit depressing. As I say, I am a developer, so I know it's rarely simple, but surely FOV is not much more than a 'setting' - they had to have a calculation that makes it 4:3, so perhaps changing that calculation to be 16:9/10 wouldn't be too tough?

I'd be interested in your further thoughts anyway.

Not to insult your work in any way, but it sounds like the panning issues some are experiencing would put me off severely. The zooming weirdness would probably be ok, but...

[FPS[SONIC]]

Really nice work, Dopefish. Kudos for stepping up and making a difference.

[Dopefish]

Dopefish, great work and very interesting. As my confused posting earlier said, I didn't see how you could add 20% FOV when that information isn't provided by the engine. I wonder if I can ask you?

The field of view is just a "camera" in game. I'm not adding content, I'm just "moving" the camera back further to allow you to see more horizontally. The extra stuff you see is already there. When you turn your player, it doesn't load more content on-the-fly. That content is already there and loaded.

Also, I'm assuming from your work close with the product of the engine that you can get a good idea of what is does and maybe how it works, so your comment "They're not going to add widescreen support because it would require extensive work to the engine" is a bit depressing. As I say, I am a developer, so I know it's rarely simple, but surely FOV is not much more than a 'setting' - they had to have a calculation that makes it 4:3, so perhaps changing that calculation to be 16:9/10 wouldn't be too tough?

This goes back to the problem you and other people mention with the panning. The engine needs extensive work because of the way everything is calculated. I've actually been testing other games that support widescreen and some of them experience a panning issue as well, albeit not as severe. The movement of the gun and panning is really all designed to work with the default FOV. The panning stuff you see is nothing more than visual effects. It doesn't affect your aim. This would be great if you could disable your gun model because then you wouldn't notice a difference.

If you move the mouse quickly and then zoom in, you're going to notice that it skips back positions sometimes. However, the game does this irregardless of whether you use this or not. It's just the way the engine is. My idea was to simply extend the view back and offer it to other people. I had no problem getting used to it, but that doesn't mean other people will be able to use it with no problems. You can either use this and put up with the little oddity of the engine, or you can go back to having a cropped vertical and horizontal viewing area, or go back to using a 4:3 resolution.

[Dtneter]

omfg i want 3 monitors to if i only had the money to buy them and take care of the electric bills :P

[DeadlySin]

Thanks for the PR work dopefish.
If I were to move the slider lower than 20, would this reduce occasional jittery movements?

[Wizrdwarts]

Wait if the BF engine was designed for 4:3, then how come BF2 has 5:4? Do you see more in 1280x1024 or do you just lose some of your sides?