dethrace-labs
Stretch to 4:3 Ratio when in Lo-Res Mode
Because the game's lo-res mode renders the game at 320x200, this mode should be stretched to 4:3 instead of 16:10, this will give the game tall pixels which is how 320x200 is meant to be displayed.
Two problems with this: (1) lcds are what 99% of us are using today and lcds can't stretch pixels, they can only unevenly duplicate lines which is ugly (2) 4:3 isn't necessarily the undistorted aspect. This is because squares are easier to draw with, make diagonal lines with, draw maps with, etc. So many artists ignored the stretch because it was only 20% and not something like 50%.
Two problems with this: (1) lcds are what 99% of us are using today and lcds can't stretch pixels, they can only unevenly duplicate lines which is ugly (2) 4:3 isn't necessarily the undistorted aspect. This is because squares are easier to draw with, make diagonal lines with, draw maps with, etc. So many artists ignored the stretch because it was only 20% and not something like 50%.
This doesn't really nullify my point. Most people have displays that are 1080p or higher. Scaling artifacts for 320x200 are barely noticeable unless you're actively looking for them. 4:3 IS the correct aspect. If you load DOS Carmageddon on a real DOS PC with a CRT, the image will be in 4:3.
At the very least, we can at least have some sort of option that lets you turn this aspect correction on or off.
So you want an option that disables letterboxing/windowboxing/pillarboxing?
I want an option (it really should be the default) that displays Dethrace's 320x200 mode in 4:3 with pillarboxing as needed. See DOSBox with aspect correction enabled for further examples.
So you want an option that disables letterboxing/windowboxing/pillarboxing?
I want an option (it really should be the default) that displays Dethrace's 320x200 mode in 4:3 with pillarboxing as needed. See DOSBox with aspect correction enabled for further examples.
These resources may be useful?
- https://github.com/dosbox-staging/dosbox-staging/pull/1627
- https://themaister.net/blog/2018/08/25/pseudo-bandlimited-pixel-art-filtering-in-3d-a-mathematical-derivation/
Failing inclusion of such a scaling algorithm into Dethrace itself, perhaps this could be achieved through something like ReShade (which also allows for arbitrary CRT shaders)?
