Soldat 1.6.0 Release Candidate

[Taxi]

Good work devs. Alot of buzz on SCTFL forums after this announcement. I hope the release is near and I hope it will rejuvenate the scene.

My only concern is the aspect ratio, this should be an option in the server settings somehow, as its unfair to people who have small screens if people with larger screens can see further.

From: August 12, 2011, 06:16:07 pm

Good work devs. Alot of buzz on SCTFL forums after this announcement. I hope the release is near and I hope it will rejuvenate the scene.

My only concern is the aspect ratio, this should be an option in the server settings somehow, as its unfair to people who have small screens if people with larger screens can see further.

I just tested it out myself, yes this is a very large advantage IMO. I highly suggest this somehow be a server option that can be disabled as I don't see how this big of an advantage can be allowed in leagueplay.

That's quite the vision advantage for widescreen users.

You can use widescreen resolution on 4:3 monitor. It just adds black bars to top and bottom. It makes more sense to do this than to add black bars for widescreen users, since widescreens have been more popular for years now. So it's up to you whether to play with your native resolution and see a bit less (and no, it's not a huge advantage), or play with widescreen resolution and have black bars on top and bottom.

[Squakingcow]

At the very least I think the weapon balance will need completely changing as the current one was created with the 'old' 4:3 view distance in mind, and with an increase in view distance like this various weapons will suddenly have a huge advantage/disadvantage over other weapons.

As a side note, change viet back you twats.

[ginn]

At the very least I think the weapon balance will need completely changing as the current one was created with the 'old' 4:3 view distance in mind, and with an increase in view distance like this various weapons will suddenly have a huge advantage/disadvantage over other weapons.

As a side note, change viet back you twats.

hm well... Since there are no servers up yet, I haven't manged to test how the damage reduction works... if it's based on the 4:3 screen width or the 16:9 screen width.
If it's still the 4:3, then spas, mp5 and m79 won't get too nerfed. They weapons will still be useful though, as you pretty much only use those in small maps at the routs that aren't as open.
Atleast I think barrett will become a lot stronger now ^^, because it'll take longer for bullets to reach you. So you can shoot without getting binked.

Gather.eu will hopefully get the RC servers up soon, and soldatladder might too. So there will at least be some testing.

[xmRipper]

Bug: New Config.exe can't see my all display adapters.
Screenshot attached.

(There is also a lag issue on my new notebook. An interesting one. Investigating it currently, I will report that later.)

[darDar]

16:9 should be an option to switch off in servers.
also the FPS issues on my laptop are now solved!

[ginn]

you shouldn't be trying to compromise soldat more and more, it seriously need some new elements.

Why don't you want to use 16:9? this way the old maps will get renewed for a bit, and other maps will get into play more.

[Xdada]

Most of the bugs/notes I listed here are still present/unaddressed.
Other:
- When clicking on the register-link in the pre-start notification message-box for unregistered users, the context menu opens with an offset (somewhat below the actual mouse position)
- Even an unregistered user can use the custom screen-resolution settings or non-640x480 predefined resolution, yet the label below them states otherwise
- When zooming beyond a certain limit (with a wide-screen setting) and viewing towards the screen's upper or lower edge (or just zooming all the way with a resolution just at the max ratio-borderline(1.(7))), the sniper-line is not visible

[Poop]

Ginn, 16:9 is "cool" and I dont mind people being able to use it. HOWEVER, it should be an option in the server settings if possible, so if people don't want to allow it on their servers (Due to all the issues already mentioned), then they have the option to do that.

Honestly, with the fact that this is an advantage to widescreen monitors (I know a normal monitor can also use it, however it makes the height smaller which is not fun to play with), and the fact that this could potentially mess up the weapon balance, I think people should have the option to disable it on a server basis if possible. I have trouble seeing this being allowed in leagues and not causing a problem.

[CheeSeMan.]

i dont use radar hack guys i just have a very big screen =)))))))))))))))))))))) problem officer???

[ginn]

Ginn, 16:9 is "cool" and I dont mind people being able to use it. HOWEVER, it should be an option in the server settings if possible, so if people don't want to allow it on their servers (Due to all the issues already mentioned), then they have the option to do that.

Honestly, with the fact that this is an advantage to widescreen monitors (I know a normal monitor can also use it, however it makes the height smaller which is not fun to play with), and the fact that this could potentially mess up the weapon balance, I think people should have the option to disable it on a server basis if possible. I have trouble seeing this being allowed in leagues and not causing a problem.

this is just conservatism, the weapon balance won't be completely broken, just because you can see further doesn't mean you can shoot trough polygons.
Readjusting the damage reduction after a specific range will pretty much fix it.
Also... if you have a 4:3 screen, it's probably 5-10 years old... it's a good time to buy a new one.

[Poop]

Ginn, 16:9 is "cool" and I dont mind people being able to use it. HOWEVER, it should be an option in the server settings if possible, so if people don't want to allow it on their servers (Due to all the issues already mentioned), then they have the option to do that.

Honestly, with the fact that this is an advantage to widescreen monitors (I know a normal monitor can also use it, however it makes the height smaller which is not fun to play with), and the fact that this could potentially mess up the weapon balance, I think people should have the option to disable it on a server basis if possible. I have trouble seeing this being allowed in leagues and not causing a problem.

this is just conservatism, the weapon balance won't be completely broken, just because you can see further doesn't mean you can shoot trough polygons.
Readjusting the damage reduction after a specific range will pretty much fix it.
Also... if you have a 4:3 screen, it's probably 5-10 years old... it's a good time to buy a new one.

Do you at all understand what I am saying Ginn. Make it a server option so the people who want it (YOU) can use it, and the people who don't want it (ME and potentially all leagues) are not forced to use it.

And is "Buy a new screen" really part of your argument. You must be shitting me.

[ginn]

Ginn, 16:9 is "cool" and I dont mind people being able to use it. HOWEVER, it should be an option in the server settings if possible, so if people don't want to allow it on their servers (Due to all the issues already mentioned), then they have the option to do that.

Honestly, with the fact that this is an advantage to widescreen monitors (I know a normal monitor can also use it, however it makes the height smaller which is not fun to play with), and the fact that this could potentially mess up the weapon balance, I think people should have the option to disable it on a server basis if possible. I have trouble seeing this being allowed in leagues and not causing a problem.

this is just conservatism, the weapon balance won't be completely broken, just because you can see further doesn't mean you can shoot trough polygons.
Readjusting the damage reduction after a specific range will pretty much fix it.
Also... if you have a 4:3 screen, it's probably 5-10 years old... it's a good time to buy a new one.

Do you at all understand what I am saying Ginn. Make it a server option so the people who want it (YOU) can use it, and the people who don't want it (ME and potentially all leagues) are not forced to use it.

And is "Buy a new screen" really part of your argument. You must be s**tting me.

if it's not allowed in leagues, then I'm not allowed to use it.
(yes I could play in public, but public = bot level and I could have the same experience on a local server with bots.... and if I'm on a local server, then there's nothing that stops me from using whatever 3rd party program I want - so your point is null)

"buy a new screen" is kind of a suggestion, if you absolutely can't stand having black bars on your screen. Otherwise you'll find yourself whining about almost all of the newer games.

[L[0ne]R]

Ginn, 16:9 is "cool" and I dont mind people being able to use it. HOWEVER, it should be an option in the server settings if possible, so if people don't want to allow it on their servers (Due to all the issues already mentioned), then they have the option to do that.

Honestly, with the fact that this is an advantage to widescreen monitors (I know a normal monitor can also use it, however it makes the height smaller which is not fun to play with), and the fact that this could potentially mess up the weapon balance, I think people should have the option to disable it on a server basis if possible. I have trouble seeing this being allowed in leagues and not causing a problem.

this is just conservatism, the weapon balance won't be completely broken, just because you can see further doesn't mean you can shoot trough polygons.
Readjusting the damage reduction after a specific range will pretty much fix it.
Also... if you have a 4:3 screen, it's probably 5-10 years old... it's a good time to buy a new one.

Well, "buy a better comp/monitor/whatever" isn't really a valid argument, since a lot of people started playing Soldat for that exact reason - they can't get better hardware.

Overall though I agree - a different aspect ratio won't break the game. IMHO on the contrary, it might be a nice improvement. I understand that black bars aren't "fun", but think about what people with widescreen displays have to deal with. And since widescreens are becoming more popular, leaving them out completely just because some people have 4:3 monitors isn't fair either. And like ginn said - "...Otherwise you'll find yourself whining about almost all of the newer games."

Make it a server option so the people who want it (YOU) can use it, and the people who don't want it (ME and potentially all leagues) are not forced to use it.

Leagues complain about practically everything that gets changed. Soldat is first of all - a game. It was made so that gamers of all kinds can have fun, run around and shoot stuff. Leagues are just one of the many kinds of players and aren't that important to demand the game to be custom-built just for them. There are things you'll just have to get used to, it's not that hard.

Also, server option won't work out of the box since Soldat only switches resolution when you start it up, and not on server join. Fixing that simply isn't worth the effort. Not to mention that it would be annoying to have different servers allow different screen ratios.

[Meteorisch]

Yeah some people really need to move on and go forward to the next level, really we live in 2011 and you have a 4:3 screen holy shit thats bad.

Anyway even if people still have that shit then indeed it should be a server sided option.

[darDar]

you people simply don´t understand what playing soldat means if you say "buy a new monitor" and crap.
i am having a 16:10 monitor for 3? 4? years now and kept playing soldat always in window mode with the lowest resolution.

It is not about people having bad hardware or crap monitors, its about a game which is 10 years old, people playing it for 10 years and they got used to stuff.
Gathers, Leagues are 80% of the people keeping this game active so of course it is important what they say.
Also i dont want to fucking have the possibilty to watch from base a to base b, I and many others also don´t want this.

Theres also no need to argue here. 16:9 should be an OPTION, so it CAN be used and it can be switched OFF. Everyone should be happy then.

[ginn]

just make maps more suited for 16:9 in the next release then.
What people are whining about is that they don't want to have black bars on their 4:3 monitors. Which is why I would suggest them to buy a new screen if they can't deal with it.

Readjusting to changes doesn't take too long. I've changed window re-size quite many times and changed keyboard and mouse. And guess what? I'm still as skilled.

like 10% of the games activity is in leagues. There are about 600+ players playing according to rr.soldat.pl, and there's like 3-4 simultaneous gathers + 3-4 CWs, so the IRC community stands for 50 of those players. During SCTFL I guess this number might rise to 70-80 at it's peak.


You don't want this change because it'll change soldat. The change will make the game fresh and new ways of playing will be developed.
There's nothing that's preventing SCTFL from changing their rules.

[xmRipper]

i dont use radar hack guys i just have a very big screen =)))))))))))))))))))))) problem officer???

It won't allow you to set a resolution with higher width/height ratio. Just tried that

[L[0ne]R]

Theres also no need to argue here. 16:9 should be an OPTION, so it CAN be used and it can be switched OFF. Everyone should be happy then.

1) You're exaggerating. The difference between 4:3 and 16:9 is noticeable, but that doesn't mean you can see all the way across the map.
2) It already IS an option, it's just client-side, and not server-side. You can choose to play in full 4:3 resolution, but see a little bit less, or you can play in widescreen resolution and have black bars. Or you can play in widescreen AND without black bars if you have a widescreen monitor. And nobody will get frustrated if widescreen resolution is disabled on some servers. IMHO that's the best solution.

Gathers, Leagues are 80% of the people keeping this game active so of course it is important what they say.
Also i don't want to f**king have the possibilty to watch from base a to base b, I and many others also don´t want this.

It hasn't always been like that. There have been a lot of regular gamers playing the game, but more and more of them have quit for various reasons. The goal of the still on-going development is to restore at least a part of Soldat's former glory and to make it once again popular among all gamers, and not just elitists.

[Bistoufly]

I like the fact that we can see farther. But the "black bars" on my 4:3 screen are really a problem for me. I feel this is unfair.

Why did you have to change the ratio?? Soldat has a gameplay meant for 4:3.
The gameplay is as often vertical since the soldiers have jets.

It was suggested before to bump soldat to 800x600.
Why not simply go with that?

Wide screens are often bigger than 4:3 and black bars on the sides are less of a problem than it is for 4:3 screens.

While 16:9 is perfect for movies and FPS. It doesn't work well for Soldat.
That's my impression after playing the RC for several hours.

[L[0ne]R]

I like the fact that we can see farther. But the "black bars" on my 4:3 screen are really a problem for me. I feel this is unfair.

Why did you have the change the ratio?? Soldat has a gameplay meant for 4:3.
The gameplay is as often vertical since the soldiers have jets.

It was suggested before to bump soldat to 800x600.
Why not simply go with that?

Wide screens are often bigger than 4:3 and black bars on the sides are less of a problem than it is for 4:3 screens.

While 16:9 is perfect for movies and FPS. It doesn't work well for Soldat.
That's my impression after playing the RC for several hours.

Well, it's not like you see less vertically now. Vertically you see the same in all ratios, but horizontally you see more in widescreen. I agree that combat in Soldat goes in all directions, but the way human eye works makes it so we see more horisontally than we see vertically. Widescreen should make it easier for the eyes, you just need to give it some time and get used to the new ratio.

Bumping Soldat to 800x600 is a completely different issue because it involves redrawing graphics in higher resolution.