Re: [pygame] Finding the original monitor settings

["Dave LeCompte (really)" <dave@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

"Ian Mallett" <geometrian@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> I think that's what I meant.  The goal here was to make a game run in
> fullscreen with the same width and height as the original resolution.
> That
> way my program http://www.pygame.org/projects/9/453/?release_id=772 would
> be
> unnecessary.  I've seen some games do that.  (selecting resolution
> automatically).

Can you give some examples? I've seen a lot of games select resolution
automatically, but I don't think I've ever seen them default to my desktop
resolution. It's much more common to default to the developer's choice of
resolution, with options to adjust for the player's own preferences and
machine capabilities.

For example:
http://www.bigdicegames.com/Woody/Screenshots/07-04-05-09-19-optionsScreen.png

If you're using OpenGL (either 2d or 3d), chances are, you'll want to run
at a lower resolution to get better performance.

If you're using the Pygame display code or another 2d blitting approach,
it seems like you'd want even more to control the precise pixel layout of
your display - from the arrangement of your GUI to the amount of space
onscreen - a shootemup game running at 640x480 with 32x32 sprites is a
completely different experience from the game running at 1280x1024 with
32x32 sprites.

I can imagine certain turn-based strategy games where performance isn't an
issue, and where the player is expected to spend a lot of time scrolling
around the map to make his decisions. Even then, it seems like an ingame
options panel would be appreciated so players could decide their
preference of trading off amount of stuff on the screen vs being able to
see small details in the art.


So, what sort of game are you trying to make? Why is the user's desktop
resolution of interest to you?



-Dave LeCompte