Aspect Ratio Correction on FM Towns Games

[Unno]

First of all, I'm not sure if this applies to all FM Towns games. The only one I own is Loom, but I have seen Monkey Island screenshots online that seem to confirm it has the same issue.

The games are, of course, at the FM Towns resolution of 320x240, and therefore ScummVM does not bother with stretching them vertically. This would seem to make sense; however, the extra resolution is actually just hud space, and the graphics are just as squashed as the PC version. I'm not sure if it is possible, but it'd be really nice to be able to stretch these games vertically as well (it would be exactly the same amount of stretch). I'm not sure how easy this would be to implement, but it seems like it would be an easy fix.

Aaron

[fac]

They (Lucasarts) took the easy way when changing from 320x200 to 320x200. They just added 40 black lines. Although i only have the FM Towns demos, i also agree that ScummVM should have an option to "fix" the aspect ratio of these FM Towns games (when possible, i.e., when those extra lines aren't used).


After looking at some screenshots (from LucasArts Adventure Museum and other places) this is what i found for the FM Towns game versions:

Indy 3: 320x240 resolution with 40 extra unused black lines (see this picture);
Indy 4: the FM Towns demo plays at 320x200 in ScummVM;
Monkey Island 1: plays at 320x200 - see this pictures). Not sure about the full game in ScummVM;
Monkey Island 2 (not sure);
Loom: not sure. See these pictures. The extra 40 line are only used in the grave picture. So i'm not sure if they are used in any other picture?
Zak McKracken - plays at 320x240 - some of those extra lines are used for the inventory (see this picture).


So, changing the default resolution to 320x200 should be safe at least for all FM-Towns demos and Indy3.

[LogicDeLuxe]

Loom: not sure. See these pictures. The extra 40 line are only used in the grave picture.

That particular picture seems a bit odd anyways, as the text just repeats the grave's inscription.
I'd say, applying a hack which just moves the text up by 40 lines, or disables it altogether would be fair enough in order to get rid of all that unused black space otherwise.

And Indy3 really could be changed to 320x200 easily, indeed.

[fingolfin]

See RFE #1326700.

[elvisish]

11 years later and this still isn't an option because of FM Townes authenticity? Why not have it in anyways so people can decide how they want it to look, just as games without subtitles and speech simultaneously do, games intended for a limited amount platforms can be run on any system, and improved scaling routines and graphical scalers can be used?

[elvisish]

Still wish Zak FMTownes could be played at the correct aspect ratio.

[ZvikaZ]

Hi.

I've implemented this feature, and would like help in testing it.
The height is cut to 200 pixels (got rid of the black area in the bottom of the screen) in *all* FM-TOWNS games (supposedly , I have only Zak, so couldn't verify other games).
Now it's possible to enable aspect ratio - but I turned it on *only* on Zak McKracken (I will do that for other games later, if someone will test them).

I haven't really checked it, and would like to have good testing before advancing with this.
Specifically, I haven't tested the extended inventory that used the redundant 40 pixels (as shown in the picture at the beginning of this thread).

Known problems that will be fixed later:
- This feature is always enabled. Later it will be configurable, and disabled by default
- Games saved with height of 240 cannot be loaded with height of 200, and vice-versa

Please, report problems, and attach saves.

In order to get this version:

Code: Select all

git clone https://github.com/ZvikaZ/scummvm
git checkout z_zm_height_200_v1

And then compile and run.

[ZvikaZ]

I've fixed savegames.

Please take this:

Code: Select all

git clone https://github.com/ZvikaZ/scummvm
git checkout z_zm_height_200_v2

compile and run.

[Raziel]

Confirmed working for
Zak McKracken
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Finally the graphics and fonts aren´t squeezed anymore.

Thanks a lot ZvikaZ

I didn´t test save games and only watched the intro of both games and the first few screens

[almeath]

I haven't really checked it, and would like to have good testing before advancing with this.
Specifically, I haven't tested the extended inventory that used the redundant 40 pixels (as shown in the picture at the beginning of this thread).

It cuts off the inventory text in Loom:

loom.jpg (205.9 KiB) Viewed 18859 times

[ZvikaZ]

Thanks for noting out!

Please take `z_zm_height_200_v4`.

Fixed:
- Loom's inventory
- Loom's Cygna's grave text
- Loom: enabled aspect ratio correction
- Zak: fixed inventory
- Indy3: enabled aspect ratio correction

When running, please pay attention to warnings in console. Report back anything...

Thanks again

[spiffythedog]

This makes me VERY happy! If this issue eventually gets remedied in a future stable release, could I also suggest restoring smooth scrolling (1 pixel at a time) in FM Towns games (https://bugs.scummvm.org/ticket/7687)? Combined with this recent effort, it'd be like a dream come true.

[ZvikaZ]

This makes me VERY happy! If this issue eventually gets remedied in a future stable release, could I also suggest restoring smooth scrolling (1 pixel at a time) in FM Towns games (https://bugs.scummvm.org/ticket/7687)? Combined with this recent effort, it'd be like a dream come true.

I might take a look at that as well.
But for the dream to come true, I need help with testing.
Loom was problematic, and crashed after Cygna's grave, before I fixed it. I'm afraid there are more places like that that need fixing.

It'd be great if someone can play Loom until completion, it's a relatively short game.
Also, it'd be good if someone can play a good portion of Zak.
And of course, the other games as well.

Reminder - make sure there aren't any warnings in the console.

[ZvikaZ]

Please take `z_zm_height_200_v5`.
Now the trimming is configurable (under 'engine' tab), and disabled by default.

[ZvikaZ]

Please update to `z_zm_height_200_v6`.
- Zak: fixed warnings when loading in trim mode save with more than 6 items, that was saved with trim-disable mode
- Loom: practice mode - moved "notes box" higher