Widescreen mod

[Botje]

I just created a pull request with a request for comments. We'll see how the rest of the dev team thinks about it.

[somaen]

Can anyone extract first 20-ish Year 1 El Marrow backgrounds and put it online anywhere so I can download them and continue my work? I've used Fraps in the past but if anyone could post them online in raw (were they in bmp?) it would really save me some time.

No, someone should not do that (especially the "put it online" part). Sharing original game data is not OK. Getting help with getting them extracted yourself is another matter entirely.

[ultraneonoirantihero]

Can anyone extract first 20-ish Year 1 El Marrow backgrounds and put it online anywhere so I can download them and continue my work? I've used Fraps in the past but if anyone could post them online in raw (were they in bmp?) it would really save me some time.

No, someone should not do that (especially the "put it online" part). Sharing original game data is not OK. Getting help with getting them extracted yourself is another matter entirely.

It's ok, I managed to do it myself. I just had a problem last time (and this time too) with using the right Scumm Revisited version, and getting along with the gui, so I thought I could call for help. Revisited v5 doesn't cooperate on dual-monitor setup.

[ultraneonoirantihero]

It's live:

http://www.grimwidescreen.com/

Still haven't finished those half-done backgrounds, been busy at work and I'm preparing for these years marathon so at the end of the day I'm kinda beat. But I promise by the end of the week they will be done.

What's the status on the "pull request" for merging mod with the Residual master branch? I've seen Somaen posted some minor code corrections.

[JohnnyWalker2001]

Everything is looking wonderful! I think these new sides are really going to add a to the player experience!

[ultraneonoirantihero]

I think these new sides are really going to add a to the player experience!

Well, better than black bars (aka. nothing) or that simple geometric Remastered patterns on the sides (which really look a lazy work).

[somaen]

It's ok, I managed to do it myself. I just had a problem last time (and this time too) with using the right Scumm Revisited version, and getting along with the gui, so I thought I could call for help. Revisited v5 doesn't cooperate on dual-monitor setup.

Just to be clear, you shouldn't ever ask for game data here, asking for help with extracting them is fine, but we need to keep a strict line on piracy, thus my reaction above.

As for the PR, last I saw, it's a matter of design-choices, as the current approach is a bit to global (i.e. it has effects outside of the grim-engine).

[ultraneonoirantihero]

I hate DOD parking. There are 7 different angles of the same place, just different perspective. It usually takes me 30min in Photoshop to convert one scene to widescreen, but yesterday it took me 2 hours to make 2 backgrounds. I also remade 1 old background, since Kavehth provided the correct perspective. I'll finish them tonight.

I also have to ask Kavehth to help me with his 3D extraction for "Server Room", since it also has like 5 angles of the same place...

As for the PR, last I saw, it's a matter of design-choices, as the current approach is a bit to global (i.e. it has effects outside of the grim-engine).

I'm not sure I understand the sentence? PR = Public Relations?

Botje, is there any way you can post your compiled mod here for download? Until (if) it gets merged with the official Residual master? Like Tobias compiled his P&C mod on his site?

[somaen]

PR -> "Pull Request" in this case.

[monkeymadness]

I hope no one finds this too annoying, but my question is when this gets completely will we need the original to run it? I don't own the game and was thinking about getting the remastered version, but I assume if I do that I won't be able to run this.

[ultraneonoirantihero]

I hope no one finds this too annoying, but my question is when this gets completely will we need the original to run it? I don't own the game and was thinking about getting the remastered version, but I assume if I do that I won't be able to run this.

Sorry dude: no. For now Residual only works with original game files, thus all these mods here, (including the Widescreen) only work with original game. But you can find it dirt cheap in "jewel case" edition (on Amazon from 2$ to 200$ ).

Maybe some day someone from this forum hacks Remastered edition to display these widescreen add-ons too. I think we already discussed it, in "Future of Grim Deluxe project" topic. Check it out there... as I remember someone emailed the DoubleFine to ask them about enabling fan mods:
http://forums.residualvm.org/viewtopic. ... 3802#p3805

[ultraneonoirantihero]

Update:

Corrected 1 old background, finished 3 new, 3 old remain on 50% done. New add-ons are live on the site:
http://www.grimwidescreen.com/

[JohnnyWalker2001]

Brilliant job! They look seamless!

[kavehth]

I also have to ask Kavehth to help me with his 3D extraction for "Server Room", since it also has like 5 angles of the same place...

here are the images for the server room http://imgur.com/a/1uU6i

this time i didn't get very good result on the sides so i don't know how helpful they'll be.

also i wanted to ask, do you think we could improve the backgrounds by upscaling and doing some post processing? i really don't know how much can be done, but since now we can have hi-res backgrounds we could try it.

[ultraneonoirantihero]

Brilliant job! They look seamless!

I don't know why I put the add-ons separated from the base backgrounds on the website (with that spacing in between), when the whole purpose of the project is like you said to make it seamless. So, until we get a downloadable mod with which I can make the new trailer for the project, I've corrected my mistake on the website and joined the add-ons with the backgrounds... so NOW they look seamless Well, not 100%, some work still needs to be done with the lighting. Also I changed the screenshots to make things more interesting, I've used the "deluxe" models with new Manny & Glottis.
http://www.grimwidescreen.com/

here are the images for the server room. this time i didn't get very good result on the sides so i don't know how helpful they'll be.

Thanks a million times mate! You helped me a lot with those. I hate doing the same rooms from multiple angles, you don't know how monotonous can it be.

also i wanted to ask, do you think we could improve the backgrounds by upscaling and doing some post processing? i really don't know how much can be done, but since now we can have hi-res backgrounds we could try it.

I tried it. My result looks awful. It's either blurry or it's too sharp and ghosting lines appear (example here). I've tried to remove gif dithering (example here) with "smart blur" but you lose the details. I've tried sharpening with "smart sharpen" and "unsharp mask" but those ghosting lines appear. I've tried "Focus Magic" and got really bad compression and dithering artifacts. I just don't have the skill or software to make and "automated procedure" for upscaling them, without resorting to manually remastering every single background.

P.S. There is no Anti-Aliasing (AA) in my Residual. Everything looks jiggy around the edges. Is there any way you can turn AA in Residual?