Black border removal

[Tuomo L]

Basically, I want these borders gone.

The problem comes in that unlike the often used method of having the screen go to 640x480 instead, I require the screen remain in the 544x416 mostly due to the scripts I'm using not liking the 640x480 resolution. So, in other words, a script that would get rid of the black borders without requiring screen resize.

 

[Andar]

If I understand you correctly, then you want to make the pixels larger?

So that the window is larger (like 640x480), but still contains only a number of pixels equal to 544x416?

If that's what you mean then the answer is "no can do".

You can go to fullscreen with the 544x416 solution, letting windows and your monitor do the resizing.

But if you want to remain in window mode, windows requires one pixel for each of those 640x480 window pixels, and that data has to come from the game output.

Theoretically you would have to supplement your own resizing formula in the output - and that is something a lot more difficult than could be provided by usual scripting.

You would need formulas for graphical resizing, creating the missing pixels by interpolating the data of the existing pixels - and simple formulas to do this usually result in fragments and shadows similiar to overcompressed JPG pictures. And the usual place for this resizing would be the graphic Library (DLL) which can't be modified without breaking licencing. To do this in ruby/script would be a lot more complex, effectly requiring a complete rewrite of all graphic-related functions in the engine...

 

[Tsukihime]

Maybe this


http://www.rpgmakervxace.net/topic/3894-basic-window-resizer/

 

[Andar]

Maybe this

http://www.rpgmakervxace.net/topic/3894-basic-window-resizer/

OK, that might help - it looks like it accesses the Windows-API to get the functions for interpolating, didn't know you could override in that way.

It still has problems with scaling to different resolutions sometimes destroying the patterns, as the user discussion on the link shows.

And that script requires script-calls to resize - might still cause compatibility issues with custom screens, especially if other scripts manipulate the graphics as well...

 

[Tuomo L]

If I understand you correctly, then you want to make the pixels larger

What? No, I just want the screen not to get the black borders but rather remain un border like in the windowed screen it'd not have. However, putting it on full, you get the borders to fill the space.

 

[Tsukihime]

That isn't possible. If you want to stretch your pixels to fill up the border you will need larger sprites.


It sounds more like you want to be able to display more tiles.

 

[Lunarea]

If I understand correctly, this may not be a script issue, but an issue with your computer resolution or set-up. Some resolutions and video cards add the black borders when they can't stretch the image/video/game/whatever.

 

[Andar]

What? No, I just want the screen not to get the black borders but rather remain un border like in the windowed screen it'd not have. However, putting it on full, you get the borders to fill the space.

If you get those borders on fullscreen mode only (but not when the game is windowed), then it's a problem with the graphic card's resolution and driver. If that is an ATI card, some drivers have an override where you can disable this function. Most of the time it happens if you set your computer and monitor to a widescreen resolution and then try to fit an older 4:3-resolution-program on fullscreen.

If you get those borders both in fullscreen and in windowed mode, then something has messed with the game's resolution, usually a script trying to resize.

 

[Tuomo L]

If you get those borders on fullscreen mode only (but not when the game is windowed), then it's a problem with the graphic card's resolution and driver. If that is an ATI card, some drivers have an override where you can disable this function. Most of the time it happens if you set your computer and monitor to a widescreen resolution and then try to fit an older 4:3-resolution-program on fullscreen.

If you get those borders both in fullscreen and in windowed mode, then something has messed with the game's resolution, usually a script trying to resize.

But how come none of the RPGmakers before VX add the black borders? Why does Yanfly's resolution get rid of them? Why has every single graphics card I've had the past few years still given me the black borders unless scripts have been used to put the resolution into 640x480?

 

[Rik Vargard]

But how come none of the RPGmakers before VX add the black borders? Why does Yanfly's resolution get rid of them? Why has every single graphics card I've had the past few years still given me the black borders unless scripts have been used to put the resolution into 640x480?

That's a good question...

Rik

 

[Andar]

That's a good question...

Rik

unfortunately the complete answer goes a lot deeper than my personal knowledge, but I can give a part of it...

First, just putting black borders around it is much easier than either interpolating it or putting an overscan (I think that was the correct name for that driver function) on it.

Second, the overscan method that could get rid of such borders on old monitors was never activated by default, because some even more older monitors could get damaged by it (that was with CRT monitors, long before TFT monitors became affordable).

As to why older RPGMs didn't have the border - I don't know, I can only assume that something required a change in the basic graohics functions, and the new programming took the easier path toward it. It might also be that an DX-Function in Windows that was used by the older programs became obsolete and was removed by the time the new one was programmed. Happened to several parts of the older DirectX-Versions already.

 

[Tuomo L]

But almost every single person I know ever do get the black borders in the full screen. Is there really no way to just have the full screen be the RPGmaker's native resolution instead of stretching out the black bars to fill in the 640x480 space?

 

[Shaz]

So you have used Graphics.resize_screen(640, 480) to change the window size, and you're playing in window mode, not fullscreen, and it's still showing the black bars? And your map is larger than the default size of 17x13 tiles?


In my game, set up as above, there are no black bars and nothing is enlarged - extra tiles are added to fill in the space.


I'm confused by your saying you want the screen to remain at 544x416 - if you want it that size, why change it to 640x480? What would you want to see in the area currently occupied by the black bars, if not more map?


Or maybe I'm misunderstanding your setup, and if that's the case, could you outline what you've done to get it looking like that, and whether you're playing in a window or fullscreen?

 

[Tuomo L]

So you have used Graphics.resize_screen(640, 480) to change the window size, and you're playing in window mode, not fullscreen, and it's still showing the black bars? And your map is larger than the default size of 17x13 tiles?

No, if I don't change the window size, it displays the black bars in full screen. Never in windowed. The only times the black bars don't show in full screen is when the Yanfly's resolution is set to 640x480 (which makess the minimum map size requirement 20x15 too but many of the scripts I'm needing do not function in it), otherwise the resolution of the screenshots is STILL 640x480  (you may check the one I took and it's 640x480, despite the ingame resolution being 544x416) but the game area is just the regular 544x416 making the black borders around until it reaches 640x480. I was saying, I want a script that makes the full screen be only 544x416 instead of fitting to 640x480 with the "help" of the black borders.

To summarize; without scripts, in vanilla Ace  (as well as VX) I have borders always on 544x416 with the borders filling up the area to make it 640x480, if you look at that screenshot for instance it's 640x480 but if you select the parts without the border the resolution is still 544x416. With aid of script, the resolution of the game changes to fit to 640x480 without relying on borders. I want a workaround to prevent black borders from ever appearing and the resolution remaining either the same or stretching to fit the screen like in the past RPGmakers. (It's borderline sad that a game I made nearly 13 years ago works in full screen with less hassle than any game done with the two previous programs made in the recent years...) I cannot use Yanfly's resolution set to 640x480 because the scripts by Moghunter I use (that are esential for the project) do not work on 640x480 resolution.

I wouldn't even mind the borders that much if I were to set my own custom borders but having just black bars take huge chunks off screen is absolutely horrible looking. So if the borders for some reason "have to" appear, I would at least want to be able to set my own border images.

 

[Andar]

I wouldn't even mind the borders that much if I were to set my own custom borders but having just black bars take huge chunks off screen is absolutely horrible looking. So if the borders for some reason "have to" appear, I would at least want to be able to set my own border images.

They're black because they are displayed by the grafic card, not by window. and the reason for this is that the graficcards only function at predefined resolutions - and 544x416 is not a predefined resolution for windows...

You can't cange those borders without reprogramming the grafic card driver, and such a fix would only work for computers with that specific card, no other..

 

[Tuomo L]

They're black because they are displayed by the grafic card, not by window. and the reason for this is that the graficcards only function at predefined resolutions - and 544x416 is not a predefined resolution for windows...

You can't cange those borders without reprogramming the grafic card driver, and such a fix would only work for computers with that specific card, no other..

Ah now I see. So, how do you fix this then? Can you make your own border to keep the windows in same aspect ratio but have your own to fit to 640x480 and thus not need the graphics card's automation?

 

[Andar]

Ah now I see. So, how do you fix this then? Can you make your own border to keep the windows in same aspect ratio but have your own to fit to 640x480 and thus not need the graphics card's automation?

Try if the windows resizer script in the third post works in this case - I give it a 50:50 chance (it uses a different resize method that might retain the functions of those scripts requiring 544x416).

 

[Tuomo L]

Try if the windows resizer script in the third post works in this case - I give it a 50:50 chance (it uses a different resize method that might retain the functions of those scripts requiring 544x416).

It probably does but you have to call it in game instead of it starting automaticly, thus the title screen would still be all screwed up.

 

[Tsukihime]

Err, the title is also "in-game".

Btw it looks like you've already raised the issue when the script was first released and he mentioned it wasn't possible, so...I guess a simple solution isn't possible.

 

[Shaz]

Ah, okay. So you're still running at the same resolution, but this issue shows up when you play in fullscreen. Yes, it's a hardware issue.

If you go into the properties of your graphics card, you should find some options for how you want windows to behave when you change them to full screen. One of the options should be 'stretch'. See if you can find that and set it, and if it makes a difference. Specifically, I'm told it's common with certain types of monitors (so it might even be a 'display' preference rather than something on your graphics card).