TPWW Forums  

Go Back   TPWW Forums > o f f t o p i c > video games forum
Reload this Page Programming-wise, is it hard to allow players to select split-screen direction?
Register Members List Mark Forums Read

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 12-24-2011, 06:08 PM   #1
Kane Knight
Ron Paul 4 EVA
 
Kane Knight's Avatar
 
Posts: 152,467
Kane Knight makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)Kane Knight makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)Kane Knight makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)Kane Knight makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)Kane Knight makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)Kane Knight makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)Kane Knight makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)Kane Knight makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)Kane Knight makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)Kane Knight makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)Kane Knight makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)Kane Knight makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)Kane Knight makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)
Programming-wise, is it hard to allow players to select split-screen direction?
Don't know if anyone here is programming savvy, far as games go at least. I don't really post a lot of places where I know programmers are hanging, though, so I figured I'd throw this out a couple places where people might know.

Yes, it's kinda sad.

But yeah, friend talked me into playing Borderlands last night. I'm not big on the FPS, as you all know, but the BIG annoyance that got to me (well, besides the lack of a mini-map, which would have been awesome) was the fact that the splitscreen was vertical rather than horizontal. I especially hated scrolling back and forth on the inventory screen, but having like a 4 degree field vision was annoying in general.

Probably wouldn't be so bad if I wasn't used to vertical splitscreen, but it's kind of like finding out fire isn't right trigger. It's at least a pain to get used to.

So really, at this point, is there any technical reason you can't let someone choose? I'm not completely savvy on how the game and system handle the process, so maybe there's some reason in terms of output. Don't know, just thinking how awesome it would be if I could swap to horizontal.

And since the guy I was playing with it agreed, it would have been especially nice.

“There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.”

--John Rogers
Kane Knight is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-24-2011, 06:33 PM   #2
RoXer
History's Greatest, Mr. E
 
RoXer's Avatar
 
Posts: 42,425
RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)
Really? There wasn't an option for that? I don't believe you.
RoXer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-24-2011, 06:35 PM   #3
RoXer
History's Greatest, Mr. E
 
RoXer's Avatar
 
Posts: 42,425
RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)
You could change between vertical and horizontal on Tony Hawk for Nintendo 64. Hard to imagine Borderlands doesn't have that option somewheres.
RoXer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-24-2011, 06:39 PM   #4
RoXer
History's Greatest, Mr. E
 
RoXer's Avatar
 
Posts: 42,425
RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)
Wow. Looking this up and it defaults to vertical and you can only do horizontal depending on your TV.

That's stupid.
RoXer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-24-2011, 06:42 PM   #5
RoXer
History's Greatest, Mr. E
 
RoXer's Avatar
 
Posts: 42,425
RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)RoXer makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)
So yeah, I haven't added anything to this and I'm also as curious as Kane Knight is about the technicalities behind it if anyone knows.
RoXer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-25-2011, 11:00 AM   #6
Kane Knight
Ron Paul 4 EVA
 
Kane Knight's Avatar
 
Posts: 152,467
Kane Knight makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)Kane Knight makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)Kane Knight makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)Kane Knight makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)Kane Knight makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)Kane Knight makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)Kane Knight makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)Kane Knight makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)Kane Knight makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)Kane Knight makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)Kane Knight makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)Kane Knight makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)Kane Knight makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)
Quote:
Originally Posted by RoXer View Post
Really? There wasn't an option for that? I don't believe you.
Kane Knight is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-25-2011, 01:56 PM   #7
Emperor Smeat
Former TPWW Royalty
 
Emperor Smeat's Avatar
 
Posts: 66,659
Emperor Smeat makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)Emperor Smeat makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)Emperor Smeat makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)Emperor Smeat makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)Emperor Smeat makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)Emperor Smeat makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)Emperor Smeat makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)Emperor Smeat makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)Emperor Smeat makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)Emperor Smeat makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)Emperor Smeat makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)Emperor Smeat makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)Emperor Smeat makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)
Sounds more like a mistake or they hard coded a few things in the game's actual code based on the TV they used but this time included menus and other stuff that wouldn't display correctly in a horizontal split.

Usually see that more with text sizes since developers only make it big enough for HD/widescreen TVs and didn't bother to test or code for a general display.
Emperor Smeat is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-25-2011, 02:06 PM   #8
jcmoorehead
Blargh
 
Posts: 395
jcmoorehead is "reptacular" (2,500+)jcmoorehead is "reptacular" (2,500+)jcmoorehead is "reptacular" (2,500+)
Technically I honestly can't think of anything that'd make it difficult. If you think about it with split screen all you're doing is splitting the screen into two distinct zones.

Zone A is a rectangle on screen for player one and anything player one see's is rendered in this rectangle, and the same goes for Zone B. All it is is a matter of defining the points on the screen for each zone.

You might need some rearranging of HUD elements but beyond that it's the same tech going into it.
jcmoorehead is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-26-2011, 12:37 PM   #9
Kane Knight
Ron Paul 4 EVA
 
Kane Knight's Avatar
 
Posts: 152,467
Kane Knight makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)Kane Knight makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)Kane Knight makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)Kane Knight makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)Kane Knight makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)Kane Knight makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)Kane Knight makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)Kane Knight makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)Kane Knight makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)Kane Knight makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)Kane Knight makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)Kane Knight makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)Kane Knight makes a lot of good posts (200,000+)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Smelly Meatball View Post
Sounds more like a mistake or they hard coded a few things in the game's actual code based on the TV they used but this time included menus and other stuff that wouldn't display correctly in a horizontal split.

Usually see that more with text sizes since developers only make it big enough for HD/widescreen TVs and didn't bother to test or code for a general display.

But it's pretty common not to have splitscreen selection. Well, common among the dwindling numbers of couch multiplayer titles. Far as I've seen, the rarity is actually allowing the select. Evidently, Borderlands does in some TVs, which is nice, but it's still kind of rare as far as I know.
Kane Knight is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-26-2011, 12:53 PM   #10
LoDownM
Retired Prolly.
 
LoDownM's Avatar
 
Posts: 11,296
LoDownM puts the "bang" in Bangladesh (30,000+)LoDownM puts the "bang" in Bangladesh (30,000+)LoDownM puts the "bang" in Bangladesh (30,000+)LoDownM puts the "bang" in Bangladesh (30,000+)LoDownM puts the "bang" in Bangladesh (30,000+)LoDownM puts the "bang" in Bangladesh (30,000+)LoDownM puts the "bang" in Bangladesh (30,000+)LoDownM puts the "bang" in Bangladesh (30,000+)LoDownM puts the "bang" in Bangladesh (30,000+)
What does it need a 60inch tv or something? Because that option wasn't there when me and my friend went to play it on his 52inch tv.
LoDownM is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-26-2011, 04:09 PM   #11
Penner
Crash Bang
 
Penner's Avatar
 
Posts: 21,391
Penner puts the "bang" in Bangladesh (30,000+)Penner puts the "bang" in Bangladesh (30,000+)Penner puts the "bang" in Bangladesh (30,000+)Penner puts the "bang" in Bangladesh (30,000+)Penner puts the "bang" in Bangladesh (30,000+)Penner puts the "bang" in Bangladesh (30,000+)Penner puts the "bang" in Bangladesh (30,000+)Penner puts the "bang" in Bangladesh (30,000+)Penner puts the "bang" in Bangladesh (30,000+)
Speaking from a programmer's perspective I don't see this to be an issue. The image would be rendered in the same way you'd just have less field of vision to work with so less would be shown. Doesn't seem like it would be something hard to implement, it's more of a programmer's choice not to put it in.
Penner is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply
Thread Tools
Display Modes
Linear Mode Linear Mode

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On
Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 07:51 PM.

Forums Home - TPWW - Archive - Top

Powered by vBulletin®