Mr. Gary King (1 Viewer)

[Troy LaMont]

I was just doing a follow up on a previous question I posted to you in another thread:
quote: Gary King: I'll be spending quite a bit of time testing out Halo in both 480p and 1080i when I get it on the 15th.[/quote]
quote: Troy: So is it possible to 'tell' the XBox which resolution you want to output with each game? I was under the assumption that the game itself would be encoded at a specific resolution (say 1080i) and the XBox justs passses that on?[/quote]
Anything?
Troy
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:My teacher tells me beauty is on the inside.
:That's just something ugly people say.
[Edited last by Troy LaMont on November 08, 2001 at 02:08 PM]

 

[Michael St. Clair]

The CX25871 chip should certainly be able to output any game at 1080i; if they decide to let it. Shouldn't be any more work for the developers. Obviously, the lower the NVidia resolution that feeds it, the softer it will look. That may be a motivating factor in locking some games out of 1080i.
Frankly, now that I know that the chip is fed by a maximum 1024x768 buffer, I'm even less interested in 1080i gaming than I was before.
[Edited last by Michael St. Clair on November 08, 2001 at 02:21 PM]

 

[Gary King]

Unlike some of the luckier people, I don't have my Xbox yet, so I don't have any way to compare Halo in 1080i vs. 480p. There may be a final copy or two somewhere in the office, but I don't know where to look.
There are different rendering resolutions (640x480->1024x768) on the Xbox, but I couldn't tell you what Halo's is.

 

[Dave F]

Is this option selected via XBOX system preferences, similar to setting the PS2 DTS & 16x9 options? Just curious, since I couldn't find it in the menus while playing at the store.
I gotta stop reading about this stuff. The wait is becoming unbearable
-Dave
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DVD List
"The page you are looking for is here no more. Quoth the Raven, 'Nevermore.'"

 

[Gary King]

There is an output option in the Dashboard (which comes up if no game is in the drive when the machine is turned on); however, there isn't a 'force 1024x768' render option - that is decided on a game-by-game basis.

 

[Camp]

Halo has no resolution options. 640x480 is all I am able to play at. Bummer.
But it still looks GREAT.

 

[Brad Grenz]

Gee, no 2000+ by 1600+ resolution while playing Halo? So all those enormous screen shots they released weren't indicative of the actual game? What a surprise!
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Brad Grenz
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[Dan B]

Brad, I have to agree with you on that one. They showed us these super high res shots & stated repeatedly that these games supported HDTV. The truth is, however, that Halo & DOA 3 run in 640x480. Kinda makes you think.
-Dan B (USA)

 

[Camp]

Gee, no 2000+ by 1600+ resolution while playing Halo? So all those enormous screen shots they released weren't indicative of the actual game? What a surprise!

The detail is still pretty phenomenal. One element of those screenshots that I was always skeptical about was how well they rendered the windshield glass on the jeep. In the screen shots the glass had real depth and appeared to reflect light sources in a highly realistic manner.
Well, in action the game does not disappoint. That glass looks identical to the high-res screen shots. Even better it handles those light sources brilliantly as you manuever around the level.
That said, I certainly do wish the resolution were higher when targeting enemies at a distance (without the sniper rifle). Most guns lack a zoom feature so picking off a distant enemy (or even making out a distant enemy) is difficult at 640x480. You end up relying on the game's targeting feature which turns red when you move your reticle over an enemy.

 

[Troy LaMont]

Is this option selected via XBOX system preferences, similar to setting the PS2 DTS & 16x9 options?

This is what I was getting at I guess. As far as you know, there aren't any scaling options available via the XBox menu items?
As far as the playing the Halo in 1080i, was that just a speculation on your part?
I thought I remembered that the PS2 autosensed certain connections (audio specifically) and offered that option once it was connected. I'll have to check on that.
Well the first person (if it's not me) to connect Halo to an HDTV via the HD A/V pack, please let us know.
Camp, is your set widescreen?
Troy
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:My teacher tells me beauty is on the inside.
:That's just something ugly people say.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

How long until people start jumpering different pins on the AV connector to see if you can get it to output VGA?

 

[steveC]

Anyone know if "Halo" has a 16:9 option? Most gaming
forums seem to be stating that it does not.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

Halo does NOT do 16:9, 720p, or 1080i according to http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...threadid=91375
And I trust AVS guys. They know how to configure things. It ain't there, folks.
Doesn't make a lick of difference to me. Well, 16:9 would be nice. I don't expect 720p or 1080i to become popular at all, however.

 

[Camp]

Troy,
My set is a 4:3 Wega XBR. It'll do 1080i in a letterboxed window. I fully intend to have the HD pack up and running ASAP.
Now I just need a game that supports it.

 

[Camp]

Michael,
Thanks for the link.
The options for DD, DTS, 480p, 720p & 1080i are not available on my Xbox. The user in the thread you linked to had the HD pack. His post pretty much fills in my missing info: the Xbox does, in fact, sense the HD pack and menu options change accordingly.
Very cool.

 

[Gary King]

Michael -
I've been told exactly the opposite thing by a friend of mine working on Xbox PR. 6 more days until we know for sure.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

Michael -
I've been told exactly the opposite thing by a friend of mine working on Xbox PR. 6 more days until we know for sure.

Does your friend say 1080i, 16:9, or both?
Stacey Spears has been working as a tester with Halo on HD for 6 months and says it's not there.

 

[Gary King]

Unless I'm confusing some other Xbox game with Halo (I don't *think* I am, but it's possible), he definitely said both.
[Edited last by Gary King on November 09, 2001 at 01:58 PM]

 

[Sean Oneil]

My my my...
If these games which were widely believed to be 16x9 are not 'true' 16x9 when released...

 

[Brad Grenz]

Brad, I have to agree with you on that one. They showed us these super high res shots & stated repeatedly that these games supported HDTV. The truth is, however, that Halo & DOA 3 run in 640x480. Kinda makes you think.

This is the kinda stuff that pisses me off about MS. *I* knew all along that the Xbox would never be running the game at those ultra-high resolutions, HDTV or not. They were obviously pulled off dev systems, probably running at like 8 fps, and then released as in game shots. That's just bullshit. They tell people that games will support this or that, but you can never tell if they mean the game will render at HDTV resolutions, or a 16x9 aspect ratio, or if the game will just work on those TVs. They get home theatre nuts all hyped about the system, release HDTV accessories and progressive DVD playback, and then not deliver with the games...
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Brad Grenz
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