Multi-Monitor Support: Do you Want It?
By
Back_Blast,
Posted on: 2010-03-10 15:29 in ALL ACCESS Gameplay Technical Issues Bugs
Post retracted due to misunderstanding of the purpose of the thread. 
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Hmm.
I wouldn't mind seeing them give the proper field of view support to widescreen, whether on one or on multiple monitors.
That said, it should - if implemented - be set up in Options ("Use multiple monitors if available,") as when I *did* have multiple monitors set up, I had chat windows, web pages and such hooked up in the other window, and found it far more useful for me in that arrangement. (There's a possibility of this coming back when funds get freed up so I can reclaim that other monitor, too. It's currently on my "TV" system. In which case I'd be running two non-homogenous resolutions again, 1680x1050 and 1280x1024.)
So, for me, the main focus would be proper-FOV, regardless of the setup being a single widescreen (which I am running) *or* multiple monitors, as both are impacted.
(Edit: I could also add a pie-in-the-sky wish to run like I used to run Autocad, with all graphical content on one monitor, all text - chat windows, combat logs, etc. - on the other, but that's getting into the realm of major rewrite, I'd say.)
If it were implemented, I'd check it out.
I recently had my 22" widescreen monitor die while under warranty. It's being repaired but, since I can't be without a working computer, I immediately bought a 23" 16:9 HD monitor. So I will shortly have way more screen real estate than I'll actually need. I'm also going to build a new system between now and Going Rogue, so I'll have ample CPU/GPU horsepower.
So I fall in category B: planning to set up a multi-monitor system before GR launches. I've never used one before. I may love it or I may think it's a waste of limited space on my desk.
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Well I have two monitors but I've never considered trying to have CoH on both at once. The second one is more for a place to have up useful web pages or other such things while I play if I need them. I suppose depending on how it works, I might have a look and see if I like.
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If the option to utilize multiple monitors were added, I would take advantage of it.
Be well, people of CoH.
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I believe I would as well, especially if you could pick your own center. |
Originally Posted by Bill Z Bubba
If the option to utilize multiple monitors were added, I would take advantage of it.
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for example, for a 2-screen display, your character could still be in the center of one screen, rather than split down the center of one of them. One purpose some people would have for the second screen would be to virtually increase the FoV by moving much of the interface onto it, rather than giving an actual FoV expansion.
I run with a dual monitor setup now, although at the moment COH is only on one of them with Herostats, Ventrilo and anything else useful on the other. I certainly wouldn't mind the ability to run COH across both monitors; but what I'd appreciate even more is Bill's suggestion of being able to have all the text on the second monitor... that way I don't have to choose between having a chat tab up or seeing what's going on around it.
So I'd put a big "heck yeah" on allowing COH to display properly over multiple monitors. I also dislike the crop top and bottom it imposes on a standard widescreen but I CAN live with it if I have to.
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For your purposes, if you can really live with the -vert.. you can run CoH in windowed mode and simply drag the side of the window over to the other screen. You'll be able to put your Map and CoH chat on the other monitor with HS and your other utilities. It would certainly skew the original view though, and your character would no longer be centered on that screen. The only current fix for this would be to use a 3rd monitor on the other side to expand that way as well and re-center your character. lol
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Originally Posted by Call Me Awesome
I run with a dual monitor setup now, although at the moment COH is only on one of them with Herostats, Ventrilo and anything else useful on the other. I certainly wouldn't mind the ability to run COH across both monitors; but what I'd appreciate even more is Bill's suggestion of being able to have all the text on the second monitor... that way I don't have to choose between having a chat tab up or seeing what's going on around it.
So I'd put a big "heck yeah" on allowing COH to display properly over multiple monitors. I also dislike the crop top and bottom it imposes on a standard widescreen but I CAN live with it if I have to. |
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Read my mind exactly... For the UI crowd, push the windows and popups to one display, for FoV, a field of vision "slider" to shift the center POV to one side or the other so to not become crosseyed.|
Originally Posted by Master-Blade
I believe I would as well, especially if you could pick your own center.
for example, for a 2-screen display, your character could still be in the center of one screen, rather than split down the center of one of them. One purpose some people would have for the second screen would be to virtually increase the FoV by moving much of the interface onto it, rather than giving an actual FoV expansion. |
Or for triple-monitor folks, nevermind.
Currently run with CoH on my main monitor and keep (mainly) a web browser, and/or vent on the secondary.
Would be nice to be able to set the various sub windows to display on either monitor but not really interested in spanning the main view over both (or more) as the physical borders on the two monitors are likely to be a major distraction. Also not sure how this could be handled where the two monitors are of different sizes running different resolutions.
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If it were available, I would totally abuse multi monitor support after Going Rogue. Right now my monitor is a 46" TV, but something about the ATI Eyefinity across three monitors is really digging into my spine... As in, I want it dammit!
But sadly, this is really the only computer game I play so I haven't tried to get it since it's not supported. But if it were, I would absolutely buy three monitors and go to town! But it would be after Going Rogue before I could shell out $600 or more for monitors. heh
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You would be running the game in windowed mode, and the position of that window would depend on how you had the monitors set up in your Windows Control Panel. Usually, the second screen's upper-left-hand corner starts where the first screen's upper-right-hand corner left off.|
Originally Posted by Gaia
Currently run with CoH on my main monitor and keep (mainly) a web browser, and/or vent on the secondary.
Would be nice to be able to set the various sub windows to display on either monitor but not really interested in spanning the main view over both (or more) as the physical borders on the two monitors are likely to be a major distraction. Also not sure how this could be handled where the two monitors are of different sizes running different resolutions. |
This means if you used the larger monitor as your main screen, the bottom of the window would be cut off on the second screen when dragging the window onto it.
This kinda already works in windowed mode - I can drag the window to be any resolution and the game works fine, even spanning it across multiple monitors (only tried up to 3).
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Hmmm... when I get back into the game, I might have to try a setup like this in windowed mode.
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Originally Posted by Tahquitz
Read my mind exactly... For the UI crowd, push the windows and popups to one display, for FoV, a field of vision "slider" to shift the center POV to one side or the other so to not become crosseyed.
Or for triple-monitor folks, nevermind. |
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Yeah... I don't think I made this clear enough. |
Originally Posted by Tahquitz
Read my mind exactly... For the UI crowd, push the windows and popups to one display, for FoV, a field of vision "slider" to shift the center POV to one side or the other so to not become crosseyed.
Or for triple-monitor folks, nevermind. |
AMD Eyefinity, Nvidia 3D Vision Surround, and Matrox triple head are for 3 MONITOR SYSTEMS... not two monitor systems. This thread is about support for 3 or more monitors in an Eyefinity triple screen or Hex screen configuration.
If you do not understand what Eyefinity, 3D Vision Surround, or Triple Head do, please go watch this video on HardOCP: http://www.hardocp.com/article/2009/...hnology_review
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Okay, with that clarification in place, here's why this thread is not about 2 monitors.
Bezels.
Those little black things that are on the border of your monitor. As I understand the centering of the camera the developers would have to break the rendering aspects in order to move your character off center from the camera position. This is not exactly an easy task to accomplish.
The advantage of triple screen wide, or hex screen (3 wide x 2 high), or enn screen (3 wide x 3high) is that the center focus point can still be positioned in a "middle" monitor. Hex, 3wide x2 high, can be a bit of a pain on FPS, but sometimes can be suited to RPG's where the character can be positioned in the middle of the bottom screen.
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now, in theory, if Television and crew were to implement changes to the underlying engine to support triple, hex, and enn setups, it's possible that they could probably also implement offsets to support 2 wide monitors, 3 monitors wide with one monitor on top, 4monitors wide, or so on.
I really don't know.
I imagine though that supporting 3 screens wide would be an easier task out of the box, and doable this year.
Tripple monitor set up? Mweh, i barely use my second one. Not to deny anyone their good time, but I'd have to put in a vote of "no" for multi-monitor support at this time; I don't want to lose something from GR that ALL or MOST people could enjoy in exchange for something only a few would.
Don't get me wrong, tripple-monitor support would be t3h sex and a great selling point for CoH in general, but I don't want it getting in the way of soemthing else.
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Originally Posted by je_saist
What the development staff needs to know is if you are
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Originally Posted by je_saist
Yeah... I don't think I made this clear enough.
AMD Eyefinity, Nvidia 3D Vision Surround, and Matrox triple head are for 3 MONITOR SYSTEMS... not two monitor systems. This thread is about support for 3 or more monitors in an Eyefinity triple screen or Hex screen configuration. |
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Well, my answer is conditional....
Would triple-monitor support be essentially the same thing as widescreen Field of View support (ie. removing the current vert- solution for widescreen, and replacing with proper hor+)? I mean, I know these issues are related, but I'm not sure, from a tech standpoint, if they're identical.
So, IF implementing triple-monitor support is the same thing, development-wise, as implementing widescreen FoV support for 16:9, 15:9, and 16:10 monitors, then, by all means, yes!! I'm fully in support of this happening for Going Rogue.
To answer your question more specifically:
No, I do not run a multiple-monitor system, nor do I have any plans to. However, I do, like many people, play on a widescreen monitor - and I HATE the -vert. Beyond my personal feelings about it, though, I just think it's important for CoH to stay relevant in the marketplace. It feels like we're watching a pan-and-scanned VHS movie, when newer games are the equivalent of Blu-Ray widescreen/letterbox.
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I have already bought a 5970 Radeon specifically for Eyefinity and Ultra. Once Ultra hits with support for more than one GPU I'm looking to pick up another 5970 if the dual GPUs isn't enough to power the system effectively.|
Originally Posted by je_saist
[/LIST]What the development staff needs to know is if you are
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Currently I've moved the GTX280 to the secondary GPU slot and both video cards are powering Dell 3007s. I have a third 3007 to plop onto the ATi (effectively making the Nvidia card a physx processor only) once eyefinity is supported in CoX.
I would have considered a GTX480 but they are not here yet and I've heard only 2 monitors per card whilst the ATi 5970 supports 3 per card, and it is available now.
This is the only game I play.
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Yeah, this thread just became too rich for my blood... |
Originally Posted by je_saist
Yeah... I don't think I made this clear enough.
AMD Eyefinity, Nvidia 3D Vision Surround, and Matrox triple head are for 3 MONITOR SYSTEMS... not two monitor systems. This thread is about support for 3 or more monitors in an Eyefinity triple screen or Hex screen configuration. If you do not understand what Eyefinity, 3D Vision Surround, or Triple Head do, please go watch this video on HardOCP: http://www.hardocp.com/article/2009/...hnology_review |
Thanks for clarifying, je_saist. It might be the thread title: people hear multiple monitor and kneejerk reaction makes you think 2 monitors. Triple or Hex Monitor Support is more accurate for what you're discussing. But it's still interesting: if the view is panoramic (90 degree tangent), or a 180 degree wrap (full left-to-right field of vision) or not would be damn cool either way. Yet while being on the fore-front is important to meet/beat competitors, buying a capable card and triple-monitor, let alone a cache of similar Resolution monitors is too difficult for me to justify to loved ones.
Just my "sitch", doesn't mean it's a bad idea.
I currently run an eyefinity triple monitor setup with all three monitors running at 1680x1050. This game does not work properly spanned across all three in windowed mode. You don't gain any real estate by spanning it across three screens. Here are some screens I took.
Triple Monitor:
http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/1...0225192605.jpg
Single Monitor:
http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/3...0225192517.jpg
It seems to zoom in and tilt the camera down. I made the character about the same size on my screen and used the floor tiling for scale. It bothers me.
So considering I have three monitors, HELL YES I would like to have the ability to use them. It wouldn't be very ULTRA without it.
Do want!
I'm a little late with my 2-cents, but ... yes, I've been hoping for hor+ instead of vert- for quite some time. I'm running the Matrox solution -- which is the "simplest" since it just tricks the video card into thinking there's a very wide, squat monitor attached. With the current vert- solution, the lost real estate far outweighs the subtle gains to peripheral vision. And having to zoom waaaaay out to see your feet means that the 'insta-zoom-in' when you put your back to a wall is intolerable. I thought I hated cave missions BEFORE!
Although, I'll fullscreen it for flying around Cimerora. Freakin' beautiful.
I work around it by playing in windowed mode, and shrinking in the edges until I have about, oh, 1/3 of a screen on either side monitor. Just enough for a map & a combat attributes window on either side. That's "enough" gameplay improvement for me to find the triple monitors worth it, but I'd love a real solution. I agree with the analogy about "VHS pan-n-scan". Sometimes, you just have to keep up.
I got all 'cited inside when I heard about "upgraded video" for I-17. But .. alas. So I can only keep my fingers crossed for Going Rogue.
I can pretty much tell you it won't be in Going Rogue. There wasn't enough interest for Matrox triple screen / Eyefinity support to dedicate programming resources to the change.
I have been told that the issue will be brought up again after Going Rogue launches, and we "might" see it as a QOL upgrade at a later date.
Erg. I feel bad about putting this thread here because it really belongs in Suggestions / Ideas...
Here's the Background: We've had a few posters drop by for help in trying to get City of Heroes working on multiple-monitor systems. Currently City of Heroes does not properly display with screen aspect ratios outside of 4:3, 16:9, and 16:10. Nor does the game properly execute aspect ratio and field of view on 16:9 and 16:10 setups either.
Currently there are 4 major implementations of multi-monitor technology in use:
- Matrox Parhelia: the original triple-screen graphics card from 2002. Yeah, I'm sure lots of gamers are using a card that performed like a Geforce TI 4200 8 years later.
- Matrix Triple-Head-To go: Matrox's followup. Presents 3 monitors as a single monitor to a graphics card. This is actually a fairly popular consumer add on as it works across most existing graphics cards.
- ATi Eyefinity: ATi's native multiple monitor solution. Eyefinity is currently available across the entire RadeonHD 5x00 range with 3 monitors, and cards with support for 6 monitors or more are on the way.
- Nvidia 3D Vision Surround: Okay. this is badly named. It's not actually a reference to the 3D stereoscopic support, but it's Nvidia's answer to Eyefinity with Fermi cards. Nvidia is not shipping any graphics cards with 3D Vision Surround right now, and only two graphics cards with support, the $500 GTX 470 and $700 GTX 480, will be available when Going Rogue is scheduled for release.
What the development staff needs to know is if you are- A: Running a Multi-Monitor System
- B: Planning on purchasing or setting up a Multi-Monitor System before Going Rogue launches
- c: Planning on purchasing or setting up a Multi-Monitor System after Going Rogue launches
The reason for this, as it's been explained to me, is that development resources are stretched thin right now. Yes, support for multi-monitor can be added, and likely will be added anyways. However, support won't be arriving with Issue 17.Support for Multi-Monitor systems could arrive by Going Rogue, but it's likely that there would be a trade-off. A function or feature for Going Rogue might need to be delayed or pushed back to another issue release. Ergo; if a significant amount of players, and no, I don't know what the development staff considers to be significant, already have multi-monitor setups or are getting multiple monitors before Going Rogue launches, it might be possible to juggle resources and do Multi-monitor support before July.
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I do need to stress that this thread is absolutely non-binding and that any and all posts requesting multi-monitor support does not in anyway enjoin or enter the developers into an agreement upon which Multi-Monitor support is understood to be in development. This thread is not a valid contract between the Undersigned players and any and all developers who may participate in the subsequent postings.
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Thread cross-posted to HardOCP here: http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1035438284
Thread cross-posted to MepisLovers here: http://mepislovers.org/forums/showthread.php?p=220994