Does resolution really matter?

[LagMonster]

I keep seeing these benchmarks that report something like 200 FPS @ 800x600 and 80 FPS @ 1024x768. Does it even matter? When you actually play do you ever even think about what resolution the game runs at? I'm usually too involved in other things to give a damn. The only time I notice is when I'm trying to notice. Personally, to me it seems more like a bragging contest than anything else.

Dustin

 

[Ford Scrote]

It's just a benchmark. The higher your resolution, the more pixels on your screen and the smaller (and more detailed?) your picture appears. I for one play UT, Q3 and Q2 on 800*600 but i know other ppl who play on higher res's.

Depending on your graphics card the higher your res, then the lower your FPS is gonna be - which is a major issue for online gaming.

That's presumably why they include both extremes. /~unreal/ubb/html/smile.gif

FS

Smile! it might not happen and you might get a shag instead.

 

[Voyd-]

it really can make a diffrence but in todays great looking games like ut and q3a, a res of 800x600 looks damn good, and givces very good fps. if you wanna play in 1280x1024 or such resolutions, itll look slightly better, but at a huge fps drop. i personally think a lower res with higher in game details is better than a insanly high res with lots of details turned off.

 

[Morgan]

Playing at high res will make the screen appear smaller and more detailed indeed. I wouldn't play at 1024*768 on a 15" monitor. However, since I have a 19" monitor, playing at higher res works out fine.

Having more detail in your picture can also be quite usefull. I.e. you can see what weapon your enemy is carrying from greater distance (see if he's sniping or something).

Yeah lady, You and the IRS...

 

[wiz4ha]

you people forgot a couple things. 1. if your running an older system like moi right now, then your fps aren'y going to be great. for instance, if I run UT in 1024x768, im going to be getting 20fps on a voodoo3 3000 with latest drivers, p2 233mhz, 32mb ram, with the details off. Quake3 now on the same specs runs lower cos i don't have the ram. now I switch to 800X600. the fps rises, so now im at 36 fps in UT, and about 32 fps in Quake3. not bad, and the detail is nice. try running it on the net with a 56k modem in 800X600 and your dead meat. i play UT and Q3A in 640x480 with the all details on, and boom. im in the hovering around the 40's for fps. the lower the res, the faster you. 2. when running at higher res, like 1024x768, you need quite a good system. you need a fast processor, lot's o ram, and a good hard drive. all of these things play into when your gaming onto your brand new video card which will be obsolete next week.

Bottom Line: if your running UT or Q3A on an older system, like mine for instance, play it in something like 640x480, and you can turn all of the details on. If you have a huge motherfuc...fooking system that you can afford to play it in 1024x768 with the details on. if you have a mid range, play it in 1024x768 or 800x600 with only a few details on. in the long run, your frames per second count, whether you play UT and Q3A with the bots, or if you play online. my sugestion: play it with 640x480 or 800x600 with all details on. screw the highest res possible, cos it's just unplayable.

WiZ
Smiley Games

"What is Mind? No Matter.
What is Matter? Never Mind"

 

[falcon622]

I have a voodoo 3000 and a p3 450. I normally run it on 1024x768, but lately i've been running it on 800x600. Everything runs fine, but when an object, like a player, comes into view, theres always a 1.5 sec pause, for some reason. It seems to do this on all resolutions. I have a 14" monitor, but I can't get it running anything over 1024. Hmm, I think I need a new monitor.

## THIS IS OFFICIALLY THE END OF MY MESSAGE! ##

 

[CHRYSt]

Higher resolution = prettier
The FPS drop comes almost entirely from your vid card's memory speed, as well as the speed at which your card can pump out pixels (fill rate)

"Where's the BACTINE?! Some of this blood is MINE!!" -- JTHM

 

[LagMonster]

Hmmm... I must have not worded my question correctly. I know that higher resolution = better graphics. I was asking if higher resolution = better gameplay.

Try this. If you can, get another person to randomly pick a resolution while you look away. Then play for a few minutes and try to guess the resolution?

This is just an observance, but it seems most textures have been optimized for 640x480. Maybe 800x600 at the most. I can't be sure of this, but it looks that way to me.

Dustin

 

[Fringe_mz]

Higher resolution will help in certain circumstances, though not so much with FPSs.

I can tell you right now, if you were playing Total Annihilation, RESOLUTION MATTERS. The reason is that you can simply see so much more on 1600x1200 versus 640x480 in that game. The guy running on 1600x1200 has quite an advantage.

There are some FPSs that it matters a little bit. A higher-res image of a player is more defined, therefore, you can see him just a little bit better. In UT, I find this helps because you can tell whether the dude you are seeing is a teammate or not sooner. Though the benifit is minimal after 800x600.

In tribes, if you were seeing "around" a hill, it would actually help to have a lower res, because the bigger pixels would actually give away someones presense behind a hill a second faster than at high res.

Then again, when you try to snipe at 320x200, things get inaccurate and very, very ugly /~unreal/ubb/html/wink.gif. There's a tradeoff for everything.

-Fringe

 

[wiz4ha]

LagMonster - read statement above:

"screw the highest res possible, cos it's just unplayable"

no, it doesn't help gameplay.

WiZ
Smiley Games

"What is Mind? No Matter.
What is Matter? Never Mind"

 

[ZenMasterV]

i agree with wiz4ha. everyone wants the highest res and crap, but at lower resolutions with all options on, you get better framerate and plus there's is not mcuh diff b/w the two. The only time high res is REALLY important is in an FPS if you are a die-hard sniper who really needs the accuracy. But even then, its not required b/c there are tons of good snipers who run at 640x480 high res is just an extra quirk if you have the specs for it /~unreal/ubb/html/smile.gif