Maximum minimum resolution size

No, I don''t think that would be a good idea. I''d like most things to have a minimum of 320x240 just to... have it... (I''d likely not use it), but I think the safest minimum is 640x480. 800x600 may be most common but since you will get more FPS at lower resolutions players will want the option of 640x480. Of course, the more resolutions your game supports, the happier the players!

Do a simple test when your game starts - check what resolution the users desktop is currently in (EnumDisplaySettings()), if it is lower than your default mode then use that.


A more sophisticated version of the above that we use (psuedocode):

WHEN GAME STARTS:

if ("HKCU\SW\OurGame\UserSettings" registry key exists)
{
  Width = get_reg_value("HKCU\SW\OurGame\UserSettings\W")
  Height= get_reg_value("HKCU\SW\OurGame\UserSettings\H")
  Depth = get_reg_value("HKCU\SW\OurGame\UserSettings\D")
}
else
{
  Width = 800
  Height = 600
  Depth = 16
}

EnumDisplaySettings( NULL, ENUM_CURRENT_SETTINGS, &dm )

if ((dm.dmPelsWidth < Width)   ||
    (dm.dmPelsHeight < Height) ||
    (dm.dmBitsPerPel < Depth))
{
  PopUpWarningAndDialogToGetNewSettings(&Width, &Height, &Depth)
}

do 
{
  Start_engine_with_settings( Width, Height, Depth )
  PopUpWarningAndDialogToGetNewSettings(&Width, &Height, &Depth)
} 
while (engine != started successfully)


WHEN GAME EXITS (as close to final shutdown as possible):

set_reg_value("HKCU\SW\OurGame\UserSettings\W", Width)
set_reg_value("HKCU\SW\OurGame\UserSettings\H", Height)
set_reg_value("HKCU\SW\OurGame\UserSettings\D", Depth)
 

The reason for setting the registry key as close to exit as possible is that if the particular setting chosen crashes the game or causes the user to kill the game application because it has locked or reset their machine because they can''t see the display, then the bad setting won''t be saved.


You could go even further with the above and perform some amount of machine benchmarking - even as simple as checking the resolution the user runs their desktop in and which caps their graphics hardware reports then provide say 3 settings, old machine with all the detail turned off etc, normal (say the 800x600) with most detail on but fx off and "gamer" (say above 1024x768) with everything on.


--
Simon O''Connor
Creative Asylum Ltd
www.creative-asylum.com