Open Letter to Devs: Offer 480p Support In-Game (Please)

[AskingForTrouble]

I've been gaming on my Intel HD 4400-equipped laptop for the last week, and I notice that I get a solid 60 fps when using a resolution of 856 x 480 (along with "auto" dynamic resolution and the "low" settings preset).

The problem is, the lowest I'm able to go is either 800x600 for 4:3 or 1064x600 for 16:9 in the in-game menu. To achieve the 480p resolution above, I have to go into the game's configuration file in appdata and manually change the values using Notepad++.

I've tried using 800x600 and forcing a 16:9 aspect ratio, but I'm still missing a good portion of the screen (it's just 4:3 forcibly stretched to look 16:9). 1064x600 is okay, but the difference is about 5-10 fps.

INB4 1: "You should buy a new PC so you can get 60 fps and high settings."
- I'm currently saving up, but it'll be awhile before I can splurge on a PC that I both want and can afford. Adding an in-game option for a tweak I can easily apply outside of the game isn't a big ask (at least, I don't think it is).

INB4 2: "How can you possibly play at such a low resolution??"
- I got an mCable "Gaming Edition" as a Christmas present, and it really cleans up the image. Also, Warframe on low settings looks a lot better than most games with a "Low" settings profile.

INB4 3: "How do you have an option for 1064x600? It doesn't show up in the in-game menu for me."
- I added this, and other custom resolutions (856x480), to Intel's HD Graphics Control Panel.

[Sir Tontonolous]

You can't just stretch a 4:3 resolution and expect it to not look terrible. The pixel count needs to increase, which means the frame rate will decrease.

quik mafs

[massgunner32]

WTF is wrong with the forums today, this the 5th post to have duplicates.

[No_Quarter]

chances are your laptop will not be supported for long, so if we look forward where 1080p is the lowest res monitor and taht is with 144Hz, even laptops are getting ray tracing so chances are we will not be going back.

you can mess around with dynamic resolution in game, maybe that forces it down when your frames get too low.

in any case, I really doubt it will get implemented.

[SQLOwns]

You could also stop living in 1998. I had 800x600 in 2003. It was like an $800 PC if I remember correctly. If you can't afford something better, go get a job at a fast food place or something for like 2 weeks. Then start playing as it's meant to be played. Life is too short man, trust me. You will be happier in the end.

[AskingForTrouble]

Originally posted by massgunner32:

WTF is wrong with the forums today, this the 5th post to have duplicates.

I just realized that my thread was copied about 4-5 different times, I deleted the excess just now.

Originally posted by Doomie™:

You can't just stretch a 4:3 resolution and expect it to not look terrible. The pixel count needs to increase, which means the frame rate will decrease.

quik mafs

Which is why I'm arguing for the adoption of an 856x480 resolution option in-game: it has both a better aspect ratio and a better performance footprint than 800x600.

quik mafs

Originally posted by No_Quarter:

I really doubt it will get implemented.

I agree, since everyone I've spoken to about it elsewhere is both vociferously and morally opposed to the idea of adding a simple and unobtrusive performance-boosting option for players with lower-spec systems.

Originally posted by SQLOwns:

You could also stop living in 1998... If you can't afford something better, go get a job at a fast food place or something for like 2 weeks.

You could also stop assuming that everyone's personal and financial situation is as easy as "get a job at a fast food place or something for like 2 weeks." Also:

Originally posted by AskingForTrouble✨:

I'm currently saving up

[JOESEPH MY BELOVED]

Jesus man you can get a second hand laptop for 500 that will run this on 1080p 60 FPS, go get a job got a week and your problem is solved

[404_Gordon_Not_Found]

I don't think the devs would cater to the 0.01% of the playerbase with seriously outdated tech

[Bowbie]

i don't understand your issue.

Originally posted by AskingForTrouble✨:

I notice that I get a solid 60 fps when using a resolution of 856 x 480 (along with "auto" dynamic resolution and the "low" settings preset).

You actually are playing at 856x480 but you ask to be able to play at 856x480 ?

You may want to try a fixed dynamic resolution too, juste to know the exact definition your PC can handle. Because now, we can't tell if your auto dynamic resolution uses 95% or 50% at your current def. Did you try 720p with dynamic res set to 50% or your 856x480 with no dynamic res?

Though i'd recommand to stick with 720p /w dyn res set to 50% if your PC can handle that, you can force 640x360 (360p, this is a real 16:9 def). 720p with 50% dyn res actually is 360p. No need for weird definition.

You might want to try 960x540 and 853x480 (or 854x480). This is closer to 16:9 than you current definition, but i don't know your actual monitor because you list 1064x600 as a 16:9 definition ?? The real closest 16:9 def is 1072x603 but i guess you might use 1067x600. In any cases, not 1064x600 nor 856x480...

On a side note, there is no true 480p in 16:9 ratio, so if a dev would support low definition, they may be better off with 360p but idk, youtube handles that pretty well.

[No_Quarter]

tips for buying a budget PC.

Zen2 promisses budget oriented high level CPU's starting from 4.5-ish Ghz 6 core 12 threads for just under 100$ and having some abvsurd high core count like 16 cores for 500$.

What that will do is move everything on used market, older CPU's with 4 cores and 8 hreads such as FX piledriver or i5's will be dirt cheap, I doubt it will be over 30$ and it gives enjoyable budget experience if you go for one with high core clock.
But it is better to go with new socket that is upgradeable.

As for GPU I would go for 1060 6GB as it has enough horsepower, has good price to performance ratio and should last for long with those 6 gigs, especially if you buy MSi one as it has cooler from 1080ti and is such overkill for the card that cooler is off for the most part (only turns on when GPU is above 60c). WHich also giver overclocking possibilities which can benefit your in the long run, like, when it starts fighting it's age.
Also why it's a good budget thing is that it does not suck power.

ofc 1060 is good if you aim for 1080p experience, if you go for 1440p or higher then it is not enough. But only buy 6GB version.
2060 is a waste of money imo, has RTX cores that cannot be used.... I'd wait for few years before investing in ray tracing cards.
1060 is where you can even step into higher refresh rate monitors, up to like 144hz

For RAM, depends on a budget. System can run on 8 gigs but 16 is optimal. So If you go for 8 buy one module and sacrifice dual channel and when you can afford go buy second 8 gig module and that will work for a while.

Buying system all at once can be heavy on the wallet so you can sacrifice some parts, like buy cheap Zen2 CPU and a motherboard with on-board GPU and run that for few months before you get enough money for GPU. Just make sure you get PSU that will be able to support it once you get it.
Buy cheap used hard drive for 20$ and run that before you are able to get that 1TB SSD and M.2 raid
Get 5$ case and shove it all in before you can get that 100$ RGB one.
Get used TN panel 22 inch monitor before you get a good one, that TN cna always be used as secondary monitor (disclaimer, once you get 2 monitors you will NEVER be able to use PC with just one monitor).

So really important things are motherboard, CPU, RAM and PSU. Everyting else can be winged. Even CPU can kinda be winged for a start but it is not the best case scenario.

Instead of shelling out like 1500-2500$ for what is considered a good gaming PC, you can make it work and run games for 400-500$ and then build it "on the go" - part by part.

[Dizzy]

Why the ♥♥♥♥ are you on a laptop. my rig cost me 400 USD and 300 of the 400 was my card. I can easily get 60fps on the max graphics and 4K, like just buy a desktop. (No hate)

[Kameh]

Originally posted by Jayden:

Why the ♥♥♥♥ are you on a laptop. my rig cost me 400 USD and 300 of the 400 was my card. I can easily get 60fps on the max graphics and 4K, like just buy a desktop. (No hate)

Plenty of low end laptops can run the game just fine, the OP's is just an ancient laptop that would stuggle launching Minecraft.