[Suggestion] Add a non-blurry zoom mode

[phobos2077]

I haven't played the game since it's release, was waiting for patches to fix things and improve on obvious flaws. While there were a lot of great changes over the months, one thing that bugged me the most (along with the lack of body decay) is how game zoom is handled. And it's still unchanged.

I'm using a 2560x1440 resolution on a 27-inch monitor. As anyone who played the game knows, whenever you change zoom level to anything other than default 50%, the ugly texture filtering kicks in and makes all sprites look blurry.

My proposal: add an optional fixed-scaling zoom mode w/o filtering. Here's how it might works:

- Only the following zoom levels are available: 50%, 100%, 200% this way the nearest-neighbor scaling works perfectly because for each pixel of the source image there's exactly 4 (2x2) pixels on the monitor. Sprites will look sharp and clear, just like you would have on a lower-resolution monitor.
- Nearest-neighbor algorithm is used for scaling to prevent any blur.
- Instant transition between zoom levels to prevent any artifacts.

Please, please, pretty please, developers. This will make this game MUCH more enjoyable for me and I think many others as well.

[-Dare Devil/x/]

-Do tou have a video of the blurriness? I haven't seen a request like this before.

[phobos2077]

Originally posted by -Dare Devil/x/:

-Do tou have a video of the blurriness? I haven't seen a request like this before.

Just run the game w/o UHD and take a good look at sprites. It's most clearly visible on trees. Only at default zoom there's a clear change when resampling is apparently disabled and sprites look crisp. As you zoom anywhere, resampling kicks in and makes sprites blurry.

This is not some bug, it's just how the game works. Maybe I'm in a minority with a need for pixel-perfect scaling? I just got used to it playing all kinds of old games on modern monitors. Take a loot at OpenTTD - scaling is implemented correctly there, w/o any transitions and resampling.

[phobos2077]

Compare these two screenshots with default zoom and zoomed in:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2177535294
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2177535238

Unit sprites are blurry, but it's most visible on grass. It's just a side effect of 2D graphics resampling. The only way to avoid it is to use nearest-neighbor algorithm and stick to fixed-step zoom levels with ratio like 1:2 1:3 etc. So you end up with duplicated pixels from the original image w/o losing any 2D art quality.

I'm gonna download UHD (for the first time) and see if it's any less noticeable with it. But I'm not sure I want to play with it, it just takes too much disk and memory space and I'd be happy with pixelated graphics as long as they're looking the way artist envisioned - crisp and clear.

[Quarantined_villager]

Originally posted by phobos2077:

Originally posted by -Dare Devil/x/:

-Do tou have a video of the blurriness? I haven't seen a request like this before.

Just run the game w/o UHD and take a good look at sprites. It's most clearly visible on trees. Only at default zoom there's a clear change when resampling is apparently disabled and sprites look crisp. As you zoom anywhere, resampling kicks in and makes sprites blurry.

This is not some bug, it's just how the game works. Maybe I'm in a minority with a need for pixel-perfect scaling? I just got used to it playing all kinds of old games on modern monitors. Take a loot at OpenTTD - scaling is implemented correctly there, w/o any transitions and resampling.

I know wh you mean with the blurry zoom, it seems that you only get the sharp objects at 50% zoom
Do you try it with full graphics? Maybe that is the issue

[Moreno]

This issue has been touched elsewhere, but has never been solved: https://steamcommunity.com/app/813780/discussions/2/1639802081896980517/?l=turkish

And it's not about full graphics or not. It's just how the game works unfortunately.
I used to play fully zoomed out, then some day I randomly started experimenting... until I realized I was getting more detailed objects at 50% zoom level. The graphics were just prettier. Been playing at this level since then.
Thank you, OP, for the input on this matter. May get the attention of the developers.

[Moreno]

Also here: https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/pretty-big-rendering-errors-on-any-zoom-level-except-50/61188

[phobos2077]

I've tested with UHD and the core issue is still there. The only difference is that now the "default" zoom level (w/o distortion of sprites) in much closer. It might be a little less annoying because down-scaling from higher-resolution source image is always a bit better. But still, I'd much prefer the normal non-distorted zoom mode to be added. Then I can delete UHD and enjoy normal graphics in all their pixelated glory :)

[RameyNoodles]

I think this is a good suggestion. I haven't really been bothered by the blurriness, as it less noticeable in this game to me, for some reason. I think we've definitely been spoiled with other 2D games.