“Simulating” aspect ratios

[COWZYOV]

I noticed that Overwatch allows you to use an aspect ratio which doesn’t necessarily match your resolution. I play at 1440x900, but can select the 16:9 aspect ratio option, and get an improved field of view accordingly.

My question is, can this be done globally/in other games? I like how 1440x900 has better performance than 1600x900 while having almost as good quality (I care more about vertical pixel count than horizontal pixel count), but I don’t like how non-16:9 aspect ratios tend to have reduced field of view.

Is there a way I can globally “simulate” a 16:9 aspect ratio in a similar way to what can be done in Overwatch?

[Eldin]

Most of the games I played had an option to choose between 4:3, 16:9 and 16:10 aspect ratios.
And also, most of the FPS games have option to adjust FOV.
And for performance, yes you can just play on the lower resolution.

[MoonC A T]

Also, most games have an .ini config file that can allow custom values for FOV and Aspect/Resolution

[COWZYOV]

I’m guessing the config file options are the ones labeled “screen height” and “screen width”? I should just set those to a 16:9 ratio?
I see that’s what the Overwatch config file did to itself when I chose the 16:9 aspect ratio in game options, and I see no other items in the config file determining the aspect ratio.

Edit: multiplayer games tend to have a maximum fov, even when manually editing the config file

[Illusion of Progress]

I'm not familiar with Overwatch, but what you're describing is nothing unique. The majority of modern games seem to behave in a way that is referred to as having "Hor+" (Horizontal plus) visual rendering behavior, meaning they will simply expand how much you can see (FOV) to the sides with a wider aspect ratio, and the vertical resolution simply dictates "detail level" so to say. For example, I have a 1920 x 1200 display, and any time I set to 1920 x 1080 (in games that behave as I described above anyway), I lose detail level (from dropping from 1200p to 1080p), but gain FOV. Some games simply force 16:9 these days.

Not all games behave this way. It was common years ago, when 16:10 widescreen displays were just coming onto the scene, where 4:3 (CRTs) and 5:4 (1280 x 1024 LCDs) were the norm, for a game to simply cut off the top and bottom when using a widescreen resoltuion as opposed to a more traditional one. This was known as "Vert-" (vertical minus) and is the opposite of the above. Widescreen monitors actually showed LESS than traditional aspect ratios. There were communities, such as widescreengamingforums.com, set up precisely to house information, workarounds, fixes, etc. to get those games rendering more in line with how they were desired; simple with extra FOV to the sides compared to the 4:3 non-widescreen versions, as opposed to losing the top and bottom information.

There's other behaviors, too. Take some of the old Command & Conquer titles, the original Sims title, etc. (largely, some late 1990s and early 2000s 2D titles) for instance. They simply add more to the scene as your resolution increases in any direction.

It's largely going to depend on the game itself, but if it behaves as the first, and a wider FOV is what you want, then yes, simply set any 16:9 resolution. You will, of course, need to ensure your display will actually show the resolution you set (if it's lower than native in both dimensions, it should) and understand the unused space that will result (unless you stretch/scale the image, leading to distortion).

[MoonC A T]

Originally posted by COWZYOV:

I’m guessing the config file options are the ones labeled “screen height” and “screen width”? I should just set those to a 16:9 ratio?
I see that’s what the Overwatch config file did to itself when I chose the 16:9 aspect ratio in game options, and I see no other items in the config file determining the aspect ratio.

Edit: multiplayer games tend to have a maximum fov, even when manually editing the config file

Yeah. If it doesn't work just set them back to what they were. Should work though.