Widescreen Gaming Forum

OKAY!

At this point, I am in some major politeness debt. I believe I can make up for it.

I have made a hacked exe! I did it! I'm so happy! Allows POV up to 130 without the gun disappearing, with widescreen resolutions. If you will forgive me my initial misbehavior, I think you should host this, because, as far as I know, it's as yet the only way to get true widescreen without changing other parts of the game. Also, it's infinitely simpler than other solutions. The only changes are the video modes and the FOV at which the gun disappears.

What's wrong with KMQuake2? I've played through the entire game and both expansions with it, and didn't notice anything wrong. And it has an automatic FOV scaler, making it unnecessary for WS users to mess with the FOV. Also, though this isn't related to widescreen, it works with the Music Patch, and I can't imagine playing Quake 2 without the music.

What's wrong with KMQuake2? I've played through the entire game and both expansions with it, and didn't notice anything wrong. And it has an automatic FOV scaler, making it unnecessary for WS users to mess with the FOV. Also, though this isn't related to widescreen, it works with the Music Patch, and I can't imagine playing Quake 2 without the music.

I agree; there's nothing wrong with KMQuake2. KMQuake2 does not effect the gameplay, and it has a bunch of other cool features in addition to widescreen support. It's an excellent engine. For the vast majority of quake 2 gamers, kmquake is superior.

However, here's why someone would want a widescreen-enabled exe instead.

1. It's simple. No need to change the crosshair. No need to create and run a quake2.bat if you want the mission packs; they work immediately. Supposing you want to add other mods, they'll work too; the R1GL renderer can now used with custom FOV.

2. A fixed .exe does not change the system requirements. On my laptop integrated graphics, KMQuake 2 drops to ~5fps when something explodes. The fixed exe does not have this problem.

3. A complete engine overhaul is a very roundabout solution. It changes the particle effects, lighting, menus, etc., and these changes cannot be disabled.

4. You're right, my exe doesn't support the ogg soundtrack. People find your site, however, because they're looking to play games in widescreen resolutions, not because they're looking for a way to get music without the CD. People can still burn the CD if they want to.

5. Simply put, in my case, creating this exe was the only way I was able to get Quake 2 working in true widescreen. I downloaded half a dozen other solutions and all of them had some significant problem that made the game unenjoyable. It's a 12 year old game; it shouldn't be such a hassle. A fixed exe allows you to play the game exactly as you played it 12 years ago, just with widescreen support. My personal frustration that no simple solution existed was the reason I came onto these forums acting like a jerk.

I'm linking it the first post of the thread and including instructions. I request you provide it as a secondary solution in the wiki; obviously, it's your call.

Have you hosted that fixed .exe somewhere so we can test it? :)

Have you hosted that fixed .exe somewhere so we can test it? :)

Yes :) I've edited the link into the first post of the thread.

Cool. When I find my Quake 2 CDs, I'll give it a shot.

Thanks a lot--actually, though, don't hurry to test it out. I've come to believe that a good widescreen-enabled exe would actually be an important contribution, and I should take the time to do it right. Accordingly, I've been in touch with knightmare (the guy behind kmquake ii, who is making an unofficial patch which includes widescreen support), and I'm hoping that we can together come up with a simple, complete, and minimalistic widescreen solution.

Ideally, I'm hoping to make an exe with an extensive list of video modes, support for custom resolutions, and an automatically-scaled FOV. This would allow gamers who just want widescreen to work (ie, folks who just recently got quake 2 off of steam rather than old community members) would be able to enable widescreen with in a single, 0.2mb download, without touching the console or changing other parts of the game.

I expect such an exe, if it's possible, will be ready in a week or less.

Thanks for not banning me yet :)

I think that EVERYONE who plays Quake 2 should enjoy the music, widescreen users or not. Especially people who just got the game off Steam. Personally, I wouldn't even consider using or recommending a solution that didn't enable the music as long as a solution which does exists.

I think that EVERYONE who plays Quake 2 should enjoy the music, widescreen users or not. Especially people who just got the game off Steam. Personally, I wouldn't even consider using or recommending a solution that didn't enable the music as long as a solution which does exists.

I certainly agree. And my version DOES enable the music, the way it's always been enabled. As illustrated by this thread, at least as many casual gamers would prefer burning the music to a CD instead of using kmquake. The ogg soundtrack is cool, but people have been playing the music off the CD for over a decade. (i, too, would prefer an ogg soundtrack though).

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=813280

The case I would make is that, if/when a simple widescreen solution is created, by either knightmare or myself, you should list it as a SECONDARY solution. To provide a counterpoint, I think that EVERYONE who owns Quake 2 should be able to play it, period. Again, as cool as kmquake is, it just doesn't run well on my integrated graphics. Having to choose between 5fps and a stretched fullscreen resolution, I'll go with...not playing it at all.

By the way, I formally apologize. Your solutions--kmquake and the other engine--have both truly been the best possible solutions. I was not only rude, but also incorrect, to criticize them. I still think, of course, that an additional, simpler solution is needed for anyone who has trouble with kmquake.

I really liked the Quake 2 music. Made the game 100x better. :D