So there are multiple threads on why this is a huge problem in PvE and PvP:
but I think, the fights over “it is important or not” (in which I was stupidly very involved aswell) are very subjective and do not solve any problems.
So I do understand, that coming from an ultra wide screen, being restricted to 16:9 is awkward. E.g. being used to a big smartphone, like an iPhone 10 and then looking at the screen of an iPhone 5 (which at the time was big) feels like looking at an old gameboy.
So based on suggestions in other threads, I think, you should restrict the ultrawide screen players with something else than black bars.
Solution 1)
As soon as you are hostiled, a fog of war appears, that does restrict your vision and skills, but NOT your mousemovement.
Skills like teleport are restricted to only reach to the borders of a 16:9 screen. (mouse movement not restricted however)
No restrictions in Singleplayer
Problems in 1):
EDIT: Major problem imo is, what May13 said:
You still have spells, that reach further in PvM on ladder, so a bigger field of view means very slight advantage for ultra wide users (imo not a big issue)
People can troll you, by enforcing you to have a fog of war, without even fighting against you. (Tbh, not a great issue, because most people will not have fun, hostiling everyone, without even knowing if the person has an ultra wide screen)
Solution 2)
When creating a game, have a checkbox for a fog of war (Fow), which restricts vision generally to 16:9 and show the chosen option in the games’ list ofc
People with ultra wide screens can avoid these games and play with others, who also want to experience the ultra wide view
Now 16:9 users can choose to go for 16:9 games only, but can ofc also still join games without FoW, if they don’t care or want to play with friends, who don’t like FoW
the range of teleport should still be restricted in all games imo, because it makes farming more efficient. And this is going to be very noticable after 200 Mephisto runs.
Problems with 2):
It ever so slightly splits the community, but I think there are enough players on both fronts
also everyone can always choose, to join the other games aswell
I ask you guys to not come around with “go play vanilla D2”, “buy a bigger monitor” and this ignorant stuff. There are solutions to this problem, which I think are needed, to avoid huge statstorms after the release, from people complaining about ultra wide support or about being restricted with black bars.
Just add FoW for everything outside of the 16:9 area and limit spell casting to within that range as well.
Ultrawide users don’t get the ugly black bars, but still don’t have the slightest advantage over other palyers.
This is imo the only solution to handle this issue in a fair way to preserve the competitve integrity of the game.
For any ultrawide users that don’t agree with this:
The modding scene will most certainly provide what you are looking for
I agree with you, that the most important part here should be, to keep the integrity of the game preserved. But generic FoW is like “nicer black bars”, right?
Not quite, what these people are looking for.
Yeah, unfortunately, they can’t play online then, since TCP/IP is gone. And mods don’t run on Bnet.
Multiplayer ultrawide handling:
Zoom [ ]
Side Bars [ ]
Fog of war [x]
Limiting mouse-click range for spell casting/picking up items works as a partial measure as well.
And for the record I have a 21:9 screen, so I’m the person benefitting from no actions taken, but recognize it’s an unfair advantage for both PvP and PvM.
Don’t you think, an option in the game creation can handle that? I mean, I am nowhere near to be confident, that these two proposals have no exploits or so. But at the same time I also don’t see any real issues with them.
No.
They still get a huge advantage in PvM that also translates to PvP through levels and gear.
A separate mode with a separate Ladder might work, but I don’t think that it is reasonable to put your hopes into that.
Also the player base for that mode would be extremely small, so most people would play the 16:9 mode anyways.
One very important thing, you should limit skill “click” not spell casting. Else you would not be able to “chainlock” because teleport wont cast 1 screen further.
I don’t quite get that tbh. I mean, seeing mobs earlier is indeed a small advantage, but it’s not huge. Also if you restrict teleport to 16:9 screen range, it doesn’t speed up farming.
Yeah, that’s really awkward to play though, because if you move your mouse a mm over the 16:9 border and your clicks don’t work anymore, that’s really bad for the gameplay.
So I guess, you have to restrict the whole view in PvP anyway, but in PvM I don’t see, why restricting spells, which have a range, does not suffice.
Yeah, in PvP you either need different games (my suggestion 2)) or a complete FoW. Otherwise you are right, people with 16:9 get chainlocked to death.
Ask HC players or people who grind to 99 to compete on the Ladder how insignificant it is to see Extra Fast Fanatism Moon Lords before you teleport into them
Then there are builds like the Trapsin who don’t even need to be in casting range to utilize the additional vision.
People who are buying ultrawide monitors know perfectly well what they are getting into when it comes to gaming.
Making the gameplay experience for the majority of the playerbase worse just to cater to this rather small group of the player base would be a really stupid thing to do - especially for a remaster like this one.
Yeah I see that and I do agree, that it still does make a difference for 1 death in a 1000. But I personally feel like this is the point, at which I could make a compromise, because at this point, no spells and no mechanics actively give you advantages.
It is purely the information you get, which gives you an advantage and that’s just the same in every game in the world with ultra wide screens.
If you think, this is something to be removed from games, this is going to be a more fundamental and general argument. I am not saying I disagree, but I also want progress in monitors and stuff. The step from 4:3 to 16:9 is good imo, and going further can in general also be good.
Yeah I agree, but apparently the devs want to support ultra wide screens. And most likely they are crunching right now, so I guess, finding solutions to this problem is something, where productive and objective discussions in the forums can actually help. (maybe this is naive, but at least in principle this can definitely be true)
You’re in a multiplayer game doing Cows / Baal runs / whatever. You see a wider area than others and see that High Rune or unique unearthed wand drop on the edge of your view. You will see it drop when others wont. Additionally you can teleport to it in one click.
Wide screen support for Single player only. Then people with wide screen can still enjoy it even if it’s totaly game breaking even in PvM (players vs monsters) since monsters AI doesnt work that far. You can see and hit them without being on their AI range.
Wide support for multiplayer also but it appears a “fog of war” and mouse is locked to 16:9 https://i.imgur.com/gVeiyX8.jpg
Wide screen with Locking screen and add bars (limit it to 16:9) : https://imgur.com/hG2tXU1
Any of these different solution might be good. they need to let people play the game for a while, observe what problems actually occur and prove problematic, and then fix them.
Many ranged attacks have a range that reaches far beyond your screen.
You would either have to stop those attacks at 16:9 range, or increase the monster aggro range and movement speed to make up for it.
Both would fundamentally change the balance between ranged and melee classes.
FoW is a much simpler solution than having a bunch of confusing game creation options, resolution switches on hostile and AI and skill changes.
Also FoW technically still fulfills the ultrawide support condition
