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I just bought the whole series in the promo. I've never played any of them before, and so I was looking forward to it. I noticed something odd though. On the first screen (the shop), the image appears to be 320*200 resolution, but some of the objects (newspaper, coats, magnifying glass) are in a much higher resolution. Is this normal? Was the game always like that? I've never seen that in a 2D game before. It's not actually a problem, I just thought it looked very odd, and got curious. Also, is it a giveaway? Are all objects you can interact with in a higher resolution than the rest of the game?
[Edit]
It was plainly not so in the original. Compare this screenshot from MobyGames with this one from GOG's GK1 page. They are not exactly the same size (the GOG one is scaled up a bit), but you can still plainly see the difference. So where did these hi-res objects come from?
Post edited May 23, 2010 by Wishbone
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Make sure that you have the VESA drive is selected in the RESOURCE.CFG and not the VGA driver.
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Collector: Make sure that you have the VESA drive is selected in the RESOURCE.CFG and not the VGA driver.

Isn't it more like the other way around though?
The Mobygames screenshot seems to have (very notably) a resolution more matching the backdrop with the newspaper, coffee cup and coat by the door whereas the Gog screenshot seems to have these as high res images.
Checked the Resource.cfg, it says Vesa in the cfg file. Tried changing it to VGA.drv and the image now looks like the Mobygames image.
I never played the original, but it looks like the game only has Vesa images for some of the items and not the backdrops. Thought this was a friendly way to show players which items were interactable, but other items are still VGA res.
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Wishbone: I just bought the whole series in the promo. I've never played any of them before, and so I was looking forward to it. I noticed something odd though. On the first screen (the shop), the image appears to be 320*200 resolution, but some of the objects (newspaper, coats, magnifying glass) are in a much higher resolution. Is this normal? Was the game always like that? I've never seen that in a 2D game before. It's not actually a problem, I just thought it looked very odd, and got curious. Also, is it a giveaway? Are all objects you can interact with in a higher resolution than the rest of the game?
[Edit]
It was plainly not so in the original. Compare this screenshot from MobyGames with this one from GOG's GK1 page. They are not exactly the same size (the GOG one is scaled up a bit), but you can still plainly see the difference. So where did these hi-res objects come from?

It's normal. This is because this version is the new one that Sierra released a bit after, optimized for newer machines with SVGA etc. You'll also notice that the menus and cursors are in higher resolution. Actually, that's pretty much all the work Sierra put into "optimizing"... As you'll see, all the cut-scenes are not redone in higher res and as a result they play out in a smaller frame! Bottom line though, this is quite normal.
The main difference between the two screenshots is that the MobyGames image is with the VGA driver without aspect correction (320x200, probably scaled to 640x400), hence it looks squished. With the VESA driver it will be 640x480.
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AstroanutDown: It's normal. This is because this version is the new one that Sierra released a bit after, optimized for newer machines with SVGA etc. You'll also notice that the menus and cursors are in higher resolution. Actually, that's pretty much all the work Sierra put into "optimizing"... As you'll see, all the cut-scenes are not redone in higher res and as a result they play out in a smaller frame! Bottom line though, this is quite normal.

I noticed the menus and cursors. I just don't understand why they would redo a few game objects and stick them on top of the old graphics.
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Collector: The main difference between the two screenshots is that the MobyGames image is with the VGA driver without aspect correction (320x200, probably scaled to 640x400), hence it looks squished. With the VESA driver it will be 640x480.

I don't think you quite understand what I mean. Look at the GOG screenshot again. There are two different sizes of pixels on the screen at once.
Post edited May 27, 2010 by Wishbone
The truth is, Gabriel Knight 1 had indeed two resolutions at the same time. Backdrops were 320x240 and some of the items, the inventory and talking close-ups were 640x480.
The problem is, that - in my opinion - the backgrounds look worse in 640x480 because pixels are merely doubled.
That is why items look out-of-place.
Just a suggestion: Do the opposite of what Collector suggests and replace VESA.DRV with VGA.DRV in Resource.cfg and use a DOSBox graphic-filter like 2xSAI.
In my opinion this looks a lot better than pixely background and ill-fitting items.
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Patryn: The truth is, Gabriel Knight 1 had indeed two resolutions at the same time. Backdrops were 320x240 and some of the items, the inventory and talking close-ups were 640x480.
The problem is, that - in my opinion - the backgrounds look worse in 640x480 because pixels are merely doubled.
That is why items look out-of-place.
Just a suggestion: Do the opposite of what Collector suggests and replace VESA.DRV with VGA.DRV in Resource.cfg and use a DOSBox graphic-filter like 2xSAI.
In my opinion this looks a lot better than pixely background and ill-fitting items.

Definately need to put it in VGA instead of VESA first before adding a filter.
Problem I have is that while hq2x or advmame2x and 2xsai look nice, I'm afraid I might be unable to locate some vital item. It's nice that it looks less blocky, but since I've never played the game before I'm afraid of getting utterly lost.
I especially like the advmame3x filter, which makes the entire world look like an oil painting. Good luck spotting what you need to find, but at least it looks really artsy
So just to clarify:
VESA
Pros:
improved graphics - GUI, credits, some items
Cons:
Cut scenes are in a very small window
Unable to use DosBox filters
VGA
Pros:
Cut scenes are double what you get with VESA
Ability to use Filters
Cons:
Lack of improved VESA graphics
I'm torn between which to choose. :(
I prefer to use the VGA version with original resolution, no aspect correction and normal2x scaler so I can have the square pixels for the 99% of the times.

I use an old Compaq S700 CRT monitor and at the original resolution that I don't know if it is 320x200 or 640x480 because I don't know if my monitor supports 320x200 and I have natural low resolution CRT scanlines.
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Patryn: The truth is, Gabriel Knight 1 had indeed two resolutions at the same time. Backdrops were 320x240 and some of the items, the inventory and talking close-ups were 640x480.

The problem is, that - in my opinion - the backgrounds look worse in 640x480 because pixels are merely doubled.
That is why items look out-of-place.

Just a suggestion: Do the opposite of what Collector suggests and replace VESA.DRV with VGA.DRV in Resource.cfg and use a DOSBox graphic-filter like 2xSAI.
In my opinion this looks a lot better than pixely background and ill-fitting items.
Is there way to downgrade graphics for all 640x480res items? They look out of place on 320x240 background and I would like to see them in original (low-res) form.
The greatest advantage of VESA over original is the resolution of the talking heads/portraits. They are state of the art even today, high quality animated 2d pixel graphics, one of the best ever made
Post edited March 01, 2019 by Gudadantza