[YoRyan]

Hi folks,

One of the biggest headaches regarding legacy MSTS content is that the 2D cabs are designed with a 4:3 aspect ratio, whereas contemporary systems invariably have widescreen monitors. Open Rails handles the aspect ratio mismatch by allowing you to scroll the cab viewport up and down with the arrow keys. But this doesn't work very well whenever the cab has a small window to begin with, or when the display uses an ultra-wide (21:9) aspect ratio. In either case, you're forced to choose between keeping the controls visible or maintaining a forward view out of the window.

So, what if you wish to keep the entirety of the cab visible? Currently, this isn't possible because Open Rails always uses the current resolution of the desktop; it is not possible to select a custom resolution with, say, a 4:3 aspect ratio to match the cab. There are workarounds, like using windowed mode or changing your desktop resolution before you start the game, but these are quite inconvenient, which I think is why users have been asking for the ability to set a custom resolution in fullscreen mode.

I propose another solution: letterboxing the 2D cabs. And I have written some code to make it work.

My 1920x1080 monitor, with the feature turned off:



And turned on:



With my patch, the simulator removes the letterboxing when you switch to a 3D view, whether it be an external view or a 3D cab.

I have submitted a pull request to GitHub. However, it was brought to my attention that significant new features require discussion, approval from the developers, and a Trello card. So, with some apologies, I thought I'd get that discussion rolling. ^_^

[Csantucci]

Hi Yo,
first of all, thank you for your work on this!
Some points:
1) I'd suggest that the selection between letterboxing and usual view, instead of being made through a menu option, be done with a runtime toggle command. Ctrl-1 could be a possible candidate key for that.
2) Thinking a bit more about your PR, the two features you propose, that is letterboxing and improved windows shading, seem to be quite unrelated. So maybe having two separate PRs would be a cleaner solution. And I'd be happy to get separate .diff files for them.
3) Is your PR Monogame ready?

P.S.: I can reply to my first point: yes, it's Monogame ready, see picture

However I have a question: as can be seen, the Track Monitor window is constrained within the letterboxed window, consuming precious space while there is black space at the right and at the left. Would it be possible (probably much has to be changed) to improve the code, so that the Track Monitor Window can be moved into the side black stripes?

[YoRyan]

Csantucci, on 15 April 2020 - 11:58 PM, said:

1) I'd suggest that the selection between letterboxing and usual view, instead of being made through a menu option, be done with a runtime toggle command. Ctrl-1 could be a possible candidate key for that.

I like this idea and will try implementing it!

Csantucci, on 15 April 2020 - 11:58 PM, said:

2) Thinking a bit more about your PR, the two features you propose, that is letterboxing and improved windows shading, seem to be quite unrelated. So maybe having two separate PRs would be a cleaner solution. And I'd be happy to get separate .diff files for them.

Actually, they are not independent. The window shading patch is required by the letterboxing patch because of the use of ResolveBackBuffer in the current code. To be honest, I was not sure about the best way to communicate this, hence I put them in the same PR.

Csantucci, on 15 April 2020 - 11:58 PM, said:

3) Is your PR Monogame ready?

Define "Monogame ready." From your testing, I gather it applies cleanly against the unstable branch. It should take me a day or two to rebase against your NewYear-MG-NoWD branch.

Csantucci, on 15 April 2020 - 11:58 PM, said:

However I have a question: as can be seen, the Track Monitor window is constrained within the letterboxed window, consuming precious space while there is black space at the right and at the left. Would it be possible (probably much has to be changed) to improve the code, so that the Track Monitor Window can be moved into the side black stripes?

It would be nontrivial, yes; the way the letterboxing code works is that it imposes a viewport on the entire simulator, including the windows. It might be possible to set a different viewport for the window drawing so that windows can occupy the black bars. This might even remove the "dependency" on the window shading rework.

[Csantucci]

Hi YoRyan,
good that you will provide a solution where the selection of the letterbox display is made through a key! I'll wait for this before releasing next OR NewYear MG revision.
You don't need to rebase what you have done for OR NewYear MG. The picture I have published is already taken starting from the OR NewYear MG code, after having applied your patch and adjusted some merge issues.

[Csantucci]

Revision 58 of OR NewYear MG is out, which has already the letterboxing option, although selectable by menu option.

[YoRyan]

I have submitted a Trello card for the window shading change. I believe this is the right place? This patch isn't a "bug," but it's also not exactly a "feature request."

[YoRyan]

Okay, I have replaced the menu option with an in-game keyboard shortcut: Control+1, as was suggested. I will look into restructuring the viewport code. I've just discovered that for some reason, it cuts off the content in the F1 dialog.

Csantucci, I have submitted a pull request against your branch for this change.

[Csantucci]

Thank you YoRyan,
I have merged your PR, so that this will appear in nex OR NEwYear MG revision.

[Csantucci]

Letterboxing activated with Ctrl-1 is now available in OR NewYear MG rev. 59.

[YoRyan]

Reimplemented the letterboxing code, this time by drawing rectangles over the camera instead of changing the viewport. I probably should have thought of that earlier. :sweatingbullets:

Windows can now be positioned over the letterboxed areas:



And the dependency on the window drawing revamp has been dropped, so the new patch is drastically simpler. (Csantucci, you have another pull request.)

[YoRyan]

I have submitted a proper Trello card for the cab letterboxing feature.

[Csantucci]

Hi Yo,
thanks for your PR. I have merged it, but unfortunately it doesn't work well: the controls and indicators are all out of place here, see picture, and at the right there is a problem.
As I see that your picture is correct, I assume that there is a problem in your PR to OR NewYear MG.
I'll try to abort the merge.
P.S. OK, I was able to abort the merge both locally and remotely.

[YoRyan]

Hmm, could you share a link to the locomotive you're running? I can't reproduce that bug on my system. I've tried matching your resolution, too.

[Csantucci]

This is the trainset
https://www.uktrains...orm_fileid=4488
and this is the cab
https://www.uktrains...orm_fileid=5692

[YoRyan]

Unfortunately COVID-19 appears to have caused a huge surge in UK TrainSim downloading! I'm still trying to get through the queue, but if possible, could you upload the equipment to a file hoster and PM me the link?

Also, I've pushed a fix for control flickering in letterbox mode that may or may not be related to what you're seeing. To test it out, you can use this branch of mine, which is based off of your NewYear branch.

Edit: And have you tried other trains, by chance?