DOJ On A 600inch Screen - Is It Cheating?

[mjclark]

If I play DOJ on an enormous screen is it the case that:
a) the ship and enemy bullets cover the same area of the screen in the same time as on a smaller monitor
or
b) the ship and enemy bullets travel at the same real-time speed whatever the size of the screen.

If it's (a) then the ship and bullets and scrolling must all travel faster on the bigger screen to cover a greater actual distance in the same time , meaning that a game played on a large screen will take less time to complete than if it was played on a smaller screen (which surely isn't the case), or does the scrolling always complete in the same time?.
This would also mean that the game would actually become harder on a large screen since everything would be moving that much faster and it would have to scroll at a higher velocity to complete in the same time.
But if it's (b) then the bullets will take a longer time to reach the bottom of the screen on a larger monitor actually changing the difficulty level of the game and making it easier, meaning that scores achieved on different size monitors aren't comparible (which surely can't be the case either) and playing on a very large monitor could be construed as cheating.
Help!- I can't get my head round this at all but somebody here must surely know

[ZOM]

I'd say you'll be soo confused trying to look after ship and bullets at different parts of the screen that you greatly mess up, so it's not cheating it's a handicap!

As for velocity, the game runs at a set amount of Hz, no matter what screen size. That's the only correct answer.

[shmuppyLove]

Sounds like you've put a lot of thought into this ...

The answer is (a), to a point. So yes, a bullet moving from one side of a very large screen to the other would appear to be moving 'faster', as it needs to cover the same distance in the same amount of time as on a smaller screen. But your inference that it would take less time to complete doesn't logically follow.

The only way you could play the game 'faster', is to travel the same distance in less time. But since games are generally coded to run at a certain frequency or clock speed, that can't happen.

And all of this depends a lot on how far away you are from the image being displayed. If you were sitting far enough away from this theoretical 600" screen, it would appear the same as if you were sitting very close to a much smaller screen. Like those head-mounted displays with tiny 1" screens; because the image is very close to your eye, it appears much larger in your field of view.

BTW - when are you getting this 600" screen, I'd like to come check it out

[Udderdude]

Hey guys if I played shmup that's traveling near the speed of light is that cheating? >_>

[Mischief Maker]

Hey guys if I played shmup that's traveling near the speed of light is that cheating? >_>

Hey guys, If I play shmups on a really really tiny screen, does that count as expert mode, since I can't be sure of both the position or velocity of the bullets?

[shmuppyLove]

Hey guys if I played shmup that's traveling near the speed of light is that cheating? >_>

Hey guys, If I play shmups on a really really tiny screen, does that count as expert mode, since I can't be sure of both the position or velocity of the bullets?

DoDonPachi: Schrödinger's Cat

The only way to win, is not to play.

[mjclark]

Hey guys if I played shmup that's traveling near the speed of light is that cheating? >_>

No because time will only dilate from the point of view of an outside observer- to you there will be no change in the rate that anything runs.
This is why scores from the Starship Enterprise are acceptable in the high score threads.

At the moment I'm having trouble knocking down my house to make room for the new 600inch monitor. Will post a pic when I've got it tated

[moozooh]

Games generally don't care what display you connect them to because they're merely outputting the signal that is then interpreted by said display, which is something they have no direct control over. IIRC in some cases (with old systems only) it's possible to tweak the game's speed by a very small margin by syncing it to a lower display refresh rate, and that's about the extent of difference brought in by output hardware. The rest is all perception.

[mjclark]

Phew! Finally got it installed in the bedroom:



Thanks for the responses-as a result I've realised that my problem with conceptualising this is that the bullets, ships etc are "empty" in the buddhist sense.
In fact, there actually are no bullets or ships with any independent existence (and therefore any velocity) simply a succession of frames with similar objects drawn on them in differing positions, giving an illusory impression of independent objects which persist and move in time.
As has been pointed out, those frames present themselves at the same rate irrespective of monitor size and the game will always complete scrolling in the same time so all that really matters is apparent size in the player's field of view.
Which raises the question what's the optimum screen size and player distance from screen?
This is surely a personal choice although I'd guess that field of view is pretty similar for everybody
Is it any easier to play a DS game when it's emulated on a 22" monitor?

[moozooh]

Which raises the question what's the optimum screen size and player distance from screen?

Depends on the range of your peripheral vision and visual acuity.

[antron]

Hey guys if I played shmup that's traveling near the speed of light is that cheating? >_>

No because time will only dilate from the point of view of an outside observer- to you there will be no change in the rate that anything runs.
This is why scores from the Starship Enterprise are acceptable in the high score threads.

He said a Shmup that's traveling near the speed of light, not while traveling. This would indeed be cheating. But only for a short time. The screen would soon move so far away that the time for it's light to reach you (and your inputs to reach it) would create lag.

[chempop]

Phew! Finally got it installed in the bedroom:

I'm confused, you sleep on a chair?

The question about ideal screen size is worthwhile though. I used to always think my 19" TVs were perfect, until I got my 23". Sitting smack dab in front of it usually works best for me, but an extra foot away probably wouldn't hurt.

This topic reminds me of why LSD is illegal.

[mjclark]

I'm confused, you sleep on a chair?
The question about ideal screen size is worthwhile though. I used to always think my 19" TVs were perfect, until I got my 23". Sitting smack dab in front of it usually works best for me, but an extra foot away probably wouldn't hurt.
This topic reminds me of why LSD is illegal.

No- in this shot you can see the bed:.
The chairs are for guests.
And yes- LSD has a lot to answer for.

[ZOM]

That's a pretty awesome setup you have there mjclark.

[emphatic]

That's a pretty awesome setup you have there mjclark.

Pirates get rich you know. Arrh. But what about lag?

[EllertMichael]

playing DOJ on a large monitor wouldn't be considered cheating...
but playing x-mode sure feels like it! autobomb with no break in chain?!

haha @ emphatic! digital pirates are all about free love, baby!
and haven't I seen you over at xbox360iso? either that or someone else is using your handle...

[emphatic]

and haven't I seen you over at xbox360iso? either that or someone else is using your handle...

Yep, that's me. But I don't have a hacked XBox. My lazy buddy does though.

[BPzeBanshee]

Am I looking at a photoshopped picture of something from The Matrix or is that really your bedroom and really a 600-inch screen rotated?

It's not a bedroom, it's a friggin house!

[antron]

Am I looking at a photoshopped picture of something from The Matrix or is that really your bedroom and really a 600-inch screen rotated?

It's not a bedroom, it's a friggin house!

It a video from a Pink Floyd song.

[mjclark]

Am I looking at a photoshopped picture of something from The Matrix or is that really your bedroom and really a 600-inch screen rotated?

It's not a bedroom, it's a friggin house!

It a video from a Pink Floyd song.

Yeah- they shot the video in my bedroom and it was also used on the filmset of "2001:A Space Odyssey".
We hit up a few credits of Gekirindan that day, I'll tell ye

[ZOM]

Let me guess, HAL took the 2-player side?