Screen resolutions...

Found interesting statistics:
44% of all user use 1024x768 - and is most important resolution

http://marketshare.hitslink.com/report.aspx?qprid=17

omg, there are actually people who run 320x240 O_O (and another bunch'a insanely low resolutions for that matter)

edit: then again, could be PDA 'n phones 'n stuff

Sounds about right to me.

Cool. Thats why my game is set at 1024x768 :) good to know plenty of people can play it :) By the time I finish it that percentage will probably be 60% ha ha ha

i doubt those stats are representative to gamers...
personally, im using this one for default settings for my games: http://www.steampowered.com/status/survey.html

Any game worth it's salt should support all the popular resolutions, anyway. ;)

If your game/project has a web page, there's a cool little javascript snippet you can insert there and start tracking your visitor statistics via Google Analytics. It collects various useful tidbits of information about the visitors, screen resolution being one.

1680.0000000018626 x 1050

What kind of resolution is that?

Interesting stats. And yes I very much recommend Google Analytics.

Some stats I have recently say much the same stuff.

88% of people have a 32-bit display
6% have a 24-bit display
6% have a 16-bit display
The rest aren't worth talking about (256-colors etc)

So there's a small reason to support 16-bit or screens with no destination alpha channel, but most people have 32-bit RGBA.

44% of people use 1024x768 resolution
14% use 1280x800
12.5% use 1280x1024
6.5% use 1440x900
6% use 800x600
4.5% use 1680x1050
3.25% use 1152x864
2% use 1280x768
1.5% use 1920x1200
and it carries on down from there. only about 0.1% use 2560x1600 or 1600x1024.

Looks like most people now are using resolutions between 1000 and 1500 pixels width. 800x600 is almost relegated to the same bracket as people with 16-bit displays. Looks like it's pretty safe to go with 1024x768 if you need a fixed or starting resolution.

My game offers a selection of resolutions, essentially a list of all video modes the videocard supports. When I actually release, I'll be locking out all the 16 bit modes though, because they're just not worth it. I'm seriously considering not reporting anything under 1024x768 as well though.

that java resolution checker meantioned
that would be useless with me

i normally run at 1280*1024 cos its my lcd's native res
but when surfing i cant read that tiny so i drop down to 800*600 (it would be 1024*768 but its too far for me and my eyesight)

i like 1280x1024 :)

I use 1280x1024 on my dual monitor desktop. 1280x800 on widescreen laptop. For indie game I prefer, nay - EXPECT 800x600.

I think 800x600 is pretty safe. Kinda ugly for PC monitors i tend to find, after running most of my stuff in 1024x768 for some reason. My monitor 1152x846, because that's the 1 to 1 pixel ratio thingy.

Even the old monitor in work can display 1024x768, but things just run alot faster in 800x600.

I prefer 1280x1024, but routinely play modern games at a lower res to get a more fluid frame rate.

Ginger Tea, increase the font size of your browser / system :)

1024x768@16bit should be minimum and default these days (perhaps offer lower as an option for performance reasons on archaic PCs).
All PCs around now and still ticking should be capable of at least switching to that mode to get the 'menu' to show.
If people cannot run that in this day and age its defo time to get a new PC.

Hm I clicked that link thinking it might be something useful, but instead it just tried to email 1024x768@16bit lol

LOL

You get small text and stuff on Windows at high resolutions because it doesn't have totally resolution independent graphics, but isn't that supposed to be totally supported now in Vista?

Also I think we have to keep in mind that the bigger the resolution the more image data you need, the more fill rate or rendering power you need, and the more detailed you need to make your graphics.

There still plenty of games coming out at 640x480, the rock bottom standard, since most cards won't go any lower than that. But it looks like most people could do 800x600 at least if you requested it.

ive tried that before and on this site atleast the text is the same no matter what size i choose so its left on medium

i could move closer to the monitor but at the moment its over 3 feet away and running at full res as i tyupe this im only just seeing funny tetris shapes not words ... hence my surfing @ 800*640

tried zoom before but that involves scrolling sidewase too

Sounds like you need glasses.

I'm sat a good 3ft away from my screen in 1680x1050 on a 20" screen and I can see everything just dandy... No so clear without my glasses.

Glasses. I need a pair of those soon i reckon.

..i like everything whatz smooth and juicy and easy to spot/see.. :)

i just guestimated the distance @ first

tried lying down the distance from lcd to my bed/seat closer to 5 ft, but without a tape measure its still a guesstimate

and i do wear glasses and they are not due a test for a while