I asked about this in another thread. I got no answers, not even from the genius creator. Well, I got one, who seemed to imply that it might be user error. I have provided photographic proof that I have been doing what I should be doing, and also contained in the photos herein is a photo of what I'm talking about, to help provide perspective and perhaps maybe a solution.

Anyway, for this example I'm using E.T. The Extra Terrestrial. I'm using this game for two reasons. First, this is, hands down, the worst video game ever made in any time in any genre on any platform, and that's appropriate to express my frustration with this problem. Also, I'm using it because E.T. has a full screen at the into, so you can see the resolution problem without being confused by a half-used screen.

Anyway, here's my 42" TV. As you can see, a lot of it is being wasted. Now, of course I understand there are going to be black bars on the sides because these games are "square" (simply stated) and I'm using a rectangular screen. What I don't understand is why we have to have wasted space on the bottom of the screen, as well.



So, to solve this problem, here's what I do. I exit the game, go back to the main menu, choose "configuration"...



As you can see, "Video Configuration" is highlighted. I choose that...



Also as you can see, "game and text/screen size/position" is highlighted. I choose that...



Now, I have "set game screen size/position" highlighted. I leave it on "1" with the arrow to the right. There's also an option for "2" with the arrow to the left. Could someone please let me know what that's all about? Anyway, I choose "1", even though I have also tried it with "2" in the past with identical results. Anyway, I hit "a"...



Now, as you can see, I have adjusted the white area to take up the whole screen vertically and centered it horizontally. I chose the "default (best) ratio" because that's the settings that I enjoyed success with in the other Xport/madmab emulators. I hit "A" to save and here's what we see...



I highlight "yes" and save it, then the screen goes dark for a moment then takes me back to the menu.

So, thinking I did everything I was supposed to do, I go back into the E.T. Game. Unlike the other emulators where what I did above fixed the problem, here's what I see...







So, obviously I'm missing something or doing something wrong. I don't know what that is, or even what I could be. It appears I did everything right. Can someone help me out with suggestions as to what I may have overlooked, or perhaps some super-secret solution that isn't covered in the configuration menus? Any acknowledgment would be helpful. Thanks in advance.

Well not really anything you did wrong necessarily, so much as the way the original atari 2600 handles it screen and how x-port attempted to compensate for it. You see the number of vertical lines a 2600 game can have varies depending on the game itself. Since the game literally draws the screen as the tv gun is displaying it on the screen (no screen buffer).

Talking to Gilou it typically seems that most games hover between two different resolutions.

Anyways the only thing you're gonna be able to do for now is to adjust it individually for each game. The easiest thing to do is select the "pixel perfect" aspect ratio and then center the screen vertically. Or you can just press "X" so you can see the game (while the game is loaded) and stretch the screen to whatever you want.

There is some code out there that makes the output produced by Z26 more consistent. But then it's also in assembly and the aseembler commands used are slightly incompatible with the ones the current xbox version of Z26 supports. Plus it is several files that are modified. So I haven't exactly been in a hurry to implement that yet.

The other thing I would do if I were you is to make sure you get the most recently released Z26 since the one that RessX put in a torrent is a fairly older version (I'm not even sure which version it is).

As for the "set game screen size/position [1/2]" thing the readme talks about that. It is meant as a temporary means of resizing your games if you happen to move to a set that is of higher/lower resolution thany our normal tv. For example you go over a friends house who does not have 1080i.

Go back to the config screen and ignore the prefixed options available and overscan the bottom of the hashed area by 50 - 100 pixels at a time, saving each config as you go, go back to the rom and see if your hitting the bottom with the game, if not go back to the config screen and repeat untill your happy your game is the correct size.
I had a similar problem with one of the emu's and thats how i solved it.
I think it mat be an oversight on the emu creators part or some roms have garbage at the bottom which is taking up the screen area as well as the game itself.

Ha ! posted at the same time, theres your answer above.

Oh and while I'm thinking about it...

http://www.randomterrain.com/atari-2600-memories-et.html

I appreciate the responses, thank you. And thank you Madmab for all you do. I don't want the Xbox thing to die...I look forward to trying what cbagy ssuggested when I get home from work.

Oh, and Madmab, thanks for the ET Link. Most entertaining.

I apologize if I came across as bruss during my posts. I was very frustrated after trying for hours to get this to work the way I wanted it to.

This got me there. Thank you very much.

Also, Madmab, your suggestion got me there for games I had previously set. Oh, also Madmab, I'm using the latest version of z26x that you just released. I grabbed all your latest releases, and I didn't get them off a torrent. I got them through the horribly unnecessarily convoluted, complicated, and downright angering "usual places".

So, this is great...my inner child is getting his revenge for growing up too poor to afford an Atari and watching all his neighbors' kids playing their 2600's and they wouldn't let my inner child play! Who's laughing now? Well, I will be, because I grew up to be 6'4" and learned how to box during my teen years, so if they laugh at me I can knock them out and make them cry. What was I talking about again?

Oh, yeah, thanks so much. Now, if only I can get rid of that annoying menu music. I set the settings to turn it off, and it stays off for the most part, but once in a while it works its way back in. Grrr....

lol

Hey Boxer-man,

I don't like any music while I am browsing my games on my emulators, and I have the perfect tip for you to get rid of any tunes forever... Just go to the skins folder and browse for ANY .MP3 file you can find. Delete it. Erase it. Eradicate it.

The music will never play again.
=D

Cheers,
Cospefogo.

That's what I usually do.. delete it or rename it. As far as I know the music should only start again when switching skin configurations (if it is off). I don't think I ever tracked that little issue down. Of maybe I left it there so the skin author would know that the music he selected was working properly. Don't remember.

I don't hate E.T. either. I think there are plenty of worse games for the 2600 out there. This one has just become of a sort of lightening rod for haters.

Faaar worse games-- ET wasn't so bad. It was actually playable and beatable unlike probably 50% of the Atari2600 games. It had recognizable shapes, music semi-reminiscent to the the movies, multiple screens and characters, something of a plot-- the game was ok! Before expectations, outside opinions, magazine reviews, and the landfill story, I remember playing ET constantly. One of my first games!