[ZeframCochrane]

Originally Posted by Gabe

Yes,what you said game's output fixed 16:10 and doesnt allow 16: 9
so where's the hardware limitation in that(unlike odnorf said) its only software limitation.

I think you're getting mixing up the concepts of aspect ratio and resolution. Aspect ratio is simply the proportion between the two dimensions of the screen. For example, your display has a resolution of 1366x768, if you divide 1366 by 768, you get 1,77, which is also what you get (more or less) when you divide 16 by 9, thereby you say that your display has a 16:9 aspect ratio.

But your problem is not aspect ratio, it's resolution. For example, If the game had had the same aspect ratio of your display but a higher resolution than your display, (eg. 1422x800, which has a 16:9 aspect ratio), you would've had the same problem.

The limitation is basically that your hardware is unable (ie. limited) to display fullscreen images bigger than its native resolution. That seems to be a general rule, it's not just your hardware, no screen will allow images with a resolution that's higher than their native resolution to be displayed in fullscreen mode. In other words, your screen doesn't meet the minimum requirements of the game. Which are, by the way, stated on the website of the developer:

Minimum System Requirements:
Intel P4 or AMD Athlon 64 processor
1GB system memory
Graphics card with DirectX 9 support
1280*800 display resolution
700MB hard disk space

[Gabe]

[QUOTE=ZeframCochrane;584869]
But your problem is not aspect ratio, it's resolution. For example, If the game had had the same aspect ratio of your display but a higher resolution than your display, (eg. 1422x800, which has a 16 aspect ratio), you would've had the same problem.
[/URL]

That means i can run this game fullscreen(16: 9) properly only at 1600x900 right?

[ZeframCochrane]

Originally Posted by Gabe

That means i can run this game fullscreen(16: 9) properly only at 1600x900 right?

Not only 1600x900. You can run the game fullscreen on any display with a higher or equal resolution to 1280x800, regardless of its aspect ratio.

For example, sure, the game will run fine on a 1600x900 (16:9) display (if such display existed), but will also run fine on a 1920x1080 (also 16:9) screen or a 1440x900 (16:10) display. In fact, it will also run fine on a 1280x960 (4:3) screen.

Of course, if the aspect ratio of the display is too different from the game's, you get noticable distortion. This is usually not a problem between 16:9 and 16:10, but playing Alpha Polaris on a 4:3 monitor (eg. a 1280x960 (4:3) screen), will result in a noticable horizontal "squishing".

[Gabe]

Originally Posted by ZeframCochrane

Of course, if the aspect ratio of the display is too different from the game's, you get noticable distortion. This is usually not a problem between 16 and 16:10, but playing Alpha Polaris on a 4:3 monitor (eg. a 1280x960 (4:3) screen), will result in a noticable horizontal "squishing".

Thats what i'm talking about since beginning if there will be "squishing"
software have no scaling means only a 16:10 monitor will run it properly.

[ZeframCochrane]

Originally Posted by Gabe

Thats what i'm talking about since beginning if there will be "squishing"
software have no scaling means only a 16:10 monitor will run it properly.

As I said, a difference between 16:10 and 16:9 is barely noticable. If you were to play Alpha Polaris on any 16:9 monitor with a resolution higher than 1280x800 (eg. 1920x1080, like a Full HD television) the game would start, and you could barely tell that the image is slightly distorted. On the other hand, you are not able play the game at all with a monitor with the same aspect ratio but lower resolution (eg. a hypothetical 1120x700).

But yes, granted, the optimal condition would be to have a 16:10 monitor.

To summarize:

Lower resolution = technical problem. Display doesn't meet minimum requirements. Game won't start at all.

Different aspect ratio but higher resolution = aesthetical problem. Game will start, with moderate or extreme "squishing".

Same aspect ratio and higher or equal resolution = optimal condition.

[Gabe]

An unheard kind of limitation never see any other game like this.
I've played other games developed with Wintermute like The Lost Crown but this version result of developers choice only?
Although it says about:
Unlike many similar systems the engine supports virtually any resolution: from 320x200 retro-style to high-res 1024x768 modern looking ones or higher. Both 16bit and 32bit color depths are supported. Colour depth can be also configured by the player at run time - the engine handles the conversion automatically.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wintermute_Engine

[ZeframCochrane]

Originally Posted by Gabe

An unheard kind of limitation never see any other game like this.
I've played other games developed with Wintermute like The Lost Crown but this version result of developers choice only?
Although it says about:
Unlike many similar systems the engine supports virtually any resolution: from 320x200 retro-style to high-res 1024x768 modern looking ones or higher. Both 16bit and 32bit color depths are supported. Colour depth can be also configured by the player at run time - the engine handles the conversion automatically.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wintermute_Engine

It never happened to you because other developers (like Jonathan Boakes) decided to "play it safe" and developed the game in the 1027x768 resolution. This results in a more compatible, but less crisp-looking game. If you tried to play The Lost Crown on a 800x600 screen, you would have the same problem you're having with Alpha Polaris.
And I think that paragraph refers to developing support. That means you can develop the game with virtually any resolution (ie. TLC could be developed at a 1024x768 res, and Alpha Polaris at 1280x800), not that the game will eventually work on any display.

[odnorf]

Originally Posted by ZeframCochrane

Of course, if the aspect ratio of the display is too different from the game's, you get noticable distortion. This is usually not a problem between 16 and 16:10, but playing Alpha Polaris on a 4:3 monitor (eg. a 1280x960 (4:3) screen), will result in a noticable horizontal "squishing".

Although this is getting way off topic I'd like to note that you can play a widescreen game made with the wintermute engine with a 4:3 AR monitor and vice versa. That's what "maintain aspect ratio" setting does. It adds black bars where needed (in this case up & down) so you'll get no distortion. Even if the engine didn't have such an option most modern gpu have their own settings in drivers for such cases.