Preferred Software-Mode Resolution

So I recently tried the lowest 640x480 resolution in PRBoom+ and may or may not like the appearance more than the native resolution. I've seen people mention how something like 320x200 fits the aesthetic of Doom better rather than using 1080p or whatever your monitor can pump out. The vanilla/Chocolate Doom res was a bit too low for me, but 640x seems legit. What do y'all think?

320x200 makes me much more interested in the environment. I love the feeling of walking down a corridor and not quite seeing what's at the end of it due to the blurriness.

What amazes me is how even being blurry, back then it looked real because that's the best graphics we had so far. Now we see it and are like... did it always look this bad? It's like the Mandela Effect of gaming.

For me 640x480 is the sweet spot for software mode. I have been spoiled by source port resolution increases (which, let us face it, make the game easier). However above 800 width gives increasingly diminishing returns as all you gain is being able to see further into the distance. Very few maps require you to be able to make out details thousands of units away as such targets are typically well out of your weapon range. (Obviously this may differ in maps or mods designed for custom weapons and mouselook, but I tend to stick with the traditional style).

I run in 720p, but mostly due to streaming/recording reasons. Also, I play in window mode because I feel like I have a hard time taking in everything at once in fullscreen.

320x200 or 320x240. The 'low detail' mode in essence. I think Doom with a lo-fi aesthetic really suits its art direction. It's even better with uncapped FPS.

I personally play in 1080p, simply because of how much I like able to admire a level's architecture. Although I rarely play in software so I'm probably not the target audience.

It makes me wonder though, whether OpenGL Doom would benefit from an optional depth of field effect - i.e gently blur things as they increase in distance.

It might mimic the effect of a low res without the distraction of seeing pixels.

I've seen screenshots on this forum that I think modified the lens distortion effect in GZDoom to achieve a depth of field effect.

I do like the Crispy Doom look quite a lot, but I generally prefer my high-resolution OpenGL rendering.

I play in 1080p because the game just looks really, really nice in 1080p opengl and software.

3 hours ago, Nevander said:

did it always look this bad?

Actually, playing the game on the hardware of the time looks surprisingly good. I have tested on my old PC and I like the look a lot. Maybe the natural blurriness of old monitors smooths the look a bit.

640x400 as it comes close enough to a low resolution while still giving enough visual clarity for me to play with. Can't say I am a fan of 320x200 since I have been spoiled by modern resolutions, so 640x400 is the most I can tolerate and enjoy playing without feeling like I am missing something, that being nice clear visuals.

I'm fine with the native res, I sometimes like to play in Choco depending on my mood, but for general Dooming I play in 1920x1080 widescreen. It's nice and crispy for long deathmatch sessions. I'm only a recent convert to widescreen dooming, for the longest time 640x480 was my go-to for the good balance of clarity and staying true to the original look.

640x480

1920x1080, unless I'm playing in Chocolate Doom, in which case, 640x400.

7 hours ago, cyan0s1s said:

320x200 or 320x240. The 'low detail' mode in essence. I think Doom with a lo-fi aesthetic really suits its art direction. It's even better with uncapped FPS.

do you mean 35fps or uncapped? confused!

Uncapped, 60 fps, smooth movement with low detail is strangely attractive to see in motion.

ah ok thanks for clarification

I only play at native monitor resolution because everything else looks bad on modern TFT screens.

Any widescreen windowed resolution lower than my desktop's. I love multitasking and playing doom.

1600x900 windowed so that way I still have access to my taskbar without having to Alt-Tab. 

800x600 windowed is my compromise between lo-fi aesthetics and being able to see anything at all on a semi-modern monitor (1600x900 native resolution).

If I upgrade to a higher resolution monitor, the Doom window will likely increase in proportion, just to avoid getting turned into a post-stamp.

How is 60 fps uncapped? Isn't it capped at 60?

When vertical sync is enabled it caps the fps to the monitor's refresh rate which may or may or not be 60Hz. Disabling vertical sync and the cap of 35 is like a true uncapped mode.

I prefer the highest resolution possible nowadays (1920x1080 or something), in fullscreen, always software mode. The old vanilla 320x200 doesn't let me appreciate the detailing in modern mapsets and play smoother. Case in point, I simply couldn't spot a single switch in Ancient Aliens, and when I was on map 15, I had to try a higher resolution to find the switch to the secret exit, which was impossible for me to notice it before. Except for "invisible" pinkies, I'm very satisfied with my choice, it lags a bit specially using the BFG for point blank shots but works pretty good. 

EDIT: that is not to say blurry vanilla screen is any bad, in fact sometimes I get in the mood for some Doom.exe gaming, like in my childhood days  :P

Native resolution for me. Regarding Doom's old-school aesthetic, clearly seeing the screen pixels is way less important than clearly seeing the texture & sprite pixels.

Prboom+, 640x480. Everything is visible without losing the pixelly grittiness <3
God, the color transitions are lovely, if you move closer, then far from one of the pillars in map01, it almost looks as if it has little protruding bits of decay coming out of it's surface... or maybe I just have a very active imagination.

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10 hours ago, Eris Falling said:

When vertical sync is enabled it caps the fps to the monitor's refresh rate which may or may or not be 60Hz. Disabling vertical sync and the cap of 35 is like a true uncapped mode.

You cannot get a visually faster frame rate than your monitor's refresh rate. If your monitor's refresh rate is 60hz, you can only see 60 distinct frames each second, even if your computer can generate more than 60 frames a second. Vertical sync (if implemented correctly) gives you 2 benefits:

• Your computer can "breathe" and work on something other than Doom, or simply go idle while it waits for the video hardware to prepare for another frame.
• Vertical sync will prevent the display from showing half of a new frame, and half of an old frame, which is known as "tearing". In the DOS era, bankswitching and double or triple buffering helped avoid tearing. Today, programs don't have the same level of control of the video hardware.

Waiting for vertical refresh synchronizes the filling of video memory with the painting of that memory to the screen. So, if implemented correctly, waiting for the vertical retrace signal should always be used, especially when using uncapped fps.

However, if not implemented properly, disabling the vertical refresh wait might actually give you more video per second, even though tearing will occur. When implemented poorly, during slow scenes, the program may miss a refresh and have to wait for another vertical refresh before updating the video memory, causing the same frame to be displayed twice. Now this can occur anyway, if the game is lagging, and there's not much that can be done about that.

To answer the OP, I tend to run native res, which is 1920x1080 for me, cause that's the LCD monitor's resolution. I am fond of 320x200, however. It got the job done, back in the day.

1600x1200 windowed in prboom+/zdoom

I prefer the higher rez of crispy doom compared to that of chocolate and dosbox if I am playing vanilla stuff.