Uploading fullscreen images instead of cropping them

[Guest]

Cropped images look really ugly, the pages also look much nicer with big fullscreen screenshots, the fullscreen image viewer also helps.

[Blackbird 54]

Supporting this. Cropping looks really bad and I'd prefer original screenshots over some edited thing.

[Marioysikax 89]

Few problems. 

 

First: games with settings menu seperated into many parts. 

Best example I can think out of my head is Osu!. Graphics settings would've taken three screenshots alone and would've included my personal game information and other settings in other settings screenshots. Would've been total mess without cropping and combining. Screenshots in Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance were replaced (png with png, and replaced, not updated original file like it should be done, my files are still there and aren't even tagged for deletion) and now audio and input settings basically containg 99% of the same settings and can't be viewed directly from game article. 

 

Second: games with tiny setting screens. 

There can be games which have 90% of space which doesn't containg anything useful, but is there to increase image size SIGNIFICANTLY. This means you can't see anything from pages thumbnail and opening up the image will take ages. 

One good example I can think of this is Mitsurugi Kamui Hikae. 

 

You can compare yourself, cropped image found in article (37 KB) vs uncropped image (2.52 MB). 

Now that whole main menu would repeat with all the images and glutter whole damn page! 

 

So basically, I'm againts posting uncropped settings images if it's simply stupid, especially if only counterargument is "Cropped images look really ugly". Cropped images are usually directly viewable without opening in articles, they are much smaller to open if necessary and they focus on only the thing that's important. Especially when many games have super stylized options menus these days. And we have only talked about cropping and combining, there's no mention of altering content of the images, so even if images are cropped on pages, they should contain everything that settings menu have to offer.

 

I will say though that some form of cropping does definitely look ugly, thus I have tried to maintain astetic beauty and possibly some visible thing to show that everything is shown in the screenshot when cropping (e.g. including settings menu borders, showing right side scroll bar, etc.). One good example is Transistor, Here's soebs original screenshot vs my screenshot when I updated all the screens in the article. They are pretty visible on article, all I did was remove complete black space around it and kept vertical resolution same so they look consistant when viewing article. Soebs screenshots did do their job of course, but must admit they looked really ugly for such beautiful game. 

 

Of course when it comes to configuration tools, it's usually better to have whole thing, because it's in theory already cropped without anything extra and having window border does tell everything is there. And for something like Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 2: Sisters Generation where cropping would save vertical space only and not by much, of course it's not smart to crop it and whole screenshots are better. 

[Mirh 102]

1: Osu! and Metal Gear are definitively better in Mairo's crops.

2: the question is who are the screenshots really for?

Editors to cross check templates? People who owns the game? Strangers without the game?

 

My answer would be more of the later (you don't look at ss if you can just run it).

From this pov it's not important whether they look disorienting to people accustomed to uncropped view (i.e. normal owner/player)

 

I'd also love to see people more capable to word their feelings, for example ugliness. d:

 

ps: very nice work even with Transistor

[Guest]

I wrote this in such a hurry seeing as I didn't think anyone would even reply anyway.

 

What I really wanted to talk about are poorly cropped screenshots. Most wiki screenshots on the wiki have been horribly cropped. If a game's menus look like this then yes crop them away. And I didn't even know you uploaded new screeshots for MGR, seeing as now the recent changes thing is no longer on the front page I miss tons of edits.

 

I'm fine with the cropping as long as it's done well, but if the video settings area is covering at least 90% of the viewport then I don't see the point in cropping it. Seeing as it's pretty visible anyway, but that depends on the game.

 

[Guest]

Right now it's kinda late so I'll go into more detail tomorrow, but I made so many threads in a rush seeing as often I get no answers so I never bother getting too detailed, and I have no idea how many people read my posts so I just kind half ass them because of that.

[ThatOneReaper 51]

For screenshots, they can only be cropped in the following cases:

1. The options menu is displayed as an in-game window, rather than a separate screen.
   •  Especially need to be done if said window is small compared to the rest of the screen.
2. There is personal profile information that cannot be changed to an appropriate throwaway profile.
3. All the settings for a menu do not fit in a single screenshot and must be stitched together.
4. The screenshot is of an external menu/application.

In these cases, it helps cut down on the clutter both on-screen and in the game article. Otherwise, provide a fullscreen screenshot.

 

It should also be noted that when cropping, do not leave any unnecessary space outside of the in-game window.

 

Good examples of properly cropped images can be found on any Company of Heroes page, Half-Life 2, and Splinter Cell: Blacklist.

[Mirh 102]

Another example is Kotor

When using widescreen resolution, you get the same 4:3 menu, just with more background on the sides.

So instead of cropping, I just used a lower resolution.

 

In Sunless Sea case this may be worth a try.