Well...the black bars are *slightly annoying, but I can deal with it. I herd the game was made under the 16:9 aspect ratio...hopefully it isn't true and you can see past the black bars on 16:10 monitors. We'll have to wait and see i guess.


EDIT : Paddywak ...
This has been split from the Assassin's Creed: Detailed Report to keep the DR on topic.
Some posts referred to both the pixelization issue and the anamorphic bars ...
I did my best to split the topic to reflect the various issues ... sorry if this has affected your posts.

It's explained above that the whole game is anamorphic; 16:10 has black bars, though a lot smaller than 4:3 of course.

This is actually how about 50+ percent of the games are on the 360. They are designed for 16:9, so when you run the console in 480p and set it to standard (4:3), then the game downscales to 640x480 and adds black bars. The other percentage of games either switch to vert+ for 4:3 or properly support hor- for 4:3.

Considering this is a console port to the PC, they've kept this behavior.

I run in DX9 I'm afraid !



I don't doubt this is correct, but this only enforces the fact that it is an incredibly lazy design decision. I don't think we should be praising this sort of behaviour, especially when the majority of users will be using a 16:10 resolution when playing on a PC.

I think it's completely reasonable to say that the game was specifically designed for a 16:9 frame, and that the designers thought that tearing off the left and right would diminish the intended effect. It's actually easier from a programming perspective to tear off the sides than it is to letterbox a 16:9 viewport, so the fact that they've chosen the harder option (even for 4:3 mode) reinforces this. And I don't see why 16:10 users should have their experience made worse by black bars - to the user, it's really no different from watching a 16:9 DVD.

I think we need to remember some things.


The DR grades are not all inclusive. They are set requirements designed to apply to the mainstream users of widescreen displays.


We do not punish a game for not supporting 1360x768 if it supports our tested resolutions. We also do not punish a game for anamorphic behavior, regardless of the source data.

For grading purposes it is unfair to punish AC for the way they have implemented widescreen because at the time they made the game, this was, and still is, considered flawless behavior.

If this starts becoming more commonplace then I can understand wanting to discuss the possibility of tweaking the grading system for anamorphic content (static vs. dynamically created) but I do not think one game should cause any changes or heartache.

I'm not saying it's correct, either. I'm just saying that this is how the majority of Xbox 360 games work. My statement was just to shed some light on why it is the way that it is.

Who says that Assassin's Creed doesn't? According to WSGF standards, it supports 16:9, 16:10, and 4:3 by way of anamorphic behavior.


I actually never mentioned "artistic decision." But nevertheless, the argument is believable for Assassin's Creed when it wasn't for BioShock. If a dev truly felt that only one aspect ratio was appropriate for their game, they would letterbox it on less than 16:9 AR's so as to keep the focus on the viewport they intended. Assassin's Creed does this, and BioShock does not. It's more than reasonable to assume that the devs were careful to preserve an "intended" AR.


I say we continue to strive for excellence by grading Assassin's Creed according to the same criteria we've developed over the years, and used to grade previous games with similar behavior. This game was certified two years ago:
http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/fo ... php?t=3828
Nobody saw anything wrong with its behavior then, and AC is only worse in regards that it has a bug affecting some widescreen resolutions.


Sucks to be them, but considerations for TH users are outside the scope of WSGF Certification criteria for a number of reasons. If they want to start their own separate criteria for testing, reporting, grading, and certifying TH -compatible games, I won't protest.

Anyway, if you have more to say about anamorphism, I ask that it be in a new thread on the Insider's board, because anything more than can be said on the subject won't be about AC any more.

As far as i'm concerned, putting black bars in the image ruins this game for me.

I only care about filling up my screen rather than being absolutely "aspect ratio correct". I can take some distorting and stretching as opposed to losing 25% of my monitor's viewing area.

Maybe someone will release a patch to remove the "anamorphic" effect aka artists' vision. It's not MY vision.

Whether you like the ratio or not, I can't imagine it ruining the game... that's being quite anal.

Not "completely" but it's still going to be a thorn in my eye.

Heck, i don't play any of my games that don't run at native res anymore... I have since turned off scaling so those games look tiny on my 30inch monitor.

Never forget, you the user also have rights. Just because the artist "forces" his "vision" on your product that you bought and paid for doesn't mean you don't have the right to fix his "vision" to your standards.

I'm sick of the consumer (gotta love that word, synonymous for slave aka corporate whore) getting shafted all the damn time.

With big thanks to Racer_S ... ...

He made this tool to remove the bars on the sides for TripleHead but it can also remove the bars from the top and bottom in widescreen ...

TripleHead info here ... http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/fo ... hp?t=13547

The tool is DirectX 9 only at the moment ...
Download the tool from here ... CLICK ME
Unzip the tool anywhere you like ... I'm using XP and mine is in the games main directory/folder ... C:\Program Files\Ubisoft\Assassin's Creed ...
Run the tool ... leave it running ...
Set it as follows for 1920x1200 ... or your desired resolution
Choosing your version of the game ... mine is the UK shop bought version.
EDIT: This Aspect setting in the screenshot below should work for all 16:10 resolutions.


Follow the instructions on the front of the tool to adjust the aspect Ratio/FOV if you so desire as it will vary for different aspect ratios ... 4:3 ... 5:4 ... ... etc.


Just input the res you are using for other resolutions ... the other settings should stay the same.
Start the game ...
Press the * key on the number pad to enable the tool ...
If for any reason the graphics get messed up going from menu to in-game or back ... just disable the tool with the / key on the number pad and re enable it with the * key ...

That's it ... enjoy ...

Before ... 1920x1200 ...


After ...
The HUD does stretch a little with this tool enabled.


EDIT: I updated the settings screenshot due the findings of Punisher|ITA ... see his post/s below ...

Sweet! Mad props to Racer_S once again. I wonder if this will fix the pixelization issue.

If it does, he's getting a donation.

Racer_S pwns once again!

Question: If I'm playing on 16:10 aspect ratio 1440x900 rez, what do I set the Aspect on the tool to?

That is the same aspect ratio as 1920x1200 ... so use the setting in the screenshot of the tool above.