Do you see more in games at higher resolution?

If I play a game at 1600x900 vs 1366x768, do I see more on screen? or do I see the same exact picture, just sharper image?

 

Same picture, sharper image.

 

You see the same picture, but you can see more in the picture because there are more pixels to display images. You'll be able to tell that the thing on the horizon is an enemy easier than with the lower resolution. So, a sharper image like you say.

 

Well, same picture, but more or less depends on aspect ratio. You will usually see most with 16:9 ratio, horizontally at least, not really dependent on resolution. You'll see the same image with 1280x720 as you will with 1920x1080, just 720p won't be as detailed.

 

Only way to see more (or less) is with a different aspect ratio. Since they are both 16:9, you won't miss anything. But if you had the choice for say, 1920x1080 (16:9) vs 1920x1200 (16:10), you would see more on the screen (vertically).

 

Not true with older 2D games, even sprite-based games. E.g. Diablo II, or Red Alert. In those games, the higher your resolution, the more content you see on the screen (assuming you got a high-res patch to work).

 

yes there are some games like the total war series that it was possible to see more, another example is DAO

 

What you're thinking of is field of view, FOV. This is largely independent of resolution.

 

You will see more of your HUD, depending on the game. For example, in WoW you can fit more UI plugins on the screen with a higher resolution. You just won't see more of the actual world.

 

As the others said the FoW Changes how much you see in the game, but of course if you have higher res it will be more clearly displayed.

 

To much FOV though can produce a fish eye affect.

 

^True, but this is usually not an issue unless you're playing at something seriously high like 120 degrees or greater. Most games limit FOV these days anyway. TF2 limits it to 90, which isn't too bad. I personally prefer around 100 to 110. Good balance of visibility and not fish-eye.

Some games have the opposite problem. Modern Warfare 2 limits your FOV to an absolutely painful 65 degrees; talk about tunnel vision.

 

I used to know guys who'd play Quake3 with an FOV of 160 or so back in college, just so they'd have more peripheral vision. You can adapt to it I tried it a bit, but it just annoyed me.

Gotta keep the game fair. Besides, most games are console games first, and those pretty much never give you those options. They just keep it that way going to the PC.

 

The long version is that it depends on the game. The game designers can program whatever they want, so they could certainly choose to show you a different image based on your resolution or aspect ratio.

The short answer is that in general, with modern games, resolution by itself does not have an effect on the content in the image, but it does change the sharpness / detail. The aspect ratio may very well change the content in the image, and most games are either aspect ratio agnostic or targeted for 16:9 these days. Agnostic games usually allow you to set a custom resolution and custom FOV. 16:9 targeted games mean that if you play on an alternative resolution, like 4:3 or 16:10, that you will get part of the content of the image cut off.

Most modern 2d games avoid using sprite pre-rendered graphics and have adopted vector graphics to avoid the basic resolution issue.

 

Some servers will kick or even ban you if your FOV is too large.

 

I hated MW2! I like my FOV around 90-100 90 in BC2

Man an FOV of 160 would drive me nuts

Very true have had this happen to me in some servers in BC2.