[Abandoned] Multi-monitor screen space

[linuxgurugamer]

@linuxgurugamer

I'm unable to reproduce the OpenGL issue. Are you sure it was running a windowed or borderless windowed instance, that error sounds like something that would pop up if the resolution was too high in fullscreen (check that KSP runs before you drop the .dll in)? Did it generate any logs?

No logs that I can see.

I'm pretty sure it was a Windows error, not KSP.

I'm using an nVidia video card with 4 monitors attached. I'll need to reconfigure the nVidia driver to join the monitors together and see what happens.

I'll let you know what I find.

[drtedastro]

Great idea. Best of luck.

This has been needed since the beginning...

Cheers.

Happy to be test crasher / driver...

[Budgie]

Is this a PC exclusive mod? I really hope not. Excited to see how it progresses!

[Crzyrndm]

Tested it out, working on my end. (Just the create black on the right seems to not be working, looks garbled but the windows do work)

Disregard my earlier statement, turns out this is a quirk of when things start and KSP remembering it's last active resolution somewhere. The short version: KSP.exe starts in last successful resolution => plugin starts, creates blackout panelling for a window against the resolution KSP is running at => KSP reads the settings file and updates the resolution rendering (which the blackout panel is not configured for)

Basically, the issue appeared the first time KSP was started after manually setting the resolution (and now I know what caused it, I can fix it...)

Is this a PC exclusive mod? I really hope not. Excited to see how it progresses!

If you can get KSP to stretch over multiple monitors, this will work (actually, you could move it around in a single monitor as well, but what's the point ). No special trickery involved

Progress update

For the editor scenes, I may have to resort either to constructing them from scratch or temporarily downsizing KSP. They are stubbornly refusing to undistort in any reasonable manner and I've had enough of bashing my head against a wall for the time being. I also had a go at reconstructing the map in another view with some interesting results, but nothing useful at this stage.

Edited June 28, 2015 by Crzyrndm

[Gristle]

I have 4 Screens in a 3x1 if you need testing done.

Wouldn't a 3x1 setup be 3 screens not 4?

S-S-S
  S

Perhaps?

Edited June 28, 2015 by Gristle

[linuxgurugamer]

Wouldn't a 3x1 setup be 3 screens not 4?

S-S-S
  S

Perhaps?

I would go with:

  S
S-S-S

[cheech420now]

Wouldn't a 3x1 setup be 3 screens not 4?

lol I have 3 screens in a Nvidia surround setup with the fourth above my center screen.

[linuxgurugamer]

lol I have 3 screens in a Nvidia surround setup with the fourth above my center screen.

Are all the screens identical?

[cheech420now]

yes all are 24 inch ACER Screens .

[rabidninjawombat]

This looks really promising! Looking forward to it

[cy-one]

This looks really promising! Looking forward to it

oh yes, it really does.

I'm currently not at home, so I can't test it.

But how would the mod handle a setup like

Main: 1920x1080 in landscape

Secondary (left) 1050x1680 in portrait mode

Wallpaper-images generated by DisplayFusion look kinda funny (if not split to both monitors), how would the mod handle this?

And would you like someone to test this kind of setup? (so far, other people seem to have only "normal" and "symmetrical" setups)

[Crzyrndm]

But how would the mod handle a setup like

I really don't know. 90% of the multi-monitor display is being handled by KSP/OS, the plugin is just telling it where to display the visuals inside the full space allocated for KSP. To get full use of the monitors you'll probably have to set KSP's resolution to (1920+1050) x 1680 and then fiddle with the plugin settings file to place/size the view to your main monitor (if necessary).

[Probus]

Can't wait to try this out. Great idea!

If multiple monitor sizes were supportable that would be like icing on the cake! But 1 step at a time.

Edited July 3, 2015 by Probus

[Pkmniako]

I don't have two monitors, but I'll try to get a old one to try this out!

[Crzyrndm]

Updated with a couple of fixes, added a download link and a list of known issues to the OP

[csx23]

The plan for this mod is to extend the usable screen space for KSP over multiple monitors while keeping the view focused on a single monitor (as it is now).

<snip>

Hello,

Thanks for sharing your work. Sorry for the many questions below!

I do not have multi-monitor setup right now due to one screen dying but will be aiming to get back to it ASAP. I am considering 2x large screens (28"?) vs 1x massive screen (40"+?). Not sure if this is good or bad but it appears KSP compatibility will be part of the decision making process. To that end, I am trying to understand what this mod can help accomplish. Since I can't try it myself, could you please give me a summary of current status as of today?

Can I use this mod with 2x (say 28") screens today and play an "acceptable" game perhaps with a few quirks?

To detail my question - please find your Known Issues repeated below.

Known Issues

• 1) Exit button for astronaut complex disappears and the overlay cannot be closed
  
• 2) Editor Scenes are significantly distorted
  
• 3) Some UI elements are not correctly relocated or relocated at all
  

Is Known Issue #1 game killer? or can you use a QuickGoTo or similar mod to overcome it?

Item #2 - So is the Editor unusable, thus game unplayable with this mod now? OR do you quickly, in an automated/scripted manner, turn off multi monitor screen in editor view and then likewise re-auto-enable when you exit?

Item #3 - What does this "some elements not located" mean exactly, is it game killer or are 'things' getting stuck in main screen?

[tryinghard]

Hi,

stupid question here: how do I use this ? I noticed the settings.cfg file, but how do I add my other(s) monitor(s) ? Sry, just can't figure out how it works :s

[Crzyrndm]

@csx23

What the mod does is try to force KSP to display in only a subsection of the space designated to it (the idea being that you can move information displays from mods into the unused space which is normally inaccessible). *If* you are only going to be flying ships, it does this job almost perfectly (there are a few windows that still show up in the centre of the assigned space rather than the used space). The main problem is the editor, no matter what I tried, it was heavily distorted and the mouse position didn't sync with what was happening on the screen. IIRC, I had to resort to dropping the resolution back to only the "used" area inside the editors to make them somewhat usable.

Issue 1: will probably be a non-issue with quickgoto. It's just the button that disappeared

Issue 2: I can't remember what this is like in the released version, see above for the workaround I was messing with

Issue 3: Some of the UI elements will show up relative to the assigned space (eg. the esc menu in the flight scene will always be centered in height and width relative to the assigned space). For the most part, it's just a little awkward when things end up crossing a screen edge

@tryinghard

1) Setup KSP to run in windowed or borderless windowed mode (not full screen).

2) You need to go into the KSP settings and set ResX and ResY by hand to the size (eg. 3840x1080 for two landscape 1920x1080 monitors side by side)

3) The settings cfg sets up the size/position of the display area inside that window. The default makes the display a 1920x1080 display located in the top left corner. (leaving the right half blank if you used the above resolution

[Stone Blue]

So I just installed this, (I'm running Lubuntu 15.04 64bit), and it SORTA worx... lol

In Map View, I get certain display elements bleeding over to the right side, as well as opening, then closing display screens, things get left on the display...I guess "ghosting"...Like things get drawn, but the screen doesnt refresh, leaving all kinds of artifacts that build-up and overlap. Minimizing the window to the taskbar, then opening it again does a refresh to a clean screen. Have only gone into the Space Center, Tracking Center, Flight and Map screens...

Oh, and in Tracking Center, all the buttons along the top are not there...

I'm running heavily modded, so I dont know if its specifically THIS mod alone, or it clashing with something else...

Also, I am on a laptop with a 1600x900 display, which does not have a matching KSP setting, and a 2nd old monitor, 1024x768, so i dont know if that may have something to do with it, too...

Overall, it seems playable...Just need to refresh the window a lot...(Also, I havent been in either editor yet, so I dont know if it will be playable THEN...)

Edited October 26, 2015 by Stone Blue

[Crzyrndm]

If I remember correctly, the bleeding into the other areas is only the first time you launch at a new resolution. There are blackout panels to prevent that occurring but they get initialised before KSP changes the resolution or something like that

The rest of it is totally fair. This was hugely experimental and there are just too many thing that I can't fix for me to justify further development (now, if I could get the editor to work properly, that would be a different story...)

Edited October 26, 2015 by Crzyrndm

[tryinghard]

Works like a charm thank you very much for the explanation

[Probus]

On 10/26/2015 at 2:03 AM, Crzyrndm said:

The rest of it is totally fair. This was hugely experimental and there are just too many thing that I can't fix for me to justify further development (now, if I could get the editor to work properly, that would be a different story...)

That's a shame @Crzyrndm

[Stone Blue]

@Crzyrndm Any chance of you reconsidering/revisiting dev of this, since Unity 5 now supports multi-monitor support?

https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/MultiDisplay.html

[Crzyrndm]

Not anytime soon. 

[Dafni]

Shame. Somebody else should tackle this. I would if I could. Imagine a dual screen KSP....