[REQUEST] User-Defined preview Window size

I noticed that the preview window when C3 is set to preview as a popup doesn't go to the proper viewport size. This made me think that it might be handy to allow developers to set the preview window size so that it could be previewed 1:1 with the viewport size set in the project (if that will fit at monitor resolution). Being able define a specific size would be useful for testing cases where multiple screen sizes are being developed for, like desktop previewing of aspect ratio differences between mobile devices, or if a web game is being developed at a lower resolution and scales up based on window size so devs can test to make sure graphic assets have high enough definition to support higher resolutions. We can drag the window but we don't really get any feedback on correct size and can't currently set the size with actions.

Best-case scenario would be having a dropdown with common resolutions in the Project properties panel, and some way for C3 users to add their own as needed, that can be used for setting preview window size. The Viewport size defined in the Project properties could be the default option. And if it's in an easy to reach place it'll be faster to test multiple sizes.

The default preview window size is meant to be the viewport size exactly, but if you're on a high-DPI display there's probably this bug that affects it: https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=677381

The default preview window size is meant to be the viewport size exactly, but if you're on a high-DPI display there's probably this bug that affects it: https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=677381

This hasn't been my experience with the C3 beta on multiple brands of normal DPI monitors (and high DPI is basically unusable on an SP4 because of text size being far too large). It seems to be taking the title bar of the preview window into account when setting the initial size for the window, and if it's resized, it doesn't self-correct to to the proper size when preview is restarted. I also see no way to set a custom preview window size as requested in my OP to more quickly & easily preview different resolutions during desktop preview, which would be extremely useful.

Ashley

But report filed here - it's pretty obvious something isn't working quite as planned, on standard DPI or high DPI displays: https://github.com/Scirra/Construct-3-bugs/issues/112

And to return to the OP, being able to set custom preview sizes to allow easier testing of different resolutions & aspect ratios on desktop continues to be a thing that would be very, very useful. Either for desktop or mobile builds, dealing with these issues is a daily task, and right now it's the opposite of a streamlined, user-friendly process in C2 or C3.

In Unity:

This feature could slot into the C3 Project Properties pane pretty easily:

And to return to the OP, being able to set custom preview sizes to allow easier testing of different resolutions & aspect ratios on desktop continues to be a thing that would be very, very useful.

You should now be able to do that by changing the preview mode to "browser tab" in settings and using Chrome Dev Tools device mode.

You should now be able to do that by changing the preview mode to "browser tab" in settings and using Chrome Dev Tools device mode.

No, this is still not at all what I'm talking about.

First, browser tab preview defaults to whatever the browser size is, and does not set it to a specific size. If I set the size manually, that also changes the size of the C3 editor the browser (same browser window, different tab). I suppose I could pull the browser tab off into its own window, but this is still far from ideal for preview OR debugging.

Second, the request involves including a way to set a size to preview at that is separate from the Viewport size, while still allowing preview in a window without being surrounded by unnecessary browser components (in C3 terms, Popup style).

I think the screenshots above make it obvious that what I've requested and what is currently available are not the same thing. Yes, I understand we can use built-in Chrome tools for this, but then we're back to depending on third-party features again instead of C3 handling it directly, which is better from a usability perspective. I'm a little confused on how I could be any more clear, so I suggest launching Unity - or just about any other well-known game engine other than Construct, but it's easiest to access in Unity - and view how it handles allowing developers to define preview window size very easily.

The Chrome Dev Tools device tab should do exactly what you are asking for. Is it missing something? Asking us to reimplement an existing Chrome feature just seems like a waste of time. The dev tools device mode allows you to pick from a set of common device screen sizes, and also includes device pixel ratio emulation, touch input emulation, and other non-obvious features. There's a lot more to it than setting the viewport size. We may as well just use what already exists.

The Chrome Dev Tools device tab should do exactly what you are asking for. Is it missing something? Asking us to reimplement an existing Chrome feature just seems like a waste of time. The dev tools device mode allows you to pick from a set of common device screen sizes, and also includes device pixel ratio emulation, touch input emulation, and other non-obvious features. There's a lot more to it than setting the viewport size. We may as well just use what already exists.

Yes, I understand those other features also exist in Chrome Dev Tools, but for quick testing iterations the additional features are not especially necessary, and mouse can already be used (at least in C2, I haven't tried in C3) to test touch input. That's why the request covers only resolution/aspect ratio, which is enough to test most things when previewing on desktop, which is exactly what Unity (and other tools) provides in its preview options.