Hellol111 wrote:Why? What made you do this? I just want to be able to play doom with a crunchy look and updated behavior, but you removed it for no reason.
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And you can't add some kind of toggle for the old fonts?
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I just find it weird that something like that just gets completely gutted when there was no need for it. I get that English isn't the only language, and you want to keep things usable for everyone, but lets not pretend that GZDoom doesn't already have a few thousand options, and a simple opt-in to the old font and scaling can't be that hard considering all the assets already exist.
You have repeated that there was no reason/need. There was (as a few people have now explained, and Graf, in particular, has given some detail).
You also imply that putting 320x200 back would be trivial. It would not. The game is now set up to expect a minimum resolution greater than that. The menus in particular were already straining at the seams and not really as functional as they should have been as a result. It's not just a case of "having a toggle". The interface has been refactored quite extensively in a way that is not compatible with extremely low resolutions. Keeping code around to support 320x200 would be far more effort than it is worth to satisfy the few people who like the novelty of being able to play a modern, visual-enhancing port at a 1993 resolution.
The raising of the minimum resolution for GZDoom enhances the user experience for the vast majority of GZDoom users; very few of whom would want to use 320x200 on a regular basis (if ever) and for the people working very hard to maintain and improve the port. Most people win by this change.
You have asked about reasons though, so how about the reverse question - what reason would there be to restore it?
To be honest, I find "I like a crunchy look" to not be a strong argument on a port with advanced visuals. I get that some people do like the "crunchy" look, but that's not what GZDoom has ever really been about. It is, however, what other ports are about, so you still have non-GZDoom choices.
(And although I would not recommend sticking with older versions of GZDoom (because you will lose out on bug fixes and enhancements) the old versions of GZDoom are still available too if you really need to fire up GZDoom and see what it looks like in 320x200. (IMO, ugly as hell is the answer, but I get that some people like playing Doom as if the whole scene was a censored Sim in the shower.

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And, to counter it just in case it comes up, "it's always been there" is not a strong case either - especially for a modern port aimed at modern computers where 320x200 simply doesn't exist in any practical sense. Things move on. Windows 10 can only run as low as 800 x 600 (which is actually lower than Win 8 offered). Raising the minimum resolution alone will not mean anyone on a target system who was previously able to run the game will now not be able to do so. As for other ports, I'm pretty sure that Risen 3D and Doomsday haven't offered resolutions as low as that for some time (if ever?). The lowest either of them offer (on my system at least) is 640x480.
It has been stated repeatedly over the years that (G)ZDoom's primary purpose is not to fully and authentically replicate the exact playing experience of 1993. There are other ports out there which do this and, because it is one of their main (if not the main) purposes, then they do it very well. GZDoom does try to play old maps correctly, and considerable time and effort is invested in ensuring compatibility. However, it is not trying to do so in a way that fully emulates exactly how the Doom engine behaved in 1993.
By default, GZDoom consciously enhances the visuals (and other aspects) of the playing experience to present Doom in a more modern environment. You have heard that the new font system (spawning, in part, from the localisation effort) and the need to make the extensive menus readable in GZDoom were the driving forces behind the removal of 320x200. That resolution is simply too small to be compatible with these things. However, I would also argue that insisting on 320x200 in a (by default) OpenGL game that supports dynamic lights, PBR materials, models and a whole host of other modern visual enhancements is somewhat of an incompatible logic too.