VideoHUD Updated 3 days ago

How to play Deadlock 4:3 stretched

Playing 4:3 stretched means running Deadlock at a 4:3 resolution like 1440x1080 and stretching it to fill your 16:9 monitor. Heroes look wider and the view feels closer. It takes four steps, and the last one fixes the HUD, which gets stretched too.

1. Add the 4:3 resolution to your graphics driver

Deadlock only lists resolutions your graphics driver offers. Add the 4:3 one you want first. 1440x1080 is the usual pick on a 1080p monitor, 1920x1440 on a 1440p one.

1
NVIDIA: open NVIDIA Control Panel, then Change resolution, Customize, Create Custom Resolution. Enter the width, height and your monitor's refresh rate.
2
AMD: open AMD Software (Adrenalin), then Settings, Display, Custom Resolutions, and create one.
3
Either card: Custom Resolution Utility (CRU) works too. Restart the PC after adding resolutions with it.

2. Make the GPU stretch the picture

Without this, a 4:3 resolution shows with black bars at the sides.

1
NVIDIA: Adjust desktop size and position, pick Full-screen, and set Perform scaling on to GPU.
2
AMD: Settings, Display, switch on GPU Scaling and set Scaling Mode to Full panel.

3. Pick 4x3 in Deadlock

Deadlock's video settings only offer 16:9, 16:10 and 21:9. The 4:3 Video mod adds a 4x3 button there, so the resolution list shows your 4:3 modes.

Settings, Video with 4:3 Video: 4x3 picked, and the 1600x1200 modes the driver offers.

1
Install 4:3 Video (how to install mods).
2
In Deadlock, open Settings, Video, and pick 4x3 under Aspect ratio.
3
Pick your 4:3 resolution, set the window mode to Full Screen and press Apply.

4. Fix the stretched HUD

The stretch widens everything, including the HUD: round icons turn into ovals and text gets wide. UI Kit squeezes the HUD back so it looks normal on a stretched screen, and lets you move parts towards the edges you now have.

Before: the game's HUD at 4:3 stretched, every icon and number pulled wide.

After: the same spot with the HUD de-stretched and resized in UI Kit.

1
Install UI Kit (how to install mods).
2
In a match (Hero Testing is easiest), press Esc and choose UI Kit.
3
Open the HUD tab and pick the 4:3 stretch preset, then De-stretch everything, or de-stretch only the parts you choose.
4
Press Done.

Tip: De-stretch everything is the quick fix. De-stretching part by part lets you keep, say, the minimap stretched (bigger) while abilities and health look normal.

Which resolution?

1440x1080 on a 1080p monitor: the most common 4:3 stretched resolution, sharp and wide.
1280x960: more frames per second, a softer picture.
1920x1440 or 1600x1200 on a 1440p monitor: sharp, but often has to be added by hand in the driver first.
Use your monitor's full refresh rate for the custom resolution, or the game will feel slower than it should.

Common questions

Black bars instead of a stretched picture: GPU scaling isn't set to full panel or full-screen (step 2). If it is, set the game's window mode to Full Screen instead of Borderless Window.
My 4:3 resolution isn't in the list: it isn't added in the driver yet (step 1), or 4x3 isn't picked as the aspect ratio (step 3).
Going back: pick 16x9 in the video settings and your native resolution.

4:3 Video UI Kit