I have noticed that for recently added older Windows games (such as Warlords 3 and Submarine Titans) GOG was kind enough to add a DIrectX Settings tool which allows one to use letterboxing as a method of scaling. As someone with a widescreen monitor this feature is simply amazing.

My question is, could the devs here add the same tool for the rest of the old Windows titles that they've released in the past?

Your best option is to ask support.

Letterboxing means adding black bars to the top and bottom, to display a wide screen picture on a square (4:3) display.
It's the worst thing possible if you have a wide screen display - though on modern TVs (not computer screens AFAIK) it can be remedied because they have zoom functions.

It has nothing to do with scaling, it's something that's been added to the source material. A letterbox image is a 4:3 one.

Maybe you mean something else? It would be cool to have a tool that would let you zoom in on old 4:3 letterboxed games (though it's usually just the cinematics - I've never seen a game that does it in-game)

this setting can be changed in dosbox 0.74 manually for ur current desktop resolution, or u can do a default setting for any resolution in version 0.74-2 ok? and i don't see what's so bad about it

Any particular reason why the term couldn't also apply to preserving 4:3/5:4 aspect ratio on widescreens by black bars on left and right?

haideti fratilor sa-i facem schema lui Cichizdan ca prea a prins bulan! :'(

Yeah that. Whatever you call adding black bars on the left and the right side so that the game is rendered in a 4:3 ratio as was the standard back in the day. I'm talking about Windows games.

If you want to run an old Win game in 4:3 you can either:
a) set your monitor to 4:3 ratio, but not all monitors can do that (mine doesn't)
b) use GPU scaling, but that blurrs everything.

PS: sunt surprins câți români au răspuns :))

PPS: Crăciun fericit!

Beyond Good and Evil does it in game.... Super annoying.

And Speed Busters does it if you turn on "widescreen" mode.

Why are you speaking Klingon?

This is a Christian server, no demonic languages allowed here.

Says the Finn ;)

It's called Fixed Aspect Ratio scaling and it actually doesn't "add" black bars. The black areas to the left and right are just a logical consequence of showing a square image on a rectangle shaped display (or top/bottom when displaying 16:9 on 4:3).

Letterboxing is when the content makers add hard coded black bars to the top and bottom. Black bars left/right = Pillarboxing. All sides = Windowboxing
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letterboxing_%28filming%29 a) It's probably not easy to find a monitor (and be sure in advance) that it does. It's usually not written in the specifications.
b) The blurring is not because the GPU does it. The newest graphics cards drivers* now support integer scaling, while I don't think many monitors do.
*Nvidia: Pascal generation and newer. Intel has it too (don't know the details). I'm not sure about AMD...

My current monitor (Dell U2715H) can be set to 4:3 or 5:4 manually but it doesn't listen to the Nvidia control panel.