46 replies to this topic

[XgreatArtist]

does increase fov affect FPS? My rig is bad ><

[Ritualist]

Makovorn, on 28 October 2012 - 09:04 PM, said:

snip

This post is absolutely amazing. My only issue with the loss of footspace is how this would impact PvP - given the design of the game, you need that much space to be able to see what takes place behind you. Although I imagine this could be fixed by simply allowing us to zoom out further?

[FoxBat]

Protoss, on 29 October 2012 - 09:37 AM, said:

My only issue with the loss of footspace is how this would impact PvP - given the design of the game, you need that much space to be able to see what takes place behind you.

You kind of need this for any kind of melee play whatsoever, not just for good preception of what's behind you, but also to aid in judging the distance of attack for extremely short range weapons. Trying to judge Z distance on a flat screen is always a challenge, and the moreso you stare straight off into the horzon rather than a downward angle. So many console shooters opt for miniscule footspace because they don't have hardly any melee, but you will not see that same treatment of the combat scenes in God of War. Heck this is even an issue for ground-targeting as well, you can't afford a huge tilt that makes those circles too difficult to paint. Then you add on top of that this whole probably lost somewhere notion that GW2 is a *team* game, and you want to see what your allies behind you are doing occasionally as well..

A big compromise Anet has to make is one camera height for all character heights, and that's one I completely support to minimize race advantages. Headspace will therefore always be less than ideal.

Edited by FoxBat, 29 October 2012 - 10:12 AM.

[Shadow209]

Nice, I really like it.
Too bad I can't log into the official forums to post my feedback, since I own a german copy of the game (and can only log into the german forums)

The change seems to be very little on screenshots, but it actually makes a huge difference when actually playing the game and I don't want to go back anymore.
I do agree, that we need more improvements though, as described by Makovorn, but this is a good start.

edit: why not implement a slider for the camera hight?

Edited by Shadow209, 29 October 2012 - 11:04 AM.

[Naevius]

The camera height examples from Makovorn are great.

The new FOV at 2560x1600 looks good, but it is starting to make my machine chug, so it would be nice to have more GPU optimization as well.

[Makovorn]

FoxBat, on 29 October 2012 - 10:02 AM, said:

-snip-

Edit: Sorry, this is a long one. I've added a TL;DR at the bottom.

You make a very valid point in terms of combat awareness. I suspect a greater zoom (not unlike the one we've seen with the new "Mad King" bug), might give you a better selection of varying zoom distances combined with a more top-down view to paint AOE targets and to help with judging distances, as you mentioned. This sort-of reminds me of World of Warcraft, where you could zoom out more and go to a completely downwards camera angle for that birds-eye view of the battlefield or for what's immediately around you.

The good thing is, that you can actually have the best of both worlds in terms of having less foot-space, but also have more back-space if you need it for combat awareness. A higher FoV helps tremendously in this regard, but also zoom. If you look at the pics in my previous post where I talk about foot-space and you look at the TSW example, and now look at the following pic, you can see that despite the "font-on/feet-close-to-the-bottom" angle I had in the previous pic, you can also get very nice back-space if you need it, by zooming out slightly or manipulating the camera to your desire:



Camera height, and foot-space (and by extension, less head-space for more forward awareness) seems to go hand in hand, but you see this more when zoomed in. This is great if you like the more in-your-face, front-on view during combat. However, if you do prefer more back-space, you can do this in both GW1, GW2 (the norn female example I used in my previous post) and TSW. Here's a comparison:




Now the above angle is okay for seeing enemies coming from behind, but perhaps not so great for painting AOE targets in front of you. For that, you can simply bring the camera upwards (and point it downwards) and get a fairly nice top/down view similar to the middle pic (TSW) in the first example.

I think the solution to satisfying all kinds of play styles, lies in a combination of FoV, zoom and a proper camera pivot height. The higher FoV helps with seeing more even when zoomed in, while a higher camera pivot feels more natural, because when you zoom in, it feels like the viewpoint should be near to the eye-line of your character, and not your character's back/belly.

Simultaneously, a greater FoV and zoom provide you with very good combat awareness when you start zooming out - and it doesn't mean your character has to be pea-sized (although I know some players who like it this way).

TL;DR: The Secret World and Guild Wars 1 illustrates that you can have a great frontal viewpoint for the more in-your-face kind of play-style (thanks to great FoV and a higher camera pivot), while simultaneously giving you the option of having more combat awareness all around you, by using some measure of zoom-out. I wish the same for Guild Wars 2.

Edited by Makovorn, 29 October 2012 - 12:34 PM.

[Sandpit]

There is no difference when on windowed fullscreen or on fullscreen (1680*1050) but I do get a little more FoV (and it is just a little) using windowed.

For me, it has to work on fullscreen (windowed of not) and really the difference is far too slight.

[Doctor Overlord]

The new FoV is a much needed improvement.   It looks great.  

Xephyr, on 28 October 2012 - 07:30 AM, said:

Its a start.. What Id like is:

1. FoV slider.
2. Camera centered above your head, not at your back.
3. Allow zooming in to first person view.

Especially #3!

[Vahkris]

It's nice they're working on it, and I notice the change, but either way works for me.  I don't have that "wow" feeling when I turn it on, it makes no difference to me.

[GrandmaFunk]

So, I'm not really sure what this change actually does, from the screenshots it seems to give you the ability to zoom out a bit more.

Is that what it is, or is there more to it then that?

[jirayasan]

It says beta, obiously far from complete.

FoV works like this. Imagine you have your eyes half closed, then you open them up like normal. You can see the difference, that's what FoV does. It makes you see more, in all directions, up, down, left, right.

Edit: Also i'm not 100% sold on the camera. Right now the camera is fixated too low, i want it higher up. + First Person View.

Edited by jirayasan, 29 October 2012 - 10:11 PM.

[Beren]

Another vote for FPV camera! It really is a shame that they have designed those beautiful sceneries and we only get to see them when in a Vista camera. I really miss the ability to just look up in awe without my toon taking up 50% of the screen in gigantic clipped textures.

[Asha2012]

I think I see a difference but not sure.  It still annoys me that if I sit (/sit) and zoom in, center frame is above my head.  In GW1 standing sitting or kneeling, the character was always put center frame.  I don't like to take all my screen shots standing.  Hopefully this FoV gets followed up with some PoV fixes.

Oh and hey: How about some true FP perspective?

[owly]

The FOV is improved, but using this fix gives massive lag.

[Psikerlord]

I mostly play PvP and noticed the difference when in an area big enough to accomodate (eg not on a cap point in forest). I think it's great, being able to see your foe coming a little earlier helps! Please keep this (or a variant of it) Anet!

[Aetou]

The improved FOV is very nice, it just needs a bit more optimisation as the difference in performance after toggling it on was definitely noticable.

[Psikerlord]

Has anyone tried the new FOV as of today? You can zoom out HEAPS now if you are in an area which will accomodate it -eg: you can zoom out something like 2-3 times as much as before - try it in the mists for example. Massive change. I like the option, but cant see myself using such a big field of view most of the time (could be good for quick scan of the area though as running through for instance)