Guild Wars 2

ConterK.3972:

oh, another advantage
in the same note as be4

players with a higher FOV (longer zoom out option) would be able to watch over walls just by staning close to the wall and move ur camera on top of your character head, with a long enough zoom out, u should be able to see what’s on the other side of a wall, for example on WvW

again… FoV does not equal zoom. You can have a higher FoV without being able to zoom out any further.

The FOV on 1 wide-screen monitor makes me weep :’(

heres a 3 monitor set up a sane person would use

huckilbery.5638:

heres a 3 monitor set up a sane person would use

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5N_q4-sC3v4

That’s how I have it set up and play GW 2 at a resolution of 5760×1080 but I still feel the FoV is way too narrow. It sure helps to have those side monitors, but you’ll still not see kitten while in a dungeon and the camera hits a wall. Having 3 monitors really doesn’t solve the problem, it just makes it slightly more endurable.

Edit: Read back a few posts and a lot of people keep bringing up advantages, ANet not wanting to support higher FoV and performance issues. Well, ANet already supports higher FoV they’ve put in a lot of development time to support triple monitor users so we get a better experience with higher FoV. Triple monitor setup was very broken in beta and on launch. Today it is working perfectly fine and gives us a huge FoV boost, clearly they support higher FoV, which is a great thing! Now all we need is a FoV slider to solve the remaining FoV problems.

For now I’ve set a custom resolution of 1920×980, the black bars doesn’t bother me much as that is how I used to run EQ2 (wich had a slider for vertical FoV) for years, and the game looks much better.. imho

ConterK.3972:

well i actually read every post now, and the example and stuff

so FoV is just zooming out of your character?? -_-

yeah, that’s what i got from all of this, and yes is a simple thing

I don’t believe you’ve read a kitten thing.

How many times to do people need to point out that FoV is not zoom?

How many examples and videos do we have to post more?

Please watch this video and the second part it.

If you watch this video and still come back with FoV=Zoom, then I don’t even know what to say.

Naminator.9316:

ConterK.3972:

well i actually read every post now, and the example and stuff

so FoV is just zooming out of your character?? -_-

yeah, that’s what i got from all of this, and yes is a simple thing

I don’t believe you’ve read a kitten thing.

How many times to do people need to point out that FoV is not zoom?

How many examples and videos do we have to post more?

Please watch this video and the second part it.

If you watch this video and still come back with FoV=Zoom, then I don’t even know what to say.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blZUao2jTGA

Pretty enlightening, i’d recomend watching part two also (http://youtu.be/S1XsPYPGcl0) also adds upp, and makes quite clear because DX9 were used instead of dx11, that is a foreseeable console compatibility -.-

So in short the designer claimed they prefer not to having bad texture painted over geometrical artefacts, but they are comfortably ok with customers suffering from motion sickness. Lovely.

So we have to suck it up and our options are:

1) get motion sickness

2) buy 2 more displays and a more powerful video-card to manage the gfx power that the resolution of 3 displays require

3) use a forbidden, close coded and thus potentially dangerous 3rd program application, as we were exploiters, because we’ve run out of options for they DO NOT WANT add a built in frigging FoV slider…

Oh just great

How would I figure out what custom resolution would give me close to a 90º FoV? My monitor has a native resolution of 1600×900. I don’t suffer from nausea or headaches, but it does bother me. It’s annoying to go from playing a game on my PS3 to playing GW2 on my PC. The difference is noticeable.

Sly.7354:

How would I figure out what custom resolution would give me close to a 90º FoV? My monitor has a native resolution of 1600×900. I don’t suffer from nausea or headaches, but it does bother me. It’s annoying to go from playing a game on my PS3 to playing GW2 on my PC. The difference is noticeable.

The formulas can be found here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Field_of_view_in_video_games

Corew.8932:

Sly.7354:

How would I figure out what custom resolution would give me close to a 90º FoV? My monitor has a native resolution of 1600×900. I don’t suffer from nausea or headaches, but it does bother me. It’s annoying to go from playing a game on my PS3 to playing GW2 on my PC. The difference is noticeable.

The formulas can be found here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Field_of_view_in_video_games

Well, I dusted off my Ti-86 to find it’s batteries had died. I’m just going to wing it. Thanks anyway.

Sly.7354:

Well, I dusted off my Ti-86 to find it’s batteries had died. I’m just going to wing it. Thanks anyway.

Use a spread sheet!

My WishList:
FoV slider
Vertical position of character slider

Naminator.9316:

ConterK.3972:

well i actually read every post now, and the example and stuff

so FoV is just zooming out of your character?? -_-

yeah, that’s what i got from all of this, and yes is a simple thing

I don’t believe you’ve read a kitten thing.

How many times to do people need to point out that FoV is not zoom?

How many examples and videos do we have to post more?

Please watch this video and the second part it.

If you watch this video and still come back with FoV=Zoom, then I don’t even know what to say.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blZUao2jTGA

watched them both, and yeah
all he says is how higher FOV = More stuff you can see

wich in THIS game = to longer Zoom out

Min 6:30
“you’r just increasing the amount of information to see”
“More information, same screen size, all things just seem to get smaller”

what happens when u zoom out of your character??
you can see more of the enviorement, u still have the same screen size, things seem to get smaller because u’r further away from them!!

He also “suggest” (he doesnt really suggest it, but thats what i got from the explanation he made comparing 52" Tv using a console at 10 feet away to PC monitor of 30" at 2 feet away)
that another way to fix it is, sitting further away from your monitor, giving your eyes more space for peripheral vision and making it more comfortable for you!

Either way, higher FOV is in Fact and advantage over lower FOV, even if you dont Focus all the things you can see on the monitor, they’r still there, and u would see them if you focus them, that’s an obvious advantage!
plus while u’r focusing the center of the monitor u still have your peripheral view inside your monitors sight, giving you reaction to movement advantage!

PS: tnx for the videos, they were very instructive!

Gillysan.1962:

Sly.7354:

Well, I dusted off my Ti-86 to find it’s batteries had died. I’m just going to wing it. Thanks anyway.

Use a spread sheet!

My WishList:
FoV slider
Vertical position of character slider

yes to both of those… Also a toggle for camera smoothing and better camera collision detection. If the game had all of these, I could play all night without issue.

Oh also whats up with the FoV scaling? It’s just completely whack right now. Going from 4:3 to 16:10 increases the hFoV but it also decreases the vFoV. But this only happens up to 16:9, going multi-monitor keeps the vFoV at 16:9 levels while increasing hFoV. Just keep the vFoV from 4:3 throughout like Hor+ is supposed to do.

bwillb.2165:

Oh also whats up with the FoV scaling? It’s just completely whack right now. Going from 4:3 to 16:10 increases the hFoV but it also decreases the vFoV. But this only happens up to 16:9, going multi-monitor keeps the vFoV at 16:9 levels while increasing hFoV.

Yes to this. Game would look better if there were just extra stuff on the sides when comparing 4:3 to widescreen, not that weird scaling that is going on.

ConterK.3972:

Naminator.9316:

ConterK.3972:

well i actually read every post now, and the example and stuff

so FoV is just zooming out of your character?? -_-

yeah, that’s what i got from all of this, and yes is a simple thing

I don’t believe you’ve read a kitten thing.

How many times to do people need to point out that FoV is not zoom?

How many examples and videos do we have to post more?

Please watch this video and the second part it.

If you watch this video and still come back with FoV=Zoom, then I don’t even know what to say.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blZUao2jTGA

watched them both, and yeah
all he says is how higher FOV = More stuff you can see

wich in THIS game = to longer Zoom out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1XsPYPGcl0

Min 6:30
“you’r just increasing the amount of information to see”
“More information, same screen size, all things just seem to get smaller”

what happens when u zoom out of your character??
you can see more of the enviorement, u still have the same screen size, things seem to get smaller because u’r further away from them!!

He also “suggest” (he doesnt really suggest it, but thats what i got from the explanation he made comparing 52" Tv using a console at 10 feet away to PC monitor of 30" at 2 feet away)
that another way to fix it is, sitting further away from your monitor, giving your eyes more space for peripheral vision and making it more comfortable for you!

Either way, higher FOV is in Fact and advantage over lower FOV, even if you dont Focus all the things you can see on the monitor, they’r still there, and u would see them if you focus them, that’s an obvious advantage!
plus while u’r focusing the center of the monitor u still have your peripheral view inside your monitors sight, giving you reaction to movement advantage!

PS: tnx for the videos, they were very instructive!

How is it you still don’t get it even after watching the video?

Zoom is NOT FoV.

FoV is the degree of the things you see in front of you! Zoom is simply moving the camera further away from the character.

THERE IS HUGE DIFFERENCE!

You don’t understand why this is a problem? Even after watching that video?

The problem is the fact that the people get SICk from this FoV, its been explained so many kitten times, the human eye is just simply no meant to be restricted to such a low FoV, thats why it causes problems for people.

Also, your argument about how it give people an advantage is bull.

YOU and I can go right now to our Nvidia/AMD control panel and create a custom wide screen resolution and get a high FoV, just like the people with 3 monitors!

So the argument that FoV is such a hazard is just pure baloney, ANET already allows high FoV, they just wont allow it on a proper 16:9/16:10 resolutions.

Its a restriction that ANET puts on their player-base for no other reason than the fact that they don’t want to admit that they screwed up, and there is no way that they will concede that they are wrong or that they made a mistake.

Every other excuse is just fluff.

ConterK.3972:

watched them both, and yeah
all he says is how higher FOV = More stuff you can see

wich in THIS game = to longer Zoom out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1XsPYPGcl0

Min 6:30
“you’r just increasing the amount of information to see”
“More information, same screen size, all things just seem to get smaller”

what happens when u zoom out of your character??
you can see more of the enviorement, u still have the same screen size, things seem to get smaller because u’r further away from them!!

Let me ask a simple question: What happens in a dungeon where the camera hits the wall or ceiling very close to your character? Does zoom help you here? kitten no! But a greater FoV will allow you to still maintain perfect overview in dungeons at much closer camera distances.

He also “suggest” (he doesnt really suggest it, but thats what i got from the explanation he made comparing 52" Tv using a console at 10 feet away to PC monitor of 30" at 2 feet away)
that another way to fix it is, sitting further away from your monitor, giving your eyes more space for peripheral vision and making it more comfortable for you!

True, so as I mentioned before, you want me to buy a new desk to get space enough to move it further back in order to get a overall worse gameplay experience instead of the devs fixing what is broken? As well as me having to constantly move my monitor back and forth when switching between games, yeah, great solution there!

Either way, higher FOV is in Fact and advantage over lower FOV, even if you dont Focus all the things you can see on the monitor, they’r still there, and u would see them if you focus them, that’s an obvious advantage!
plus while u’r focusing the center of the monitor u still have your peripheral view inside your monitors sight, giving you reaction to movement advantage!

PS: tnx for the videos, they were very instructive!

I’ll tell you what really gives players an advantage: A high end computer which can maintain a constant 60+ FPS, a good gaming mouse and keyboard, a 120Hz monitor, a good headset. These things will give you much more of an advantage than increasing FoV ever will, do you want a ban on that too now? Maybe we should remove all graphical and sound options too because tweaking those to optimize your game is unfair to others. Please stop being such a kitten about it, Anet clearly supports higher FoV as proved by them giving me with 3 monitors double the FoV you have while they keep developing and optimizing triple monitor setups.

Wow, this thread took off unexpectedly. To answer a few questions:

1. The video I linked is not mine; they don’t allow cameras in my workplace, so if I got caught filming something on my screen I’d probably get fired. Stupid, I know.

2. My monitors are each 2560×1440 in landscape, but I generally have them in portrait mode (writing documents, working on lots of code, etc.). My game resolution is 4320×2560.

3. My workstation is configured with 2 nVidia Quadro K5000’s. Framerates in the game are generally pretty good, usually around 50-60, sometimes more.

4. Since my character is in the middle of the center screen, the bezels really don’t bother me too much. Plus, the bezels on my monitors are slightly thinner than those in the video I linked to.

I hope this helps. I finally found the camera tool you guys have been mentioning, and it does help my gameplay experience at home on a single monitor! I have a pretty standard 1920×1080 24" monitor at home, hooked to a single nVidia GTX560 Ti. My work computer is part of the reason I look forward to going in to the office every morning, lol.

Litego.4953:

That’s how I have it set up and play GW 2 at a resolution of 5760×1080 but I still feel the FoV is way too narrow. …

… Well, ANet already supports higher FoV they’ve put in a lot of development time to support triple monitor users so we get a better experience with higher FoV.

6040*1080 here – 3*1 all widescreen (same make and model).

There is a wide screen gamers tool that has no effect on the game other than centering screen elements such as map and chat, centering cut scenes and centering the character select and creation screens. I will not name that tool here.

The thing is, not using the tool results in the items mentioned being displaced (for some users) but does not affect the game in any other way! Game play across (certainly) 3 monitors is the same with or without the wide screen gaming tool – with the only exceptions as listed. Exceptions that are cosmetic only and do not give any advantage to the player.

Further to this, AN have stated that they are working on a wide screen gaming fix that will do all the things the tool does as listed.*

Back to the FOV debate; it is easy to see that some users are unhappy about the FOV. Particularly concerning is the FOV on single monitors. I just watched a video posted earlier of single screen play and can see what peoples concerns are from just watching that.

I do not know the answer to the problem, but hope anyone with FOV issues can get them sorted out – preferably with help from AN.

In the mean time, I await the widescreen gaming fix from AN as I would much prefer a fix from AN than a 3rd party fix.

Edit: As for the rich being the only folk ‘allowed’ to play the game properly as has been suggested, I am far from rich! I scrimpted and saved and went without certain things until I could afford to buy the gear I needed to make the rig I wanted (my rig is a bit long in the tooth now – I cannot afford to upgrade). Some people like fashion, some like cars or sport and spend their money on those things. I like to have a nice computer if I can afford the treat.

• https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/tech/Eyefinity/first#post243719

UKNightWatch.5742:

Litego.4953:

That’s how I have it set up and play GW 2 at a resolution of 5760×1080 but I still feel the FoV is way too narrow. …

… Well, ANet already supports higher FoV they’ve put in a lot of development time to support triple monitor users so we get a better experience with higher FoV.

6040*1080 here – 3*1 all widescreen (same make and model).

There is a wide screen gamers tool that has no effect on the game other than centering screen elements such as map and chat, centering cut scenes and centering the character select and creation screens. I will not name that tool here.

Actually screen elements do center by default now in triple monitor (at least most of them do), that’s why I said they’ve put in a lot of development time. I am not sure how it works, but maybe it doesn’t work with bezel correction? I noticed when I tried to play in window mode and make the horizontal resolution lower to increase FoV that screen elements no longer centered. So try running in the standard 5760×1080 if you don’t want to risk it with the tool.

I think I know which tool you guys are talking about, I have not checked if it has support for GW2, but I’ve used a specific tool for plenty of games with FoV and other mulit monitor issues such as UI stretching, spanning zooming etc.. Great tool!

Naminator.9316:

How is it you still don’t get it even after watching the video?

Zoom is NOT FoV.

FoV is the degree of the things you see in front of you! Zoom is simply moving the camera further away from the character.

THERE IS HUGE DIFFERENCE!

You don’t understand why this is a problem? Even after watching that video?

The problem is the fact that the people get SICk from this FoV, its been explained so many kitten times, the human eye is just simply no meant to be restricted to such a low FoV, thats why it causes problems for people.

Also, your argument about how it give people an advantage is bull.

YOU and I can go right now to our Nvidia/AMD control panel and create a custom wide screen resolution and get a high FoV, just like the people with 3 monitors!

So the argument that FoV is such a hazard is just pure baloney, ANET already allows high FoV, they just wont allow it on a proper 16:9/16:10 resolutions.

Its a restriction that ANET puts on their player-base for no other reason than the fact that they don’t want to admit that they screwed up, and there is no way that they will concede that they are wrong or that they made a mistake.

Every other excuse is just fluff.

Im gonna think you just didnt paid attention to the videos you linked to me, or you just dont want to/cant understand it!
FOV and Zooming out MIGHT not be the same thing, but they act just like if they were, there’s no “HUGE DIFFERENCE” as you say!!
Have you even tryed zooming out of your character? LOL

The examples on the Video are from FPS games, wich you cant really compare with GW2, since in that kind of FPS games you cant just zoom out of your character, but here you can!

I never said there wasnt any problems with it, i just said is fine as it is, and there’s a lot of simple solutions already to it, you just dont like any of them because you wanna waste their time or w/e.

Higher FOV does have huge advantage, try playing Dota2, LoL, CS, or any MMORPG with PVP involved and you’ll understand how being able to SEE more makes you react faster than a person that see Less than you.

Yeah we can create custom resolutions, so there you go, that’s a solution for you “oh so big END OF THE WORLD problem!”

Sure, ANet Made the FOV like this just for the fun of messing with YOU, right?

They’v said so much stuff about what they messed up be4, fixed so many stuff, did a bunch of changes that the players wanted, but sure, they just wont change this because they LOOOVE messing with you, right?

If they dont change it, “fix” it, mayb is because they are looking into it, trying to see what options they have and wich one suits the situation better, they’r not just gonna throw a “quick fix” to find out it is full of bugs and exploits for the players

1, I dont care if they make it bigger, better for me! as i know hw to actually take advantage of more Vision
2, I never had any kind of problems like this, and im using the same resol as every1 else
and i play an Asura, wich is smaller and has “smaller FOV” or w/e
3, If u want a quick fix, ther’s tons of options, you said one yourself

Have you even tryed zooming out of your character? LOL

I have. It doesn’t work very well.
To begin with, zooming out means more camera collision. A higher FoV would not screw with camera collision at all.
Secondly, zooming out is impossible in enclosed locations. Try zooming out inside the Troll’s End jumping puzzle. Go on, try it.
Thirdly, zooming out is impossible when trying to look at any angle that’s higher than parallel with the ground. Even more so on Asura, as I’m sure you’ve noticed. In fact on Asura it even zooms in further than you normally could zoom in when trying to look up.

Litego.4953:

Let me ask a simple question: What happens in a dungeon where the camera hits the wall or ceiling very close to your character? Does zoom help you here? kitten no! But a greater FoV will allow you to still maintain perfect overview in dungeons at much closer camera distances.

And what you think would happen if you had a super huge FOV? the camera would just go throw the wall and let you see eveything clearly??

if somehow it does, that’s already an advantage, disapproving the use of a FOV increase program since it gives that advantage in gameplay, lol

but guess what, i dont think it will, your camera would still hit the wall and all the Vision u had will be reduce to a First person POV

Litego.4953:

True, so as I mentioned before, you want me to buy a new desk to get space enough to move it further back in order to get a overall worse gameplay experience instead of the devs fixing what is broken? As well as me having to constantly move my monitor back and forth when switching between games, yeah, great solution there!

You can sit further away too, (duh!) play on custom resolution, etc
Have you even considered the players that doesn’t even care about this? what would happen if they suddenly change it and they start getting all this “illness” you say you have?

Litego.4953:

I’ll tell you what really gives players an advantage: A high end computer which can maintain a constant 60+ FPS, a good gaming mouse and keyboard, a 120Hz monitor, a good headset. These things will give you much more of an advantage than increasing FoV ever will, do you want a ban on that too now? Maybe we should remove all graphical and sound options too because tweaking those to optimize your game is unfair to others. Please stop being such a kitten about it, Anet clearly supports higher FoV as proved by them giving me with 3 monitors double the FoV you have while they keep developing and optimizing triple monitor setups.

You clearly havnt play any PVP games that have the need of fast reactions and how much being able to see a little more could save you from a certain dead, i.e: Dota, LoL, CS, MMORPGs with PVP, etc
More than a gaming mouse, 120hz monitor or a “better” headset, being able to see MORE in your screen will actually help you 100 times better than any of the stuff you listed!

Normal games: Camera is close to the character (“zoomed in”), but you’re still able to see everything.
http://i.imgur.com/i7VYq.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/DlaA6.jpg

GW2: Camera zoomed out, can’t see puppy. Staring at the ground all the time
http://udba.org/gw2/gw061.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/HIbr1.jpg

GW2: If you dare to move the camera so that you actually can see stuff in front of you, you’re only going to see your back. (Don’t even try to look up.)
http://i.imgur.com/92Gms.jpg

I don’t understand how some people don’t see that something’s wrong with this game’s camera. Seriously…

Please, Anet, fix the vertical FOV and camera look-at point already. We want to enjoy the world, its landscapes, and its structures. Not the ground only.

ConterK.3972:

The examples on the Video are from FPS games, wich you cant really compare with GW2, since in that kind of FPS games you cant just zoom out of your character, but here you can!

Zooming has nothing to do with it. FoV is not genre specific, it applies to all video games ever made and all games that will ever be made (Well actually that’s not entirely true, some games and programs use isometric cameras, in which case FoV and zoom are the same thing). It is applied to photos, movies, everything camera related . And you have to realize that FoV and zoom are two completely different things. FoV is equally important in RPGs as they are in FPS’.

I never said there wasnt any problems with it, i just said is fine as it is, and there’s a lot of simple solutions already to it, you just dont like any of them because you wanna waste their time or w/e.

The solution of changing game files to run custom resolutions, or run in windowed mode, both reducing picture size and immersion as well as breaking the centering of UI items. Or run third party programs which may or may not be bannable. Or move the monitor further back on your desk. All this instead of changing a single value in their code which will take a single person a good 5 minutes at most.

Obviously most of us want a FoV slider instead of just an increased FoV, and this will take significantly more development time. But for now it would be nice if we got hot fixed an increased FoV, which practically takes no dev time at all, so that’s not a good argument.

ConterK.3972:

And what you think would happen if you had a super huge FOV? the camera would just go throw the wall and let you see eveything clearly??

if somehow it does, that’s already an advantage, disapproving the use of a FOV increase program since it gives that advantage in gameplay, lol

but guess what, i dont think it will, your camera would still hit the wall and all the Vision u had will be reduce to a First person POV

What? I don’t think you understand what FoV is if that’s your reply. Yes of course the camera would hit the wall! That’s the point! But it would NOT go into first person view and you WOULD be able to still see clearly what’s going on around you. It would also NOT go through the wall to let you see stuff you’re not supposed to. That’s why FoV is needed and not zoom.

You can sit further away too, (duh!) play on custom resolution, etc
Have you even considered the players that doesn’t even care about this? what would happen if they suddenly change it and they start getting all this “illness” you say you have?

Why would I consider those who don’t care? They don’t care either way, so they don’t really matter… If they change it and start feeling ill then they can change it back. What’s the problem here? Stupid people fiddling with stuff they don’t know nothing about? Fine, add a tooltip with a warning and a reset to default button.

You clearly havnt play any PVP games that have the need of fast reactions and how much being able to see a little more could save you from a certain dead, i.e: Dota, LoL, CS, MMORPGs with PVP, etc
More than a gaming mouse, 120hz monitor or a “better” headset, being able to see MORE in your screen will actually help you 100 times better than any of the stuff you listed!

I’ll admit I don’t have an extensive MMO PvP background, but I have played loads of FPS PvP games over the years dating back to the late 90s. I am no pro gamer but I can stomp most people in the FPS games I do play and I’ve been a highly ranked player in some of them. And for you to say that FoV is 100 times more of an advantage then a good gaming mouse is just completely ignorant. Greater FoV has it’s advantages as well as disadvantages.

In FPS games for example a greater FoV will decrease your aim due to smaller targets. Now obviously you can buy a bigger screen to get more of an advantage, but then we’re back on my argument about hardware giving more of an advantage than software.

Triple monitor setups is simply a big nono for competitive players even with double the FoV of a single screen. Now why is that when obviously more FoV is always better? Simple answer, it adds input lag with syncing and all that stuff, which is a far more limiting factor than greater FoV is an advantage.

But no, you want further zoom, as if that’s not an advantage… With further zoom you can actually see further around corners, but I guess that’s nothing compared to the horrible FoV.

Oh kitten that post got long, sorry about that. But FoV is a generally huge issue in the gaming industry since the consolarization of the PC market and a issue I take seriously, as well as anything mouse related such as smoothing and acceleration.

Here’s an edited version of the image from earlier in the thread (original from Wikipedia)

The blue dot is the original camera position. The purple dot is a new, zoomed-out camera position. You can see a couple things:
1. More of the circle (aka visible game world) is visible in the new position. This gives the illusion of increasing FOV; it actually does not.
2. The field of view (in this case 90 degrees) is unchanged.

FOV is NOT zoom. Done. Fin. Complete.

FOV is important in ways that zoom is not- when you can’t zoom out because of a wall being the obvious one. Less obvious ones include getting all of a piece of scenery on the screen and movement and vision issues. On a screen that’s as close to you as a computer monitor usually is (12-24 inches for most desks), when the FOV of the game does not roughly match the FOV that your monitor takes up in real life, it can result in motion sickness, blurred vision and eyestrain, headaches, that kind of thing. Lots of people are reporting exactly those symptoms in other threads.

Either reason -in game view, vision problems- should be enough to justify a FOV slider. It’s not a unique issue to GW2 either, but is becoming an industry standard (see earlier posts about Borderlands). The engine already supports it, it’s as simple as putting it into the options menu.

I can’t believe we live in a world where the excessive purchase of not a second, but a THIRD monitor is not just acceptable but coveted.

Vermillion Hawk.9037:

I can’t believe we live in a world where the excessive purchase of not a second, but a THIRD monitor is not just acceptable but coveted.

… might be that Alex “DeLarge” in your sig, but i can’t agree more, singularly speaking at least.

Hey, “grand” has mutliple translations into English from French.

Cant do 2 or 3 monitors. The monitor break points would drive me nuts.

Why is this still an issue at all? Who cares what the designer says about the FoV and why they won’t support a slider. It’s meaningless.

As already demonstrated:

1. You can use a multi-monitor solution. If this is not practical or affordable, then:
2. You can create a custom resolution. Even on a laptop. If the NVidia or AMD control panel doesn’t allow this, then there should be an Intel Graphics and Media control panel where you can create a custom res. If you’re not comfortable doing this, or you cannot find this option on your system, then:
3. Windowed mode.

The point is, you can play the game in whatever resolution your system can handle. So whatever the designer says is the reason that they won’t support increased FoV, who cares. It’s irrelevant. Its not really a point against the game, since you have control over it.

For anyone who does not understand Field of View (FoV), I have an experiment for you to try.
Steps…
1. Run GW2 in windowed mode.
2. Line up the left or right edge of your camera view with the middle of any NPC so that they are somewhat cut off.
3. Squash only the height of your window some. Notice that more of the NPC becomes visible.
4. Squash the height of your window more. Notice even more of the NPC becomes visible if not the entire thing. That is increasing Field of View.

Adjusting FoV is similar to holding your hands up and facing them out next to your eyes, then pivoting your hands outward away from your eyes and inward towards your eyes to increase or decease what you see with your peripheral vision. Increasing the FoV is similar pivoting your hands away from your eyes so that you can see more.

Litego.4953:

Actually screen elements do center by default now in triple monitor (at least most of them do)

Hi Litego and anyone else interested,

Just wanted to point out, the screen elements in ‘eyefinity’ are not natively centered as can be seen in the first two screenies I just captured and have attached below.

Playing with non centered elements is no big deal. The problems are mainly with non centered character select, character creation and cut scenes. The game play (playing area / view) itself is already compatible with wide screen gaming though (in my experience).

I have tried this in 5760×1080 and my normal 6040×1080! The results are the same except that the loading screens in 5760×1080 stretch onto the two side monitors but centre with nothing on the side monitors in 6040×1080.

As Litego is right to point out, AN have put a lot of effort into GW2 and still are by what they report on these forums.

So, playing on one screen! How does that affect what is seen?

I switched my rig to ‘Centre Only’ mode and this effictively put me down to one monitor at 1920×1080 with the side monitors switched off.

The third attachment shows the game on one monitor at 1920×1080 (game in 1024×768). The fourth picture is character in same place, one monitor at 1920×1080 and game in windowed mode and window adjusted to alter FOV. So yes, FOV can be adjusted in the manner described (windowed mode and window altered) but this seriously affects the view – the picture being somewhat smaller with windows visible in the rear! (GW2 took screen shot of game only (last shot) so windows is not shown in background – in reality windows was in background.

There are temporary solutions to both the FOV and ‘wide screen gaming’ issues and, as I understand it, AN are working on some solutions. In the end though, we are all at the mercy (so to say) of decisions made by AN with regard to how GW2 will be best adapted to comply with the larger part of the intended audience with regard to compatibility, playability and aesthetics.

Edit to add a few notes;

A link for FOV in games;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Field_of_view_in_video_games

This is not to support or oppose any argument in this thread – just for information. (This may be linked earlier – I have not tested all links in the thread!)

I did try to get similar information on zoom in video games but most results are for optical versus digital zoom in video cameras – like this;

http://www.mediacollege.com/video/camera/zoom/digital-vs-optical.html

Jestunhi.7429:

bwillb.2165:

Basically says if it doesn’t automate gameplay (bots) or give a gameplay advantage (such as speed hacks, fly hacks, teleporting) it should be okay.

Allowing people to look around corners with an increased FoV is a gameplay advantage.

But how, pray tell, do you look around corners with an increased FoV?

Truga.5897:

Jestunhi.7429:

bwillb.2165:

Basically says if it doesn’t automate gameplay (bots) or give a gameplay advantage (such as speed hacks, fly hacks, teleporting) it should be okay.

Allowing people to look around corners with an increased FoV is a gameplay advantage.

But how, pray tell, do you look around corners with an increased FoV?

Two more screenies.

The first shows character in an open court yard – can not see through the walls but it can be argued that the player sees more! Notice the centered elements that show the one screen view (approx).

Second shot shows player right up against wall. Though it can easily be argued that the player sees more, the player can not see directly round the corner or through the wall into the building.

The second shot is of particular interest in this debate because it does show another corner (to the left with a straw hut) where it can be argued the player can see the corner better. Yet, the player can still not see around the corner or through a wall.

Now, the images both show centered HUD elements. In the ‘native’ game, these screen elements are not centered – the difference is shown (if memory serves) in some of the images I posted previously. The ‘native’ game does support wide screen gaming with the exception of the screen elements being displaced.

The FOV angle is not changed by using a wider screen viewing area – ‘square’ screen versus ‘wide screen’ versus wide screen gaming such as ‘eyefinity’. It is more like the camera position is moved further back in the 3D world – thus making the horizontal view contain more (not quite exactly the same as zooming). That is how it appears to me though I could, of course, be wrong.

EDIT: Reminder / notes about image distortion in ‘eyefinity’! The image in centre monitor is not distorted at all but to the left and right (monitors) the images are distorted and this is because of the way the human eye works and the fact that the side screens account for peripheral vision. To get the image to line up and work correctly with peripheral vision, the two side monitors in an eyefinity rig (3×1 landscape) are set to around 30 degree from flat in relation to the centre monitor. GW2 screen shots do not (normally) show the distortion and this is great for making ‘wide screen’ wallpapers!

Sly.7354:

How would I figure out what custom resolution would give me close to a 90º FoV? My monitor has a native resolution of 1600×900. I don’t suffer from nausea or headaches, but it does bother me. It’s annoying to go from playing a game on my PS3 to playing GW2 on my PC. The difference is noticeable.

According to Jon Peters, the FOV in GW2 for a 16:9 widescreen is 75.

Using that, and this calculator: http://www.emsai.net/projects/widescreen/fovcalc/

An aspect ratio of 21:9 will get you to about 91 degree FOV.

I personally use a custom resolution of 1920×810, which is ~ a 21:9 ratio. Also, several companies are about to release new ultra-wide monitors with the same aspect ratio (I’ve mentioned this previously). Their resolutions should be 2560×1080. If you wanted to keep your same width (for example, if your video card would have trouble increasing it to 2100×900), I think you’d want to be somewhere around 1600×680. You might need to play around with the height a bit to get it just right.

UKNightWatch.5742:

Truga.5897:

Jestunhi.7429:

bwillb.2165:

Basically says if it doesn’t automate gameplay (bots) or give a gameplay advantage (such as speed hacks, fly hacks, teleporting) it should be okay.

Allowing people to look around corners with an increased FoV is a gameplay advantage.

But how, pray tell, do you look around corners with an increased FoV?

Two more screenies.

The first shows character in an open court yard – can not see through the walls but it can be argued that the player sees more! Notice the centered elements that show the one screen view (approx).

Second shot shows player right up against wall. Though it can easily be argued that the player sees more, the player can not see directly round the corner or through the wall into the building.

The second shot is of particular interest in this debate because it does show another corner (to the left with a straw hut) where it can be argued the player can see the corner better. Yet, the player can still not see around the corner or through a wall.

Now, the images both show centered HUD elements. In the ‘native’ game, these screen elements are not centered – the difference is shown (if memory serves) in some of the images I posted previously. The ‘native’ game does support wide screen gaming with the exception of the screen elements being displaced.

The FOV angle is not changed by using a wider screen viewing area – ‘square’ screen versus ‘wide screen’ versus wide screen gaming such as ‘eyefinity’. It is more like the camera position is moved further back in the 3D world – thus making the horizontal view contain more (not quite exactly the same as zooming). That is how it appears to me though I could, of course, be wrong.

EDIT: Reminder / notes about image distortion in ‘eyefinity’! The image in centre monitor is not distorted at all but to the left and right (monitors) the images are distorted and this is because of the way the human eye works and the fact that the side screens account for peripheral vision. To get the image to line up and work correctly with peripheral vision, the two side monitors in an eyefinity rig (3×1 landscape) are set to around 30 degree from flat in relation to the centre monitor. GW2 screen shots do not (normally) show the distortion and this is great for making ‘wide screen’ wallpapers!

But you are using a triple monitor setup.

That setup allows for a very high FoV. Those with a regular widescreen monitor will be happy with a FoV that goes up to 90 or 95.

So where is the argument about game balance here?

Because you are showing an extreme example of FoV, which can simply be capped. And furthermore you are showing an FoV setup is ALLOWED BY ANET! Not just simply allowed but its something they are working on. So the discussion about whether or not this FoV will be game breaking is already been decided by ANET, and they don’t think it is.

+1 on this a million times.
Please Arenanet, FOV slider, this game need it BADLY.

I just wanted to add to this that I play at 1980×1200 with a 26" monitor and I have no issues at all with playing this game. I don’t get motion sickness, no eye/head aches, and no nausea. The only thing bothering me is the tight spaces in dungeons where I can’t properly adjust my camera position due to the lack of space.

However, I do believe that with this many play complaints, ANet should really listen to their community.

Naminator.9316:

But you are using a triple monitor setup.

That setup allows for a very high FoV. Those with a regular widescreen monitor will be happy with a FoV that goes up to 90 or 95.

The field of view angle does not change at all – as said it is more like moving the camera (or the viewer) further back. Same field of view just more seen.

So where is the argument about game balance here?

I was trying to demonstrate how field of view works in ‘GW2’ and how some could argue that with a wider viewed area (not FOV), it could seem that there is an imbalance that may seem unfair to some that have only one monitor and thus cannot see a wider view (unless in windowed mode). That unfair imbalance as seen by some as an advantage is the argument about game balance.

If a single screen user goes to windowed mode and alters the window size, they pretty much can emulate multi monitor setups as far as viewed image is concerned, the this has its own problems. The other option is to use multi monitors. Either way, FOV angle stays the same.

Because you are showing an extreme example of FoV, which can simply be capped. And furthermore you are showing an FoV setup is ALLOWED BY ANET! Not just simply allowed but its something they are working on. So the discussion about whether or not this FoV will be game breaking is already been decided by ANET, and they don’t think it is.

I am not showing extreme FOV. At the risk of repeating, the FOV or more particularly the horizontal FOV angle remains the same. More is seen because the camera is further away not because of an FOV change. Moving the camera without changing the FOV is not the same as altering the FOV and this has been explained many times in this thread.

AN are not allowing a changed FOV.

As for the FOV issue being game breaking, this has more to do with the sickness some players are reporting due to the FOV on single square or oblong screens (I do not oppose this). The issue is not so much about how much can or can not be seen and or how this may or may not give advantage but much more about how the way the game makes some people feel sick at the current single screen FOV setting.

We are talking about two different issues. The first is about perceived advantage. The second and probably more important is about how the current FOV setting can be game breaking to some (usually single monitor using) players due to how it makes them feel physically sick.

Edit:

On reflection, I am fairly sure I wrote a contradiction to myself somewhere in this thread or another that it is possible to change the field of view (FOV).

What I probably should have wrote is that it is possible to change the viewed area by moving the camera or viewer and this does not mean the FOV will or needs to change. This is not to say that I take complaints about sickness due to single monitor (or other) FOV lightly – in truth I hope a working solution to that issue can be found so players can experience GW2 without the sickness.

Also, FOV relates to screen ratios and what is shown on screen is affected by the screen ratio as well as the FOV that is fixed or can be changed.

I’ve just changed my FoV in game with nvidia custom res, but is there anyway (mods included) to stretch the game vertically so those black bars aren’t using half the screen while keeping my fov? (current custom res is 1920×810)

Naminator.9316:

ConterK.3972:

Im gonna think you just didnt paid attention to the videos you linked to me, or you just dont want to/cant understand it!
FOV and Zooming out MIGHT not be the same thing, but they act just like if they were, there’s no “HUGE DIFFERENCE” as you say!!
Have you even tryed zooming out of your character? LOL

I’m just one more completely ignorant and painfully oblivious reply away from thinking that you are just an someone who works for ANET that was sent here to troll us and mislead people who know nothing of the subject.

But here, I will try again.

Look at these 3 screenshots.

http://imageshack.us/a/img839/2193/gw015gs.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img155/7882/gw014l.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img37/2735/gw013wa.jpg

All three screenshots are made with me at the same spot, the same camera placement and same zoom distance!

Look at the top and bottom of the screenshots, notice how the screenshots cut off in the exact same place on top and bottom. Yet the sides are expanded!

DO YOU UNDERSTAND NOW?

FoV is NOT Zoom, they are completely different things, FoV is about expanding the angle/degree of your vision, while zoom is just simply moving the camera away from the player.

Ohhh and btw, ZOOM is the thing that will allow people to see around corners NOT FoV, Im getting sick and tired of saying the same kitten over and over and different ways trying to make this simple enough for you finally grasp this.

What happens when you zooom out? you dont see more??

Shockwave.1230:

For anyone who does not understand Field of View (FoV), I have an experiment for you to try.
Steps…
1. Run GW2 in windowed mode.
2. Line up the left or right edge of your camera view with the middle of any NPC so that they are somewhat cut off.
3. Squash only the height of your window some. Notice that more of the NPC becomes visible.
4. Squash the height of your window more. Notice even more of the NPC becomes visible if not the entire thing. That is increasing Field of View.

Adjusting FoV is similar to holding your hands up and facing them out next to your eyes, then pivoting your hands outward away from your eyes and inward towards your eyes to increase or decease what you see with your peripheral vision. Increasing the FoV is similar pivoting your hands away from your eyes so that you can see more.

That only show how u trade vertical FOV for horizontal FOV
u see more from the top of the screen but less from the sides, just like every1 else said, changing the resolution

and i always play in window mode anyways!

@ CounterK:

Not true. The vertical FOV stays the same, and the horizontal gets wider. Notice how the NPC’s head/feet aren’t chopped off by the action.

I love the fact that the people saying “ANet allows increased FoV via multiple monitors – undeniable proof that they want us to be able to change our FoV!!” are the same people who refuse to accept ANet’s decision on this subject.

Why is it undeniable proof when you infer the logic behind their decisions but when they flat out tell you their intentions they should be ignored and argued with?

See here now, I made a quick paint illustration for why FoV is different and better than zoom since apparently words don’t explain it well enough.

The blue cone illustrates a low FoV camera zoomed out, as it is in GW2. While the red one illustrates a higher FoV camera zoomed in. They both see the black object and everything at the distance of the yellow marker equally big on their screen. Except the blue player is much farther away from the object, and the red player sees much more past that point such as background scenery.

This cures motion sickness and gives a much greater overview when playing. It allows for close up fights such as in dungeons while still being able to see the fight instead of your characters back. Out doors it means you spend less time looking at the ground, or a very narrow point and get a much better awareness of what’s happening around you.

Edit: To be fair, when talking about video and pictures IRL, zoom and FoV are actually the same thing. But in games we talk about zoom as moving the camera back and forth, while FoV is changing the “zoom” from the same position without moving the camera.

I’ve just changed my FoV in game with nvidia custom res, but is there anyway (mods included) to stretch the game vertically so those black bars aren’t using half the screen while keeping my fov? (current custom res is 1920×810)

google for gw2 camera tool. It doesn’t SEEM to violate the Anet guidelines (https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/account/Policy-Third-Party-Programs/first#post354869), but still, use at own risk.

Rhyse.8176:

google for gw2 camera tool. It doesn’t SEEM to violate the Anet guidelines (https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/account/Policy-Third-Party-Programs/first#post354869), but still, use at own risk.

Pay attention, taken in account that even IF it doesn’t actually violate any EULA policy for real, the last version binary of that tool is packed with a code obfuscator (Crypto Obfuscator: http://www.ssware.com/cryptoobfuscator/obfuscator-net.htm), so it is not possible to de-compile it and analyse the code to check that it isn’t actually harmful.

The fact that is obfuscated doesn’t directly implies that it is, but running processes with administrative rights from unknown publishers is always very risky, and the code should preferably be clear and open in that case.

It could be de-obfuscated, with a tool called de4dot (https://github.com/0xd4d/de4dot), but unfortunately the last version isn’t compatible (see issue 69, 79, 80 in the issue list page of the project) with the last version of that obfuscator used by the FoV changer, so at the moment it is not possible, or known to me at least, to get the code analysed by anyone except the author himself.

For such reasons, i pray again the game designers to implement a FoV slider in the game options themselves, because if they don’t someone else will ALWAYS find an hack to do that instead of them, and some customer will use it anyway, whether it will comply to the game policy or not, and i see A.Net decision of overlooking the FoV issue depreciable, as it acknowledges that this is going to leave some of their customers deliberately endangered.

I myself, as many i believe, would prefer to trust the fellow A.Net developers rather than an unknown one.
Not that i believe that for real some people are intrinsically good while others are evil, just in worst case scenario A.Net is accountable for whatever it could harmfully does, while the unknown publisher will not be ever.

In the meanwhile i’d advise anyone who cannot afford a triple monitor set-up to use the custom resolution trick described before in this thread, it is going to sacrifice nearly a half of your display vertical resolution, but it is as healty as mother’s milk at least.

Not saying I’ve used the camera tool but it makes the camera so much better, and it causes none of the problems for me that one of the developers stated it would cause, lol.

FOV slider IS needed Anet!

If only I could fit this in my house…

and my budget. =(

http://youtu.be/dOY2lREuwjU

Tallenn.9218:

Sly.7354:

How would I figure out what custom resolution would give me close to a 90º FoV? My monitor has a native resolution of 1600×900. I don’t suffer from nausea or headaches, but it does bother me. It’s annoying to go from playing a game on my PS3 to playing GW2 on my PC. The difference is noticeable.

According to Jon Peters, the FOV in GW2 for a 16:9 widescreen is 75.

Using that, and this calculator: http://www.emsai.net/projects/widescreen/fovcalc/

An aspect ratio of 21:9 will get you to about 91 degree FOV.

I personally use a custom resolution of 1920×810, which is ~ a 21:9 ratio. Also, several companies are about to release new ultra-wide monitors with the same aspect ratio (I’ve mentioned this previously). Their resolutions should be 2560×1080. If you wanted to keep your same width (for example, if your video card would have trouble increasing it to 2100×900), I think you’d want to be somewhere around 1600×680. You might need to play around with the height a bit to get it just right.

Thanks, this is much better.