22 replies to this topic

[Casen]

Okay, now this is a problem I've always had with Empire at War ground battles, and seemingly all Petroglyph games (I'm looking at you Universe at War). I find the camera absurdly claustrophobic and annoying. The zoom out is very limited and you cannot rotate your axis, it just does it automatically; the more you zoom in the more "level" the camera becomes with the ground; there is no freedom of movement on your own terms. In addition you can only zoom out so much until it switches to the rather rigid bird's-eye view which for some reason is glitched in 1.2, showing certain things with a black square texture under them. Even without this glitch it is annoying.

My question is this: Is there a way to increase the zoom? Perhaps this is a problem only for people like me, who are used to playing RTS games like Warzone 2100 and Supreme Commander, but if there was a way to mod the camera to zoom out further without switching to the bird's eye view, I'd like to know how to do it. I figure that changing the camera controls to give more rotational freedom is impossible and probably hardcoded.

Overall this may be more of a personal issue than something the creators would be willing to implement into the mod, so I ask at minimal how to do this if it is possible.

Edited by Kacen, 05 April 2012 - 08:06 PM.

[P.O._210877]

Well I can't help you there, but I second the motion...

[evilbobthebob]

It's possible to do, yes. There is a tactical camera control XML file, TacticalCameras.xml but I'm not entirely sure how you'd go about editing it. There are a few parameters that are reasonably self-explanatory, but what I think you want to change is this set for the Land_Mode camera:

<Distance_Default>460.0</Distance_Default>
        <Distance_Max>460.0</Distance_Max> 
        <Distance_Min>170.0</Distance_Min>
        <Distance_Smooth_Time>0.21</Distance_Smooth_Time>
        <Distance_Per_Mouse_Unit>100.0</Distance_Per_Mouse_Unit>

Distance_Max is almost certainly the maximum range the camera can move when it zooms out. The Distance Per Mouse Unit is, I assume, the amount the camera moves per click of your mouse wheel. I suggest experimenting!

The black squares you see in the bird's-eye view are due to lower LOD levels not being properly supported by the modern DirectX API for certain items (decals, mostly: footprints etc). That's what I assume the problem is, anyway, because it didn't occur for me until Windows Vista.

[Phoenix Rising]

I can play with the camera for the next release.

I get the same black patches on XP. If it's an outdated shader issue, I'd think we could just swap out the old function for the new one.

[Casen]

Do you know if it is also possible to "unlock" the axis and make it more "free" in ground combat, like how it is in space combat?

[Phoenix Rising]

There are pitch controls that aren't being used much on the ground. Of course, the deeper the view, the harder your graphics card would have to work. The same isn't quite true for space. We'll have to see if it's a problem or not.

Edited by Phoenix Rising, 06 April 2012 - 06:15 PM.

[Casen]

There is a tactical camera control XML file, TacticalCameras.xml but I'm not entirely sure how you'd go about editing it.

Where would I go about finding this? It doesn't seem to exist in my Data directory, only in my map editor.

[evilbobthebob]

You need to extract it from Config.meg.

[Casen]

You need to extract it from Config.meg.

I see, do you know how?

[evilbobthebob]

Yes. Get Mike.nl's Meg Extractor from Petrolution Mod-Tools

[Casen]

I got the Mega File Editor, this seems a bit easier...

[Casen]

Going to try and copy the status from space camera over to the land camera; and then trial and error from there.

What is "<TacticalCamera Name="Unlocked">"?

Edited by Kacen, 15 April 2012 - 05:18 PM.

[Casen]

K, I am going to presume "tactical overview" in both refers to the two birds-eye view modes; I will ignore those since I never use them.

I am increasing the max distance in land and also removing the "spline" by changing yes to no in:

<Use_Splines>yes</Use_Splines>

I am presuming that is what makes it automatically change pitch when you zoom in and out, this always annoyed me as it restrained camera rotations. I want to make it more like space tactical.

[evilbobthebob]

That is the camera used in the map editor. It can't be used without changing a parameter in GameConstants.

[Casen]

Okay, I think I edited the land tactical. Now to test it...

EDIT: Okay, that's weird. Nothing changed. What did I do wrong? It looks like I edited absolutely nothing.

EDIT2: Oh, I have to edit the Config.meg in the Phoenix Rising mod...I thought it used the default one. Nvm, let's see!

Edited by Kacen, 15 April 2012 - 05:46 PM.

[evilbobthebob]

Yeah you should edit the modded version and put it in the mod folder.

[Casen]

Alright, I did it.

<TacticalCamera Name="Land_Mode">

		<Pitch_Default>50</Pitch_Default>
		<Pitch_Min>-10.0</Pitch_Min>
		<Pitch_Max>85.0</Pitch_Max>
		<Pitch_Per_Mouse_Unit>-1.5</Pitch_Per_Mouse_Unit>
		<Pitch_Per_Zoom_Unit>0.0</Pitch_Per_Zoom_Unit>
		<Pitch_When_Zoomed_In>50</Pitch_When_Zoomed_In>
		<Pitch_Zoom_Begin_Fraction>-1.0</Pitch_Zoom_Begin_Fraction> <!-- disabled -->

		<Yaw_Default>0.0</Yaw_Default>
		<Yaw_Min>-1000</Yaw_Min>
		<Yaw_Max>1000</Yaw_Max>
		<Yaw_Per_Mouse_Unit>1.5</Yaw_Per_Mouse_Unit>
		
		<Fov_Default>55.0</Fov_Default>
		<Fov_Max>55.0</Fov_Max>
		<Fov_Min>25.0</Fov_Min>
		<Fov_Smooth_Time>0.05</Fov_Smooth_Time>
		<Fov_Per_Mouse_Unit>0</Fov_Per_Mouse_Unit>   <!-- 12.5 -->
		
		<Distance_Default>460.0</Distance_Default>
		<Distance_Max>900.0</Distance_Max>   <!-- 450  -->
		<Distance_Min>150.0</Distance_Min>
		<Distance_Smooth_Time>0.21</Distance_Smooth_Time>
		<Distance_Per_Mouse_Unit>100.0</Distance_Per_Mouse_Unit>  <!-- 70 -->

		<!-- Land mode uses a spline for the distance and pitch -->
		<Use_Splines>no</Use_Splines>
		<Pitch_Spline>   0.0,27.0, 0.35,45.0, 1.0, 55.0, 1.1,55 </Pitch_Spline>
		<Distance_Spline>0.0 170.0, 0.3, 220.0, 1.0, 460.0 </Distance_Spline>   <!-- compensating for zoom-in creep bug  -->
		<Spline_Steps>15</Spline_Steps>

		<Tactical_Overview_Distance>1000.0</Tactical_Overview_Distance>
		<Tactical_Overview_Pitch>65.0</Tactical_Overview_Pitch>
		<Tactical_Overview_FOV>55.0</Tactical_Overview_FOV>
		<Tactical_Overview_Clicks>4</Tactical_Overview_Clicks>			  <!-- code expects this many clicks -->
		<Tactical_Overview_Click_Time>1.5</Tactical_Overview_Click_Time>	<!-- within this amount of time -->

		<Tactical_Overview_Distance2>1600.0</Tactical_Overview_Distance2>
		<Tactical_Overview_Pitch2>80.0</Tactical_Overview_Pitch2>
		<Tactical_Overview_FOV2>70.0</Tactical_Overview_FOV2>

		<!-- smoothness of terrain height following -->
		<Location_Follows_Terrain>1</Location_Follows_Terrain>
		<Location_Height_Up_Smooth_Time>0.3</Location_Height_Up_Smooth_Time>
		<Location_Height_Down_Smooth_Time>1.0</Location_Height_Down_Smooth_Time>
		<Min_Height_Above_Terrain>20.0</Min_Height_Above_Terrain>

		<Near_Clip>10.0</Near_Clip>
		<Far_Clip>7000.0</Far_Clip>	

		<Object_Fade_Begin>1100.0f</Object_Fade_Begin>
		<Object_Fade_End>1300.0f</Object_Fade_End>
		
		<Side_Bounds_Buffer>0.0f</Side_Bounds_Buffer>
		<Top_Bounds_Buffer>0.0f</Top_Bounds_Buffer>
		<Bottom_Bounds_Buffer>0.0f</Bottom_Bounds_Buffer>

	</TacticalCamera>

Try it and see what you think, I polished it a tad. It is wonderful for me and fixes all the problems I had with land tactical in this game. I actually feel I'd enjoy it with these settings.

Only issue is the buildings and such tend to fade away more often due to the distance; now, is there a way to edit /that/?

In addition on a semi-unrelated note why can't I build or do anything in land tactical skirmish? I only have 4 squads of troops and there is no way to get reinforcements. The buildings don't do anything.

Edited by Kacen, 15 April 2012 - 06:13 PM.

[evilbobthebob]

Land skirmish is disabled.

Increase the values here to change the fade of buildings etc.

<Object_Fade_Begin>1100.0f</Object_Fade_Begin>
<Object_Fade_End>1300.0f</Object_Fade_End>

[P.O._210877]

OK never did this before so... Do you mind if I use your code. Don't know if I have to ask, but, in any case, lets be civil.

[Casen]

OK never did this before so... Do you mind if I use your code. Don't know if I have to ask, but, in any case, lets be civil.

Go ahead.