Center third person camera, please

ZIKE

I think ZoS should seriously consider a First Person only Campaign server.

Sakiri

KerinKor wrote: »

Seroczynski wrote: »

This is not a design flaw. It has been used in many other games and some might even prefer it over the traditional center-view.

Which 'many other' games of this type has it been done in?

Every other TES game with third person.

Every third person shooter known to man damn near.

Hitman games.

VtM: Bloodlines if I remember right.

Fable.

Sakiri

Randeth wrote: »

I would love the option to turn off the "slide over the right shoulder as I zoom in" setting. I never, ever want that view. Please just let us keep the reticle centered at all zoom levels.

Thanks.

I want to say the primary reason for the design is so you *can* be mostly zoomed in while being able to see around your head.

Its also used in film and photography a lot.

If they get the fov slider in that might be useful.

Also, screenshots of the front close in suck. Full body you can open inventory and turn off the ui.

Sakiri

Delte wrote: »

I would like the option to have a free camera option where I can centre the camera on my character and pan around it. This would help with screen shots as they stand now the screen shot is always looking skewed due to the character always being on the left of the shot.

What about a addition to the API so moders can make an add on to give us some ability to make cinematic vids by controlling our cameras ?

Wow model viewer is used in WoW to render and dress character models for machinima films.

Wonder if something could be done here? Since Warden scans WoW and bans you if you reinsert altered models into the game, theres no worry about making alterations that could break things there.

ZOS could do the same here. Scan files before loading to make sure hashes match.

Then let us pull model/mesh data and texture stuff out of the game for nonprofit activities.

/mind drifting

Delte

Sakiri wrote: »

Delte wrote: »

I would like the option to have a free camera option where I can centre the camera on my character and pan around it. This would help with screen shots as they stand now the screen shot is always looking skewed due to the character always being on the left of the shot.

What about a addition to the API so moders can make an add on to give us some ability to make cinematic vids by controlling our cameras ?

Wow model viewer is used in WoW to render and dress character models for machinima films.

Wonder if something could be done here? Since Warden scans WoW and bans you if you reinsert altered models into the game, theres no worry about making alterations that could break things there.

ZOS could do the same here. Scan files before loading to make sure hashes match.

Then let us pull model/mesh data and texture stuff out of the game for nonprofit activities.

/mind drifting

I was thinking more along the lines of the Eve Online advanced camera mode. When this option was ticked you could do some really neat tricks in the game with the camera. Completely useless for actual game play but you could get some amazing in game action shots.

One instance was when missiles were spawned you could attach a camera to the missile and follow it to the target. This has since been removed due to missiles now having a new mechanic in the game.

You can zoom right into the ships and see up close all the details is another option.
Attach cameras to other objects as a point of focus and make some really nice fly by shots.

Also in the station where you can walk around the captain cabin (one feature ccp never finished. ) you can move the camera from over the shoulder to centre of the screen or to hover over the other shoulder by a simple slider and a tick box.

Grithok

People are right. This was in beta. It was removed at launch. No idea why.

Valn

It's not a design flaw.

Jade1986

I really have no problem with it, and the further you zoom out, the more centered it is anyway.....If it were centered right now, your reticule would be on your back.

Gwarok

Alisu wrote: »

...I get neck ache having to keep my head tilted to a side (yes, how else would I see both sides of my character since the mobs don't politely arrive only from the right side of the screen) and some people get nausea from the camera movement...

This calls for a cute puppy moment:

But....

...If the sideways camera is for percieved advance in visibility in front of character fine, keep it as an option but, please, give us the option for center third person camera too. The game would look way more stunning that way.

...I have to agree that the "sideways" camera angle can be very irritating/awkward at times.

jaytin44

An option for a centred camera would be really nice, pretty please!
I find that weird angle quite annoying really.

Hymzir

Both Oblivion and Morrowind had centered camera. Skyrim was the one where they changed it. Centered was the norm for a long time in all games. Then someone thought that it was "cooler" to have it off-centered. Then the gaming industry decided, like the lemmings they are, that this was totally rad and now everyone does it.

If you prefer it off-centered, then good for you. Be happy and jubilant, they are catering to your tastes, but do realize that some of use prefer the old way - me included. Thankfully for Skyrim at least, I could alter the camera settings via mods and ini tweaks, but the same is not true for ESO. I can live with the off-centered view, but know that for some it is just too disorientating, and can even cause nausea.

I have that with head pop. I know some people absolutely love it, but for me it just induces headaches. And I have abandoned games before, simply because they did not let me turn off the head pop.

These issues are not new nor, are they obscure things affecting only few. And it is simply poor design to ship a game without options to adjust these things.

Decimatia

@OP - Not sure what you mean about no .ini file - maybe you mean you don't see the option in the file or maybe you mean you think one doesn't exist. It should be in the same folder your screenshots folder is in.
C:\Users\YOUR USERNAME\Documents\Elder Scrolls Online\live
The file is UserSettings.txt
I'm not certain that the option exists but there are several camera related options in there. Hope this helps.

GambitJ79b14_ESO

I was excited about 1st person view also, and like the OP have been troubled by the constant pull to 3rd person view, especially troubling when in combat. I've had to result in just staying in over the shoulder 3rd person view.

The main reason I don't like 3rd is the constant zooming in and out from surrounding objects, zoomed out all the way often finds a big tree, walking under anything gets a sudden close-up bounce. Trying to get the aim right for the lore book behind the barrels in that tiny tent... vertigo.

I agree it is a preference and wouldn't want it to get in the way of other players, I think the OP is reasonable.

Shillen

Yes, I complained about this in beta. My only option is to play completely zoomed out all the time which isn't optimal. Zooming in and playing with the over-the-shoulder cursor is too distracting for me.

Delte

Looking at the API listing there are options for camera control in mods.

http://wiki.esoui.com/API#Camera_2

I am just not sure how to implement this into a mod.

Desdemonte

/signed

I hate the side view and I hate playing zoomed out. I really don't understand why we can't have an option to center our characters. After all the hours I've played skyrim, et al I still cannot get used to it and tend to run off staircases, eff up in battle........ It's not completely rare for me to die because of that frigging side camera.

Censorious

I'd prefer a centre camera. I play zoomed right out all the time anyway so it's no big deal - but it does affect the relative easy of kiting left or right.

Jade1986

Hymzir wrote: »

Both Oblivion and Morrowind had centered camera. Skyrim was the one where they changed it. Centered was the norm for a long time in all games. Then someone thought that it was "cooler" to have it off-centered. Then the gaming industry decided, like the lemmings they are, that this was totally rad and now everyone does it.

If you prefer it off-centered, then good for you. Be happy and jubilant, they are catering to your tastes, but do realize that some of use prefer the old way - me included. Thankfully for Skyrim at least, I could alter the camera settings via mods and ini tweaks, but the same is not true for ESO. I can live with the off-centered view, but know that for some it is just too disorientating, and can even cause nausea.

I have that with head pop. I know some people absolutely love it, but for me it just induces headaches. And I have abandoned games before, simply because they did not let me turn off the head pop.

These issues are not new nor, are they obscure things affecting only few. And it is simply poor design to ship a game without options to adjust these things.

they didn't change it because it was "cooler" they changed it because people complained about the center camera being awkward. Now people are complaining about it being off center.....

Blackwidow

I only play in first person mode, so I don't want them to waste time on this.

Oh wait, that would make me a selfish prick.

Ok, fix this.

Holycannoli

laced wrote: »

they didn't change it because it was "cooler" they changed it because people complained about the center camera being awkward. Now people are complaining about it being off center.....

Who would ever complain about a center camera? That's what pretty much every single 3rd person game has. It's the off-center camera people complain about.

Jade1986

Holycannoli wrote: »

laced wrote: »

they didn't change it because it was "cooler" they changed it because people complained about the center camera being awkward. Now people are complaining about it being off center.....

Who would ever complain about a center camera? That's what pretty much every single 3rd person game has. It's the off-center camera people complain about.

Because the third person cameras in those two games were awful and very clunky, and people complained that they should change / fix it. Then you fast-forward to now and people are complaining about it being over the shoulder when zoomed in. Best solution would be a toggleable option.

Venater79

any forward steps?

EdonilTebaun

Don't know if it was mentioned before, but the "V" key is defaulted to toggle between first person and zoomed out.

Now I do agree, it would be nice if I could change my third person view to be more centered.

MissAnna

I too would like a centred camera option.

Strontium-Dog

Dont in many man games.

People will find anything to moan about

Rial

I personally don't like the to-the-side camera, because it makes me feel very disassociated rom my character. Like I'm running beside my character, not playing it.

Venater79

any forward steps? CLOSE VIEW BUT TP CAMERA i know... EVERYONE know the "V" option... but i bought an 50 " telly for this game :-/ so just press the F..n' "V" and whuss. my character is FAAR away.... but no worries, many other mmo where i can spend my money, right thanks for reading

felixgamingx1

It's not a design flaw leave it alone

isengrimb16_ESO

I second both OP and ThatArgonianGuy.

I'm uncomfortable in third person, because the crosshairs don't match where my character is, and I experience serious disconnect with what I'm doing and what's happening on the screen. First person is fine, but I never know which way my character is actually facing (when I think I'm backing up, I really turned around, even though there's no sense of my character turning), and it is a bother to pop in and out of view because of mounts or water, and sometimes you get strange visual effects while its switching view when you harvest nodes.

Corithna

Alisu wrote: »

Please give us an option for center camera. In Skyrim it was possible to fix this obvious design flaw but this time, alas, no ini file to tweak with (for a reason, of course). I also know the sideways camera works for some, good for them, I'm not saying they should be taken that away from.

It's just that what works for one doesn't work for all, I get neck ache having to keep my head tilted to a side (yes, how else would I see both sides of my character since the mobs don't politely arriwe only from the right side of the screen) and some people get nausea from the camera movement.

You will argue that I could play in first person, that's actually what I do, and enjoy doing. The gameworld looks way better this way anyway (my personal view) BUT, the game forces me out of it every time I ride, swim, fish or any way there is an animation it wants to show me. The animations are nice, too, by the way, but from the maxed out zoom (the only way to get the character on the middle to not hurt my head) the visual effect is small. So, if center camera is impossibility, give us first person riding, swimming etc. Just, not the forced jump on the side on one wrong step to deep water as it is now. And my horse stays in stable.

If the sideways camera is for percieved advance in visibility in front of character fine, keep it as an option but, please, give us the option for center third person camera too. The game would look way more stunning that way.

The manner in which the camera functions has been a mainstay of the entire TES series and isn't likely to change here. Many of the mobs, wolves, mudcrabs etc, sport a low profile. Having the camera directly behind your character would directly impact the players ability to see when power attacks are incoming. This is a vitally important piece of information every player needs access to in order to block such attacks and not end up as crab food. In other games it was perfectly okay to tilt your camera to one side or the other giving the player more of a profile view. But with mouse look always on as the defacto target acquisition/aiming mechanism, to center the view would leave no options to maintain visibility. The only two ways I can see this possibly being at all functional is to either use first person, a viable option in the game currently. Or to put the camera above the character's head. So to aim at that mudcrab and watch for those power pinchers, the player would have to maneuver the camera to point nearly directly down. That would mean loosing perspective on what else is happening in the world.

Literally two decades of game design have gone into how the camera works in TES titles. Point and shoot instead of tab and spam is one of the most fundamental elements that makes this title fit into the elder scrolls game play style. You ask for first person swiming, and riding and you are getting at least swimming in first person with the release of the craglorn patch. I didn't see riding on the list but it might also be one of the aspect that fell under a more general description where they say they fixed an issue where the camera would pop out to third person when interacting with the world. But I don't see a specific note on it. Fishing however, given you're pretty much standing in one spot watching the pole for when it pops upwards to real it in. I can't say that one is much of an issue. And sorry I didn't see any notes specifically on that one so I can't really say one way or another.

You mentioned mobs only arriving on right side of your character, or rather not doing so. However the closest third person view takes the player far enough back that you can see very well to both sides of your character. I could see this argument as valid if they allowed the camera to sit just above the shoulder but that just isn't the case.