Narrow FOV in console fps. Why?

[Kzin]

I seems to me that since halo 2 the FOW in console fps:es are usualy narrow, like looking thru a tunnel. Why is this? Are they devoloping the games primarily for wide screen TV´s, or what?

FEAR is progrably the only recent fps Iive played with a decent FOW, (although i thought it was a litle too wide)..

 

[NRP]

I'm curious about the possible reasons for this as well.

However, you probably should have posted it in the Console Technology section as it might have a higher probability of attracting the attention of a developer who could provide insight.

 

[Kzin]

I mean FOV. How do I edit my posts?

 

[Kzin]

Yeah, good idea. Thanks

 

[morlock]

Mostly i think it's just an artistic choice, but on the other hand the wider the angle the more to render so it might be for performance sake also in some cases. A wide angle FOV increases the sense of speed and decreases the size of the player and the surroundings look bigger, which might not be suitable for most types of games. If you have a too wide and rotate the camera you get dizzy by the distorition of the surroundings..

Try UT for example where you very easily can change the FOV and see how it affects the gameplay.

 

[aaaaa00]

It's been suggested that a wide FOV can exacerbate motion sickness in some people.

 

[V3]

I think its the other way around. Narrow FOV is more likely to cause motion sickness. I get around motion sickness by setting wide FOV and multiple monitors to get a really wide field of view. Of course FOV is just one component of what can cause motion sickness. But yeah narrow FOV and 30fps will get me motion sick in no time.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

I think its the other way around. Narrow FOV is more likely to cause motion sickness. I get around motion sickness by setting wide FOV and multiple monitors...

Which is very different to a wide FOV on a single monitor with a very distorted perspective - it's that which makes people feel rough. For realism the focal length of the game 'lens' should map closely to the human eye . This'll give much better depth perception and realism within the 2D display. The limited FOV is caused by the size of the screen, but all that peripheral vision isn't much use. Trying to cram 160 degrees of view into a 4:3 or 16:9 aspect monitor allows you to see more, but squeezes it into a small FOV of the view, and the distortion is unnatural and aggravates many users.

 

[RenegadeRocks]

I don't know, but only console games suffer from this problem. The pc games are always fine. This was quite disturbing to me when i shifted to ps2, and everything seemed strange, but now I am used to it.

Also, the console games have a very squeezed sense of scale generally, every building or surrounding BGs are like compressed vertically. takes away the believability of the game .

 

[archangelmorph]

I don't know, but only console games suffer from this problem. The pc games are always fine. This was quite disturbing to me when i shifted to ps2, and everything seemed strange, but now I am used to it.

Also, the console games have a very squeezed sense of scale generally, every building or surrounding BGs are like compressed vertically. takes away the believability of the game .

These are probably by far the most over-generalised statements i've ever heard..

Hat's of to you dude for that!!

 

[Kzin]

Does anyone here actualy prefer the narrow FOV of halo2, cod3 and others over the FOV of lets say Halo1? I was playing Halo2 with a couple of friends (pc gamers) and they never stopped complaining about how it was like looking thru a tunnel. If it´s an artistic choice, then it´s surely a strange one.

Does anyone else think it has something to do with games being developt for widescreen TVs? FOV seemed fine when i played Vegas on a friends widescreen TV.

 

[morlock]

Kzin: Were you playing on a wide-set? I don't know about Halo+Halo2 but if the Halo was 4:3 and Halo2 designed around 16:9 i can imagine when switching over to 4:3 that it simply cuts the edges with a narrow FOV as a result.

 

[Kzin]

morlock: Im playing on a normal TV at home, my friend has a wide screen. Yeah, thats what Im suspecting to. Isn´t that kind of..cheap?

 

[morlock]

morlock: Im playing on a normal TV at home, my friend has a wide screen. Yeah, thats what Im suspecting to. Isn´t that kind of..cheap?

If by cheap you mean not having a wide-tv, then I totally agree.

 

[AlNom]

Does anyone here actualy prefer the narrow FOV of halo2, cod3 and others over the FOV of lets say Halo1? I was playing Halo2 with a couple of friends (pc gamers) and they never stopped complaining about how it was like looking thru a tunnel. If it´s an artistic choice, then it´s surely a strange one.

You mean like this? It was probably the worst thing in FPS history ever to occur.

http://www.bungie.net/images/news/inlineimages/halo2mp01.jpg

Given the number of SDTVs and the distance people would sit relative to the screen, I can see how developers would choose a narrower FOV. With such a limited resolution, a wider FOV makes it even harder to see details. If anything, the FOV should be bigger for a high def widescreen television.

 

[Nesh]

Whats a FOV? Field of vision?

Can someone show me an example?

 

[ERP]

It's probably a purely aesthetic/design thing.

Most artists hate distorto-vision which the common 90 degree plus FOV's in PC shooters give you. I hate it too, but I don't like shooters, so it's not muhch of an issue for me

The Narrow natural looking 70 degree or so FOV's in console shooters is probably the result of a fist fight between the designer and the lead artist. I guess console Artists work out more

It could be a less to draw technical decision, but with a wider FOV things get smaller faster with distance which usually means you can be more aggressive with LOD which IME usually actually reduces polygon count.

 

[ERP]

Whats a FOV? Field of vision?

Can someone show me an example?

Field Of View, it's the angle between by the outer edges of the camera frustrum. Although it's sometimes measured as half that.

 

[cloudscapes]

I'm not saying it's the case for these games (I honestly don't know) but reducing the FOV is one good way to improve performance. Less is in the camera's frustum. I used to do that on Q3A.

 

[Miksu]

Didn't Half Life 2 had default fov set at 70 also?

edit: No, it had 75.