Narrow FOV in console fps. Why?

[assen]

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.

A wider FOV leads to more distinct objects in the view, more draw calls and therefore more CPU load - which is more of a problem usually than polygon count.

 

[Nesh]

A wider FOV leads to more distinct objects in the view, more draw calls and therefore more CPU load - which is more of a problem usually than polygon count.

Probably aggressive LOD is an effort to reduce CPU load

 

[Panajev2001a]

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

Bah, in Fran's case, judging by his post history, his artist (the hot Italian one he is trying to catch for himself... tsk... sooo selfish ) only has to say "pretty please, can I have a FOV of 70 ? (*puppy eyes*)".

It is more with guys like Faf and nAo where the artists have to show up to work with nunchucks and bullet-proof armor and shout "I need features, and I am gonna get me some!".

 

[NRP]

LOL! That's hilarious (and probably true), Panajev2001a.

 

[Mintmaster]

A wider FOV leads to more distinct objects in the view, more draw calls and therefore more CPU load - which is more of a problem usually than polygon count.

If you design you game to have a wide FOV, the same object will appear smaller on the screen so you can use fewer objects and lower poly models to balance it out.

100 objects on the screen is 100 objects on screen. It doesn't matter what the FOV is. You scale your game accordingly.

 

[Rainbow Man]

A wider FOV leads to more distinct objects in the view, more draw calls and therefore more CPU load

"Draw calls" shoouldn't be an issue on a console since they don't have a big overhead operating system running on them.
Pewace.

 

[Fox5]

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.

Just wondering, can I make it a 360 fov?