This forum topic is not a question, rather general request to Airplane developers or Asobo.
One of the problems that still exists in MSFS is the fact, that every single airplane released has different initial zoom level for cameras. That causes many issues:
Different FOV in every airplane
Different sense of speed in every airplane (how many times did you feel that some planes are flying slower than they should?)
Problems with multi-screen setups (adjusting either camera.cfg file of airplane or adjusting multi-screen settings in MSFS)
If you want to use the same FOV/initial zoom on every airplane you need to edit cameras.cfg file for every airplane after updates.
At the moment it works like that:
MSFS reads cameras.cfg file of the airplane and sets initial zoom in game to value thatās in that file. For example: PMDG 737 is 0.354, iniBuilds A300 is by default 0.306548. (Note: lower number = more zoom = less FOV).
50% zoom in game slider is behaving just like modifier for this initial zoom value from cameras.cfg. Therefore 50% zoom slider in game is different zoom in different planes.
If you want 50% zoom level slider to be the same in every airplane, you need to edit initial zoom value in cameras.cfg
My question is: WHY?
Many people asked in past: Why there isnāt FOV slider in game, and instead we have zoom slider without any specific FOV value. Thatās the main reason. Of course it would be still possible to calculate FOV even with different initial zoom values, butā¦ Why just not to use static initial zoom level for every airplane (so removing that initial zoom level entry from cameras.cfg completely) and then have FOV slider in game, just likeā¦ competitor sim platform? Or just set some standards for airplane developers to match default initial zoom level value number?
The problem would be none of those standards would be enforceable, and every developer could still do what they want.
By the same token you could probably ask why the default camera height is different from plane to plane. One answer would be each developer chooses their default camera positions, and height, and another would be the ideal seating position for each plane would be different, necessitating the camera be different from plane to plane.
I do find it mystifying though how Carenado consistently have such messed up, widely divergent camera choices compared to other developers. Back right on my yoke hat would be over my shoulder to my right, yes? Nope, itās either a view of the cockpit from the back seat, or its forward right, anything but what you might logically expect.
One standard would be enforceable: Donāt allow aircraft to modify initial zoom. So letās say, MSFS will load by default 0.35. And then use FOV slider inside the game to adjust your default zoom level.
Note that in VR, there is no variable FOV ā the FOV has to match the actual view of the headset so a single ācorrectā FOV is always enforced. āZoomā is provided by moving/translating the camera closer to the instrument panels.
I donāt fly VR actively because I find too many downsides for me, but I appreciate the realism inherent in a smoothly movable camera view. When using VR or a flat monitor with a head tracker like TrackIR for camera control, you can look around to get more things in view, or lean forward to bring something closer, very naturally and thereās little or no need to adjust FOV once you have a nice default.
IMHO it would be great if there were a single fixed default FOV for flat-monitors as well, which you can adjust to fit your monitor and viewing position.
And if you do like fixed camera views with specific positions and zoom levels, you should be able to adjust them and save your modifications easily, but thatās not a feature I would use myself.
Iām also annoyed by that matter. But Iāve found a workaround, which sadly involves some tedious work. For every addon aircraft I create a small addon with an adapted camera.cfg that contains an initial zoom of 0.35.
Iām glad you bring that up. A lot of people are discussing zoom levels based on some FOV caluculators and they modify the zoom with the slider. But as you mention correctly, it all depends on the initialzoom in the cameras.cfg. So the slider would give completely different results. No point of doing it like this.
It almost became some kind of OCD for me :-D. So I set the initialZoom Value in the Config file to 0.380 on every plane and leave the slider in itās default 50 value to get the same speed sensation etc on all the planes. Works quite ok for me on a large 42" monitor where I sit quite close to it with TrackIR. For a long time a was on 0.354 which is the base pmdg value on the 737. But I figured it was a tad too much zoom for my taste. But in the end itās personal preference I guess.
Even in pancake with head tracking you can see how off it can be when you have everything looking ācorrectā then look to the right of the panel and itās zoom/size changes dramatically like wall-eye vision. Makes it very difficult to determine if youāre zoomed in or need to move the seat back.
Should have a pause/camera menu for the cockpit that gives you live time zoom/FOV/ and coordinates data
Simple. One developer sets one value, another sets another, because the SDK allows it. I might even want that myself for an over the shoulder wider view assigned to a hat switch.
So you would stop me from having an option that I want? Thanks for that.
Instead of trying to force the removal of options, you know, because everyone loves options, as they are optional, instead go to the developers in question, and ask them to change, so that only that developer is impacted, not every user of the sim.
Iām not suggesting the removal of any options. Not sure why you think that.
In real life your FoV is fixed. It doesnāt change depending on circumstance.
In any sim, FoV should be based only on properties such as monitor size, distance, and - most importantly - user preference (Iām certainly not one of those who insist this should be āmathematically correctā).
While people should be able to set the field of view in any way they want, the baseline should at least be consistent and not allowed to be arbitrarily influenced by the developer of an individual aircraft.
Actual vertical FoV is in the bottom left corner. I believe this is radians, so approx 62 and 50 degrees respectively. The latter is what Asobo seem to use for all their aircraft, god knows why they havenāt properly standardised it.
The only way to make those changes are in the CFG files, so if you deny that you are removing options.
If the issue is with what a developer has done in their aircraft, speak to that developer rather than Asobo. Unless of course that developer also happens to be Asobo.
But whatever the route, make it a per aircraft option, not a global deny. Nobody likes those.
