FOV: What's the big deal?

[jpublic]

I'm not trying to troll, I'm really asking here.

I don't understand what the big concern is about the FOV in games. I've heard the complaint about Dead Island, bethesda games since Morrowind, Borderlands 1, the list goes on.

I just don't get it. I try to change the FOV to the 'right' level, and it just looks like you've zoomed out a little.


I'm wondering if the reason I don't notice it is because of my eyesight. I have a really strong prescription, to the extent that I can get significant color positioning shift on red/blue (prisming) if my glasses are too far from my face. I'm used to some level of image distortion in regular life.

Can someone explain it to me?

[Widgetcraft]

No idea, I think it only bothers certain people.

[J Arcane]

I've never not just used whatever the default FOV is in a game.

The only semi-exception is playing older SD resolution games on a widescreen, like Goldeneye and Perfect Dark, and using the 16:9 setting to somewhat compensate for image stretch.

[Vigil80]

I really only notice if it's particularly wide or narrow. It's usually just an issue with console ports, and in that case, it's usually that it's too narrow. It's like looking at the game world with blinders on.

It's very much YMMV. It also depends on the size of the monitor and your distance from it.

[Xerxes]

Yeah I heard people feeling sick in certain games cause of it and I never got it. I used to feel sick and hot when playing all FPS games I ever played until Halo on Xbox. That use to be always be on a controller and with a KB/M. But now it never bothers me really. Still like a controller if I can help it. I'm never competing so I'm fine. Although I think my desk is shitty and I have crappy ergonomics. Think I'm getting that carpel tunnel shit. -_-

[Crittias]

Originally Posted by Xerxes

Think I'm getting that carpel tunnel shit. -_-

Yeah, but that's not because of gaming. That's because of all your other extracurricular activities at the computer.

[muddi900]

pow chika vow vow

90 degree FOV is for horses not people

[Chris_D]

It's not something I've ever noticed but certainly people get worked up over certain games.

[ShivaX]

Originally Posted by muddi900

pow chika vow vow

90 degree FOV is for horses not people

:P

[muddi900]

That extra 10 degrees makes a lot of difference. But all the closed up FPS just look wonky

[Squidbot]

I've experimented with changing FOV in the past, but generally I use the default for the game. I know some people on this forum will likely foam at the mouth about some games FOV.

[Pinchy]

I never experienced the problem until Borderlands came out. I would get slight nausea and headaches of varying degrees (seemingly directly correlated to the amount of time I played). Since it never really happened before, I just assumed that I just had bad posture or was sitting too close to the TV. Anyway, after seeing other people complaining about the same feeling, it seemed to make sense. I confirmed it after I got the PC version and had the exact same issue. Thanks to the PC, I was able to do those config changes and set the FOV to around 110/120 and my troubles basically went away.

Again, I've never had that problem in any other game, just Borderlands 1 (and 2).

[jpublic]

See, I played around with the slider in BL2 for about half an hour, and I couldn't see if helping me with my main issue (the vertical curving) at all - but I have that issue with all Unreal Engine games.

[Hawkzombie]

My main issue is the fisheye effect a lot of games seem to emply (BL1 ad this if I recall correctly)...it's just a weird vision...and I like to see around my character. Increased FOV allows me to see in a great range what is in front of me. Doing too much makes it look even worse, and MOST games have it just fine. But sometimes you get one with like 60 or 70 and it's just...the hell?

It's not a deal breaker for me unless it's way too small, has a HUGE fish-eye effect because of it, and isn't adjustable in some way.

Also, look at it this way...it's kinda like why people hate Pan-And-Scan vs Widescreen. I remember when it was a huge issue, because people thought the bars on the top and bottom of their screens were cutting off footage (no joke, people actually believed this) instead of it being zoomed into the center of the film. It just feels like it's in too far, and you're missing some things. Just my opinion.

But 95% of the time? I run default.

[johnperkins21]

I never really had a major issue with it until BioShock. Whenever I played that game it always felt like the camera was a couple of feet in front of my character, and just felt off. They pulled it back a bit, which helped some, but it still feels wrong.

[Xerxes]

Originally Posted by Crittias

Yeah, but that's not because of gaming. That's because of all your other extracurricular activities at the computer.

But my left hand is fine.

I really need a new desk or a taller chair.

[Karak]

Originally Posted by jpublic

I'm not trying to troll, I'm really asking here.

I don't understand what the big concern is about the FOV in games. I've heard the complaint about Dead Island, bethesda games since Morrowind, Borderlands 1, the list goes on.

I just don't get it. I try to change the FOV to the 'right' level, and it just looks like you've zoomed out a little.


I'm wondering if the reason I don't notice it is because of my eyesight. I have a really strong prescription, to the extent that I can get significant color positioning shift on red/blue (prisming) if my glasses are too far from my face. I'm used to some level of image distortion in regular life.

Can someone explain it to me?

Tight FOV makes me sick as a dog. Like raging headache down for the day sick, even if the FPS is high.

I notice a tight FOV more than almost anything else but that is just me. For example Dead Island was really damn tight. So that made me a bit bilious at times. Depending on the game the severity is either higher or lower.

[kyrieee]

If you're not conscious of it then good for you (I mean it).
Personally I tend to notice a low FoV instantly and sometimes it can actually put me off a game almost entirely. It's probably becasue I'm used to playing some games with a high FoV, like 120 in Quake 3, so when a console port is locked at 60 it's really bad for me. It feels like I'm looking down the scope of a sniper rifle, or through a pair of binoculars. I don't get nauseous, but it does make me uncomfortable and it's also disorienting. You lose a ton of situational awareness with a low FoV.

If you're playing a game on a TV your viewing angle is most likely lower and then a low FoV makes a bit more sense, but when you're sitting close to a computer monitor a low FoV becomes unnatural. I think a lot of console games also do it for optimization, because obviously there's less polygons to draw if you constrict the viewing angle.

[Xerxes]

[TheKeck]

Thanks for posting that second video Xerxes. It cleared everything up.