camera control

Hi, all.

I have been playing Guild Wars for a few months now and have started to drag...um...I mean, recruit more friends to the game. One of those friends enjoys the storyline and gameplay, but does not like the motion of the camera. she says it makes her seasick.

Now, I know she tends to play with the camera zoomed out all the way, so I figure the two things she is running into are

1. the camera swinging around to follow a moving enemy you are attacking
2. the camera "bumping" into terrain like a hillside

For the terrain issue, I suggested that she zoom in a bit so it would not happen as much, but I don't know if there are any other solutions that would still allow her the wide view she wants. For the automatic move to follow an enemy, I have not yet found how to turn it off (if that is even possible).

Neither of these things had bothered me, so the only camera option I had previously looked for was the "free camera" hotkey so I can look around while running. (Which may work to prevent problem 1, but even if it does, holding down a key during battle and manually moving the camera at the same time is less than convenient.)

I'd appreciate any information or advice you can provide. I would hate to lose someone from our group, but I can understand why she would not want to play a game that makes her ill.

Thanks.

What if she zooms in to first person view?

That would solve the terrain problem, but I'm not sure how it would work during battles (I'm not much of a first person perspective player ). I'll give it a try later and see how it goes.

I fear she would not want to play like that too often, but it may help.

Thanks

She might want to scroll the camera up so the terrain bump is hardly present, i mostly play with an 60/70% angle.
Also my camera doesn't swing around when i target another foe, maybe she should browse a little through the camera options.
Keeping your right mouse button pressed most of the time will help, and its probably because she isn't used to the game yet, let alone the camera.

I tend to play with the zoom as far back as it will go, too. If she is starting in Prophecies, I remember PreSearing had a lot of areas that made me dizzy with the terrain bumping. I found that getting used to controlling the scroll (zoom) and right mouse button (pan) helped to really cut it down.

Perhaps I just got better at the controls, or perhaps there are less high-walled, narrow passages in post. Either way, the dizziness troubles decreased after I was in postSearing. Areas with caves still get to me when the view starts bouncing above the ceiling, though.

I personally find that playing in or near first person makes the dizziness even worse.

gerlin, how do you get your camera to not swing around?!?! I'd love to turn that off - it drives me nuts.

Cheers,
Luny

If you use the right mouse button to move your camera around more it really decreases the 'sea sickness'. I get it on my boyfriends massive monitor, and if you move your own camera it makes it a lot better.

One of my favorite areas in Pre-Searing was the Catacombs, but it was also the one where even I started to get annoyed at the camera movement with all the narrow passages.

I think that was where I started getting into the habit of zooming in a bit to avoid the effect. Not quite all the way to first person, though. I'm not sure it makes me seasick, but it feels claustrophobic to me. (Which is odd since, as far as I can tell, I tend to live RL in first person. )

I have been trying to get her into the same habit of zooming in just enough to clear any obstacles. That might end up being the best solution if she can get used to it.

I'd like to know this, too. I have not had the problems with it my friend has (I think it actually helps me focus on what I'm attacking at times), but I did look for a way to turn it off and could not find one.

Maybe it is a difference in kind of character? My friend plays a Ranger/Elementalist and I have an Elementalist/Monk, so we are both using ranged attacks rather than melee like a warrior would be much of the time.

Thanks.

I had not considered that the monitor size might magnify the problem. I have a relatively small monitor (17" widescreen) and she is playing on a 22". Maybe if I can convince her to switch with me...

Yeah, my old monitor was 17" which was fine, my dual monitors are both 19" which does it a little, but not too badly that it's irritating, but my bf's is 22" and I really notice it on that. I would say monitor size definitely has something to do with it, but believe me when i say the feeling of dizziness caused by it doesn't last. You do get used to it, and in fact hardly notice it once you get into the swing of a comfortable camera angle.

My primary method of moving in GW is to use the mouse. To move forward, you hold down both the right and left mouse buttons - this has the side benefit of keeping the camera in the same position (behind you). I do also use W to move forward in some instances, but mouse is primary.

Well the reason to why my camera doesn't swing around is that i probably either only attack things infront of me, or that i first manually turn my camera before attacking, although i usually do this:"press my right mouse button, tab/(whatever key you put next closest target), space, press skills". You're camera will be the position you were watching, and why you run towards you target just turn it at your own speed.
Also might be because i'm constantly screw around with my right mouse button .
(PS: i needed to do some serious thinking to why this was, i just do it subcontiously(cant spel >_<).)

Since you're also talking about screen size, does she play full screen or window mode. I have a laptop screen 15 INCH!!(i use the metric system not some old crap ) and i get dizzy playing full screen, playing window mode might also prove a big improvement.

wow! A laptop with a 15 ft screen!

15'? No wonder you get dizzy.

No, seriously have your friend experiment with windowed and such to lessen seasickness.

Low frame rate(less than ~25fps), larger screen sizes, particularly if you are at a close viewing angle, and "motion blur" from LCD monitors may also cause motion sickness in a 3D game. Different people have different reactions, and your friend may be having a reaction to one of these hardware issues; it may not be the camera control. Quickly spinning the camera can do it, too, but it might be helpful to eliminate the other possibilities.

There are as many different things that can cause motion sickness as there are people, try and find out what in particular your friend is sensitive to. For me it is low frame rate, ~15fps, combined with close viewing angle.

Thanks. She did just get a new computer, so it could be that something (like frame rate) has changed other than monitor size. She came to GW from EQ2, so if she has any time left on that account maybe we can eliminate a few factors by seeing if that game also causes problems on the new setup.

I hope we get it straightened out soon. While we wait for her to decide, I started a Ritualist in Factions and I'm getting my spirit-communing behind kicked when I'm solo.

I have assumed she runs it full screen, but have not asked yet. I'll do that and suggest she try it windowed if she has not already. Thanks.

And yeah, I did not know that IMAX made laptops.

Revisiting this topic as a new player... I read in this thread that there is some way to free up the camera movement? What I mean is, when I'm running around in the game and right-click the mouse and move the camera, my character moves too...but I want to keep running straight and look around. Is there a way to change this behavior? Would love to be able to left-click and look around while running (thats my norm in other mmo's) but if I have to press some other key along with right-click that is fine too.

If you click on a spot on the ground, or some other target, to go to, you can look around with the mouse while running. Also, as mentioned, you can assign a key (Menu>>Options>>Control) under "Camera: Free Camera" so that "Camera does not orient to character direction while this key is held". CapsLock might be an interesting choice for that - you might not have to hold it, just click-on, click-off.