Isometric View Option

[wowgetoffyourcellphone]

Guys, I experiment with the local.cfg settings and come up with some good settings to try out isometric view.

; Isometric View
view.zoom.min = 2500.0			
; Zoom needs to be this far because of low 
fovview.zoom.max = 2500.0			
; Zoom needs to be this far because of low 
fovview.zoom.default = 2500.0		
; Zoom needs to be this far because of low 
fovview.rotate.y.speed = 0.0		
; This prevents camera 
rotationview.rotate.x.speed = 0.0		
; This prevents camera 
tiltingview.fov = 2.0				
; This is what gives the nearly isometric 
viewview.near = 32.0			
; Near plane distance increased to prevent z-fighting

Result:

Spoiler

 

Compare with 45 fov:

 

 

Spoiler

The isometric view is very easy to see when moving camera, but harder to tell difference in static screenshot. Guys it is like night and day. These setting disable rotating and zooming for real classic feel. I personally think the true 3D 45 degree FOV is better (everything to me in iso games look like they are sliding down the screen, and I think game world in 45 fov look more expansive), but maybe have this for game option in Alpga 20? Should be simple to add and could be fun to showcase when release.


Some pros:

• Some people like this view and might find it easier.
• I get +15fps in this view. Could help player with low rig spec. Would be even better perf gain if game had alternative asset optimized for this view (back faces remove etc).

A couple of problem:

• Action sounds cannot be heard. Camera zoom is too far away.
• Distance fog very heavy (again because zoom is very far).
• Clouds need to be disable in this view too.

Anyway can be fun to add for Alpha 20 and maybe capture some of aok audience attention.

[av93]

Buildings shadows are inaccurate right? Would be nice as option.

[wowgetoffyourcellphone]

Buildings shadows are inaccurate right? Would be nice as option.

I do not see this. If anything, the shadows are sharper in iso view because shadow map not stretch as much.

[fabio]

It also has an old style look! BTW isometric view was already discussed here.

[Lion.Kanzen]

Thank you, was posted in the past but now the topic is leaven ant again can be nice a shorcut to have this, or get this in the options with open the file.

[wowgetoffyourcellphone]

It also has an old style look! BTW isometric view was already discussed here.

Very old topic, but it does propose solution for the z-fighting. I will test solution when I get home.

I propose this be added to game as "Retro Camera" mode. I think to fix distance fog problem is to take some kind of value from the distance fog and lower it, but don't turn it off. The fog should still be there on some level even though technically there is no longer a "distance" from the camera (everything is flat now), because u do not want player to switch to Retro Camera to remove the fog and 'cheat'.

my local.cfg settings in this topic more accurately repesent the retro feel than the parameters discussed in other topics. It removes zooming and prevent rotating camera. Another parameter that should be add is to prevent building rotation.

edit: Fixed top post to include new line of code to fix z-fighting.

Edited November 27, 2015 by wowgetoffyourcellphone

[Andrettin]

This looks great!

Where is the local.cfg file located?

Edited November 27, 2015 by Andrettin

[Stan`]

Looks gorgeous.

[Wijitmaker]

but maybe have this for game option in Alpga 20?

Sounds like a great idea to me!

[Stan`]

I created a ticket for it. I might do it. #3653

Edited November 28, 2015 by stanislas69

[Stan`]

Made an attempt with ROTE. We need to figure out how to remove the fog effect, because else it will just be a broken new feature. Works nicely in atlas though.

[niektb]

Removing the fog effect wouldn't be right, it's part of the map design. (And in some, like Northern Islands, it is an elemental part)

[wraitii]

Fog with the isometric view would basically be impossible in the current implementation, sadly.

[Stan`]

Can we disable it anyway ?

[wowgetoffyourcellphone]

Fog with the isometric view would basically be impossible in the current implementation, sadly.

Could the iso view cfg reduce the fog by a percenateg (something we can determine with simple testing)?

[Andrettin]

Made an attempt with ROTE. We need to figure out how to remove the fog effect, because else it will just be a broken new feature. Works nicely in atlas though.

What's wrong with the fog effect? I don't see anything amiss in that screenshot.

[Stan`]

Here is what I meant

[Andrettin]

Here is what I meant

screenshot0328.png

Thank you! Does that fog appear everywhere in 0 AD (I've never noticed it), or only in certain locations? If the former, then removing it entirely would likely be preferable for the isometric mode, while for the latter just toning it down (that is, increasing its transparency) should work nicely.

[niektb]

Andrettin, it entirely depends on the scenario designer (check out Northern Islands f.e., the map that was added with the last release).

[Andrettin]

Andrettin, it entirely depends on the scenario designer (check out Northern Islands f.e., the map that was added with the last release).

Hmm, I tried that map out, but I can't see any fog. Maybe I have a required setting for the fog disabled?

[wraitii]

I'm not entirely certain but I believe you might need prefer_glsl to be true.

[niektb]

Oh, in my memories it had more fog (it's there but not quite much). the random map Northern Lights is the one you need to look at.

I tested it, like wraitii says you need that option to be true.

Edited November 30, 2015 by niektb

[niektb]

Still the Isometric view is a pain on some maps (yes, again Northern Islands) because of the terrain elevation.

It might be nice, if this option is added, to allow for some 90 degrees step rotation or so.

Edited November 30, 2015 by niektb

[wowgetoffyourcellphone]

Hmmm, yes a 90 degree (spins fast then locks?) rotation would be good for this camera mode I think too.

[wowgetoffyourcellphone]

Hi guy. Back again with more ISOMETRIC VIEW GOODNESS and advocacy.

 

I have plaid around with the setting again and come up with a update for the local.cfg settings:

 

; Standard View

;view.zoom.min = 45.0
;view.zoom.max = 200.0
;view.zoom.default = 100.0
;view.fov = 50.0


; Isometric View

view.zoom.min = 1000.0			; Zoom needs to be this far because of low fov
view.zoom.max = 4600.0			; Zoom needs to be this far because of low fov
view.zoom.default = 2500.0		; Zoom needs to be this far because of low fov
view.zoom.speed = 4000.0		; Zoom speed needs to be this high because of reasons
view.zoom.speed.wheel = 256.0	; Zoom speed needs to be this high because of reasons
view.zoom.smoothness = 0.2		; Lowered because of the extreme zoom 
view.rotate.y.speed = 0.0		; This prevents camera rotation
view.rotate.x.speed = 0.0		; This prevents camera tilting
view.fov = 2.0					; This is what gives the nearly isometric view
view.near = 40.0				; Near plane distance increased to prevent z-fighting
view.far = 5000.0				; To make the max zoom work

 

It also include a suggesyion for standard view settings. The difference between 45 and 50 FOV isn't much, but make for better screenshot. My settings for zoom I think should be implement for the game.

 

Now, the ISO view. Like before, the problems are: clouds (could fix this by adjusting their height in iso view to something like 4000), distance fog (needs to be disabled or reduced by some fixed amount determined by testing), water depth (the 'Real Water Depth' option does not render correctly in this view and must be turned off; looks fine after that), and a big one is that action sounds can only be heard if zoom in all the way (I have not yet looked for sound setting in the cfg whhich to fix this). These setting do allow for zooming and it looks really cool.