Camera Distance Modification - Zoom WAY out

[Xzin]

Improved Camera 2

http://wow-en.curse-gaming.com/downloads/details/5098/

Thought I would post this in case anybody was interested. It allows you to zoom out much farther than the default UI does - and no need to change config.wtf files around. The benefits for multiboxing should be self apparant :)

http://media6.curse-gaming.com/media/resized_images/750x500/14860.jpg

You don't have to zoom out THIS far but it shows how far you can go with the client without actually hacking the program or any other such naughtiness.


HOWTO bypass the 50 limit:

As previously stated, the 50 limit is hardcoded into WoW and you cannot zoom out further within the game itself. Rewad gave instructions on how to bypass the limit by editing the camera-settings.txt file, but the problem with this is that when you try to zoom out further with the mousewheel, the distance switches immediately back down to 50 and you have to relog and re-edit the file again. There is a better way, however.

WoW has 4 camera presets which you can set/load and save using key bindings within the game. These settings are stored in Config.wtf - the first file in your WTF folder...

Make sure WoW is fully shut down then edit the Config.wtf file with your favourite text editor (I used PFE - http://www.lancs.ac.uk/staff/steveb/cpaap/pfe/ - as it supports Unix text format and extracts as a standalone .exe). Add the following line to the end:

SET cameraDistanceD "250"

This sets the 5th (D) camera preset to a massive distance of 250 units. You can also add/edit the pitch and yaw with, for example, SET cameraPitchD "15" and SET cameraYawD "0".

Change the last letter to A for preset #2, B for #3, C for #4, D for #5. (Preset #1 doesn't have a save key binding for some reason but the setting is probably stored in SET cameraDistance - without the letter. I don't think there is a yaw/pitch variable though.)

Save the file and fire up WoW. You can now cycle between your new camera presets with the (default) Home and End keys, or you can bind your own keys for each preset if you wish.

Quick testing reveals that around 40 is going to be the max you are going to want. Maybe even 30 (default max) or 35. 50 is just too far zoomed out to see what is going on :) 250 as you can see in the above picture is just stupid :)

Keep in mind that these numbers are WoW yards. An average AoE spell hits 10 yards (5 in each direction).

[Flight]

Nice one bud; thanks :)

[Steph]

I saw this a good while ago, but I needed it now, tested it and it works fine.
Thank you!

[unit187]

lol Xzin you should make screenshot with far camera and your 10-box so it will look like... warcraft3? :P

[Jezebel]

god damn thats hot..

will definately be hooking this one when i get home tonight. will take a while to get used to the viewpoint, but being able to see targets in every distance and not just in the standard field of vision infront of your character will be a massive advantage.

thanks again xzin ^

[Lost Ninja]

You can't see targets beyond the normal range (with some exceptions). So if you could see something in the distance before you'll still be able to see it. If you couldn't you won't now.

If you keep your draw distance low for FPS then at furthest zoom all you can see in most zones is fog. :(

That all said its invaluable for keeping an eye out for that damn stealth Fel Reaver in HFP... how anything that big can sneak up on me I'll never know. :(

Once you have the keys mapped you can it seems zoom in and out even at those big distances, or I can... but then I seem to have broken the auto follow mode for my camera too. :(

Does anyone know how to access these values from a script/macro? Would be nice to make a scroll bar that sets distance.

[Ughmahedhurtz]

FYI, the camera settings in config.wtf mentioned above work without this mod, in case anyone was wondering.

[edit] Wow, this stuff is the bomb. Add this to your targeted AoE macro (or your follow macro):

/script SetView("2");

Replace 2 with whichever you like for your default.

[Ughmahedhurtz]

In case others wanna give this a shot, here's what I put at the end of my config.wtf:

SET cameraDistanceD "250"
SET cameraPitchD "65"
SET cameraYawD "0"
SET cameraDistanceC "50"
SET cameraPitchC "45"
SET cameraYawC "0"
SET cameraDistanceB "30"
SET cameraPitchB "30"
SET cameraYawB "0"
SET cameraDistanceA "15"
SET cameraPitchA "30"
SET cameraYawA "0"

The 250 one is for when I wanna be silly.

[Katharsis]

This is the first video I made (Dec 2005). I used ImprovedCamera and changed settings while recording to pan the camera.

http://katharsi.com/video/feathermoon-base.wmv 28mb

[Ughmahedhurtz]

In case others wanna give this a shot, here's what I put at the end of my config.wtf:

SET cameraDistanceD "250"
SET cameraPitchD "65"
SET cameraYawD "0"
SET cameraDistanceC "50"
SET cameraPitchC "45"
SET cameraYawC "0"
SET cameraDistanceB "30"
SET cameraPitchB "30"
SET cameraYawB "0"
SET cameraDistanceA "15"
SET cameraPitchA "30"
SET cameraYawA "0"
SET cameraDistanceMax "250"

The 250 one is for when I wanna be silly.

Necro! :p

These settings now go in c:\games\wow\WTF\account\<accountname>\<servername>\<charactername>\config-cache.wtf
[edit] Correction: goes in c:\games\wow\WTF\account\<accountname>\config-cache.wtf

[JackBurton]

Tweaking camera's is something i've been putting off but realy should be hitting next.

[MiRai]

SET cameraDistanceMax "250"

The 250 one is for when I wanna be silly.
I'm pretty sure that the hard limit on cameraDistanceMax these days is 30.

[Fat Tire]

I'm pretty sure that the hard limit on cameraDistanceMax these days is 30.

Pfft!

http://i.imgur.com/pRBxV.jpg

[MiRai]

Pfft!
[Big Picutre]

Let me rephrase that...

I'm pretty sure that the hard limit via the console command or the config file these days is 30.

[JackBurton]

FYI, the camera settings in config.wtf mentioned above work without this mod, in case anyone was wondering.

[edit] Wow, this stuff is the bomb. Add this to your targeted AoE macro (or your follow macro):

/script SetView("2");

Replace 2 with whichever you like for your default.

I found a post by Ualaa a few days back where he discovered how to bind a LMB to a keyboard key. I think he arbitraliy picked ; because there was little to no chance of it being accidentaly hit. anyone know that forum thread? I need to scour my history file.

[JackBurton]

So how do you guys mold your five views and for what purpose?

Camera1 First person - For flying and swiming, best used along with jamba strobe since you cant see your slaves anymore
Camera2 Up Close - Point Blank Targetable AoE & World items that IWT wont work on ie. mining nodes, wanted posters etc...
Camera3 Slave Aimed Targeted Ground Spells. With slaves 5 to 10 units behind master i have this camera synched to mouse click as close to whatever the master's mouse is hovering over.
Camera4 Master Aimed Targeted Ground Spells. Mastger aims with this window situated so that the top bottom left and right is the farthest i can actually reach with my click based AoE spells.
Camera5 Driver's view deep wide view for master only. Ideal distance so toons following behing can be still seen. right and left border distance is far enough so that i can see toons 30 units away shooting at the mobs. considering im the tank right next to the mobs im taunting. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...=MWsOCseUEIc#!

[Ualaa]

I found a post by Ualaa a few days back where he discovered how to bind a LMB to a keyboard key. I think he arbitraliy picked ; because there was little to no chance of it being accidentaly hit. anyone know that forum thread? I need to scour my history file.

I know the thread you're talking about.
Pretty sure it was Ellay and not me...

It was to do with setting the ; key to do the equivalent of a left click, specifically for the Death Knights 'Death & Decay' spell.
There was a change camera angle, so you were looking straight down, and a left click would be right on top of your toons no matter where it was actually clicked.

The new forum style is not letting me search for posts by a specific person.
That's how I found it last time.
It was either:
a) Threads started by Ellay, that included Death Knight
b) Threads started by Ellay, that included Death & Decay
c) Threads started by Ellay, that included DK
But cannot search that way now.
And doing an advanced search, with Threads by Ellay shows no posts.

Could dig through post history, possibly...
But I'd imagine he has had a lot of posts.



*Edit*
Here's the post: http://www.dual-boxing.com/threads/18254-How-to-use-Targetable-AoE-s-multiboxing-with-in-game-macro-s-(no-addons-or-programs-needed)!

[Ughmahedhurtz]

Let me rephrase that...

I'm pretty sure that the hard limit via the console command or the config file these days is 30.
I'll post a screenie when I get home tonight. I can't zoom to 250 anymore but it's definitely longer than 30.

[JackBurton]

Thanks Ualaa your a God.

[Ughmahedhurtz]

Through some testing, 50 appears to be the max distance now (patch 4.3.4).

Camera settings I used:

SET cameraDistanceA "15"
SET cameraPitchA "30"
SET cameraYawA "0"
SET cameraDistanceB "30"
SET cameraPitchB "30"
SET cameraYawB "0"
SET cameraDistanceC "50"
SET cameraPitchC "45"
SET cameraYawC "0"
SET cameraDistanceD "50"
SET cameraPitchD "65"
SET cameraYawD "0"

View 1 (distance 15):
http://i.imgur.com/W39JW.jpg

View 2 (distance 30):
http://i.imgur.com/KHVOo.jpg

View 3 (distance 50):
http://i.imgur.com/whcGd.jpg

[MiRai]

I dunno... I actually can't get a value over 25 to work for me but, I tried to replicate your View 3 with my hard limit of 25 @ 1680x1050. :)

The only reason I don't think those hard-coded numbers >25 work is because the difference between 25 and 5 is night and day, which would mean the difference between 25 and 50 should be very noticeable as well. /shrug (SEE THE EDIT BELOW)

http://i.imgur.com/DqNu3.jpg


EDIT: To follow this up... I also had cameraDistanceMaxFactor set to 2 which would mean cameraDistanceMax 25 x MaxFactor 2 = a total of 50.

And that answers that.

[Ughmahedhurtz]

Haven't tried the maxfactor setting.

[JackBurton]

Files protected. Only modifiy at login window or completly out of wow. Only modify your five global config-cache.wtf located at Program Files>WTF>account>youraccountx5. Dont dive into the toon name folder and edit that config-cache. no need to when you edit the global wtf.



SET cameraDistanceA "0"
SET cameraPitchA "0"
SET cameraYawA "0"
SET cameraDistanceB "25"
SET cameraPitchB "35"
SET cameraYawB "0"
SET cameraDistanceC "30"
SET cameraPitchC "35"
SET cameraYawC "0"
SET cameraDistanceD "45"
SET cameraPitchD "45"
SET cameraYawD "0"


SetView(1); First person - For flying and swiming, best used along with jamba strobe since you cant see your slaves anymore

SET cameraDistanceA "0"
SET cameraPitchA "0"
SET cameraYawA "0"


SetView(2); Master Aimed Targeted Ground Spells. Mastger aims with this window situated so that the top bottom left and right is the farthest i can actually reach with my click based AoE spells.

SET cameraDistanceB "25"
SET cameraPitchB "35"
SET cameraYawB "0"


SetView(3); Slave Aimed Targeted Ground Spells. trying to sync a bit closer to ground clicking spells.

SET cameraDistanceC "30"
SET cameraPitchC "35"
SET cameraYawC "0"


SetView(4); Driver's view deep wide view for master only. Ideal distance so toons following behing can be still seen. right and left border distance is far enough so that i can see toons 30 units away shooting at the mobs. considering im the tank right next to the mobs im taunting. I can see over hills nearby. etc...

SET cameraDistanceD "45"
SET cameraPitchD "45"
SET cameraYawD "0"


SetView(5); Up Close - Point Blank Targetable AoE & World items that IWT wont work on ie. mining nodes, wanted posters etc...

SET <Believe Unajustable?> SetView(5);
SET <Believe Unajustable?> SetView(5);
SET <Believe Unajustable?> SetView(5);

[Ughmahedhurtz]

CameraDistanceE/PitchE/YawE etc. is the setting for view 5.

[JackBurton]

if pitch is spinning forward axis. what is yaw?

[Destahd]

if pitch is spinning forward axis. what is yaw?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rotations.png

I link this because it has pictures explaining each axis and the various rotations... :)

[Lyonheart]

so after you edit this file..in game you just make hotkeys for those veiws? anyway to macro them? like /setview1, /cast earthquake?

[Khatovar]

The point is to be able to macro them


/script SetView (4); SetView (4)
/cast Ground-target Ability

The second SetView makes the camera movement instant, instead of scrolled. You'd then combine it with a mouse passing key {ISBoxer Keyclone (http://www.dual-boxing.com/threads/32741-HOW-TO-Earthquake?p=301693&viewfull=1#post301693) or HotKeyNet (http://www.dual-boxing.com/threads/32741-HOW-TO-Earthquake?p=303094&viewfull=1#post303094)} to make all your toons use AOE spells at the same time in just about the same space because they all have the same views {of course, you still have to account for positional and facing differences}.

[Lyonheart]

The point is to be able to macro them


/script SetView (4); SetView (4)
/cast Ground-target Ability

The second SetView makes the camera movement instant, instead of scrolled. You'd then combine it with a mouse passing key {ISBoxer Keyclone (http://www.dual-boxing.com/threads/32741-HOW-TO-Earthquake?p=301693&viewfull=1#post301693) or HotKeyNet (http://www.dual-boxing.com/threads/32741-HOW-TO-Earthquake?p=303094&viewfull=1#post303094)} to make all your toons use AOE spells at the same time in just about the same space because they all have the same views {of course, you still have to account for positional and facing differences}.

Sweet! thx.. i had just setview once and it is slow.. thx for this! i LUV you Khat!

[Khatovar]

Haha, love the luv ;)