- 28,471
- Windsor, Ontario, Canada
- Johnnypenso
Well said:tup:👍👍 And that video is exceptional and really shows how immersive pc sims can be when everything comes together
Yes, it's pretty typical of most, if not all sims.
Field of View (FOV aka why does that track look so wide?)
- Thread starter Johnnypenso
- 251 comments
- 60,374 views
- 1,001
- Germany
- bLoWfIsHrUlEz
- bLoWfIsHrUlEz
It is really cool and once you've seen the light, there is no going back. For the majority of gamers this immersive FOV will become the standard when the Rift CV and the Morpheus are on the market. For Racing, i believe VR will become the default mode of operation, just as necessary as a proper FFB wheel.
- 155
- west midlands
- not_him_59
I wouldn't agree with that about the Rift/Morpheus as there is a serious problem with motion sickness and these headsets. I get it just from watching 5 mins of a game like "The Last of Us" on a regular monitor, where the 1st person view moves around rapidly and continuously, seriously does me in.
My plans are for the 3 screen setup to improve my immersion experience.
And I've got to add that the complaints about missing sense of speed is another fallacy. Just go check out some real life racing where cockpit cameras are used with normal lens' not this artificial stretched out arcade view that is so so prevalent. It is only what people are used to because they grew up with computer racing games with this arcade perspective because it provides a FALSE sense of speed to the eyes, whereas it is other senses that are actually lacking their sensory input that helps complete the sense of speed. Distorting the visuals is not the answer and is not the path to immersion.
- 1,001
- Germany
- bLoWfIsHrUlEz
- bLoWfIsHrUlEz
Agreed. Unfortunately, a small percentage of persons is prone to motion sickness, no matter what technical tricks are implemented to reduce input lag/raise the framerate. If you get sick from viewing Tlou on a screen, then its more than likely this will happen with a racing sim on triple screens too.
Once you use a VR HMD (or triple screens) the problems of using a improper FoV become obvious to everybody.
Once you use a VR HMD (or triple screens) the problems of using a improper FoV become obvious to everybody.
- 12,018
- Indianapolis
- BrandonW77
You do know about the virtual rearview mirror, yes? I think it has a slightly wider FOV than the in-car mirror.
- 28,471
- Windsor, Ontario, Canada
- Johnnypenso
Yes, but if at all possible I like to use the actual mirror or the in-car camera/mirror. I usually activate the virtual mirror for racing.
@nepal road -- Since you're probably talking to me, my 15" laptop and smallish CRT TV aren't a fallacy. The sensation of speed is proportional to display size. I don't play with "distorted" visuals, either. There's a middle ground between the warp-speed look (which also makes judging braking distances difficult in a sim) and the parking-lot-speed look. In Live for Speed on my laptop, my comfortable setting is around 80 degrees.
It's wonderful that this trick helps people out, but I think we can accept that fact without lecturing others on how to play.
It's wonderful that this trick helps people out, but I think we can accept that fact without lecturing others on how to play.
- 830
- Pennsylvania, USA
- cc570
If you have a webcam, try Facetracknoir. It functions like trackir, but uses face recognition software instead of an ir reflector you wear. IMO it is much more natural than a "look to apex feature". You can also adjust how much the view changes relative to how much you move your head nonlinearly. It is also freeware so you can try it and if you don't like it you aren't out any money. It also provides up to 6 degrees of motion, which is great for flight simulators if you are into them.
- 1,001
- Germany
- bLoWfIsHrUlEz
- bLoWfIsHrUlEz
Problem with that is: When i turn my head towards the apex im looking at...my speakers and when i keep my eyes on the screen to see something, im not able to hold my driving line at the same time. Ingame look to apex is very subtle at the moment and to me hits a sweet spot and enables me to use a near correct small FoV while being able to look ahead slightly more than from cockpit cam. Of course it is all personal preference though 
- 2,621
- Upstate SC, USA
- GTP_crowhop
So what you're say is that with the software installed on a PC and a Playstation Eye ($7.99 on Amazon), you can have motion-sensing, head-tracking FOV? That's pretty awesome.
If all of that is true...there aren't enough "Likes" available for your post.
- 10,456
- United States
- WrecklessAbandon
Because in a real car you're sitting behind your head?
- 12,018
- Indianapolis
- BrandonW77
- 4,992
- Nowhere special
- SweetLilPoppet
- SweetLilPoppet
For the real FOV will every car have to be adjusted differently, or will one setting fit all?
- 2,091
- Glasgow
- Flaw3dGenius23
It was a very odd comment from him has to be some form of sarcasm i reckon.Ummm, FOV is from the drivers eyes, not from the gopro mounted behind his seat to record his racing session. I'm quite sure that's what he was asking about, not if we can have a FOV from behind the driver's seat.
- 12,018
- Indianapolis
- BrandonW77
I've not tried PCars but in every other sim I've tried you have to make small adjustments to each car.
- 1,001
- Germany
- bLoWfIsHrUlEz
- bLoWfIsHrUlEz
The FoV is always determined just by your screen size and the distance of the screen to your eyes. As long as you do not move around, the FoV stays the same, in every single car and also in every single game. However, there are different calculation methods and therefore different values to be used for the same thing. Assetto Corsa uses a vertical FoV in contrast to PCars which uses horizontal FoV while GT uses also a horizontal FoV but transformed into a % scale.
Small adjustments from car to car can be achieved by changing the seat position, which does not change the FoV at all.
Below are some examples: a calculated PCars FoV of 60° would translate to a setting of 36° in Assetto Corsa and a 69% setting in Gran Turismo!
GT6= 100% | 90% | 75% | 69% | 50%
AC = 52 | 47 | 39 | 36 | 26
PC = 81 | 75 | 64 | 60 | 44
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- 12,018
- Indianapolis
- BrandonW77
My FOV stays the same but I adjust the seat position in almost every car I drive. Thats what I was trying to get at.
- 28,471
- Windsor, Ontario, Canada
- Johnnypenso
As @BrandonW77 clarified above, one setting to rule them all. You move around in the cockpit so you can see your gauges, mirrors, take the pillar out of view etc. but the overall FOV should stay the same. If you change it from car to car, and there's nothing stopping you from doing so, the tracks will look different from car to car and IMO it will mess up your timing and consistency if you do change it.
- 155
- west midlands
- not_him_59
In the real world, the one being simulated, one doesn't change their eye lens to make the road stretch out in front of them, but seating position nearly always needs adjusting.
BTW @Johnnypenso, I'm using a DOF in AC of 29 presently, and there are a number of cars where the guages are just not visible and can't be brought into view. I must say I am very happy with this as it fits with my particular distances and equipment. But the biggest and most important factor in it all is do the cars in front of me look the correct size just as they would in real life. Now I have that setting my experience has been revolutionised and is so much more immersive.
BTW @Johnnypenso, I'm using a DOF in AC of 29 presently, and there are a number of cars where the guages are just not visible and can't be brought into view. I must say I am very happy with this as it fits with my particular distances and equipment. But the biggest and most important factor in it all is do the cars in front of me look the correct size just as they would in real life. Now I have that setting my experience has been revolutionised and is so much more immersive.
LogiForce
Premium
- 4,078
- Groningen, Netherlands
- LogiForce86
- LogiForce
As you already found out with "the guages are not visible with FOV at 29 degrees" we are limited by the square box called a screen and aren't able to look around freely. Hence a different FOV is chosen by default to try to workaround this limit and give the player a better situational awareness.
This situational awareness can be improved by using triple screen, a TrackIR v5 with a single or triple screen(s). As a result you can technically lower the FOV to a more normal setting.
With a Oculus Rift you have 360 degree vision in all directions. So you can use a correct FOV with that.
So yeah. FOV is an individual choice, but most often game developers will choose the best compromise between a realistic FOV and complete situational awareness.
This means that often the default seat position and FOV is chosen in such a way that it will at least allow you to see one wing mirror, instrument cluster and rearview mirror.
- 174
- Denmark
- Mr_Hansen
That brings me to another question. Since the developers know exactly how far away- and big the screen is on VR headsets (as the Oculus Rift and upcoming Project Morpheus), will they have a "correct" FOV setting as default in the game? I would guess the game knows if your have either of them plugged in, so it would be nice not having to adjust the FOV to make it seem appropriate, as if the steering wheel was right in front of you.
Obviously you would still be able to manually adjust it, as people do have different preferences, but I guess a "wrong" FOV might be even more noticeable in Virtual Reality.
- 155
- west midlands
- not_him_59
Well, I question that assumption about providing a better situational awareness. Since changing to a relatively close IRL view, when I'm now in close proximity to other cars going at speed into say T1, I no longer crap myself! It all feels so natural particularly with the sizes of everything being so close to real and so I'm quite happy in the bunch and have plenty of time to react without rear-ending anyone. As a IRL driver I was never scared of being in traffic even at speed as it is all relative and that is more or less how it feels now, but these situations within for example GT5/6 and actually anything that uses the arcade type stretched out driving view (including AC), made me so nervous that I used to have to immediately get out from behind the car in front. I also have the F11 mirror to see behind and warning arrows to warn about cars alongside which also helps and plan to install and try out the 'Spotter' app.
So I would have to say that I have a much better situational awareness now that I've changed to lets call it an R[eal] L[ife] V[iew]. And you are quite right, I have become distinctly aware of how much I need some side-view which I'm only going to get from a triple set-up. Meanwhile I absolutely love what I have for the moment.
- 2,884
- Near Reading, Uk
- JohnSchoonsBeard
For (Game) Stock Car Extreme the fov calculator tells me I've got a correct point of view of between 20-30 degrees depending on how close I move the 40" TV screen to the edge of the TV display cabinet. The pedals/front of my Next Level wheel stand are as close as they can be to the cabinet without touching (feet can't get under the screen). I've worked my way down from around 50 degrees to 38. Previously I wanted to see one wing mirror as well as the rear view mirror. Now I don't worry about that since I modified the mapping of my wheel buttons.
On my Thrustmaster T300RS I now have view left and right mapped to the most accessibly buttons on the wheel the L2 and R2 buttons. I can quickly and easily check left and right without thinking. I can still check all the mirrors easily and in fact they become less of a distraction keeping my view more focused on what's ahead. On some cars I can still see parts of the mirrors but almost as if they're in my peripheral vision. If I want to look directly at it the buttons are there immediately. I had DRS and push to pass set for those buttons but they're still conveniently located elsewhere.
My driving has improved further as has my perception of realism. Another benefit I have found is that I turn the wheel less. With a previously wider field of view I was sometimes more prone to oversteering and subsequent overcorrecting.
In Gran Turismo 6 I'm now using the middle option for view ("nearer"?) and again find the same benefits as in the PC sim. Previously I had normally used the wider "standard" option. I had experimented with the closer options before but never persevered at it. I'm glad I did.
On my Thrustmaster T300RS I now have view left and right mapped to the most accessibly buttons on the wheel the L2 and R2 buttons. I can quickly and easily check left and right without thinking. I can still check all the mirrors easily and in fact they become less of a distraction keeping my view more focused on what's ahead. On some cars I can still see parts of the mirrors but almost as if they're in my peripheral vision. If I want to look directly at it the buttons are there immediately. I had DRS and push to pass set for those buttons but they're still conveniently located elsewhere.
My driving has improved further as has my perception of realism. Another benefit I have found is that I turn the wheel less. With a previously wider field of view I was sometimes more prone to oversteering and subsequent overcorrecting.
In Gran Turismo 6 I'm now using the middle option for view ("nearer"?) and again find the same benefits as in the PC sim. Previously I had normally used the wider "standard" option. I had experimented with the closer options before but never persevered at it. I'm glad I did.
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- 10,456
- United States
- WrecklessAbandon
I'll try this again
You do comprehend that view is behind the drivers head, right? That's why you can see it.(the drivers head)
What, from behind the driver?
You do comprehend that view is behind the drivers head, right? That's why you can see it.(the drivers head)
- 1,001
- Germany
- bLoWfIsHrUlEz
- bLoWfIsHrUlEz
Of course, there is no magic to this. Set up your FoV properly, adjust the seat, disable the ingame wheel and there you go.
