Should the default FOV (Field of view) be higher?

[Dead3yez]

As such, I think the FOV should be entirely optional, a slider would be a good solution, say ranging from 1 (1:1 view) to 5 (1:5 view) or whatever.

I was too dumb to think of this. Damn.

[Commander Jao]

Especially when in HMMWV the field of view isn't great. It seems like I'am driving with my noise to the windshield, with absolute no view of any dials. In Vehicles it needs to change, I don't mind it anywhere else though.

[Liquidpinky]

An FOV slider would be ideal, with perhaps separate sliders for vehicles and on foot.
Allow for low settings in the 40s for us with triple monitor set ups too please.

[colossus]

The current default FOV is a bit too close to my comfort, especially inside vehicles. I personally would prefer something of a middle-ground between default and zoomed out (-). I can of course see the disadvantage of having a broader FOV, however. It's harder to see soldiers at a distance and the vision can look a bit tunneled.

I still support having a zoom in though. As default view doesn't help much when you're trying to aim your A-10's gatling toward the enemy.

[Falcon_565]

My biggest problem with the FOV right now is the fact that you can zoom your eyeballs. This exacerbates existing problems with spotting targets at unnatural ranges. The zoom ability is especially game breaking when viewing an object that is of higher detail than the surrounding terrain, objects like vehicles, personnel or placed equipment really stick out. You should not be able to have nearly the same visual acuity with you eyes as you get with a combat scope like the ACOG.

[CarlGustaffa]

I think the best option is to have a proper "zoom extra out" that is sticky for everything, where the user can adjust to his preference (as a factor). So:
(none) Normal View = Zoomed Out to allow spatial awareness.
(+ key, double to stick) Zoom In View = Narrower FOV that presents the real world perspective.
(- key, double to stick) Zoom Extra Out View = Wider FOV that may improve vehicle operations (although I have no need for this myself).

@Commander Jao: Use numpad 2 and 8 to adjust camera pitch, it doesn't even snap back to center for freelook (alt). Some of us prefer that the FOV remain consistent, no matter if we are in vehicles or not. But the above would fix it for you since you could just double-tap - key for a wider view if you want it.

It wouldn't be a cheat because you're just widening your FOV, similar to triplehead displays - the origin of the camera doesn't change. Maybe it gives them an advantage, but at least it's a realistic one. Compared to 3rd person.

But the whole zoom function has to be consistent. Not like now where it works differently for varies classes and parent classes.

[DMarkwick]

My biggest problem with the FOV right now is the fact that you can zoom your eyeballs. This exacerbates existing problems with spotting targets at unnatural ranges. The zoom ability is especially game breaking when viewing an object that is of higher detail than the surrounding terrain, objects like vehicles, personnel or placed equipment really stick out. You should not be able to have nearly the same visual acuity with you eyes as you get with a combat scope like the ACOG.

The term "zoom" is misapplied here: when you "zoom" with your eyeballs in ArmA, you are actually viewing at 1:1 FoV, so the "unzoom" is in fact an artificial wide view, done so that you're not playing the game with a tunnel on your face

[lozz08]

Great idea with the FOV slider. Right now it is difficult to setup an ideal FOV, and considering that FOV can be changed on the fly in-game (can be changed to 4:3, 16:9 etc.) I think this is definitely doable in the engine right now.

If you're listening BIS, maybe you could trial this in an ARMA 2 beta patch?

[Falcon_565]

The term "zoom" is misapplied here: when you "zoom" with your eyeballs in ArmA, you are actually viewing at 1:1 FoV, so the "unzoom" is in fact an artificial wide view, done so that you're not playing the game with a tunnel on your face

I'm pretty sure that's not true. Regardless when you 'zoom' with your eyeballs you are enlarging the objects on your screen with respect to whatever they were 'unzoomed' so the effect is the same. When you can obtain a level of magnification that is nearly comparable to a combat optic without any actual optic I think there's a problem. Getting rid of this would certainty help mitigate problems that the engine already has with objects at range.

[DMarkwick]

I'm pretty sure that's not true. Regardless when you 'zoom' with your eyeballs you are enlarging the objects on your screen with respect to whatever they were 'unzoomed' so the effect is the same. When you can obtain a level of magnification that is nearly comparable to a combat optic without any actual optic I think there's a problem. Getting rid of this would certainty help mitigate problems that the engine already has with objects at range.

It is most definitely true, as relayed by a developer on these forums. Zoomed in view is actual 1:1 view. The Acog sights you're thinking of are the type that do not have any optical FoV effect, which is why the views are the same. So for "realism" sake, it's the wider default view that's the artificial one.