Splash DamageBlogCommunity Question: Preferred Field of View

Splash Damage Blog

Community Question: Preferred Field of View

Submitted by badman on Fri, 04/27/2012 - 11:29

Community, most PC gamers love customising their playing experience - be it by adjusting the controls, fine-tuning the video settings, or tweaking a few gameplay options here and there. In first person shooters, Field of View (FOV) is one the things players often adjust to their liking and we've had different default settings for it over the years. This brings us rather neatly to this week's Community Question:

What Field of View (FOV) do you usually play your PC first person shooters at?

To cast your vote, head over to this week's Community Question poll. As a bonus question for the comments, we'd like to know from you if the game's overall speed influences your FOV decision. We look forward to your replies!

25 Comments

avatar
Dthy
The FOV I use depends on the natural speed and aim style of the game im playing. In ETQW I use 110 (probably would go higher but thats the limit) but in CS:S/CS:GO I just use default as the aiming is all different (the longer you hold the trigger the more absurd your spread gets etc.). So overall, the way the game plays affects what field of view I use. Edit: Should put a varies game to game option in the poll!
Reply to this comment
Posted on 26 April, 2012 - 19:23
avatar
Darksider
It varies depending on the game I play.. With that just give the gamer the choice with a FOV slider..
Reply to this comment
Posted on 26 April, 2012 - 19:35
avatar
amazinglarry
If I remember correctly, I had a toggle in RtCW and ET to switch between 90 and 120. Ever since then I've mostly played on the default FOV settings since I'm not as invested team/clan wise as I once was. Plus for some reason it hasn't made much sense for me to mess with things on the idTech4. Don't ask me why that is. In CoD I play with default settings too. Maybe I should start rollin some configs again. Anyway, I voted 90 since I think that's normal default? Yes? Maybe? Edit: Wow I just breezed right over the Default option...
Reply to this comment
Posted on 26 April, 2012 - 20:36
avatar
SockDog
I settled on 100 but could go 90 - 110. This is sat at a desk with 23" monitor. Preaching to the choir but low FOV just feels terrible, it's like playing with blinkers on, it feels unnatural and claustrophobic. So I'll put up FOV primarily to get that peripheral vision, it's very much a comfort setting, so very important to how I enjoy the game. Secondly it can make the game feel faster which is excellent too. BTW I saw on an old WTF about CS:GO that they have a Big Screen/Desk PC option for FOV. This seems a fairly neat way of satisfying a majority while ensuring it's not going to break the visuals of a game.
Reply to this comment
Posted on 26 April, 2012 - 21:22
avatar
light_sh4v0r
I always play 90. Anything different takes too long to get used to :tongue: I have 4:3 aspect ratio screen anyway, so higher would look a bit out of proportion.
Reply to this comment
Posted on 26 April, 2012 - 21:22
avatar
Humate
Usually play with the default 90 in etqw. But I would hate to see that as the maximum setting in a game. For the bonus question, its not a game speed thing although slower games are more enjoyable when fov is increased. Its mostly about eye comfort.
Reply to this comment
Posted on 26 April, 2012 - 22:05
avatar
Dormamu
Most of the times i increase fov to exaggerate the distance i'm traveling in a game, also to gain a little edge by covering a wider area in a map. In my fps nobish gaming experience the enemy will appear 25% from behind, 15 % in front of me and 60% in the far right or left of the screen :D. The more y see the more chances y have to mimic a fight or to run :D On some games i increase fov to keep a lower mouse sensitivity but also be able to make a fast 160-180 degree turn without lifting the mouse or reaching the edge of the mouse pad. (or is it my imagination? :confused:)
Reply to this comment
Posted on 26 April, 2012 - 22:08
avatar
Boktor
For me the game's overall speed matters a lot. For the style of games SD has released, I am happy with 90-100 FOV. For the fast-paced arena shooters, I'd go as high as 120. However, I'm certain that in just about any first-person shooter I wouldn't settle for below 80 FOV.
Reply to this comment
Posted on 27 April, 2012 - 01:20
avatar
BioSnark
90-100 varying up by game speed. I use 16:9 screen. Motion sickness or play in windowed if it's too low but I can't aim well if it's too high.
Reply to this comment
Posted on 27 April, 2012 - 02:23
avatar
DarkangelUK
Edit: Should put a varies game to game option in the poll!
Agreed, in W:ET/RtCW/ET:QW I was around 110, in more tactical shooters I'm lower, in faster paced games like Q3/QL my FOV is up at 130.
Reply to this comment
Posted on 27 April, 2012 - 07:45
avatar
gr33nf4c3
Default, unless it's so damn narrow that they literally force me to do something about it. I don't even know that the FOV in Brink was - seemed fine to me on the default setting.
Reply to this comment
Posted on 27 April, 2012 - 12:23
avatar
Finko
Agreed, in W:ET/RtCW/ET:QW I was around 110, in more tactical shooters I'm lower, in faster paced games like Q3/QL my FOV is up at 130.
Same here :)
Reply to this comment
Posted on 27 April, 2012 - 12:31
avatar
Runeforce
So there are two ways to meassure FOV: horizontal and vertical. If I remember correctly, ETQW uses hoz. FOV, and I prefer between 100-110 on my 16:10, 1440x900 monitor. That equals (as I recall from memory) about 72 vert. FOV. You should be specific in what kind of FOV you are requesting!
Reply to this comment
Posted on 27 April, 2012 - 15:07
avatar
Sikkpin
Another thing to keep in mind, idTech4 auto-corrects the horizontal fov based on the resolution's aspect ratio to keep the vertical fov the same between 4:3/16:10/16:9, using 4:3 as the base. So an fov value of 90 in ETQW, when playing in 16:9, is actually a horizontal fov of ~106
Reply to this comment
Posted on 27 April, 2012 - 15:54
avatar
Indloon
It depends on screen. With the old CRT (15,6 inch, 4:3, 1024x760 ) I had 90 FOV in Wolf:ET, however after news screen( 26 inch, 16:9, 1920x1080 ) I had 110 FOV, id Tech 4 did it right!
Reply to this comment
Posted on 27 April, 2012 - 16:01
avatar
TheSgtBilko
Used to toggle between 90-105 (which I seem to remember were the highlimit in somee leagues) in RtCW/W:ET. But back then the games were 4:3 (and my monitor 5:4) With the widescreens common today I'd guess you would push higher, without it being to weird looking. As usual I prefer it to adjustable and limited by PB (or whatever AC) by server admins.
Reply to this comment
Posted on 27 April, 2012 - 17:07
avatar
SebaSOFT
funny question. I tought SD was doing a turn based overhead camera game now... (sry if this is OT, I already voted...)
Reply to this comment
Posted on 27 April, 2012 - 18:47
avatar
.Chris.
funny question. I tought SD was doing a turn based overhead camera game now... (sry if this is OT, I already voted...)
As well as an unnamed PC exclusive F2P FPS.
Reply to this comment
Posted on 27 April, 2012 - 20:24
avatar
SebaSOFT
As well as an unnamed PC exclusive F2P FPS.
got it! (btw: happy World Tapir Day) :stroggtapir:
Reply to this comment
Posted on 27 April, 2012 - 21:28
avatar
Humate
Off-topic: The blog picture for this topic is this ETQW pic. I remember it from the ETQW installer, I'm wondering if anyone from SD could tell me the name of this map, or is it just an old version of Island?
Reply to this comment
Posted on 28 April, 2012 - 07:07
avatar
attack
i would say 90 for default is best but their should be ways to change t easy like in quakelive(like the idea to can change nearly everything in options).quakelives way is simply the best it gave newcommers an easy way to find their preferd obtions , but on the other hand it allows "pros" to change rly all.
Reply to this comment
Posted on 28 April, 2012 - 10:17
avatar
Slade05
100 for me.
Reply to this comment
Posted on 28 April, 2012 - 21:27
avatar
Apples
As many said, 90 - 110 for qw and higher for fast paced Q3/QL, slower than qw I simply dont play ^^
Reply to this comment
Posted on 30 April, 2012 - 08:54
avatar
Patriotqube
90 to 110 works best for me
Reply to this comment
Posted on 30 April, 2012 - 11:10
avatar
Nail
100 for me, although I can live with 90
Reply to this comment
Posted on 1 May, 2012 - 00:38