Exact FOV for 16:9 UT2004

[Mang Nux]

I have a 1920x1080 display and I'm wondering what exactly is the correct FOV value for 16:9 in UT2004. I've seen recommendations for 106, 105, 102 even specifically "106.2602047".

Which is the correct one?

And is there any reason why one site might say one thing for UT2004 and another for UT2003? They're identical aren't they?

 

[MonsterKill5678]

105

 

[Wormbo]

What do you mean by "exact" when talking about FOV? FOV is a personal preference, the only really "exact" thing about it is how it affects what you see on the screen. What FOV really does is determine the camera angle between the sides of the screen. So, since the engine stretches the view uniformly, there's actually a horizontal FOV angle and a vertical FOV angle. What you specify in the configuration is the larger of the two. Therefore the horizontally visible area is always the same for common screen resolutions. The only change from 4:3 or 5:4 to 16:9 is that a larger part is clipped off at the top and bottom of the screen.

Now if you mean "exact" as in "the same as if I was the camera", then I need to disappoint you. Unless you are unhealthily close to your screen, your "natural" FOV on the monitor is likely below what you can configure in the game. For example, my natural screen view angle is around 40-50°, i.e. something you'd already consider "zooming" in the game.

BTW: FOV is absolutely independent from screen resolution. If you scale two screenshots of the same scene with identical FOV but different resolutions to the same size, you will see that they are exactly the same angle, just clipped according to aspect ratio.

 

[Molgan]

The correct one is the one that makes your hit% with LG above 90%.

 

[xMurphyx]

@Wormbo: Not quite. It depends on how games are clipped. E.g. if you have a 4:3 game with a certain vertical FoV angle and a certain horizontal FoV angle and in widescreen modes it adds to the sides you have to set the game to a specific angle so nothing is changed except you add the stripes left and right that your new monitor now has, so to speak.
That's why people figure out ridiculously specific numbers like "106.2602047".

In the end you are right about this being a totally subjective thing though.

@op: If you want to get mathematical you should measure the angle between the left end of your monitor, your nose bridge and the right end of the monitor. Setting the FoV to that angle should more or less make you see the world as big as you would see it if you stood in it.
Of course this drastically reduces the situational awareness you would have actually standing in it, because you can't see anything to the sides of your monitor, which is why games usually pick a much higher FoV than that (at the cost of making everything smaller, which they often compensate for with some sort of zoom mode, e.g. magically zooming iron sights).

In the end you have to decide yourself what you find most comfortable, which is hard (or easy), because you can get used to almost anything reasonable anyway (e.g. between 70 and 110. Lower feels zoomed in, higher feels fish-eyey, although, if you've been playing on 110 for a while 70 is going to feel zoomedin too, of course). Just pick something the game let's you chose and forget about it, is my advice.

 

[Wormbo]

Oh, you mean to get the exact same vertical FOV in 16:9 that you had in 4:3? That shouldn't be hard to calculate, provided you tell us your original 4:3 FOV. Personally I simply picked a value that felt comfortable for the wider screen.
Thing is, I don't see much point it making precise calculations, because the game doesn't either. Like it wrote before, the game only cares about the larger of the two dimensions and simply clips the other. The only valid reasons for such precise calculations I could think of, is getting the exact same mouse aim as before. But here comes disappointment: It only depends on the FOV value itself, not screen resolution or aspect ratio. If you want exactly the same aim, use exactly the same FOV.

I suppose those 106.something degrees provide the same vertical FOV on 16:9 as 90 does on 4:3. But does that really matter? I mean, just go with 110 and you'll even see a bit more than before. Or pick 105, which is almost the same as 106.whatever - you wouldn't notice the difference unless you explicitly compared the two.