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Land Camera Unlock Free Mod

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 Slocket
02-23-2006, 1:58 AM
#1
Land Camera Unlocked so it is free to adjust the pitch angle and pull out further to get a really nice view of a land battle!

http://rapidshare.de/files/13925302/Camera_Free.rar.html)
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Camera_Free v1.0 Empire at War v1.2 Slocket 2-23-2006

Do you find the Land Camera view too restrictive? I thought the fixed pitch
angle was terrible. Plus you could not pull back to see a better view.

This Mod allows you to rotate fully pitch angle the land camera just like space mode, and
pull out further distance. You will see a beautiful full landscape and realy is cool!

Remember, this may take a decent graphics card, so maybe you might experience some slow down.
Due to more rendering. I did not have any problems with my old ATI 9600 pro.

Enjoy! It really makes the land battles look cool to be able to change pitch and pull out fully.

Simply place TACTICALCAMERAS.xml into a new folder you must make called XML within the directory
EAW\GameData\Data. You must unzip the file first.

History: v1.0 first public release.
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http://img67.imageshack.us/img67/8070/adjustablecamerapitchanddistan.th.jpg) (http://img67.imageshack.us/my.php?image=adjustablecamerapitchanddistan.jpg)
 Anach
02-23-2006, 2:02 AM
#2
Cool . Nice mod. Ill give it a try.
 Arc9
02-23-2006, 4:26 AM
#3
that pic isent very well done,no offense. You can just zoom in and at the same time adjust the camera angle by default,we need a mod where we can turn the camera 360`.
 Slocket
02-23-2006, 6:08 AM
#4
Huh? The original camera is locked at a steep 55 degree angle looking down. This allows you to turn it 360 degrees and fully zero level to straight down. The pitch angle tilt can be moved while in the land battle view just like Space Mode.

Please try the mod first, Arc.

As for the picture, I know it is not the best, I am no expert photographer and my video card is not the best, the graphics are set to only half way.

I want to show you can total freedom moving the land camera around and still control your troops.

I do not fully understand where you come up with your remarks but I hazard a guess. The default camera will turn in pitch in a very restricted 'manner'. So I think that is what you mean.

BTY Arc9, Julius Caesar did not quote that line, it was Marc Anthony (Shakespear wrote it in a book).
 Athanasios
02-23-2006, 11:51 AM
#5
Slocket, i think you just heard all my screams for the camera issue!! :)

Great work mate. Can we integrate this patch to our mods (with a special thank to you ofcourse)?

Great work again mate, i always liked the FC camera style.
 CIAop
02-23-2006, 12:05 PM
#6
Thank you!!! I've been waiting for someone to do this and don't have enough "know - how" of my own to make it happen. Great mod idea. now if I could just figure out how to squeeze out a little better performance from my computer.
 Athanasios
02-23-2006, 12:23 PM
#7
For efficiency, the camera parameters should be carefully chosen to minimize the number of objects
that must be drawn. The camera should not show the horizon and should not be pulled back too far or
have too wide a field of view.

Directly from the xml :) . I guess the only reason they jsut didnt activated the full unlock in ground was to keep system specs low. No everything gets cleared.
 Slocket
02-23-2006, 1:33 PM
#8
You can use it in other mod, anything that helps the game be more enjoyable to people is good for sales = a decent expansion I hope. If you could humbly give me some credit for figuring out how to unlock the land camera.

Note you may want to tweak the values that I used, since this was done blind and wanted to get a working example released for peeps to use. I also suspect if I re-enable 'Splines' and fiddle with the numbers, I can get a better natural flow of the camera floating across the landscape matching the land contour better (always keeping the same height above ground better).
 rderveloy
02-23-2006, 2:02 PM
#9
Under the options menu, there is a box that you can put an 'x' in that will enable you to use both mouse buttons to pan the camera around 360 degrees without modding the xml file. I haven't tested to see if this will let you tilt the camera as well, but it's worth looking into.
 Slocket
02-23-2006, 2:14 PM
#10
Yes, there is that option, I have it on. My middle mouse wheel will not zoom properly and makes it very difficult to zoom in and out, that is why I use that option myself. There was no other key to bind the zoom function to I found.

But sadly, that in game option does not let you "tilt" the Camera Pitch Angle for a better view (neither does it work in normal mouse control). It only enables those without a decent working middle mouse wheel a way to pan rotate 360 degree in the 'horizontal plane'. God knows I tried before I ripped into the tactical camera xml data to change it. It was really bothering me.

This mod allows you to change the Pitch Angle (tilt) in the 'verticle plane' and lets you pull out further to get a decent viewing angle and distance to see your units and stuff in a land battle.
 Athanasios
02-23-2006, 2:40 PM
#11
This mod allows you to change the Pitch Angle (tilt) in the 'verticle plane' and lets you pull out further to get a decent viewing angle and distance to see your units and stuff in a land battle.
This what i reported to every single "complaint" thread i posted about the camera angles; people just thought that i could press the Ctrl+Middle button to rotate the camera (no matter i was the first one to post this option when the demo was out...), but the problem is the pitch angle.

Now, with this tweak mod, you won't have to break your neck seeing what's coming from the top (horizon) of your monitor :)
 rderveloy
02-23-2006, 3:11 PM
#12
Yes, there is that option, I have it on. My middle mouse wheel will not zoom properly and makes it very difficult to zoom in and out, that is why I use that option myself. There was no other key to bind the zoom function to I found.

But sadly, that in game option does not let you "tilt" the Camera Pitch Angle for a better view (neither does it work in normal mouse control). It only enables those without a decent working middle mouse wheel a way to pan rotate 360 degree in the 'horizontal plane'. God knows I tried before I ripped into the tactical camera xml data to change it. It was really bothering me.

This mod allows you to change the Pitch Angle (tilt) in the 'verticle plane' and lets you pull out further to get a decent viewing angle and distance to see your units and stuff in a land battle.


I know you were having problems with the tilt angle of the camera, I just didn't remember if the option allowed you to tilt the camera as well as pan it during a ground battle.
 Arc9
02-23-2006, 3:52 PM
#13
how do we do it 360`?
 Athanasios
02-23-2006, 4:13 PM
#14
You don't need 360 rotation for ground as in space, since you have the terrain limit from the vertical angle.
 gswift
02-23-2006, 5:17 PM
#15
This what i reported to every single "complaint" thread i posted about the camera angles; people just thought that i could press the Ctrl+Middle button to rotate the camera (no matter i was the first one to post this option when the demo was out...), but the problem is the pitch angle.

Now, with this tweak mod, you won't have to break your neck seeing what's coming from the top (horizon) of your monitor :)


Holding Ctrl and center mouse button DOES let you change the pitch angle AND rotate. If you don't believe that this is supposed to work, then go look at the FAQ section in the support area at LucasArts.com. This is a real game function, but it was omitted from the manual. If it only allows you to rotate, then you need to check the assignment of your center mouse button in your mouse configuration program. It needs to be set as a standard mouse button. Some mice, especially logitech, tend to be set as zoom by default. It says in the support area on LucasArts.com that this may cause problems with several game functions in EaW.

If that still does not let you pitch and rotate while holding Ctrl and center mouse button, then check Yoda's help desk at LucasArts.com and search for your mouse. There are issues with some of the most popular mice, which are listed there. Hope that helps.

Before posting multiple complaint threads, please try the official support area. Then you can help others in stead of complaining. :)

Being able to zoom out farther IS cool though. Good work on the mod Slocket.
 Slocket
02-23-2006, 8:46 PM
#16
My mouse is a geniune Microsoft Intellimouse. I cannot change the pitch. I see others have this problem also.

Without more feedback, maybe some alot have this probelm? If so this will work. I know alot of people commented on this during the DEMO phase of the game.

The big trick I found is changing use "Splines" for yes to no in the XML Tacticalcamera.xml file. That has nothing to do with a physical mouse button but will let you mouse work as stated.

Every test ran on my mouse passes just fine. Maybe others that read this can post what their experience is in regards to this somewhat major issue.

Swift, does your mouse allow the pitch to be changed in land battles without a mod? If so, I will try one more time to see if what you say will work. Else I have no solution except resorting to this mod.

This is all I can find over at teh Help Desk from Yoda, only one question and answer. No list of mice that do not work.
-------------------------------------
Q: Logitech MX1000 Laser Cordless Mouse
A: When using the Logitech MX1000 Laser Cordless Mouse with the SetPoint 2.47 software installed, the Middle Mouse Button is mapped to “Zoom” by default. When you attempt to play at the default setting, you may be unable to rotate the camera. If this occurs, you will need to change the button assignment to “Generic Button” in the SetPoint/Mouse Properties
-------------------------

That is because it is using software to assign the middle button. The "rotate" they refer to is rotation in the horizontal plane.

My standard Microsoft mouse PS/2 has no software like that (except drivers 'Intellimouse'). You can test in windows XP and it works with flying colors. ASFAIK the land camera pitch angle (verticle plane zenith) is locked for everyone from day one of this game.

The only thing my middle mouse button is mapped to when pushed down is the "scroll" function. That I cannot see anywhere to re-map if I wanted to.

There is nothing wrong with my mouse. It has worked perfectly for years on hundred games over ten years.
 Athanasios
02-24-2006, 8:00 AM
#17
Intelli Optical mouse here too. Same as Slocket said.
 Coxxon
02-24-2006, 3:41 PM
#18
Cooollll! Thanks Slocket!
 Elukka
02-25-2006, 4:02 AM
#19
I have an Intelli optical too, but the mod works fine. I like how i can finally see stuff from better angles.
 Jan Gaarni
02-25-2006, 4:54 AM
#20
I have a Logitech mouse aswell, and holding the CTRL-center mouse button feature to pan around does not work with me either. Only middle button feature that functions is the scroll (it's got a wheel that can be scrolled with or used as a button if pushed, but I assume most Logitechs got that ;) ).

Luckily the game has the option to hold down both left and right mouse buttons and then alter the angle and direction the camera is facing. It's off by default, so you'll have to go into the menu and turn it on. Works well in space, but only able to change direction the camera is facing in ground battles. Not able to change the view at all on the galactic map, which is alittle shame.

Other than that (got alittle off topic there ;) :p ), I'll have to try out this small mod and see how it works. :)
 Daft_Vader
03-20-2008, 9:10 AM
#21
how do I get this one to work with FOC?

Thanks,
G
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