It should be similar to the Extended Edition and AoE 3 DE, where there is a default close zoom and an option in the settings to unlock the camera and zoom out even further, like the Ludicrous Zoom. In Retold, as far as Iâve seen, this option isnât available; the camera is always unlocked to zoom out too much. For someone used to frequently zooming the camera in and out, like myself, itâs annoying to constantly recalibrate it when it zooms out too far.
Yes, increasing the options a player has is always a good thing. Personally I always play every age game on the absolute maximum zoom level and I refunded AOE4 because they refused to allow zooming out far enough. But why not allow people to have more control over the zoom level? The ideal would be the ability to zoom out ALL THE WAY so the entire map could be viewed at once (for people with gigantic screens like a projector or VR/TV headset provides) or all the way in if you wanted to view a unit up close. Then, players could define a max zoom in and a max zoom out level if they wanted to.
I love the zoom system of Supreme Commander (or similar games made in the Spring Engine) that allows you to zoom out until you see the entire map.
They implemented an LoD system where the models first get replaced by low detail models and then eventually just by icons the more you zoom out.
The cool thing is that you practically donât need a minimap anymore. You just zoom out and then zoom back in where ever you want to. The zoom follows your mouse.
It feels like Google Maps in that regard.
But Supreme Commander was designed around that with many units having massiv ranges that are shown as circles when you zoom out.
I know the Engine of AoMR is not capable of really handling that.
In AoE3DE you can unlock the camera in the Editor to zoom out all the way to almost see in entire 1024x1024 map but your FPS will die.
There is a clipping distance so everything will disappear if you zoom out to much.
Maybe you could see everything on a 1:1 (square) monitor but I have an ultrawide.
Also in most lighting settings fog will take over everything when you zoom out that much. I had to change the lighting for that screenshot.
But I still think the zoom should be unlimited (as an option) because if I want to lag then thatâs my problem. If it causes issues in multiplayer then disable it in ranked.
Interesting logic:
I donât like zooming far out.
Zooming far out gives you an advantage.
Therefor zoom should be limited in ranked.
But doesnât that also mean:
I donât like using hotkeys.
Using hotkeys gives you and advantage.
Therefor hotkeys should not be allowed in ranked.
This logic is even double flawed because zooming out more doesnât actually give you and advantage. Unless we are talking about a very restrictive zoom limit.
How do you define ânoobsâ?
I think that is a very gatekeeping kind of thing to say.
I am then one of the ânoobsâ who are definitely on the side of â I wanna zoom in and out any time however much I like and I donât wanna be forced to play on a min/max setting just for the sake of it.
For reference:
I did play aoe1 as a child, aoe2 as a teenager, aoe3 (on eso for years) as a young adult onwards, later on aoe3de and then aoe4. Tried a little bit of aom in between.
In some of the games I had a considerably decent rank.
For example around 1800/1900 2v2 elo in aoe3de, conq1 in aoe4 solo and conq2 (almost conq3) in aoe4 2v2.
Not saying Iâm good, because I am clearly not, compared to actually really good players, theyâd destroy me.
Edit:
I am honestly hyped for aom retold, hoping the release will be amazing and it wonât be as much of a disappointment as aoe4 on release.
Canât wait to play ranked in aom r.
What Iâm trying to say is, you might wanna consider not to generalize
It is not only casual players, but also competitively minded players, who exclusively play ranked, who want more freedom for the zoom setting.
Think there is an aspect of this that people should consider. An increase in zoom levels will be affecting the quality of games. Even in 1vs1. Zooming out more can cause lag in general. This is compounded in larger games. imagine half your games lagged because somebody plays on max zoom levels with a potato pc. And yes. That will happen.
There are other games that have had succes with the game being able to zoom out a lot before though. But it is hard for me to say if that is actually fitting in AoM. Supreme commander had the ability to zoom out a lot and it removed the need for a minimap entirely because you could instantly zoom out and zoom in on a position you wanted to. If that was somehow able to work in AoM i think it would be cool. But i doubt it.
However, watching casted games and playing myself with the constant zoom out is actually annoying to some degree. Cant enjoy the graphics and it is actually hard to see whats going on sometimes. But thats my personal opinion.
So i guess my opinion is: As long as it does not affect the quality of games. I think it should be up to the individual player to decide the zoom out level.
Currently you donât need to be recalibrating, in the beta there was already an option to go to the default zoom, as I remember it was ctrl + the mouse wheel button and it could also be customized.
That is why passing a benchmark test is required before being able to join the ranked q If you canât pass the benchmark, then set your max zoom level lower. Or, the âludacrious zoomâ option (if it exists) could be unchecked to allow someone to pass the benchmark test. That is the way it works in AOE3, in fact there is even a warning next to the âludacrous zoomâ button that checking it may affect performance. So then donât check it if your PC isnât up to the task, simple.
aoe3 DE 1790 hour /Aoe2 1055 hour/ AOM EE 455 hour ânoobâ checking in here who always uses maximum zoom and exclusively plays 1v1 ranked (except AOM EE because it doesnât have a good ranked system).
If being able to zoom out offers a competitive advantage, why do supposedly only ânoobsâ do it, and pros never use the full zoom, and even casters tend to not zoom out all the way? The reason I like maximum zoom is because thatâs how I prefer to play, not because Iâm going to have next level âmicroâ. I notice that good casters zoom in and out as appropriate, and bad casters zoom way in so that we donât get any idea of the strategic situation, instead it is just a bunch of animation combat clips.
The AoE 4 devs listened to the wrong people. No wonder this game continues to lose players. The original zoom level and camera angle was much more immersive. What a huge mistake they made by changing it. It makes sense why so much of the RTS community rejected the game.
The original AOE4 camera was too claustrophobic, apart from the height the angle was terrible and many people complained and left the game for this reason.
Itâs true that the screenshot doesnât exactly represent the in-game camera, but making the zoom level that far out makes the game look so unappealing to the average RTS player. The far zoomed out camera is such a buzzkill. Iâve spent the last day watching the Stormgate and AoE4 Wololo event. AoE 4 is clearly the better RTS at this point, but the zoomed out camera just makes it boring to watch. The Stormgate event had some of the much ridiculous and laughable RTS gameplay Iâve ever seen, but being zoomed in close to the action made it more enjoyable.
If the Stormgate event was zoomed out really far the viewership would have cratered so fast. Most RTS players just donât want to watch or play a game where they can barely see their units. Iâve tried to get into AoE 4 so many times, but everytime I watch popular streams it just looks slow. Itâs a real shame.
Traditional RTS is a dying genre. People think they are too difficult, arcane, and tedious. One of the worst things an RTS can do is make the action difficult to see and the combat look boring.
Well it was a mistake to implement that change. You have a competitive advantage using the zoomed out camera, therefore itâs not really just an option. Thatâs the problem. So anyone streaming or playing the game competitively will now show off the game really zoomed out. Itâs a bad look for the game.
I think everyone should be forced to play RTS from the 1st person perspective of their soldiers because itâs the most immersive and looks the best in streams.
And we all know that streams are way more important than the experience of people that actually play the game.
Nobody is saying that RTS players should be forced to play in first person perspective. Traditonal RTS are not at all designed with that in mind. The reality is that allowing players to zoom out gives them a competitive advantage. This in turn leads to them being forced to play and stream the game really far zoomed out. Most of the RTS community doesnât play games where the units look like ants. Itâs a huge turnoff, especially for people who are unfamiliar with RTS games. Iâm watching the Wololo event, itâs a night and day difference in terms of excitement when the camera is zoomed in. Itâs faster and more action packed. The zoom level in Retold shouldnât he higher than the one in EE, especially in competitive mode.
The only RTS many people nowadays are familiar with Starcraft II. Itâs been the most popular RTS for the last 15 years. That game does not let you zoom far out at all. The camera is super zoomed in. Blizzard did this intentionally to make the gameplay appear faster and for the action to be more dramatic. They realized that streaming and esports were going to become much more popular, and they designed Starcraft II in order to cater towards that. Starcraft II would have been massively more popular if not for League of Legends and the rise of MOBAs.
Where is this âmost of communityâ you are talking about?
All I ever saw were many many people complain about the zoom in AoE4 and many people that were happy when they allowed us to zoom out more in AoE3DE.
You have to accept that the majority does not share your opinion.
Iit doesnât matter if you opinion is âcorrectâ if 90% of the community wants the opposite.
Genuine question:
How big is the monitor you play on and how big is the screen you watch those streams on? Do you even watch them in fullscreen?
Have you ever thought about that other people maybe experience things differently than you do?
