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Guide to set better picture quality (post 26 march 2010)

R Traveler

Crazed Zealot
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
As discovered earlier best picture quality with default zoom is obtainable using height=809. With new feature to save camera zoom its possible to make picture better on almost any game window size.

Chrissay said:
Please keep in mind that the Dev team and after release technical support will not be able to troubleshoot when changing the settings like this.
If things explode you will have to delete the file and loose all of your settings. A new file will be created when the game starts again with the game's default settings.
1. Login your desired char to create or update settings and save them.
2. Exit EC.
3. Go to My Documents and find your UserSettings.xml file
4. Open it using text editor and notice your height setting, it may look like this:
Code:
<Mode window_frame="true" [color=red]fullscreen="true"[/color] />
<FullScreen width="1280" [color=red]height="1024"[/color] />
<Viewport sizex="1.00" sizey="0.79" posx="0.00" posy="0.00" />
or this
Code:
<Mode window_frame="true" [color=red]fullscreen="false"[/color] />
<Windowed width="1600" [color=red]height="1024"[/color] />
<Viewport sizex="1.00" sizey="0.79" posx="0.00" posy="0.00" />
5. Using top secret formula (height - 3) / 62 calculate your zoom value, for 1024 its 16.47
6. Locate account_name\shard\char starting from UserSettings.xml file location
7. Open it using text editor, find and replace this value:
Code:
<CameraZoom Value="[color=red]16.47[/color]" />
8. Save it and enjoy your clean picture.
9. Don't forget to change mouse wheel macros to something useful.

Feel free to fix some possible typos and make it sticky.
PS: The formula is calculated using numbers 809 (remember earlier?) and default zoom value 13.00, updated with 16.47 result for 1024
 

Gildar

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
For those who are scratching their heads about where 16.45 came from...

Zoom = Height * ( 13 / 809 )

Update:
A better formula (found by R Traveler, see below) is:
Zoom = (height - 3) / 62
 

R Traveler

Crazed Zealot
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Ah, you made simpler formula.
I'v got guess about 809 magic. Size of tile piece in classic is 44x44 pixels. 16 pixels for borders and 1 pixel for border shadows sounds reasonable. 44*18+16+1=809.
18 tiles is common number too - maximum custom plot is 18x18. Tile radius for most spells and speech is 9.

Any other numeric experts here?
 

Storm

UO Forum Moderator
Alumni
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Awards
1
nice cleaned mine up very well! thanks!
 

R Traveler

Crazed Zealot
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Fine tuned it on 1024 height, best zoom is 16.47, need to update formula.
For 809 and 1024 best formula is: (height - 3) / 62

Finally for 1920x1200 fullscreen, best zoom is 19.30, formula confirmed.
 
F

Fink

Guest
This seriously needs to be patched in as the default "zoom reset" value. It should look at the screen setting, apply this formula, and reset to 1:1. It's just embarrassing that players have figured this out through necessity but the developers seem to regard it as unimportant. This is something fundamental, a first impression, that could make or break a user's acceptance of the client.

If they're not going to add higher resolution art then there's little aesthetic value in using the zoom in feature. There is practical use, but otherwise it's just an ugly mess. Anything other than 1:1 makes the game look awful. Nil zoom should be the default for players starting afresh, and it should be something you can achieve with a button press.

At the very least it should be a value the user can set easily without having to "tinker under the hood" of the game, but even that is more hands-on than most gamers would expect from a modern client.
 

R Traveler

Crazed Zealot
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
I hope to update formula to reflect "The camera zoom settings now save up to four decimal places instead of two" change soon.

I think its not possible to workaround rounding errors in code using zoom tweaks. Good luck anyone.
 

jack flash uk

Crazed Zealot
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
i must be missing something but i cannot find "camera zoom" in the user file?
 

Nimuaq

Lore Master
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
CameraZoom value is under account_name/shard_name/char_name from the usersettings.xml (as in 6th step). 16.47 doesnt work for me with 1024 height and maximized window size. I compared the image of a barrel under 2d with an image of a barrel under EC and I got the best results for 15.66 (just for my resolution and game window size, not a global best settings!). My previous one was 15.55 but the items used to get a column of pixels duplicated when I move with that settings.
 

Roland of Atlantic

Journeyman
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Sorry for responding so long after the previous post, but...

I can understand that sometimes at some zoom levels the picture quality isnt as clear as it would be in the 2d, but why would you want to get rid of a useful feature like the zoom? I find it very helpful for grabbing small things, for picking up gold after a champ boss falls, and for getting a good idea what kind of monsters are waiting for you outside the borders of your screen.

I use a wide zoom angle in champ spawns so I can see that paragon greater dragon in Valor long before it gets the chance to target me, so i have a better chance of planning a safe place to bring it so I can take it out without it's buddies jumping me. If I had a fixed zoom value i would just stumble onto it and try to outrun it when it aggro'ed on me. Same thing goes for the boss, I can see long before the 2d crowd the second the boss pops up. Not worth losing that feature for a slightly better picture, unless I was an epileptic...
 

Gilmour

Certifiable
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
question about this fix, does it only improve the image quality in the zoom level it set it to? as in you should not zoom once you applied this fix or you mess it up again?
 

Pinco

UOEC Modder
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
question about this fix, does it only improve the image quality in the zoom level it set it to? as in you should not zoom once you applied this fix or you mess it up again?
Exactly, you have to avoid the zoom after this fix or do it again everytime...
 

the 4th man

Lore Master
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
I'm just a tad bit confused here........I found the info, via the user data files and whatnot.........I open using XML Editor correct? Then what? I mean what're the exact steps in changing the formula?? Do I right click?.....nothing I try seems to work.......I'm not afraid to try, just need the exact steps to do the process.....thnx man.
 

Pinco

UOEC Modder
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
I'm just a tad bit confused here........I found the info, via the user data files and whatnot.........I open using XML Editor correct? Then what? I mean what're the exact steps in changing the formula?? Do I right click?.....nothing I try seems to work.......I'm not afraid to try, just need the exact steps to do the process.....thnx man.
use this tool I made, it has the function to fix the zoom for 1 or every profile in 1 click :p
 
S

Sevin0oo0

Guest
I just installed the other night for the first time. A note that my user (Character itself) file has no suffix (extension).
Also maybe they've fixed this as my height was 800 and value was already set at 13.
I had already set the zoom to 'none'.
 

Ezekiel Zane

Grand Poobah
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
This fix apparently doesn't work anymore.

Every time I edit the XML file with my settings, it gets changed back to 16.0000 whenever I log in/out the characters.

My monitor is 1920x1200.

I am entering 19.3064 as my zoom setting.
 

Pinco

UOEC Modder
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
This fix apparently doesn't work anymore.

Every time I edit the XML file with my settings, it gets changed back to 16.0000 whenever I log in/out the characters.

My monitor is 1920x1200.

I am entering 19.3064 as my zoom setting.
it won't work because the current zoom level it's already the optimal value, and all this article is obsolete...
 

Ezekiel Zane

Grand Poobah
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
it won't work because the current zoom level it's already the optimal value, and all this article is obsolete...
I'm gonna have to say I disagree. My monitor is 1920x1200. When I login my game window graphics look like crap @ 16.0000. I have to zoom out every time now 5 or 6 notches and it begins to look better, like it did before.

I've checked the numbers in the XML file after logout and they are in the 19.0 range. Why did you make it reset at login? 16.0 is NOT the optimal setting for my monitor. Lines are jagged and nowhere near as sharp as they should be.
 

Pinco

UOEC Modder
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
I'm gonna have to say I disagree. My monitor is 1920x1200. When I login my game window graphics look like crap @ 16.0000. I have to zoom out every time now 5 or 6 notches and it begins to look better, like it did before.

I've checked the numbers in the XML file after logout and they are in the 19.0 range. Why did you make it reset at login? 16.0 is NOT the optimal setting for my monitor. Lines are jagged and nowhere near as sharp as they should be.
I've never touched anything inside the client.
 

Ezekiel Zane

Grand Poobah
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
16_0000.jpg
^^^ This is at default 16.000 zoom





19_3065.jpg

^^^ This is at 19.3065 zoom

The second screen is much sharper. Look at the containers, especially the wooden crates. See how straight the edges are. Compare the two images. Compare the bones. They are much sharper in the 19.3065 zoom.
 

Ezekiel Zane

Grand Poobah
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Someone messed something up then. The XML file used to save the zoom settings and when you logged back in the zoom level was the same.

Now, even if you manually edit the XML file and change the zoom level, it still reverts back to 16.000.

I checked. So the XML file does indeed still save the current zoom setting when you log out. BUT, when you login the zoom automatically reverts back to 16.000.
 
Last edited:

Ezekiel Zane

Grand Poobah
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
How do I get these Icons back and the original spellbook with the right icons?

Icons.jpg



I absolutely hate these icons...

Hate these ones.jpg

spellbook.jpg
 

DJAd

Stratics Legend
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
1920 x 1200 is a strange resolution. What screen is that you have? I run my monitor is 1920 x 1080 and CameraZoom Value="16.0000" and eveything looks nice and sharp.
 

Ezekiel Zane

Grand Poobah
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
@ 1080p, a zoom level of 17.371 would be the most optimal.

This thread and the formula for the zoom level is what sealed the deal for me switching to the EC, along with Pinco's UI.

At the correct zoom level the EC looks nearly as sharp and as good as the Classic client.
 

Ezekiel Zane

Grand Poobah
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
I've never touched anything inside the client.
What's causing the UI to reset the zoom back to 16.000? When I correct the zoom and logout, the XML file does save the zoom level. However, upon login, it is reset back to 16.0000.
 

Pinco

UOEC Modder
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
What's causing the UI to reset the zoom back to 16.000? When I correct the zoom and logout, the XML file does save the zoom level. However, upon login, it is reset back to 16.0000.
the UI can't alter the zoom.
 
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