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Did the Publish 86 patch change the default zoom position in the EC?

Stranger

Lord of the Dance
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Before the Publish 86 patch pressing the * key set my zoom to <CameraZoom Value="13.0000" />.
Now, after the patch, pressing the * key sets my zoom to <CameraZoom Value="16.0000" />

Has anyone else noticed this? Or is it just me?
What is everyones default zoom level in the EC when they press * is it 13.000 or 16.000?
You can check by going to Documents/EA Games/Ultima Online Stygian Abyss/User Data/(Account)/(Shard)/(Character)
Log on, press *, then log off and close the game before opening the file.
It should be on the 18th line.

All my characters across multiple accounts were all set to 13.000 but now every time I log on and press the * key they all pull back to 16.000.
And I am trying to figure out why.
I can't even figure out a way to "set" or "lock" the * key to a current zoom level.
13.000 has been the default for me for years.
Now all the sudden its 16.000.
It's driving me crazy because I did not change any settings and I can't find any settings to change it back.
Did the developers hard-code this default camera view change in?
Or what happened??? :confused2:
 

DJAd

Stratics Legend
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
I think 16.000 is the "correct" level so this is a good thing. When I say correct I mean the same zoom level as the classic client. Before the standard EC was zoomed in way to much (in my opinion) and this is why people would say it looked horrible. When I'm on the computer I'll check it out.
 

petemage

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
I compared the current zoom to old screenshots, and it seems i can not zoom as far in as before the patch as well i can ridicously far zoom out now.

If thats true, total bummer as i loved the EC for being able to zoom in awesome deep (bad eyesight is a pain!)

Is someone having the same feeling / or screenshots at max zoom in/out to compare?
 

DJAd

Stratics Legend
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Mine is 16.3710 but I did use EC Profile Manager (from Pinco) to fix the zoom level so everything is nice and crisp. I then turn off the zoom in / zoom out option for the mouse wheel.
 

Pinco

UOEC Modder
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Actually the client uses the optimal zoom value as default so it won't get pixellated like it was before. If you want to change the zoom just use the +/- on the numpad.

If people sees the improvements as bugs, we are really scraping the barrel :|
 

Hannes Erich

Seasoned Veteran
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Looks like I'll finally be able to retire the guide in my signature that I've been pointing people to for years, in order to show them how to attain a 1:1 zoomed scale in the EC.

It also looks like this was a stealth fix, not included in the patch notes for TC1. I hope it gets some fanfare in the near-future, because it deserves some. Pixelation has always been one of the top offenders for players who complain they tried the EC and then quickly went back to the CC.

I'm glad they fixed this, but I'm confused and disappointed that it took the devs so many years to address the oft-cited issue. Many (if not most) players have mistakenly attributed this issue to the EC's engine overall, rather than to a line of code somewhere. In all of these years, I never saw a dev acknowledge the bug. I guess that is a discussion for another thread, though, because it alludes to a much larger, overarching problem that UO has long had. Also, it's obvious they're doing something now, which is great.

TL;DR: Thanks and good job on the fix, devs. I hope you'll clearly announce this fix when the patch is proliferated.
 

Stranger

Lord of the Dance
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
I think 16.000 is the "correct" level so this is a good thing. When I say correct I mean the same zoom level as the classic client. Before the standard EC was zoomed in way to much (in my opinion) and this is why people would say it looked horrible. When I'm on the computer I'll check it out.
Yes I have noticed that the new default zoom of 16.000 makes the items and graphics appear much clearer. Which I must admit is lovely.
The only problem is it has been 13.000 for years so I find myself leaning in towards my monitor to see items now because everything feels so much smaller. I also don't like how players, npcs, and monsters spawn towards the middle of the screen instead of on the edge of the screen. I think that's why 13.000 was better because when I was close enough to a monster it appeared on the edge of the screen like the classic client. Now I believe they spawn a few inches inwards and it just feels fake. Like they teleported there instead of naturally walked onto the screen.
I will agree though that being at 13.000 makes the items turn to "jello" by which I mean if you stand on one square the pixels are in one position, and then when you move they are in a totally different position. So it creates this gunky pixely horrible look.

I compared the current zoom to old screenshots, and it seems i can not zoom as far in as before the patch as well i can ridicously far zoom out now.

If thats true, total bummer as i loved the EC for being able to zoom in awesome deep (bad eyesight is a pain!)

Is someone having the same feeling / or screenshots at max zoom in/out to compare?
I haven't really noticed anything with the zoom in and zoom out levels but I think you might be right. Sorry I don't have any screenshots of the closest and farthest zoom levels pre-patch to compare. That is strange if they changed the maximum zoom in level though. I wish we could bind a key to set it to whatever we wanted. I should be able to zoom all the way into my character if I want to. Why put a restriction?
I also wish they would tell us the before and after numbers for maximum zoom, default zoom, and extended zoom so we could understand what changed.

Mine is 16.3710 but I did use EC Profile Manager (from Pinco) to fix the zoom level so everything is nice and crisp. I then turn off the zoom in / zoom out option for the mouse wheel.
Thank you for checking. I have never used Pinco's so I have always just been whatever the game made me. I run the game at 1920x1080 but I shrunk the game window some to include some black space for my backpack, macro bars, etc. So I am not sure what exactly the game window size is or how that would effect anything.

Actually the client uses the optimal zoom value as default so it won't get pixellated like it was before. If you want to change the zoom just use the +/- on the numpad.

If people sees the improvements as bugs, we are really scraping the barrel :|
Why didn't they inform us about this change though?
And why isn't there an option to set the default zoom level to whatever we want?
Or let us make macros to have multiple default zoom levels. So we can press 1 key to go max in. 1 key to go 13.000. 1 key to go 16.000. 1 key to go almost all of the way out. And 1 key to go all the way out. So we don't have to "guess" how far zoomed in or zoomed out we are with the + and - keys. I like things to be consistent. I don't want to have to press * and then tap - or + 5 times and think I have it right. Because if you've ever tried to do that it zooms so smoothly sometimes you overshoot it and sometimes you don't zoom in enough.
I always zoom in/zoom out for fun and always press * to reset it when I am actually playing.
So to all the sudden change my * to a farther out zoom is just weird to me now.
I am kinda ADHD about it like I have to press * to center my house or center my character. And now that it's changed from 13.000 to 16.000 my brain is just screaming "NO!" THAT IS NOT RIGHT!" LOL. Gonna take a few weeks/months to adjust and get used to it I guess.
Had it not been broken in the first place I never would of gotten used to it the way it was ;)

Looks like I'll finally be able to retire the guide in my signature that I've been pointing people to for years, in order to show them how to attain a 1:1 zoomed scale in the EC.

It also looks like this was a stealth fix, not included in the patch notes for TC1. I hope it gets some fanfare in the near-future, because it deserves some. Pixelation has always been one of the top offenders for players who complain they tried the EC and then quickly went back to the CC.

I'm glad they fixed this, but I'm confused and disappointed that it took the devs so many years to address the oft-cited issue. Many (if not most) players have mistakenly attributed this issue to the EC's engine overall, rather than to a line of code somewhere. In all of these years, I never saw a dev acknowledge the bug. I guess that is a discussion for another thread, though, because it alludes to a much larger, overarching problem that UO has long had. Also, it's obvious they're doing something now, which is great.

TL;DR: Thanks and good job on the fix, devs. I hope you'll clearly announce this fix when the patch is proliferated.
Yeah it's the "stealth fix" that has me all bonkers. I thought I was losing my mind. But apparently they fixed something that was broken. I just wish they would of told us :)

I think people will be much happier with the client now that the items are in focus.
I just have to move my monitor a little closer and scoot my chair a little closer because now my character looks like an ant :p
That's one of the reasons I switched over from the CC to the EC in the first place. I couldn't see anything anymore it was too small at 800x600.
So I switched over so it was big again.
And now suddenly everything is smaller again.
With no way to "set" the default zoom level to whatever I want.
Oh well. I will adjust to it over time I hope.
Maybe I should go get my eyes checked. :eyes:
 

petemage

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
I just have to move my monitor a little closer and scoot my chair a little closer because now my character looks like an ant :p
[...]
Maybe I should go get my eyes checked. :eyes:
Glad to hear I'm not alone :D

But actually I'm still not sure if the max/min zoom levels really changed. Or if just the default zoom was changed and I'm feeling paranoid.
 
Last edited:

The Old Man

Journeyman
Premium
Stratics Veteran
Regardless of what has actually changed (or not :)) It would be useful to have an 'action' to jump to a particular zoom. We can then set up macro/hotkeys as we desire. Who knows, maybe this is going to be in the new Pinco UI anyway :)
 

Hannes Erich

Seasoned Veteran
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
If I recall correctly, there was a command that you could create a macro for that would set your zoom-level to a degree you pre-specified when pressed. Once created, all you had to do was press the macro at the beginning of a play session. It's been a long time since I saw it, but I know it exists/existed because I used to use it. If Pinco or someone else can enlighten those above with well-used eyes, I'm sure they'd appreciate it!
 

Stranger

Lord of the Dance
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Glad to hear I'm not alone :D
Glad to hear you still have your hearing! :lol:

Regardless of what has actually changed (or not :)) It would be useful to have an 'action' to jump to a particular zoom. We can then set up macro/hotkeys as we desire. Who knows, maybe this is going to be in the new Pinco UI anyway :)
This is exactly what I want. You explain it so nicely! :) I hope Pinco can include it in the new UI that would be awesome!

If I recall correctly, there was a command that you could create a macro for that would set your zoom-level to a degree you pre-specified when pressed. Once created, all you had to do was press the macro at the beginning of a play session. It's been a long time since I saw it, but I know it exists/existed because I used to use it. If Pinco or someone else can enlighten those above with well-used eyes, I'm sure they'd appreciate it!
I would love to know this command! I figured it was possible but I have no idea how to figure out the available commands.
All I can go off of is this nice artical here http://uo2.stratics.com/technical-information/ec-command-scripts
But I guess it doesn't have everything.
I wish I knew how to figure out all the available script commands.
And your right I would greatly appreciate it if anyone knows how! :)
 

Pinco

UOEC Modder
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
This is exactly what I want. You explain it so nicely! :) I hope Pinco can include it in the new UI that would be awesome!
There never was such commands, and there will never be because the zoom level values are inside the client. Making them accessible will cause several problems so you just need to make habit with the new default zoom value :p
 

Stranger

Lord of the Dance
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Which begs the question why would the devs change the default zoom level and not tell us or inform us or add an option to set the default zoom key to whatever value we want?
What problems would it cause?
They should just add a new option in the options for "Default Zoom Level" with a slider scale from 4.000 to 20.000 or whatever the min/maxes are.
Just like the circle of transparency option in the CC where you can make it a really small circle or a really large circle. (Speaking of which, I don't think the EC has the option to change the size of the circle of transparency, what's up with that?)
Or do what The Old Man said and make an action in the macros section to set the zoom level to whatever we want with a keypress or click of a hotbar icon. Just set a min/max so people can't zoom out to 9000.001.
I don't understand why its so hard? A lot of games out there allow you to set camera angles and "lock" them to your preference etc. I know WoW does. I know The Sims does. I used camera angle locking in WoW to make movies and I know in The Sims you can set and lock your camera angles to wherever you want allowing you to automatically jump to the bathroom, kitchen, mailbox, bedroom, etc all with set key presses. And those are by far more sophisticated camera angle settings then a simple zoom in and zoom out. So what I am asking for is nothing compared to that.
Bleh whatever.
:bdh:
 

Pinco

UOEC Modder
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Which begs the question why would the devs change the default zoom level and not tell us or inform us or add an option to set the default zoom key to whatever value we want?
What problems would it cause?
They should just add a new option in the options for "Default Zoom Level" with a slider scale from 4.000 to 20.000 or whatever the min/maxes are.
Just like the circle of transparency option in the CC where you can make it a really small circle or a really large circle. (Speaking of which, I don't think the EC has the option to change the size of the circle of transparency, what's up with that?)
Or do what The Old Man said and make an action in the macros section to set the zoom level to whatever we want with a keypress or click of a hotbar icon. Just set a min/max so people can't zoom out to 9000.001.
I don't understand why its so hard? A lot of games out there allow you to set camera angles and "lock" them to your preference etc. I know WoW does. I know The Sims does. I used camera angle locking in WoW to make movies and I know in The Sims you can set and lock your camera angles to wherever you want allowing you to automatically jump to the bathroom, kitchen, mailbox, bedroom, etc all with set key presses. And those are by far more sophisticated camera angle settings then a simple zoom in and zoom out. So what I am asking for is nothing compared to that.
Bleh whatever.
:bdh:
You are speaking about 3D games, and this is not the case.
The default value has been changed so the game won't be fully pixellated, if you want you can create your own button to reset the zoom with a tool that emulates the keypress (like the ones from the logitech keyboards) and set to press * then + for X seconds and you'll have your custom zoom level :p
 

lucitus

UOEC Modder
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Actually the client uses the optimal zoom value as default so it won't get pixellated like it was before. If you want to change the zoom just use the +/- on the numpad.

If people sees the improvements as bugs, we are really scraping the barrel :|
wow you mean if i press the reset zoom key it automatically zooms to the correct standard 2d value thats very nice!
 
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