Zoom out further

[fulminictus]

Is it currently possible to change the minimum zoom?
I find it hard to get an overview of the battlefield when the camera always stays that low.
Is it possible to set this value via command-line, or do I have to get the sources and modify the corresponding header-file?

Are there any other problems involved than increasing the distance of fog?

[Buginator]

Is it currently possible to change the minimum zoom?
I find it hard to get an overview of the battlefield when the camera always stays that low.
Is it possible to set this value via command-line, or do I have to get the sources and modify the corresponding header-file?

Are there any other problems involved than increasing the distance of fog?

There is no config option for this.
Which version of the game are you playing?

Yes, there are issues with zooming in/out too much.  If you have the source, and can compile it, it would be easier for you just to see the problems involved rather than I try to explain.  I have a feeling you will do this no matter what I say anyway. 

[fulminictus]

I suppose, that it is MAXDISTANCE in display3ddef.h.
But I wasn't able to get the compiled source running.
When I start the binary, I get the following:

genius@vierlinx:~> /usr/local/bin/warzone2100 --window
error  : glcFontFace(GLC_Font_Bold (2), "Bold") failed
error  : loadKeyMap: Reading keymap.map short: Past end of file
error  : can't find keymapped function Toggle watch window in the keymap save table at 128!
Cannot access memory at address 0x5b97
Saved dump file to '/tmp/warzone2100.gdmp'
Abgebrochen


The original that came with SuSE still works (has been installed into /usr/bin/).
Both versions are 2.0.10.

Any idea?

[DevUrandom]

I suppose, that it is MAXDISTANCE in display3ddef.h.
But I wasn't able to get the compiled source running.
When I start the binary, I get the following:

genius@vierlinx:~> /usr/local/bin/warzone2100 --window
error   : glcFontFace(GLC_Font_Bold (2), "Bold") failed [red]<< normal, happens to everyone, reason unknown[/red]
error   : loadKeyMap: Reading keymap.map short: Past end of file [red]<< fun starts here...[/red]
error   : can't find keymapped function Toggle watch window in the keymap save table at 128!
Cannot access memory at address 0x5b97
Saved dump file to '/tmp/warzone2100.gdmp'
Abgebrochen

The compile log doesn't show anything interesting. It doesn't even show any compilation, as you probably just ran "make" twice.
Did you at some time use any version of 2.1? Maybe one of those snapshots, like Ubuntu shiped?
You could try to delete ~/.warzone2100/keymap.map

[fulminictus]

I issued the compile-line (./autogen.sh && ./configure && make) several times, so nothing had to be recompiled for this output.
I have attached a complete compile-log.

I now got it running by copying the old settings-folder (which still exists) over the newly created one:
cp -R .warzone2100/* .warzone2100-2.1/
The problem could not being solved with "rm -Rf .warzone2100-2.1/". I think this maybe a problem with my german keyboard layout..?

Now the games starts up successfully.
I changed MAXDISTANCE to 9000. It is now possible to zoom out further. If the camera is zoomed out that much, then only a circular spot in the middle of the screen is shown. Everything outsite is pitched black.

Then I increased VISIBLE_XTILES and VISIBLE_YTILES which immediately had the desired effect:

#define VISIBLE_XTILES 64
#define VISIBLE_YTILES 64

Open Source is fun, isn't it?

[DevUrandom]

Guess the keymap is a bug then... Did you file a report? Possibly with the working and the not working file attached...

[Buginator]

Just a FYI, but those #defines play a big role in how slow the game will be/get.
If you have a good enough machine, it shouldn't be a big issue.

[Per]

Like this? 

Buginator is right about the speed issue, though.

[EvilGuru]

The mini-map is dodgy, however.

I have noticed it myself whereby the transparent trapezium is not actually what you can see. It is sometimes larger, sometimes smaller.

Regards, Freddie.

[cybersphinx]

Yeah, the trapezium is a very rough estimation of the shown area. About the only thing it gets right is the direction, everything else is guessing... With a real camera system it should be easy to get the four corner coordinates and draw it correctly. But the current playertile_x/y where the tiles don't change when the view is zoomed is... well, very crappy, imo.

But I love Per's screenshot - the VA terrain in trunk should be fast enough to always draw the whole map, but the model rendering will seriously impact frame rates...

[doom3r]

Another good idea concerning zoom would be something like a Supreme Commander map, where you can zoom up until you see the map from above like you are seeing a minimap, but at fullscreen with indicators instead of units models, which you can normally control. This could help a lot controlling your units if you have a big map and cohordinate your attacks, imo

[fulminictus]

I agree in that increasing MAXDISTANCE and amount of visible tiles increases compute effords.
The current constants were choosen for 1999 hardware. Increasing these values directly increases the fun of the game.
When I played warzone back in 1999, I even complained about the low camera position.
If it would have been possible to increase this value in 1999, I would have bought a bigger machine just to get it running smoothly..

Today, warzone is open source and everybody may change it to his/her likings. I think, that these values + some other settings should be accessible via command-line arguments. This is easy to implement and give the user a free choice how he likes to play the game.

BTW: The radar is too small for 1600x1200 too. I tried to figure out how to increase it. It is somehow tied to the tile-size. Increasing RADWIDTH and RADHEIGHT will corrupt the radar.

[fulminictus]

Some people might want to try increased zoom, but don't know how to compile the source on their own.
Please find attached a precompiled binary with increased MAXDISTANCE.

Install:

1) bunzip2 warzone2100.bz2

2) Simply copy to where your warzone-binary resides (which warzone2100).

3) Note for SuSE Linux:
    SuSE uses path-conventions different to most Linux distributions. Therefore you should create a link so that this binary can fins ita data:
    ln -s /usr/share/warzone2100 /usr/local/share/

Have phun!

[Rider]

Another good idea concerning zoom would be something like a Supreme Commander map, where you can zoom up until you see the map from above like you are seeing a minimap, but at fullscreen with indicators instead of units models, which you can normally control. This could help a lot controlling your units if you have a big map and cohordinate your attacks, imo

I would love that approach!

[nrki]

Can anyone help me? I started playing WZ again but I'm stuck on this topic.

I want to zoom out further but I cann't find the mod/file to download and put on WZ folder.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.