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Advanced Zoom Needs Love


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#1 focuspark

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Posted 29 January 2013 - 09:53 AM

Advanced Zoom basically just makes the pixels around the aiming reticale four times larger. While making them easier to see, it doesn't add much and, IMO, isn't worth the million c-bills I spent on it.

To make Advanced Zoom work the devs either need to render the screen twice (once normal, and once zoomed) so that the Advanced Zoom can overlay the regular screen. This is prohibitively expensive in terms of computing power, especially on lower end machines.

[Though given how early z-buffer culling works, I wonder if occluding the areas that are not needed for the render wouldn't reduce the amount work enough to make it possible to do - have the devs tried?]

An option for making Advanced Zoom work without the need for a double render would be to simply offer another level of zoom to the standard cycle.

Another option would be to allow Advanced Zoom to compound with normal zoom.

These could even been additional XP levels on the current Advanced Zoom skill, but something needs to be done because Advanced Zoom is pretty bad currently.

#2 Wickre

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Posted 29 January 2013 - 10:13 AM

It absolutely does. I spent way too much MC (converting XP) and CBills on that. Not close to as good as pressing Z 2x.

#3 Skyfaller

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Posted 29 January 2013 - 06:41 PM

they could just replace the damn thing with a 'weapon bearing indicator' in the target info readout.

Aka, you target something, 'zoom in' to it ..and it auto-sets you to 2x magnification...

...and in the target info screen a crosshair indicator starts to hover over the mech's diagram to show you where your guns are aiming IF they are aiming at the mech's body.

A perfect sniping aiming tool.


Alternatively, they could merely have the mech zoom in to 2x and then magnify the entire screen ... just like old WW2 sim games do. You 'aim' and the gunsight becomes the entire screen.

#4 focuspark

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Posted 06 February 2013 - 10:25 PM

True, even blacking everything but the 4x zoom would be fine, though I'd rather just have the whole screen 4x zoom like the 1.5x and 2x do now. Hell I'd even take the current system if could be stacked on top of the 2.0x for a total of 8x zoom! :)

#5 Corvus Antaka

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Posted 06 February 2013 - 10:51 PM

IF they cant fix it to not be a pixelated mess or a cool wireframe view, they should just make it increase the standard second zoom level for mechs with the module.

#6 focuspark

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Posted 07 February 2013 - 08:22 AM

View PostColonel Pada Vinson, on 06 February 2013 - 10:51 PM, said:

IF they cant fix it to not be a pixelated mess or a cool wireframe view, they should just make it increase the standard second zoom level for mechs with the module.

Wireframe would be an additional scene, so just making the standard zoom that much better is the way to go.





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