The best I can determine, the 0.7 view in FSX is 45 degrees. This is wider than my 34 degree field of view on the monitor, and is equivalent to the 1.5 zoom I'm using in Flight.

 

One quick and dirty way I've used in the past to determine a normal zoom is to zoom out until there's an obvious fisheye effect when you pan the view, then zoom in until this is not noticable. This will be somewhere between actual 1.0 zoom and a wide angle, which probably works for most people. But again, this may not be your preferred zoom.

 

Hook

Well, all I can say with certainty is that 1.0 is closer to normal FOV than anything in the 0.x range. Being intimately familiar with the ridgeline of Oahu's Ko'olau Mountains, I picked up on that the instant I got into Flight and first spawned at Kaneohe. The default zoom of 0.6 causes pretty bad distortion of perspective and severe distortion of depth, making nearby objects appear very far away.

 

I never tried zoom 1.5, but will have to go test that. I had simply assumed that 1.0 would be the norm and never explored it further, but we all know what happens when you make assumptions...

 

but we all know what happens when you make assumptions...

 

Only that they can be wrong. That whole &@($*/you/me thing is only for the hourly employees anyway. "Don't think. I don't give you enough information to think."

 

Let me know how you like the higher zoom.

 

Hook

I just did a comparison. Flight cockpit zoom 1.5 is the same as FSX zoom 0.7. Interesting.

 

Hook

 

Doesn't that depend on the widescreen setting in the FSX.cfg? I am pretty sure Flight's 1.5 zoom is NOT what I've been seeing in FSX all these years. When I go from 0.8 to 1.5 in Flight the difference is HUGE. The last time I did a comparison between Flight and FSX I certainly didn't notice a huge difference.

Doesn't that depend on the widescreen setting in the FSX.cfg?

 

Dunno, I never had a wide screen.

 

Best to try it yourself. Load up the Maule in Flight, set your favorite zoom, then load up the Maule in FSX and duplicate what you see in the cockpit and note the zoom factor. On my 4:3 CRT monitor, FSX 0.7 zoom shows from the middle of the clock to the right edge of the radio stack. FSX Maule shows the same thing at 1.5 zoom. The eye position is the same in both games. You'll see a bit more on a 16:9 monitor, but the amount you see should be the same in both FSX and Flight.

 

Hook

Ah, you are looking at the VC. I thought you were looking at the landscape. The VC is very different so you can't really compare the two imho. But anyway, there is a difference indeed between zooms! I loaded the Maule on PANC, looking east, and on my PC a zoom of 1.5 in Flight is like 1.0 in FSX (I always use widescreen=true in the cfg). And my default zoom of 0.8 in Flight is something like 0.55 in FSX (0.5 is too far out but 0,6 is too close already, so... 0.55). That´s really funny because the last year in FSX I was using a zoom of 0.5... and without actually comparing both sims I settled for a zoom of 0.8 in Flight... and so I ended up with a similar view without me knowing it!

 

BTW I looked at the VC, even though it's quite different, but also at the mountains in the distance and some sort of radio tower nearby. That's how I came up with the numbers.

I just flew a clandestine cargo mission with 1.5 zoom. It was 95 miles, McGrath to Kalakaket over unfavorable terrain: going "across the grain" on lots of ridges.

 

I was able to fly a lot closer to the treetops, verified by external view. Most of the time I was weaving between the tallest trees. In areas with fewer trees I was flying well below treetop level on the tallest trees. Pretty amazing.

 

I have both scenery options set to max. Looking from the cockpit, the frame rate was good. Looking in external view, the frame rate was really poor. This seems to verify that the narrower field of view allows higher graphics settings. If I'd been flying a couple of hundred feet higher, the external view would have had a good frame rate as well.

 

Hook

I just completed two flights at maximum cockpit zoom. Last flight I even landed that way. I gotta tell you, this is amazing. If you have TrackIR, try the higher zoom levels. Looks like TrackIR is a must purchase after the first of the month.

 

We have such a gem here in Flight that it's incredible. Every time I think I've seen it all, it surprises me again.

 

Hook

What is maximum zoom setting - 1.5?

I think max zoom is 2.0, which is what 1.0 was in FSX. 1.5 is one level back from max zoom, and that's what I've been flying recently except for the last two

flights.

 

I haven't actually tried to measure the max zoom.

 

Hook

What is maximum zoom setting - 1.5?

 

I believe it's 2.0 by default, but there is a max zoom parameter for each camera definition in the cameras.cfg file. I have not tested to verify changing it works, though.

 

Thanks, I will have to give that a try as I have never really played around with the zoom settings, other than using the middle mouse wheel as I am nearing an airport to get an idea of the runway placement.

to get an idea of the runway placement.

 

Load up http://www.vfrmap.com in your browser. Find the airport on the sectional map. Click on the little blue box at the airport location and it will bring up airport information, and in most cases a diagram. Very useful.

 

Hook

Load up http://www.vfrmap.com in your browser. Find the airport on the sectional map. Click on the little blue box at the airport location and it will bring up airport information, and in most cases a diagram. Very useful.

 

Hook

 

Thanks for the tip, I will have to give that a try.