Zoom Level again.

I posted about zoom level before and decided 80 was about right.  I used an online FOV calculator to get XP11 correct and then set the zoom level in MSFS to match that.  Not an exact science, but until MS decide to tell us what their zoom level actually means, it has to be approximated.

I have been flying out of Compton Abbas in the UK for years in XP/P3d/FSX.  In MSFS it looks great, especially with a mod available at FlightSim.to   I have never actually been there because it is 200 miles from me, but we went just 3 miles away from it to a birthday party, so I went there.  The first thing that struck me was how everything in the local area looked closer than in MSFS.  I was surprised at this because I thought 80 was quite high in the sim and I know many use a lot lower than that.   Compton Abbas is on a hill with clear views to a local town - Shaftsbury. Also there are clear views over countryside to the west.  Distances to towns, villages and hills looked closer in real life than my 80 zoom in the sim

When I got home I tried to get the same sense of distance as I did at the real airfield and was surprised that 88 was about right.  I moved the view in the cockpit back until my simulated head was back near the headrest and at a zoom of 88, the instruments looked the correct distance away, as well as looking the right size.

My zoom in the sim is now at 88.  To test if your zoom level is right, make sure you position you simulated head against the headrest - do the instruments look the right distance away that you would see in a real GA aircraft?  I bet for many of you the instruments are too far away and too small.  A lower zoom level may be good for a larger FOV, but it probably won't be realistic.

Zoom level is good to check.