Flawless Widescreen fix - Legitimate or not?

[Alexious]

I have the Flawless Widescreen software (although I rarely use it), and I just launched it in curiosity to check if any of the newer games are in needed of a "widescreen fix". In essence, these tweaks are meant to fix incorrect aspect ratio/field of view leftovers in games.

To my surprise I found Planetside 2 in the list. This is the description of the fix:

PlanetSide 2 - Patch
---------------------------------

Corrects the field of view while in a vehicle to match the field of view while on foot. The patch will also fix the bug that causes the infantry field of view not to be updated if the vertical FoV option is changed while in a vehicle.

Now, I'm wondering if this is punishable by Sony Online Entertainment or not. Obviously it's not a cheat, but nonetheless it's classified as a memory hack.
It would be great if we could have an official response on the team.

[Cee]

I hate the fov on the Flash, also it really needs a freelook key!!!
Keeping an eye on this.

[Zehtuka]

If it overwrites the game memory you have your answer in relation to cheating

[Alexious]

Originally Posted by Zehtuka

If it overwrites the game memory you have your answer in relation to cheating

Except it's not really cheating at all, just fixing a few problems with widescreen implementation.

[Murkie]

You assume that the restricted FOV in a vehicle isn't a design decision rather than a bug.

[Tooterfish]

I have over three grand invested into my monitors alone. I run Nvidia Surround on 3 U3011's. Often the FOV restrictions punish people in my demographic to make the game seem more fair to people with less invested into their computer. So, I can easily say that the 'what is fair' debate is valid on both ends, because it isn't entirely the single 23" monitor guys being screwed over.

[Electrofreak]

I think it all comes down to whether the fix constitutes any kind of unfair advantage. As SOE is tied up with fixing other issues right now, I doubt they'll take any kind of punitive action against people just running a 3rd party fix.

That said, if the fix gives you an advantage you're not meant to have, they might start swinging the banhammer.

[Alexious]

I don't think so, clearly that's not what the Flawless Widescreen software is about. It aims to deliver "flawless" widescreen implementation, nothing more.

[Forsaken One]

Originally Posted by Alexious

Corrects the field of view while in a vehicle to match the field of view while on foot.

Originally Posted by Murkie

You assume that the restricted FOV in a vehicle isn't a design decision rather than a bug.

Originally Posted by Electrofreak

fix gives you an advantage you're not meant to have

The bold is pretty much is what I'm thinking. The way I see it the vehicles are already power houses, and as such you should be limited to a more realistic cockpit view of said vehicle.

[Hamma]

The reason the FOV is different in vehicles is because they did not make the cockpits to fill the larger FOVs. Higby talked about this in the past. In essence, it's a design decision.

[Cee]

Originally Posted by Hamma

The reason the FOV is different in vehicles is because they did not make the cockpits to fill the larger FOVs. Higby talked about this in the past. In essence, it's a design decision.

Needs more head turn then!

[TheStigma]

I'm usually of the mind that FOV is something that should be left as free as possible rather than being used as some sort of in-game limitation - so personally I would be all for this kind of thing.

That said - anything that alters the game memory from outside the game is bound to be high-risk - if this game actually has any sort of hack-detection (we don't really know, they haven't told us anything spesific). It just fits the most typical type of hacking and is easily detectable if they are actually checking for such things. If...

-Stigma

[Forsaken One]

I have a deep dislike of cheating in all forms. my most hated is when people exploit bugs or overlooked things in games code and call it skill. (stafe jumping skiiing etc.)

As such FoV has always been a touchy subject to me. The question is.


When does changing FoV and any money part (better comp parts etc.) to give an advantage become cheating?

If I was rich and got myself a 100 inch wall monitor and set my FoV to idk whatever max it could handle, flew up to the highest point in game and could easily see where almost every player was.... is that cheating?

Where and when along the line did the parts and settings become cheating if it was ok to change around for those with lesser specs and stuff?

[Tooterfish]

Originally Posted by Forsaken One

When does changing FoV and any money part (better comp parts etc.) to give an advantage become cheating?

I really don't want to hurt anyone's feelings or offend people but I think that if this is really how you feel, you're better off on consoles. Additionally, I've seen my games get torn apart, pixelated, devolved into garbage by the need to keep console customers happy on their $200 systems via ports; which are the majority of games these days. When we finally get an exclusive of our own, I'm seeing the same happen to accommodate similar types of people who, like console players, will complain if someone else is enjoying a higher-end experience. Things like FOV are not intended to provide an advantage, it keeps us (guys with large monitors and surround/eyefinity configs) from feeling physical pain by motion sickness and headaches. As it is, I have to dumb everything down on my set up to keep the lower/mid-range enthusiasts happy.

[Forsaken One]

Originally Posted by Tooterfish

I really don't want to hurt anyone's feelings or offend people but I think that if this is really how you feel, you're better off on consoles.

I don't wish to hurt anyone's feelings ether but as we already have KBs and mice with macros the only thing left is built in aimbot ability. That computer part should sound fun to you.

Originally Posted by Tooterfish

will complain if someone else is enjoying a higher-end experience.

This is another problem with lots of people, stuffing their cheats under something elses rug.

There is no problem with you getting better graphics, sound, etc etc.

But when you start becoming able to see more or hear more its little better then a cheat.

an example of this is in some FPS games the sound files can be tweaked or one can use high end sound mixers/speakers to hear the footsteps that they shouldn't hear and in such a way that they can easily tell at any time where the other is. mostly the high end speakers or stuff was found out after the game stopped really being updated and so was never fixed, but still cheating.

Being able to see stealth/through walls/things that shouldn't be able to be seen being able to be seen via high end hardware is another example.

FoV falls under being able to see more and have more awareness then the guy next to you. That's the same as calling a maphack a higher-end experience.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

As for widescreen as a whole it was a stupid idea to invent ( what next? a round monitor?) and some FPS games don't support "real" widescreen because it is in fact a cheating device in FPS games do to the fact seeing more left and right is a huge advantage in a FPS game where a little less up and down tends to mean nothing downside wise.

As for defending those that have a widescreen. No one told them to buy a gimmick monitor let alone one that was known to give a huge advantage in FPS games. If they wish to use it I fully support them ether getting a stretched screen of what the box monitor can see or having to deal with the black borders on the sides to see in a basic box.

and widescreen isn't even a computer thing its a TV and console thing too so don't try pulling I'm anti pc crap.