Since this is a small and devout group I thought I would share my " Passione' " for using a correct FOV in games. Now I am not talking Horizontals of 75-90.. No. I am talking Verticals of 20 and horizontals on my 16:10 screen of 32
I guess I first got annoyed playing race sim's and finding it never really was very "immersive". You know, that catch phrase for everything gaming? immersion gaming... OOOHHH
Well tinkering around rFactor you find it lets you change your Vertical FOV.
As low as 35
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v504/F12Bwth2/Game%20Screens/FOV35.jpgand as high as 100
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v504/F12Bwth2/Game%20Screens/FOV100.jpgAnd that sounds great but my math skill far exceeds the ISI coders apparently.
I have a 24" monitor (22.5" viewable) now that leaves 12" of actual "screen" height. Since rFactor only concerns itself with the vertical and automatically sorts out the horizontal based on the res you play in I can take that 12" and then just measure the lines from my eyes to the screens top and bottom.. Like so.
Now with an online calculator (
http://ostermiller.org/calc/triangle.html) I can get the real V-FOV I should be using. 12" height... 34 inches from the top and bottom calculates to a 20 degree FOV.
So what rFactor allows is every car you download and use has a .cam file that lets you set the default cockpit FOV and camera angle and position. This you can edit so the game is forced to use it.
Let me tell you. Nothing like having your actual FOV custom coded into a game. It really does make it seem like you are looking through a window into the game world. It may seem "zoomed in" to most people but I can guarantee if you get use to the concept of it. You will never want to play in any other view again.
Only thing missing is a triple-head or large projector to really get the "IMMERSION" thing going.
I have also tried the "perfect" FOV in arma2 with less success. It isn't that I could not achieve it, I just couldn't play very well. Racing games make you drive forward. Always looking at a path and following it. Arma air-drops you into a field surrounded by enemies and tanks and wishes you luck. I settled on 40x64 for arma.
VIDEO OF rFACTOR 20 Degree V-FOV with customized viewpoint.
VIDEO OF ARMA2 Various FOV's 80,60,40 and 20
My dedicated tutorial for setting up rFactor with the correct FOV
http://www.racesimcentral.com/forum/showthread.php?5691-Setting-up-your-Driving-view.