Increase view distance (again?)

[Kokerpiraat]

Wondering what people think about the current view distance. I really, really hate it actually. I don't like the popping on ships on the horizon. I remember seeing them appear through the fog, you could see far.. now, you can sail into a massive fleet without realizing it on time. That's my stance on it anyway.

 

Edit: Turns out it was just foggier before. However I still stand by what I said, I do not like the popping in of ships.

Edited May 10, 2016 by Kokerpiraat

[Tyrant]

I think they need to get rid of the home key function that allows you to disconnect the camera from the ship and fly your viewpoint away like a little camera drone of sorts. 

 

I exploit it constantly to look around corners of cliffs or scout ahead of my position.

[BungeeLemming]

you can not exploit the home camera by much.

the render distance is based on your ship's position. Not where your camera is at.

Thus you wont be able to spot ships sooner than others by flying around.

 

What helps is bad weather.

[Tyrant]

During poor visibility it can be exploited by projecting your point of view beyond that of your actual position.  This allows you to scout ahead.

 

Also, you can hide behind land features and watch a shipping lane without exposing yourself. 

 

If used correctly, it is easily exploitable, and allows for a lot of trolling.

 

I know this is a beautiful game with plenty of potential for screenshots.  I imagine that is why the home camera exists.

 

I am just pointing out that it can, and is being exploited.  I exploit that feature all the time to my own advantage, I'm sure many others do the same.  They have no reason to stop so long as the feature is available.  It's simply unrealistic.  I have a friend who literally says

 

"I am sending out the drone"

 

to suggest that the camera angle is like a little remote control helicopter that he is using to scout a massive area around us within a few short moments at lightning fast speeds.

[Jean Ribault]

I like the view distance as-is.

 

I also agree the camera exploit should be eliminated....somehow(?).

[JaM]

it would be great if actual visibility range was close to reality - usually, first thing spotted were sails on the horizon.. right now, ship just pops out.. would be cool to actually sometimes be unable to spot them due to sun or clouds.. but definitely, visibility range should be slightly longer than horizon distance.

[Cecil Selous]

Yeah sometimes it looks very odd when a fleet suddenly pops up in front of you, especially in a foggy environment. So I would like to see an increase of the render distance if the impact on performance isn't too heavy.

 

The best solution to this would be the simulation of earth's curvature combined with a complete rescaling of the Open World an the ships in it, to make it look right. Maybe in a far distant future

[Kokerpiraat]

Yeah sometimes it looks very odd when a fleet suddenly pops up in front of you, especially in a foggy environment. So I would like to see an increase of the render distance if the impact on performance isn't too heavy.

 

The best solution to this would be the simulation of earth's curvature combined with a complete rescaling of the Open World an the ships in it, to make it look right. Maybe in a far distant future

The rendering distance was just fine before. And then they decreased it for the sake of ' the surprise factor' but do we want this? I hate it. And seems the majority does.

I say bring back the old rendering distances.

[JaM]

actually thats not a bad idea - make map smaller (scale down) so visibility would still represent realistic range, then you could even give normal speed to ships in open world, but keep time compressed for faster pace... (it really looks strange sailing at 18-20knots...)

[Slamz]

The problem with shorter visibility is that ship turning speed on the open sea makes no sense.

 

In compressed time and distance terms it must take a 3rd rate something like 1 hour and 100 miles to turn around at full speed. I would be okay with shorter ("more realistic") view distances if open sea turning speed wasn't incredibly derpy.

[surfimp]

I agree that the pop-in effect is annoying, even if it theoretically helps me get the jump on traders or whatever.

But let's be real: even with the reduced pop-in range, the only way I'm getting the jump on somebody is if they are AFK or alt tabbed. Which means that unless I'm already hunting in a direction that the wind is in my favor, they will still be able to escape even with the shorter pop-in range.

I'd rather have the longest viable view distance and more focus on skill-based hunting and evading rather than the current system.

[Poyraz]

Another vote for increased view distance.

 

Further enhancement could be applied for curvature of earth effect for hardcore realism. Considering z-axis being the height, the drawing point could be adjusted accordingly.

 

x is observers height;

y is targets height,

 

The drawing distance would be d_max = 3,57 . {( x ^1/2) + ( y^1/2)}

Horizon distance for x would be d_x = 3,57 . ( x ^1/2)

 

From the maximum distance d_max,  up until d_x, the target y will be incremental increasingly visible.

From d_x up until next to the observer, the target will be fully visible.

 

This basic formulas would simulate the view distance realisticly.

 

Some RL values,

• For an observer standing on the ground with h = 1.70 metres (5 ft 7 in), the horizon is at a distance of 4.7 kilometres (2.9 mi).
• For an observer standing on the ground with h = 2 metres (6 ft 7 in), the horizon is at a distance of 5 kilometres (3.1 mi).
• For an observer standing on the mast with h = 10 metres, the horizon is at a distance of 11,3 kilometres (6.9 mi).
• For an observer standing on a hill or tower of 100 metres (330 ft) in height, the horizon is at a distance of 36 kilometres (22 mi).
• For an observer standing at the top of the Burj Khalifa (828 metres (2,717 ft) in height), the horizon is at a distance of 103 kilometres (64 mi).
• For an observer atop Mount Everest (8,848 metres (29,029 ft) in altitude), the horizon is at a distance of 336 kilometres (209 mi).

[admin]

Wondering what people think about the current view distance. I really, really hate it actually. I don't like the popping on ships on the horizon. I remember seeing them appear through the fog, you could see far.. now, you can sail into a massive fleet without realizing it on time. That's my stance on it anyway.

 

Distance have not changed. Sunny days changed it. You have not seen popping before because of the constant fog.

Perhaps it will stay as it is. People were complaining more about the fog than about popping of ships in the distance

This is a second complaint about ship popping.. and there were at least a 100 about the short fog.

[Balsafer]

Some fog is ok but not as much as it was back in the day where it was constant.

[JaM]

 

Another vote for increased view distance.

 

Further enhancement could be applied for curvature of earth effect for hardcore realism. Considering z-axis being the height, the drawing point could be adjusted accordingly.

 

x is observers height;

y is targets height,

 

The drawing distance would be d_max = 3,57 . {( x ^1/2) + ( y^1/2)}

Horizon distance for x would be d_x = 3,57 . ( x ^1/2)

 

From the maximum distance d_max,  up until d_x, the target y will be incremental increasingly visible.

From d_x up until next to the observer, the target will be fully visible.

 

This basic formulas would simulate the view distance realisticly.

 

Some RL values,

• For an observer standing on the ground with h = 1.70 metres (5 ft 7 in), the horizon is at a distance of 4.7 kilometres (2.9 mi).
• For an observer standing on the ground with h = 2 metres (6 ft 7 in), the horizon is at a distance of 5 kilometres (3.1 mi).
• For an observer standing on the mast with h = 10 metres, the horizon is at a distance of 11,3 kilometres (6.9 mi).
• For an observer standing on a hill or tower of 100 metres (330 ft) in height, the horizon is at a distance of 36 kilometres (22 mi).
• For an observer standing at the top of the Burj Khalifa (828 metres (2,717 ft) in height), the horizon is at a distance of 103 kilometres (64 mi).
• For an observer atop Mount Everest (8,848 metres (29,029 ft) in altitude), the horizon is at a distance of 336 kilometres (209 mi).

 

 

typical observer on the ship would be on the mast, therefore at 10-25m above water.. so im guessing that should give horizon at 11-20km away?

[Kokerpiraat]

Distance have not changed. Sunny days changed it. You have not seen popping before because of the constant fog.

Perhaps it will stay as it is. People were complaining more about the fog than about popping of ships in the distance

This is a second complaint about ship popping.. and there were at least a 100 about the short fog.

Ah that makes sense. Well yeah the popping is the main thing that bothers me really. 

[Smithy]

also have noticed ships do a strange edge of black hole type thing as they leave view range where they simple stop in position only to vanish shortly after

[Prater]

Distance have not changed. Sunny days changed it. You have not seen popping before because of the constant fog.

Perhaps it will stay as it is. People were complaining more about the fog than about popping of ships in the distance

This is a second complaint about ship popping.. and there were at least a 100 about the short fog.

 

 

You can't just increase the distance?  I know it might be a drain on fps, but my rig I have set to 60 fps max and it never drops below that on the Open World

[Pigafetta]

I thought that the "home key" camera option was already eliminated...