Camera Control Tips

[Sgt Schultz]

I am noticing quite a few posts relating difficulty in controlling the camera. In my meager travels across the maps I have found a few tips that may help.

I do not use the keyboard to move the camera, unless it is the TAB key to lock on to a unit. The keyboard will only raise your blood pressure.

This is my method.

Place cursor in lower right area of screen(any corner/place will do, my choice).

Hold down left mouse button.

SLOWWWLY move your cursor to the left, right, up and down. You will notice that the farther you drag your cursor from its start position on the screen, the faster the camera moves.

Now try holding down the RIGHT mouse button, and repeating the process for pan functions.

Next, use the mouse wheel for altitude adjustments.

With a little practice, I was following tanks as they flew down hills on FAST without a lock-on.

Hope this helps.

Back to my QB.

[womble]

Place cursor in lower right area of screen(any corner/place will do, my choice).

It's important that it's not on top of a unit. I find higher up in my screen is usually less cluttered with icons and pixeltruppen...

[Lt Belenko]

The keyboard will only raise your blood pressure.

Spoken like an old guy that never really learned to type with out looking at the keys.

[GDog]

I really miss the "/" = jump camera 180 degrees. Must be something that the 3D engine prevents?

[user38]

I really miss the "/" = jump camera 180 degrees. Must be something that the 3D engine prevents?

This function is now controlled with the "V" key

[Wodin]

I always use the mouse for the camera...hold right button to turn around and move to side to move and wheel for zoom...

Never had a problem with the camera in this game but others I've struggled with...nothing worse...it's most likely that I play WEGO that I got used to the camera...plus your not battling it aswell as the game as I would be in realtime...

[Other Means]

This function is now controlled with the "V" key

Or "\" in the alternative key set.

[A Canadian Cat]

I am noticing quite a few posts relating difficulty in controlling the camera. In my meager travels across the maps I have found a few tips that may help.

I do not use the keyboard to move the camera, unless it is the TAB key to lock on to a unit. The keyboard will only raise your blood pressure.

This is my method.

<snip>

I will defiantly try this out. I have been using the mouse at the far edges of the screen to navigate - just like I did in CMBB and AK. I always hated how jumpy that ended up being (can't control the speed and always over shooting and then backing up). I had been excited about the keyboard keys for camera control but they have been spiking my blood pressure too.

Spoken like an old guy that never really learned to type with out looking at the keys.

LOL my blood pressure goes up when using the key board because the speed the camera moves keeps changing. I'll be humming along using the W key to move the camera forward (along with the Q and E keys to tweak the direction) happy as a clam and then it will come to some trees and ssssslllllooooowwww to a crawl. When I use the mouse that does not happen.

[Wodin]

I use keys for close up...the zoom in and out I use as well as the wide angle...

[GerryCMBB]

I find the View Lock to be very handy. Click an icon of yours far away, View Log, and you are transported to that location facing in the right direction also.

Gerry

[GDog]

This function is now controlled with the "V" key

Well, with that great news it's official, the game is perfect.

[gunnergoz]

Spoken like an old guy that never really learned to type with out looking at the keys.

Hrmph. A lot of us old guys took typing classes in high school. I doubt you've ever even seen a typewriter. Think of it as a computer without the CPU, monitor or mouse.

BTW in those days, typing classes were mostly full of high school girls learning to be lady clerks. Us guys taking typing had it made.

[JAGUART]

Need Help

Previous Battlefront Games allowed you to select the *old* style (CM:BO, CM:AK, etc) camera views and manipulation with just one preference click in the Options Menu.

I noticed this is not present in the demo version, is it a feature in the full version?

This feature is make/break for me, as I find the default camera options quite maddening. However, if I can select a set of presets that are like the old style, I'm in. Thank you in advance for your reply.

[Blackcat]

... This feature is make/break for me ...

Seems like you will not be playing CMBN. You will be missing out on an awful lot because you don't want to take the time to adapt to new camera controls, but each to their own.

[JAGUART]

Seems like you will not be playing CMBN. You will be missing out on an awful lot because you don't want to take the time to adapt to new camera controls, but each to their own.

Looks that way. It's a shame the mouse and arrow keys appear to be hard-coded and not editable at all. Oh well. Sale lost.

[user38]

I have found the most difficult aspect of controlling the camera is the mouse wheel elevation function. I have taken to using the preset camera elevation keys (1-9 on the keyboard).

[Other Means]

Looks that way. It's a shame the mouse and arrow keys appear to be hard-coded and not editable at all. Oh well. Sale lost.

You can change the camera controls in the hotkeys file. In fact, the alternative hotkeys.txt has different ones to the default.

0 - 9 & mouse clicks and movement is hard-coded however.

[womble]

Looks that way. It's a shame the mouse and arrow keys appear to be hard-coded and not editable at all. Oh well. Sale lost.

1. Download the demo
   
2. play with the hotkeys file (check the manual for "Customising hotkeys" for howto)
   
3. ...
   
4. Buy the game.
   

[JAGUART]

You can change the camera controls in the hotkeys file. In fact, the alternative hotkeys.txt has different ones to the default.

0 - 9 & mouse clicks and movement is hard-coded however.

Thank you for your reply. See any way to customize the Arrow Keys in here?

Camera Keys

// camera forward motion

<E>W

	<F>Z

// camera slide left

<E>A

	<F>Q

// camera slide right

<E>D

// camera backward motion

<E>S

// camera rotate left

<E>Q

	<F>A

// camera rotate right

<E>E

// camera turn 180 degrees 

<E>V

// camera raise elevation

<E>R

// camera lower elevation

<E>F

// camera zoom out

<E>Z

	<G>Y

	<F>W

// camera zoom in 

<E>X

// camera wide-angle/regular angle toggle

<E>C

[/PHP]

[lerxster]

Sorry to dig this one up ... but I was wondering if assigning arrow keys was still impossible?

[noob]

Thank you for your reply. See any way to customize the Arrow Keys in here?

Camera Keys

// camera forward motion

<E>W

	<F>Z

// camera slide left

<E>A

	<F>Q

// camera slide right

<E>D

// camera backward motion

<E>S

// camera rotate left

<E>Q

	<F>A

// camera rotate right

<E>E

// camera turn 180 degrees 

<E>V

// camera raise elevation

<E>R

// camera lower elevation

<E>F

// camera zoom out

<E>Z

	<G>Y

	<F>W

// camera zoom in 

<E>X

// camera wide-angle/regular angle toggle

<E>C

[/PHP]

So just use A,W,S,D, they are positioned the same way as the arrow keys, plus you have the rotate camera keys Q and E conveniently placed next to them, in fact, why don't you put little stickers with the corresponding arrows on the A,W,S,and D keys, just to make the transition from having to move your hand 10 inches to the left less stressful, then maybe you can have years of fun like the rest of us.

[lerxster]

So just use A,W,S,D, they are positioned the same way as the arrow keys, plus you have the rotate camera keys Q and E conveniently placed next to them, in fact, why don't you put little stickers with the corresponding arrows on the A,W,S,and D keys, just to make the transition from having to move your hand 10 inches to the left less stressful, then maybe you can have years of fun like the rest of us.

I normally use the arrow keys in conjunction with the mouse to turn. At least that's how I have always done it in the Total War series and every single fps too.... I know! How dare I be different

[Quintus Sertorius]

It's funny how Sgt Schultz started this thread by recommending use of the mouse and not the keyboard, because I hated the camera until I started using the keyboard. I still use the mouse as a supplement, but otherwise I'm keyboard all the way.

[agusto]

It's funny how Sgt Schultz started this thread by recommending use of the mouse and not the keyboard, because I hated the camera until I started using the keyboard. I still use the mouse as a supplement, but otherwise I'm keyboard all the way.

I use mouse and keyboard to navigate across the map as if i was playing a first person shooter . The WASD for right/left/fwd/backwards and the mouse for rotating the camera. Actually i like the camera the way it is, although i can understand people who prefer other camera movement styles as they are found in other strategy/tactic games.

[noob]

although i can understand people who prefer other camera movement styles as they are found in other strategy/tactic games.

I can't understand anyone that says it's a game breaker though, i mean, how can a game as good as CM stand or fall on the fact that WASD substitute for the arrow keys ?.......that's the worst case of OCD i've ever heard of !!!