Ultimate FOV (Field of View) Guide for ArmA 2 and DayZ from DayZPvP.com

[DayZPvP.com 143]

Click here to go to the original DayZPvP.com FOV Guide

Field of view or FOV is a very important aspect (pun intended) of DayZ. I am going to guess that most of you have not customized your FOV, and some may have no idea what it is or why you might want to change it. Did you know that playing with the FOV settings wrong can actually make you sick? Plenty of people get headaches from straining to see a screen that is not set up correctly. There is also a massive tactical advantage to seeing the right amount, and the right parts of the screen.

What is FOV?

Phazon88 has created this animated .gif for Battlefield Bad Company 2 which uses the same system as ArmA 2 to set the FOV:

Pay attention to two things. One reason why we might want to increase our FOV from the default is because you get more peripheral vision. If you look on the left and right (the outside) of the two trees in the middle you can see that as the FOV increases, you can see more of the hill on the edge of the screen. This can be a life saver because often times a player has already seen you and has the drop on you. As you run by and pass him, he thinks you can't see him anymore, but you can. Don't forget that you can get a temporary FOV boost by either holding numpad - or by going into 3rd person view (numpad - works on there too).

Another situation that a wider FOV can help is in very close quarters battle, or CQB. Sometimes during CQB you might actually run past your adversary. Having a wider FOV can let you turn around and re-acquire your target much faster. This lets you spin around and get your shots off while he is still turning and looking for you. As well know the zombie AI is a little bit wild at the moment and a wider FOV can help you when you have multiple zed beating the crap out of you.

Of course there is a tradeoff to having a wider FOV. If you look in the middle of the .gif again you can see that as the FOV increases the center of the screen seems to get further away. There really is not too much I can think of to argue that this is good. Basically you are going to have a harder time seeing someone far away, and let's face it, far away is deadly in this game. Be very careful when you choose your FOV. You have to decide where the optimal point is. For me it is around 90 in most games, but for DayZ 90 should be your max unless you have a large/wide monitor.

BEWARE: Changing your FOV will most likely alter the way mildots and ranging works. I am investigating how and how much and will report back. RadikulRAM reports that if you mess up your file you can delete it and ArmA will make a fresh one.

Changing Your FOV

Although I have enjoyed many XBox360 or Playstation games in the past, one of the reasons that I almost always play on the PC is because of the ability (usually) to change your FOV. Some games have quick sliders of settings, but ArmA 2 does not. Matter of fact it is not easy at all for the average user to adjust their FOV so I am going to help you out.

• Step 1. Navigate to My Documents/ArmA 2. Find the "Username".ArmA2OAProfile file. Make a copy of it somewhere to back it up. Open the file with Notepad or another text editor.
  
• Step 2. Scroll towards the bottom of the file and look for the entries for fovTop and fovLeft. These are the values we will be changing, but please write the originals down if you didn't backup the file in case you need to revert.
  
• Step 3. Use this calculatorto figure out your FOV values. Do not just put the number you want into the .ArmA2Profile file or it will not work. Pay attention to your Resolution (screen width and height).
  
• Step 4. Input the following into a Google search bar - "x degrees in radians" without quotation marks, where x is the number you calculated in the previous step. Or use the formula (.0174)x with x being the result of Step 3. (thanks to subtle for the tip)
  
• Step 5. Change the fovTop to the number you have now, which is your calculated FOV in radians. You should round off to 2 decimal places to the right.
  
• Step 6. Grab a calculator (or type into a Google search bar) and DIVIDE your new fovTop number by the SECOND number in your monitors Aspect Ratio. Click here for a guide on how to figure out your Aspect Ratio. Find the box with your monitors Resolution and that color is the same as an Aspect Ratio circle in the lower right corner if you don't know it.
  
• Step 7. Now take the result of Step 6 and MULTIPLY that by the FIRST number of your Aspect Ratio. Again, round off the number to 2 decimal places. Enter this number as your new fovLeft value.
  
• Step 8. Save the new file. You should have a new FOV when you restart the game.
  

If you encounter any problems go back to your back up .ArmA2OAProfile file and either email me at Paleface@DayZPvP.com PM, or reply below.

Edited July 17, 2012 by DayZPvP.com

[.martin 6]

Also here: http://www.reddit.com/r/dayz/comments/ug6wu/how_to_adjust_your_fov_aka_how_to_cure_arma2/

Edited July 13, 2012 by .martin

[subtle 29]

Ripped from this post on Reddit: http://www.reddit.co..._to_cure_arma2/

Credit where credit is due, man.

Precisely.

Edited July 13, 2012 by subtle

[DayZPvP.com 143]

I didn't rip anything, I used 5 or 6 different sources for this, just like the guy on reddit. I did not copy one single word. Get your facts straight before you try to slander me.

Edited July 13, 2012 by DayZPvP.com

[subtle 29]

To make it really simple for everyone, so you don't have to waste time with the google search, here is the formula for the degrees to radians conversion.

(pi/180)a

which converts to

(.0174)X with X being the number you get back from the BC2 FOV calculator in step 3 of the guide.

Once you do the multiplication and have your number, between .5 and 1.5, you use that with the corresponding steps in the rest of the guide to calculate the two new figures for your FOV.

I did this last night and it made an incredible difference. Enjoy.

[DayZPvP.com 143]

To make it really simple for everyone, so you don't have to waste time with the google search, here is the formula for the degrees to radians conversion.

(pi/180)a

which converts to

(.0174)X with X being the number you get back from the BC2 FOV calculator in step 3 of the guide.

Once you do the multiplication and have your number, between .5 and 1.5, you use that with the corresponding steps in the rest of the guide to calculate the two new figures for your FOV.

I did this last night and it made an incredible difference. Enjoy.

I added that in, thank you.

What number did you settle on?

[subtle 29]

I added that in, thank you.

What number did you settle on?

You're quite welcome.

Well unfortunately I must resort to using a primitive 1280x1024 5:4 monitor at the moment so my figures won't apply to many people but my values changed from the following.

Old = fovTop=0.75;fovLeft=0.9375

New = fovTop=1.36;fovLeft=1.7

[DayZPvP.com 143]

You're quite welcome.

Well unfortunately I must resort to using a primitive 1280x1024 5:4 monitor at the moment so my figures won't apply to many people but my values changed from the following.

Old = fovTop=0.75;fovLeft=0.9375

New = fovTop=1.36;fovLeft=1.7

What I mean is 80? 90?

[subtle 29]

What I mean is 80? 90?

I used 90 which the calculator, based on my resolution, provided me with a number of 78.

[Bubba Jones 30]

I believe your Step 7 is incorrect. Should multiply by the first number.

[DayZPvP.com 143]

I believe your Step 7 is incorrect. Should multiply by the first number.

It says "Step 7. Now take the result of Step 6 and divide that by the FIRST number of your Aspect Ratio."

What do you mean multiply by first number, that's what I put?

[Hellequin 1]

• Step 7. Now take the result of Step 6 and MULTIPLY that by the FIRST number of your Aspect Ratio. Again, round off the number to 2 decimal places. Enter this number as your new fovLeft value.
  

Step 7 should be multiplying, not dividing.

[DayZPvP.com 143]

Ok I think thats fixed now, thanks.

[RadikulRAM 6]

It appears if your resolution is 800x600, then a fov of 180 seems to be the max. Anything higher than that seems to lead to a negative number which doesn't work.

[DayZPvP.com 143]

It appears if your resolution is 800x600, then a fov of 180 seems to be the max. Anything higher than that seems to lead to a negative number which doesn't work.

FOV of 180 would be INSANE if you could pull it off. That's like having 3 monitors.

[SqTH 260]

I have a question.

Does it change the calculation of the drop of the bullets with the dots on a scope ?

[DayZPvP.com 143]

I have a question.

Does it change the calculation of the drop of the bullets with the dots on a scope ?

This is good question. I have heard different things so I am going to research that and update everyone.

Edited July 15, 2012 by DayZPvP.com

[DayZPvP.com 143]

A few sources I have read say that changing the FOV *WILL* affect the mildots and ranging, but I am still trying to figure out by how much so i am putting that note in the guide for now.

[RadikulRAM 6]

FOV of 180 would be INSANE if you could pull it off. That's like having 3 monitors.

I wanted 270/250 haha

I couldn't pull it off, the calculations got confusing for me, how can I revert this change?

I made a back up of the wrong file >.<

I know my left was a value of 1 but not sure what my top was.

What is the default FOV for arma, or is there a way I can restore this?

[DayZPvP.com 143]

I think default is either 65 or 70. Was too low for me. I don't like that feeling.

For the defaults, there are a bunch listed on the reddit guide here

People have posted some custom numbers, and some defaults. I hope you find yours. If not hopefully someone with your resolution can post the stock numbers for you. I should probably compile what numbers I have found into the guide.

RadikulRAM you have to let us know your resolution.

[RadikulRAM 6]

I think default is either 65 or 70. Was too low for me. I don't like that feeling.

For the defaults, there are a bunch listed on the reddit guide here

People have posted some custom numbers, and some defaults. I hope you find yours. If not hopefully someone with your resolution can post the stock numbers for you. I should probably compile what numbers I have found into the guide.

RadikulRAM you have to let us know your resolution.

[[Text here deleted, found a fix]]

EDIT: Simple fix for obtaining default settings.

Delete the whole arma file in my documents.

P.S: Since I've found a simple fix, if anyone could do the maths for me I'd be very thankful. If not, I understand.

I'm not sure what my monitors resolution is, but I've set it too 1280x1024 through the settings of Windows 7.

I would like a FOV of 270/250. If not possible, the highest FOV achievable not passing 270 would be nice.

I know there are instructions here, but I find them confusing.

Btw does this work for Dayz multiplayer? I read somewhere that it might not.

Edited July 16, 2012 by RadikulRAM

[DayZPvP.com 143]

It works fine for DayZ. You must have a huge monitor. I will see if I can figure it out for you.

[DayZPvP.com 143]

updated

[DayZPvP.com 143]

Does anyone know for sure what the default FOV is? I keep finding various numbers form various sources.

[dcjoker 7]

Using the default values of:

fovTop=0.75;

fovLeft=1.3333334;

Moreover, my resolution being 1920x1080 (16:9). Using the calculations cited in the OP I've deduced that at least for me the default fov was approx. 70 degrees.

Using my settings if you want a fov of 90 degrees the correct values would be:

fovTop=1.02974426;

fovLeft=1.830656462222222;

Edit: eventually I've settled at 75. 90 looked really weird.

the following are the correct values if you want your fov to be at 75 with 1920x1080 (16:9):

fovTop=0.82030475;

fovLeft=1.4583195;

Edited July 21, 2012 by dcjoker