Topic

Staff Topic

zoom zoom ... zoom

Zoom is back, and it uses the minus and plus/equal keys on your keyboard (next to the number row on a US keyboard) instead of the mouse wheel. The zero key resets your zoom, as does going into AFK (four key).

I've lifted (at least temporarily) the restrictions on zoom level, so you should not need the /zoom command anymore. However, I do restrict it a little differently for each location to make sure they look as the designers intended.

Posted 9 months ago by Jono Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

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  • Love love love love LOVE THIS!! 
    Posted 9 months ago by tis Subscriber! | Permalink
  • can't get it to work. I got a german keyboard, macbook-pro. tried with and without shift. when I hit the minus, it activates chat.
    Posted 9 months ago by Ancale Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Ancale, is the physical keyboard layout matching the software layout? I see you typed a minus between "macbook" and "pro" -- is that the key you pressed in the game?
    Posted 9 months ago by Jono Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Jono: yep that is the one, dont have any other one.
    Posted 9 months ago by Ancale Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I've got a Norwegian keyboard, Macbook air with Lion. The +? key next to 0 zooms OUT and the ´` accent key next to it zooms in.
    Posted 9 months ago by Sveur Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Sveur: ty, but they don't do the trick for me. just tried.
    @Jono: here is a pic of the keyboard
    Posted 9 months ago by Ancale Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Works great for me, thanks Jono :)
    Posted 9 months ago by ~Annie~ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Works good for me too Jono :D
    So very much easier than scrolling :)
    Thank you ((hugs))
    Posted 9 months ago by Faereluth Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Works much better for me than scrolling.  Thanks.
    Posted 9 months ago by martian-b Subscriber! | Permalink
  • not working for me: +&- don't work; the zoom chat commands do; I'm using a uk standard-ish keyboard. 
    Posted 9 months ago by Katchen Subscriber! | Permalink
  • UPDATE: Zoom restrictions are lifted, and I might have fixed some of the keyboard issues -- report back if anything that wasn't working before is now working.
    Posted 9 months ago by Jono Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Working! Cheers Jono. :)
    Posted 9 months ago by Katchen Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I don't get it to work with the keys next to the top number rows either on french keyboard
    Numpad (+/-) work though
    But why can't we zoom out while doing an action? What's the problem with multitasking in this game really??
    Posted 9 months ago by Lemo Subscriber! | Permalink
  • love love love this....much better.    kinda wish it could zoom out a little more though....Thanks none the less   :)
    Posted 9 months ago by Miss Muffett Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Nice! Works just fine using iMac desk top.
    Posted 9 months ago by GreyGoose Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Yay! A fair and awesome change. Havent used it yet but look forward to it.
    Posted 9 months ago by Thursday Soleil Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Love zoom, but would it be possible to set a default - I multi task ( shock horror) and afk sees the zoom returned to normal setting.

    Thanks!
    Posted 9 months ago by призрака Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Hi - I was zooming out in housing to 0.6, but now it seems that the maximum is less than that.  I was using the zoom to take screenshots and was stitching them together.  Now that the zoom has been reduced I can't get the whole house in one frame and I have to resize the images by hand to match what I have already done. 
    Posted 9 months ago by Scarlett Bearsdale Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Neat!  My only complaint is that the speech bubbles are hard to read when they're zoomed out -- too small and artifact-y.
    Posted 9 months ago by E D D I E Subscriber! | Permalink
  • My plus and minus keys don't work.
    Edit: Sorry, plus/minus zoom works in new house, just not in the rest of the world.
    Edit: Finally, it works everywhere! Thank you!
    Posted 9 months ago by Mollie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • It would be nice to have a shortcut to go back to 100% zoom. It's hard to get back to normal zoom with just the +/- keys.
    Posted 9 months ago by Yeti Spaghetti Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I have no clue how to do this...can anyone explain what I am supposed to do/type to make the zoom work, please. 
    Posted 9 months ago by Cryztal Subscriber! | Permalink
  • It's not as smooth as the wheel made it...pretty jerky, now, when zooming - but I still love it :-)
    Posted 9 months ago by sgjo Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Seconding Yeti, a shortcut to reset zoom to 1.0 would be swell... as well as one for minimum zoom, if that isn't too much to ask? Perhaps pressing and holding down either key?
    Posted 9 months ago by Lx’s Ghost Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Yeti - Hit 4 to send yourself to AFK, zoom will reset. Hit 4 again to un-AFK thyself.

    Jono - tytyty for letting the limits be street specific!!! 0.8 protects certain street designs, but when not needed for protecting the design of the street it's very nice to see more. One slight request: Store "zoom_user_target" separate from "zoom_current", thus a 0.8 street can render at 0.8, and my 0.6 target will be reinstated when on a non-limited street.

    Thanks!!!
    Posted 9 months ago by Sturminator IX Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Ooh, good tip, Sturminator. Forgot that going afk resets zoom... although not sure that's intentional, and it's not very intuitive, so an official shortcut would still be nice :)
    Posted 9 months ago by Lx’s Ghost Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Side note: Hitbox logic for "getting" a quion seems to be in rendered pixels, not scaled per zoom level. In other words, I can grab a quion from further away at 0.6 zoom than I can when I'm at 1.2.

    I actually suggest *not* fixing this, since it may be overly challenging to nab quions, e.g. someone playing with 0.8 on a netbook, and therefor simply labeling the behavior as "as designed"

    [ It's actually a handy way to avoid low-value quions ]
    Posted 9 months ago by Sturminator IX Subscriber! | Permalink
  • cryztal -- use the plus and minus keys + -  -- if you have a US keyboard they're up in the top row, next to the numbers.  Plus zooms you in and minus zooms you out.
    Posted 9 months ago by Fnibbit Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Awesome!
    Posted 9 months ago by Codex Subscriber! | Permalink
  • However, I do restrict it a little differently for each location to make sure they look as the designers intended.

    That's very restrictive still :\
    People have been making awesome screenshots of events in Ur since you activated the zoom inside the camera mode, and now you're just removing all those creative possibilities...
    Before
    After

    Obviously you wouldn't be able to see the whole party now
    How about just restricting the hotkeys, and keeping the /zoom command free?
    Posted 9 months ago by Lemo Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I love the zoom feature and very much appreciate the keyboard option.

    I would like to second Sturminator's request: "Store "zoom_user_target" separate from "zoom_current", thus a 0.8 street can render at 0.8, and my 0.6 target will be reinstated when on a non-limited street."

    I'd also really like a way to take a panoramic screenshot of an entire street. If this would require learning an additional skill and using the Glitch camera, that would be fine with me. Having to stitch together images with graphics software is a real PITA.
    Posted 9 months ago by Splendora Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Fnibbit ..Thanks...I tried those keys and nothing happened...do I have to type anything..like we do with /house?  I am assuming my keyboard..is UK ( British )..lol Sorry I'm a bit thick  lol  :D 
    Posted 9 months ago by Cryztal Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Omgoodness...It's working now, I swear I tried that earlier and it didn't do anything.. :D..luvvv it  xx

    Does it only work in our test house and street? I tried it down in Cebarkul and nothing happened..? 

    Ok..it works down the caverns..so im assuming it isn't needed in some places? :) 
    Posted 9 months ago by Cryztal Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Regarding bringing back original zoom levels -- that was a toy! The Giants imagine the world to look a certain way and the illusion must not be broken.

    Each location automatically calculates the minimum allowable zoom -- we recompute it every time you change locations. You are getting the widest shot that is possible without going off the map.

    If you want big screenshots, request a better camera! Zoom is not a replacement for a wide angle lens, it's only meant as a way for you to see more of the world while you play.
    Posted 9 months ago by Jono Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Then how about making those wide zoom levels available as soon as you activate the camera mode, so it won't influence the gameplay or trouble the Giants, while still being able to have those screenshots?
    Posted 9 months ago by Lemo Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Jono, the max zoom gets reset to the zoom for the current street, and does not go back up.

    1) Go /home. Zoom out (-) all the way (it's something like 0.5, but just a guess)
    2) Enter inside of home. Zone max zoom limited to 0.8 or such, so effective zoom set to 0.8
    3) Exit house, to /home street. Zoom now stuck at 0.8. You have to hit (-) again to get all the way out to 0.5

    The target zoom is not being kept independent of the effective zoom.
    Posted 9 months ago by Sturminator IX Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Sturminator: that is something you're probably going to have to live with :)
    Posted 9 months ago by stoot barfield Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Cryztal, make sure your focus is in what TS calls the "viewport" -- the main game window, rather than the chats -- tab or click to make sure you're there before doing +/- to zoom.  Also, as others have been mentioning, the maximum zoom is different in different places.

    Jono: consider a better camera requested.  :) 
    Posted 9 months ago by Fnibbit Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Meh, not a fan of the keys...seems clunky/feels choppy. And frankly, the only time I was using was to get a full view of my house and now that I can't...probably won't be using it very much in its current form. Oh, well, it was fun while it lasted...
    Posted 9 months ago by b3achy Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Loving the zoom feature - thanks!  It's working great.
    Posted 9 months ago by Stormy Weather Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @ Jono  can I have a camera like yours with a wide angle lens?  Please!
    Posted 9 months ago by Brib Annie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Sturminator, there is no concept of "keep me zoomed out as much as possible all of the time" -- nor is there one of "I always want to be at 0.4256".

    We try to keep you at the same zoom level you chose unless you enter a smaller location and we need to adjust it -- then that becomes the new zoom level. It would be jarring if each location would be different -- this way it's only different if it MUST be.

    And anyway, it's good for your fingers to occasionally stretch out and hit the minus key =D

    PS: Make your requests for cameras in Ideas. I am not the decidinator and this forum is not for ideas.
    Posted 9 months ago by Jono Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Requested.
    Posted 9 months ago by Lemo Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Jono, you're forcing the "jarring" zoom change when the design of the new level  dictates it. The new level will always have this look though, and will be consistent (and not so jarring). But when I got back to a less restricted street, you're given me a inconsistent look -- which is really jarring.

    As you state, it would be best if "it's only different if it MUST be" -- so why are you showing me non-restricted streets at two *different* zooms?
    Posted 9 months ago by Sturminator 5 Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Why won't it zoom out as much in the test houses?
    Posted 9 months ago by ~Annie~ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • My new favorite word is decidinator. Thank-you so much for this, Jono. I was bummed with the mouse scroll only option from earlier 'cos I don't have touchpad scroll functionality... Berry berry thrilled with this :)
    Posted 9 months ago by natsumi Subscriber! | Permalink
  • My connection finally let me test this a bit more :p
    If you still accept requests for the zoom itself here, I would say zoom 0.1 for every key press
    Seems to be 0.25, which is kinda slow and choppy as others said and I don't think anyone needs that precision
    Posted 9 months ago by Lemo Subscriber! | Permalink
  • There is no such thing as more and less restricted streets. We don't let you zoom out further than the location will fit in the window's dimensions. Math makes all the decisions around here. This is why house streets don't zoom out as much.

    It's only jarring if you go from very zoomed out to much more zoomed in -- but when you leave the zoomed in location and go to a larger one, you will have the exact same zoom, which is less jarring than suddenly pulling you back out.
    Posted 9 months ago by Jono Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Tried it and lobe it. Love love it so much easier than the swipe finger thing that half worked. This works well.
    Posted 9 months ago by Thursday Soleil Subscriber! | Permalink
  • ADDED: "0" key resets zoom.

    Going AFK will continue to reset your zoom level as well. That isn't changing and there is no point in complaining :-)
    Posted 9 months ago by Jono Subscriber! | Permalink
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