What should I consider when selecting a field-of-view (FOV) for a space game?

Question

I am making a space game (like the game Freelancer). You control a space ship in third person.

What are some gameplay considerations that I should weigh when selecting a field-of-view (FOV) for such a game?

Answer 1

Space games have some additional aesthetic considerations surrounding FoV.

With a wide FoV, objects we expect to be round (like planets!) can appear elongated and elliptical toward the edges of the screen. Compare the 90- and 45-degree vertical FoV below:

A tighter FoV can also help enhance the sense of massive scale & distances in space, by diminishing parallax as the player moves around, so things like planets seem almost fixed in the starfield.

So if you want that classic sci-fi movie shot of a ship against a perfectly circular arc of a planet along the edge of the screen, amost unmoving as the vessel sails along... a narrow field of view can help accomplish that.

As the other answers note, you'll need to balance these aesthetics against gameplay usability concerns. If a narrow field of view takes away too much situational awareness, making your shooting gameplay difficult, or flattens depth too much for precise flying around local obstacles, then you'll probably need to widen it back out. If a playable FoV is making your planets look wonky, then you might need some visual trickery to compensate.

Answer 2

I am making a space game (like the game Freelancer). You control a space ship in third person.

What are some gameplay considerations that I should weigh when selecting a field-of-view (FOV) for such a game?

If its a single player game just let the player set the FOV themselves. Its possible to use it as a way to ballance ships (EX big ships has smaler FOVs while small have larger) but probably not worth the hassle and wont deter people who are sensitive to low FOVs.

Now if its multiplayer then thats a different issue. Being able to adjust the FOV makes it so that better hardware can become very advantagous. A large FOV with a huge monitor (2560 x 1440) in a game where spotting the other player first is an advantage can become very unballanced just because of the hardware.

Answer 3

There is definitely not a "best". It's more about several aspects of design, including:

1) Gameplay- Does your game benefit from a view similar to a RTS game or Isometric RPG? The world is easy to manipulate in this view. Does your game become more immersive in FPS view? Should the view be of the player inside a spaceship, viewing through a screen or window infront of them? It all depends.

2) If you are speaking of strictly FOV in a FPS view, then try a game like Battlefield or Planetside2 which lets you change the FOV. Look at the maximum before you get sick, and the minimum before you lose usability. Find a middle ground which you prefer.

3) Alternatively, allow the player to decide their FOV. Have a default value, but ultimately leave the decision to the player.

Answer 4

If it's a single player only game, there's no problem allowing the user to adjust the field of view as they see fit. In some cases, you may want to calculate the field of view based on the user's setup. Check out how the wide screen gaming forum does it.

You should know that scaling the field of view based on screen size can result in a very tiny view. That is why most modern games use either 45^o or 90^o by default, and only scale if the screen size is big enough to be a television. That is because the focal length from you to the screen is usually larger if you're using a television. They scale it smaller, and it looks more like how you would see it in real life.

Also, check out the Wikipedia article on "Field of view in video games".