Can we please have the option to disable camera changes?

[Marioface5]

I just bought Stadium, and I love it so far. It's my first maniaplanet game, but I definitely don't plan on it being my last. There's just one huge problem. It seems like every track I play online forces me into first-person view and I can't stand it. The camera view I'm already using (2, I believe) takes care of loops and whatnot, yet I'm still forced to play in first-person during loops on pretty much every online track I've played. Sometimes it even happens without loops, because for some reason people seem to really like this camera change feature. Anyway, can we please have a way to disable it so that people can play in whatever camera view they want, rather than whatever camera view the track author wants?

[sebkuh]

That would be a nice feature. I've played several maps which had terrible cam changes. A temporary solution can be to map a button on your gamepad to switch to your favorite cam, but unfortunately this doesn't always work.

[TMarc]

Do you mean that on every map load the view is reset?
Then this is not a issue of the maps, but of your system.
Which keys do you usually press to change the camera?

If you are using the normal numbers on above the letters,
then please change and use the numbers on the keypad.
Or the other way.

Because one set of numbers leads to a "current track only" camera change,
while the other is a permanent change.

Of course mappers are free to add custom camera, but usually they do this only on wallrides and loopings,
where the camera view 3 is mostly preferred because of the view of looping. (This camera change is always temporary only).

And please check the input control settings anyways, since the last update seems to have bugged the inputs a bit for some people (you might want to select the keys and controls again you are ususally using).

[Marioface5]

The camera doesn't reset, and I have no problems when playing Solo or Local. Many tracks online (or at least in the servers I've been on) will force you into a certain camera view for parts of the track. During this time you're unable to change out of it as far as I can tell. When the section they're forcing the camera change on is through it changes back to whatever you had it set to before automatically. So for example, I'll start the race in my normal view, and then after a while there will be a loop section and the track will force me into first-person view for it. Once I'm out of that section my camera returns to normal. Loop sections in official tracks and tracks I've made do not cause this to happen, so I'm pretty certain that it's the track authors doing it.

[TMarc]

yes, this is pretty much intended, both by Nadeo as well as by the track authors.

If you don't like this, unfortunately you will have to look for servers which use maps without forced camera change,
or strat creating your own maps. But be sure, other players will complain they can't drive throught your loopings without proper line, if you don't change automatically to camera 3 there

The forced camera changes usually help players while driving.

Certainly there are maps with ugly camera changes, but then skip those.

[eyebo]

Yes, this is part of TrackMania track building culture to force cam3 (bumper cam) during loops. It's somewhat optional for track authors to force it during wallrides, but it is often forced there as well. The reason is because in the past cam1 and cam2 often did not follow behind the car and/or they gave a too high view above the car during loops and wallrides. It made it nearly impossible to drive these things without switching to cam3 manually. But when you're driving incredibly fast, especially on many fullspeed tracks, it's sometimes just enough to focus on passing each section of track, without worrying about which camera is best and switching to it yourself.

So instead of people complaining that the map was too hard and badly made, track authors began forcing cam3 (bumper cam) during loops and wallrides so that drivers didn't have to worry about switching themselves. The view with cam3 is straight ahead, and so you can see the track much easier during loops and wallrides. Trust me, it makes the driving of such maps significantly easier. Of course the camera should be returned to the driver's default cam after such track sections.

Cam1 and Cam2 in Canyon follow behind the car pretty well, so it's become somewhat optional for a lot of track builders there. I still prefer Cam3 in those angled death loops though. I don't know if cam1 and cam2 following behind the car has got better in Stadium, with it being added to TM2, but even if it has... there are many legacy Stadium tracks from the older games being added to TM2S. These contain camera changes since they were really necessary for the older versions of Stadium in TrackMania Nations ESWC, TrackMania United, and TrackMania Nations Forever. As long as the camera changes are working as originally intended, I see no problem with them. They worked great in those games that people played for 6+ years, and they'll be fine in TM2S as well. Perhaps over time, people will stop using them as much. I don't know.

When I first started track building in 2008, I knew that I was supposed to do forced cam3 in loops, but I didn't really know how to make them. I would do a "timed" cam3. I would calculate the time it would take to drive the loop and then have the camera clip end after that length of time (thus returning the view to the driver's preference after the clip ended). That worked sometimes, but it's a bit inaccurate, and it doesn't take into consideration the speed of different drivers. The correct way to do it, which I later learned from a tutorial written by Alcator, is to set the camera change to infinite, and then disable the custom camera with a blank trigger at the end of the loop. This blank trigger returns the camera to whatever the driver had set to their default.

Having an option for drivers to disable the in-game MT (MediaTracker) in tracks when you drive them would destroy part of what TrackMania is all about. It would negate the reason for MT in tracks. For instance, on some tracks the author might set a top down custom camera, for a micro-machines feel. Everyone that drives that track is meant to drive it in the top down view. If there was an option to disable custom cameras, it would destroy the concept behind the track and it would be unfair for those who want to hunt times on the track and respect the way the track was made, since it might be faster to drive without this custom MT.

To be honest, I've never seen forced cams in TM as a problem. Once you learn the way it works, and the reason behind them, then it's much more of a convenience than an annoyance.

Funny thing is, the majority of tracks I play these days are tech and speedtech. They contain no loops and no wallrides. It's just pure driving. And so I rarely build loops or have a need for loopcams anymore. Perhaps find a nice tech or dirt server if you want to avoid loops and wallrides altogether.

[zarexz]

Forced camera changes was never ever a problem. It's only now because the return to cam2 (default) is either bugged or just weird.

btw @ eyebo, nice wall again

[eyebo]

Thanks.

Is it still doing that twitch when the game returns to cam2? Like the camera isn't centered behind the car for a moment.

Did you know that same bug happened in the older games if the driver's car was set to cam1 but the track author had forced cam2 after a loop. It was quite annoying because you were looking at the side of the car instead of behind it. It was never a problem for tracks with properly made MT though. So I'm rather worried that it might be a problem with properly made MT now.

I've definitely experienced it a few times in TM²S, but the game has since been updated, and I haven't played at all since then. I was hoping it was fixed.

[Marioface5]

Being new to the game, I never really thought about the negative effect it would have on the MediaTracker if you could opt out of the camera changes. It would really be disappointing to work hard on getting your track just right only to have people ignore the way it's meant to be played. I've changed my mind, I think things are fine as they are.

[TMarc]

Please don't get us wrong, you made a suggestion, and this is good.
Some people really get trouble with certain camera views, so if they can always play with their preferred view, why not?

Now you also stated the author's creativity point of view, so you understood both sides