motion sickness .. only from games with source engine?

ROfu

ROfu

ROfu

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Joined
20 Oct 2002
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333
Location
London
Hey guys

I've been an avid gamer for many years. I have had most consoles and upgrade my computer a few times a year to play the newest games at thier highest graphics levels. In all my time playing games all the way back to my spectrum 48k, i've never suffered from motion sickness on any game - even playing unreal2k4 at 200% speed no problems. But play ANY game based on the Halflife2 Source engine, i get motion sickness and feel quite ill after 30min of play.. has anyone else experienced this?
Does anyone have any suggestions on whats going on - im using an LCD panel so the refresh isnt the issue, i get atleast 90fps average so its not because of stuttering..
I'm at a loss as to whats making me feel ill while playing these games.
I cant see any subtle effects which could be messing with my vision.
Only suggestion a gaming friend mentioned was none of the HL2 source games have any weapon sway, or character motion (your kinda float rather than walk). Could this be the issue? as with Team Fortress 2 on the horizon (team fortress classic being one of my fav multiplayer games) could do with figuring whats causing this and possibly avoiding or combating its effects.

Cheers
ROfu
 
Yeah, it actually affects a surprising number of gamers. Apparently it uses an odd 'field of view', something like 70 degrees when most games use 90? I'm not sure, there's a console command to change it, seems to help most people and get rid of the sickness.
 
that sounds like a nice suggestion :) will try it and hopefully cure me
I'll reply with the results.. as it might help others too.
nice one gents

Cheers
ROfu
 
ye i have the same problem with HL and also with the old doom games. It's a real pain when you come across a good game and have to play it for less than 30 mins :(
 
Well the Fov change works a treat for me.. like playing every other game now. changing it from 75 to 90 stopped all motion sickness, from what ive read on the buggy and hovercraft sections they used a fov of 90, and i rarely felt ill playing those sections.
So if anyone else seems to be having motion sickness with the source engine (im sure it might be worth looking at other games too) try upping the FOV to 90+
Cheers HicRic means i can get the next episodes of HL, without feeling rough as hell :)

Cheers
ROfu
 
I used to get the same feeling playing 99% of any StarWars FPS :( awful sensation, no other games have ever bothered me though yet.
 
the command is default_fov **, so i used default_fov 90 in the console
im sure you could probably use it in the commandline to start the game.. but not tested that yet.

as far as why this works.. i guess it could be because your eyes take in a lot more information than 75deg.. so its closer to what our eyes are used to.

Hope this helps ya :)
Cheers
ROfu
 
Are there any disadvantages to playing CS:S at field of view of 90 degrees instead of default 70 then? Must be otherwise why dont they make that the default if everyone prefers it and helps see more?
 
the default for CS:S is 90 i discovered earlier to change it u need to be playing on a server with cheats enabled
 
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