Anyway to turn off head bob in Left 4 Dead?

[Udgnim]

I'm assuming there isn't since I haven't been able to find a method via google, but thought I'd give the AT forum a shot.

the head bobbing + movement mechances + FOV in Left 4 Dead basically gives me motion sickness and I can only play in short spurts otherwise I risk a headache for the rest of the day.

I DLed the L4D 2 demo and didn't experience any issues, so I'm guessing Valve changed some mechanics between L4D 1 and L4D 2.

 

[El Guaraguao]

Motion sickness from a game? Is you some kind of gamer-noob?

 

[Udgnim]

Motion sickness from a game? Is you some kind of gamer-noob?

thank you for the great informative post

games with small FOVs and/or head bob can give people motion sickness. it doesn't happen to everyone but it does happen to enough people. most games there's a way to increase FOV / remove headbob. google "Borderlands motion sickness." unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a way to increase FOV or remove head bob in L4D 1, which makes my purchase of L4D 1 on Steam a poor one.

 

[EarthwormJim]

You can change the FOV in left 4 dead. That's probably the setting giving you the headaches, not necessarily the headbob.

The console command for FOV is: fov_desired ##

I play with an FOV of 90. 75 I believe is the default, and the motion sickness inducing one.

You have to enable the console too btw.

 

[Mike Gayner]

People who get motion sickness from a game need to take a harden-up pill TBH. I'm sick of hearing people bitching about it - news flash pussies: it's just a game, you're not actually moving.

 

[EarthwormJim]

People who get motion sickness from a game need to take a harden-up pill TBH. I'm sick of hearing people bitching about it - news flash pussies: it's just a game, you're not actually moving.

Pretty retarded response. It's not like you can chose not to get motion sickness...

The problem is game developers seems to keep the same FOV for every aspect ratio. A 4:3 ratio should have a lower FOV than a 16:10 (or 16:9), yet the FOV rarely changes in most games when you change the aspect ratios.

That's where the sickness arises from, a mismatch in the field of view and the width of the image being displayed.

 

[ZzZGuy]

People who get motion sickness from a game need to take a harden-up pill TBH. I'm sick of hearing people bitching about it - news flash pussies: it's just a game, you're not actually moving.

Shut up and look it up.

 

[Udgnim]

You can change the FOV in left 4 dead. That's probably the setting giving you the headaches, not necessarily the headbob.

The console command for FOV is: fov_desired ##

I play with an FOV of 90. 75 I believe is the default, and the motion sickness inducing one.

You have to enable the console too btw.

the fov_desired command doesn't seem to do anything

I did find out though that the FOV does change with aspect ratios, and I actually want the FOV for the 16:9 ratio but my monitor is a 16:10 ratio.

this is the FOV for 16:10

this is the FOV for 16:9. more wider.

I tried editing the text file that sets aspect ratios, but the game keeps changing back to the default values. anyways, I'll probably consider playing at 1360*768 (16:9 ratio) and see how it goes.

 

[mizzou]

head bob is pretty minor in L4D, have you ever seen the head bob in STALKER??? That one would probably make you puke in like 2 seconds

 

[Jjoshua2]

Yeah, stalker is the only game I have ever looked into disabling bobbing. I don't think I ended up doing it though. I sure wished I could tone it down a bit easily though.

 

[gorcorps]

Every other valve game I've played lets you change the FOV... have you looked at the settings at all? Should be under options > video tab > advanced settings, then a slider that can change from 75 to 90.

 

[Elcs]

First game that gave me motion sickness was Half Life 2... I think it was the different FoV they used.

Stalker and Zelda & the Twilight Princess both gave me varying degrees of motion sickness. Crysis gave me it around the alien ship section... falling in that elevator really threw my stomach for a ride.

To those uninformed ignoramuses who think it doesn't exist or it's something you can turn on and off or that I should "man up a bit" should actually do some research into the condition. It is far more common than I expected when I had my first instance of it.

 

[minmaster]

i've read from various forums of people that they get dizzy and motion sickness from head bob and limited FOV, so i know it does affect a lot of people. i just can't see what they mean though because it doesn't happen to me. i guess i'm so used to gaming.

the only time i ever got sick was when i first played descent. man if some of you guys play that game now, we're gonna have a lot of puke covered keyboards.

 

[Skott]

I've had it happen to me on occasion. With me its usually a sign I need a break from a game because I been playing too long in one sitting. Time to get up and let eyes rest a bit. Sometimes people with eye sight problems get the motion sickness. For some people they just easily get motion sickness and not much can be done about it. If you get it a lot might be time to have your eyes checked. Another thought is maybe take some motion sickness pills.

 

[Elcs]

i've read from various forums of people that they get dizzy and motion sickness from head bob and limited FOV, so i know it does affect a lot of people. i just can't see what they mean though because it doesn't happen to me. i guess i'm so used to gaming.

the only time i ever got sick was when i first played descent. man if some of you guys play that game now, we're gonna have a lot of puke covered keyboards.

Having started playing PC games in 1996 starting with Quake LAN matches, I played Descent and didn't find it terribly bad. I did have to take things a little slower than I would with a typical FPS but it never held a candle to how Half Life 2 affected me.

 

[Alienwho]

You guys who get motion sickness from games, do you also get sea sickness as well? I just wonder if it's common to get it from one and not the other.

 

[Skott]

I've been on some cruises where the only time I start to feel a little woozy is when I'm inside the ship and looking out a porthole for a length of time but if I'm up on deck or inside away from a porthole I'm perfectly fine. I've never been sick in small boats out on the Gulf of Mexico nor on any lake. Something about looking out a small window with the rolling waves I guess. Dramamine takes care of any problems for me usually when it comes to cruises. That and I learn not to stare out portholes.

 

[EarthwormJim]

You guys who get motion sickness from games, do you also get sea sickness as well? I just wonder if it's common to get it from one and not the other.

Yes, I get motion sickness on boats, planes and cars.

I've been playing games for 20 years now, if there was any "getting used to it" necessary, I'd be there already. Some people get motion sickness, others don't.

 

[Elcs]

You guys who get motion sickness from games, do you also get sea sickness as well? I just wonder if it's common to get it from one and not the other.

Sea sickness? Not sure. The last time I was on a boat it was down a local river on a booze cruise type arrangement. I was rather drunk by the time we sailed out to the mouth of the river and back. When i got home my bed was bobbing around gently like the river. No sickness feeling.

I do not get travel sick via car, bus, coach, train or plane. Though if I am on the right hand side of a car (ie. behind the driver) then I can feel a little woozy on a rare occasion.

 

[QueBert]

When I walk in real life my head bobs, when I run it really bobs. If a game lacks head bobbing I feel like I'm some sort of robot on wheels.

 

[El Guaraguao]

When I walk in real life my head bobs, when I run it really bobs. If a game lacks head bobbing I feel like I'm some sort of robot on wheels.

Thats a mighty nice skill you have there. Heading bobbing while walking AND running? shiiet.

 

[Via]

Yeah - the head bob in STALKER is really bad. I really felt like puking after a bit. It took some getting used to (I searched for a way to turn it off as well).

Some may disagree vehemently, but I still say at least some people (such as myself) can play their way through motion sickness.

I had the experience as long ago as HL. It would make me feel like hurling 10 minutes in when I first tried it. But I kept at it and the feeling eventually stopped.

Maybe it depends on your tolerance for nausea.

The only game that still MAKES me have to stop is RtCW. I can only play about 1/2 hour before I have to stop.

 

[Ika]

Motion sickness from a game? Is you some kind of gamer-noob?

I'm a pretty pro FPS gamer (CAL-i level or so in CS:S), but I experienced motion sickness for the first time playing HL2. I couldn't believe it, after an hour and a half or so I had to lie down because I was going to puke. I stopped playing HL2 and I've never experienced it since. It was a very very strange day. I think I did some googling and part of it might've been because HL2 has a 90-degree FoV, while most other FPSes have 75 degree FoVs. Also it probably didn't help that I was playing on a 5:4 monitor way back when.

 

[dighn]

interesting. I get motion sickness easily but did not notice any from left 4 dead. most 3rd person shooters will put me on the floor within half an hour though.

 

[ussfletcher]

Borderlands is terrible, I don't see how they let that out of testing with that field of view, it makes a LOT of people sick, it is the first and only time I have ever gotten sick from looking at something.

I do get sea sick as well though.