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Comment by willis936 | Hacker News Reader

I recently tried to appropriately set the FOV of first person shooters to match the FOV that the screen actually took up. I found that most games would not let me set my FOV that low, even when I was 1-2 feet away from a 24” monitor.

It seems strange that it is given that people want a wider FOV than is natural. It gives a competitive advantage in the majority of scenarios, but I’m surprised more people don’t stop and think “this looks off”.

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The wider FOV makes me nauseous. Setting the FOV as narrow as possible lets me play FPS games. It took me a while to figure out why some games made me sick and others didn't. Turned out to be FOV.

Interesting. I think I have the opposite issue. I try to get FOV in to 85 - 110 range. Otherwise i feel sick (or i need to sit far back from the monitor, which i can't really do on PC).

Why would you want to simulate the experience of looking through a small window from a few feet away?

To use a gamer buzzword: immersion.

I usually play on PC. When I play games on my sofa (very narrow real life FOV) the issue is so pronounced that I feel like I’m on a treadmill. It pulls me out of the experience so much that I’d rather just play a different type of game.

VR goggles. Turn 1-2 feet away into 1-2 inches away

I have and use VR. It is not a casual experience. I set aside a good portion of a day off when I use it. Most of the time when I game, I’m tired after work and just want to unwind with some exploration or creation.

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