One day I was playing Twilight of the Arnor with cheats enabled, when after pressing a combination of "Ctrl-something" keys, the Camera was free for me to rotate in any direction, up and down and sideways and what not. I was wondering if this is a new feature and what is the exact combination to unlock it. I started a new game shortly afterwards and was stuck with the simple Camera view where I can only view planets from above and rotate 180 degrees. (Means that when the Camera was free I could rotate 360 degrees and view planets from below - very cool).
Thanks.
Two possibilities there --
A-- The mouse itself can't clip on the usual right_side_freeze_button (The Stock Acer that i got with the Vista driven PC i bought last Summer, for example, would not react as it should - so i switched "back" to the oldy Dynex gizmo) and so the UI remains static or unable to use the Z+Z'-axis while keeping track of the Y-X orientations only.
or...
B-- This is actually a feature i've been asking for... a truly dynamic spheroid-like three dimensional access to everything on maps! If so, you have to reveal the exact **CTRL-????*** to us all, so that we can also enjoy looking at our ships & planets from underneath IN the interface.
Don't worry Zyx, I'll do some research and get back to you Asap. Can't let this amazing thing go away. Knowing I saw it and knowing it is there keeps me playing even when I'm really busy.
As soon as I posted here I ran to Twilight of the Arnor and did my research. The results are quite simple, although I didn't find it anywhere, not even on the GalCiv wiki. The answer is:
Ctrl+Shift+U = Free Camera
I hope it helps the people out there and get another game experience. Sorry for being stupid if this is already known... oh and Remember - A different perspective on life can change everything
Example:
Omg... this is possibly the most fascinating find anyone has ever ditched for this game! Thanks 360* degree times around.
And... the good news is - it's also available within DA! Considering i am actively developping Fleets & Styles for every last 36 races of 'hem, it will be even more amazing to actually get a sort of Intelligence_Report gimmick right into the Galactic screen. Now all we want is a new coloring option (from prefs.ini, possibly) for the 'brownish' Fog-of-War situation so that i can put it in a shade of Grey such as what is on the Mini-Map.
If only, Carielf (or any SD coders, staff, Frogs, Bees, Administrative crew, C++ experts, whomever - darn) would simply go into that secret source code and list us all the whole hidden or unknown CheatCodes for both DA & TA.
You made my week (Month_S), buddy.
THAT's the kind of stuff this cheat code trick can do to any game immersion feelings!
Where is the Survey ship?
The question is: Why is this available only through cheat-codes? It should be a normal option - I surely would like to use that, but enabling cheats makes MV games 'go boom'.
Nice image Zyx I see you managed to utilize the new command!
Yep, this is indeed a problem. Since I don't play in the Metaverse this makes small importance to me, but in light of this it would be very cool if an option in the interface would allow camera to be free. In the non-cheat mode game of course. This may be something the devs want to work on in the next patches.
Considering Ctrl + N doesn't require cheat mode to be active to work, there doesn't appear to be any reason why Ctrl + Shift + U would have to, either.
If it does, though, I'm putting in my support for it to be changed.
Yep, and since the XW Asteroids are modded as metallic greys with a few variable cloudy shades instead of the stock browns (for version 06-A along with the new fleets and many more "surprises"!), it makes it all more obvious and satisfying to be free at last in space.
I had completely forgotten about this feature, but i even tried to turn on the BLUE lined (btw, any chances this could also be switched to another color) grid just to witness the perspective effects! Took a gambling game with rare Stars and tight clusters on a Gigantic (something else i almost never play on!)... it's crazy to see the vast distances at a crisp 5 degree below the plane.
Oh man, oh man -- right back to modding & now, the much easier way. Thks, to you.
This shortcut does not work unless cheats are enabled, sadly.
SD, please, make this an option or generally available 'hidden' feature?!
Zyx what file do i need to change to alter the asteroids to that great grey you are using?
Cheers
Asteroid_0.png for the multiple sized models themselves and,
AsteroidDustCloud_0,1,2,3.png for any four variations of the surrounding 'Dusty things'... these being more of an Alpha Channel trick while keeping transparency.
Or, simply wait for the whole new set of alterations (plenty besides the above Asteroid stuff!) X-Worlds v06-A!
Thanks I managed to find the right files to alter
Oh and the find for the free camera is fantastic for screenies
Awesome!
Curious... when I use this cheat, it frees up the camera along the Y axis (vertical), but my X (horizontal) rotation remains locked. Maybe this is because I am using a laptop's touch pad as opposed to a mouse....
The cheat itself should be 'responsive' to whatever mouse normal behavior (incl. a third scroll button) in the X-Y-Z usual range. Touch pads react on the flatened plane built into the digital array itself. Electronically it can't find depth cuz it ain't there. That's how i understand this stuff, anyway.
I cannot for the life of me get this cheat to work.
Just what the hell am I doing wrong?
For me it does not work on any game saved before the cheat ending was put in place. Even then i sometimes have to press esc. and then go back into the game to get it to work. It does seem to work when it feels like it
By "X" I mean parallel to the grid in the game world, and by Y I mean perpendicular to that grid. I have a center button and a touch-pad version of a scroll wheel, so I don't think its the hardware.
Probably stupid question, but... Do you have cheats enabled? If so, check Ctrl-M to make sure, money should be added to your game if cheats does work, then try again.
Scoutdog, it may be something with the Interface options, try to play with that.
Strange, indeed then.
Could you plug a "true" mouse to this lap as an alternative test and see if that one works? Cuz in my case, i must hold the middle-scroller button to move the camera freely.
EDIT; split seconds between posting and i think MasterU may be on the right track with some settings for the UI.
Yes.
Errr... how do u enable cheats?
Go into the C/Program Files/ Stardock Games/ GalCiv2 folder, which has all of the files for the game inside. You will see three different objects with the game logo on them. Right-click on the one called GalCiv2, and select "create shortcut". You can then drag the shortcut to wharever you want it. To enable cheats, right-click on the shortcut, select "properties", and find the line in the window marked "target". Go to the end of the text (outside the quotes), and press the space bar, then type "cheat" (not with the quotation markes around it). If you are using an expansion, the icon you need to make the shortcut to will be in the appropriate subfolder.
Just to make it a whole easier for you, just make a shortcut of the game's exe and in the address (after you did right click>properties) add this line to the end:
GC2TwilightOfTheArnor.exe" cheatThis will make your life easier as well, all about cheats: https://www.galciv.wikia.com/wiki/Cheats_and_keyboard_shortcuts
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