Problem with camera

[Kuplo]

I just reloaded COTN a couple days ago and went to play......

All is fine except that when I am zoomed in and push the mouse to one side of the screen or the other, then when I get close to any side of the map, the screen jumps to a point in the map where Im seeing half black and half map (like Im off the edge of the map) then when I move the mouse to the opposite side of the screen the camera quickly jumps to the otehr side of the map and then I've got the other side of the map half black and half map.

If I stay all the way zoomed out than while this can still happen, it doesnt happen anywhere near as often as it does zoomed in even slightly.

I thought this might be caused by a user created scenario but turns out it happens on the TM supplied scenarios as well.

I don't recall this happening when I first bought CotN when it was first released but I didn't have the same computer back then either.

Any clues what causes this issue? Seems highly unlikely that it would be related to my video card since it displays everything perfect and it's seems more related to the game and possibly some setting in the settings that would make it jump all the way across the screen like this from one side of the map to the other.

It would be nice to solve this problem as it's nearly impossible to play it like this.

Thanks,

[Kuplo]

I should also mention that if I use the arrow keys on my keyboard to scroll around the screen, then this problem does not happen.

But it's very difficult for me to use my arrow keys on my keyboard with my current condtion so...... I'd really like to find out what causes this issue with the push scroll system in CotN so that I can fix it and start playing CotN again and perhaps this time, actually finish the game all the way through.

[Raccoon_TOF]

I'm guessing you are playing on a smallish to medium sized map, and that you have a much faster computer (or lower detail settings) than what you played on before. I noticed that on a high-end system with a smallish map, the mouse scrolling can be VERY fast when zoomed all the way in. Especially true if you are also using a fairly "straight down" view angle and a close fog setting.

[Kuplo]

Well the original computer I believe was probably a P4 2.8GHz and then later was an AMD 3500+ and now that I have the problem it is a AMD Dual Core 4600+

I've maxed out every possible setting (even the fog) and set the scroll speed of the push scroll to the slowest. and it's not like it scrolls really really fast when it does this, but rather it just jumps to the edge, which I suppose you could say that it is scrolling and just scrolling so fast that I can't see it actually scroll which might make it look like it's jumping from one point to the next. However when it does this, it's really instantaneous, it's like a split second and Im looking at the other end of the map.

I don't know if the map is considered small or not. It is a user created map, but I have this happen on some of the TM supplied maps as well, but I'll have to open up a couple more of the TM supplied maps and see if I can find a really large one and see what happens with that.

I'll also try to keep the camera at medium zoom and perhaps more of an angle, however I was definately far from being in a completely top down view, but I'll try it again and keep it all in mind and see if I can get it to work more properly.

Perhaps someone knows of a program that would slow down my computer in the case that the speed of my computer is what is causing this?

There used to be programs like that out on the web so that we could play older games, but those were really old games, and I wouldnt think that COTN would need to have my computer slowed down any, but you never know.

[Raccoon_TOF]

No, from the rest of that info, it doesn't sound like that is actually your issue. What sort of mouse are you using? And if it's a non-standard PS/2 and/or a touchpad/trackball, have you made sure to have the most recent drivers installed and run any possible configuration programs? What do you have acceleration settings at in windows (Control Panel -> Mouse)?

[Kuplo]

It's a Microsoft wirless usb Notebook optical 3000 model. And this is a desktop computer, I only use the notebook mouse because it's small and fits where I need to use my mouse.

I believe Im using the standard windows mouse drivers as I've never bothered to install anything special for it since all functions work perfectly on it.

I suppose I could try to find some software drivers for it, however since it works perfectly fine now (other than if the mouse is really the problem in COTN) then I've never bothered to seek any special drivers for it. But really it's just a basic optical USB wireless 2 buttons and a wheel kind of mouse.

[Kuplo]

Well, I have to say thank you! A really big thank you with a huge sloppy wet kiss attached to it.

I downloaded the Microsoft mouse drivers for my mouse and just loaded up CotN and sure enough the scrolling works perfectly now. I hope it stays that way, but in initial testing so far it works just like it used to work on my old computer, so Im quite stoked about it and never would have thought it to be a mouse problem.

So thank you again,

P.S. You can avoid the huge sloppy wet kiss if you duck quickly. ;)

[Kuplo]

Sorry, but you have to send back that sloppy wet kiss that I sent you. :p Not that you accepted it anyway.

I believe that I've now been able to pinpoint what is actually causing it but it sounds so bizarre that I've been quite hesitant to say it but here goes.......

The problem with the camera that I experience with CotN where when my mouse goes to the edge of the screen and the camera jumps to the farthest point that it can in the direction of where my mouse is, might actually be caused because I have run Caesar IV before playing CotN.

I know it sounds absolutely ridiculous, but I've tested this 6 times today. Everytime that I boot up my computer and play CotN, the mouse problem doesnt occur. But if I play Caesar IV first and then play CotN the problem does occur.

I've rebooted my computer, played Caesar IV, then played CotN and the problem is there.

I've rebooted my computer, played CotN first, and the problem is not there.

I've rebooted my computer, played CotN first, and there is no problem, then I play Caesar IV and then try to play CotN again and the problem is there again.

This is leading me to believe that Caesar IV is doing something that to cause this issue with CotN.

However I do realize this sounds ridiculous and since the games don't use the same engine it doesnt sound likely, however it could be that C4 is doing something to windows or more specifically my mouse that is causing this behavior when I play CotN after I play C4.

Oh well.... So far in the 6 times that I deliberately tried to reproduce this problem it has occured each time. I guess if it occurs again, I'll know to reboot my computer and play CotN without first playing any C4.

If it was just a reboot that cured it, then it shouldn't reoccur when I reboot, play cotn, play c4, then play cotn again. I can and have played CotN up to 5 times consecutively to see if it could be something in CotN that is causing this issue but after a reboot and starting and stoppng CotN up to 5 times in a row, the problem does not occur.

Im certainly not asking TM to fix this if this is really caused by what I suspect is causing it because CotN is over 2 years old now and I don't expect them to keep supporting their game forever. Im only posting this in the hopes that if someone else happens to experience this, then this thread will hopefully help them.

And lastly, Im sure that many people don't experience this problem when they play C4 before playing CotN, but then again, not everybody experiences the crashes that occur in C4 when trying to open a trade route either.

[Raccoon_TOF]

Interesting...that makes me wonder how C4 is setting the accel options for the mouse. Well, at least you know how to avoid the problem to play CotN now, even if it does require a reboot to do so. I'm going to play with some of the settings in C4 and see if I can reproduce the problem myself, though as you suggested it probably won't happen...;).