Dota 2 camera lock fixer

Thread: [Fixed] Camera zoom bug with “dota_camera_lock”

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[Fixed] Camera zoom bug with “dota_camera_lock”

I have a config script that adds a keybind that toggles dota_camera_lock on while held and off when released, and I’ve found some bugs with the command from constantly toggling it on and off.
If the camera is left on a low area of terrain, such as the river, and then dota_camera_lock is toggled on while the player is on higher ground, the camera will focus closer on the player. Pressing the mouse against the edge of the screen while dota_camera_lock is still on will push the zoom back to the proper distance.

This also works the other way around, meaning it’d be possible for players to abuse this and get the camera zoomed out further than intended.

The camera can also be zoomed out EXTREMELY far by having the camera lock toggled on and dragging up and down on the minimap, and it’ll stay where you leave it as long as you don’t edge pan.

Last edited by Yakkers; 07-08-2013 at 06:03 PM .

I can confirm that, have binds too, some issue.

Bumping this for importance. THIS CAN EASILY BE USED TO CHEAT.
If you center the camera over a high terrain area, such as one of the god ward spots, and then toggle the dota_camera_lock on and then off, the camera will stay significantly zoomed out (even while edge panning) until it is snapped elsewhere.

This really is a crucial bug, it deals with a core part of the engine so it shouldn’t still be here after all these updates.
I encourage everyone to try it out and see how easy it is to create and how problematic it could be towards balance.

Last edited by Yakkers; 12-31-2012 at 01:40 PM .

Let’s talk about dota_camera_lock.

dota_camera_lock “1” is a console bindable command that’ll hard snap the camera to whatever unit you’re controlling, without the smoothing and drifting you get from double tapping a control group key. Coming from HON, I have a config that lets me hold space to center my current unit, I find it’s really helpful for quickly switching between units to check (I can hold space and swap between myself and the courier to quickly see exactly where he is and where he’s going, for example), and it’s also nice to easily walk Diablo-style when I’m not near any enemies.

Anyways, to start I’d like to point out a few catastrophic bugs with the feature. First of all, toggling the bind will often cause the camera to be either more or less zoomed in than it should be, and it’ll float back to the proper zoom if you press the mouse against the edge of the screen while the lock is on. This can be recreated by having dota_camera_lock set to zero, panning over a low point on the map such as the river, and then toggling it back on. The camera will snap back to you, and it’ll be very zoomed in. I’m sure you can imagine how problematic this can be, when I pan over to check a rune or something and then tap space to get back to myself, I’ll half to hold space and slide the mouse all around the edge of the screen to zoom back out where it should be.
This can be done in reverse too, by doing the same process but using a high point like a god ward spot instead of the river, and the camera will end up zoomed out further than it should. This proposes a big issue because it can be used to cheat.

Another similar bug with the keybind can be done by having dota_camera_lock set to 1 (on), and clicking and dragging up and down the mini-map. This will make the camera zoom in and out in real time, and it’ll stay where you left it unless you bump the edges with your mouse. This is a huge problem, because using this bug you can make the camera zoom out EXTREMELY far and get a massive field of vision. I’m amazed these bugs have been here so long, despite the keybind not appearing in the default settings.

So if these bugs can be fixed, I propose that this camera lock function should really be in the settings. It’s a very useful function, and it’d also help players coming from HoN and LoL get into the game easier. I’d suggest two keybind slots, one for “hold camera lock” and another for “toggle camera lock,” the difference being obvious. I’d almost go so far as to say it should be the default keybind, because Space’s “recent action” function is really just an RTS artifact and has very little use in Dota, and it’s also very easy for new players to accidentally tap it and get lost on the map.

So in summary, I thought dota_camera_lock is a pretty big setting, and I think it’s really gone unnoticed as it’s a very useful thing to have, and the bugs that come with it are huge and have a lot of potential to be abused to cheat the game. I’m amazed the bugs have gone on for so long, and I think awareness of it should be spread so Valve can fix it.