Fix stretched CoasterCam and change FOV

Have you noticed that the Coaster Camera is locked at 5:4 aspect ratio and stretched on widescreen view?
Use this quick guide to patch the game to the correct aspect ratio!

Introduction

The game is programmed to always use a 5:4 aspect ratio regardless of your set resolution.

I was hoping Frontier would fix this bug in the RCT3Complete re-release, but they haven't. I have therefore decided to fix it myself instead.

0. What do you need?

You only need a Hex editor, I recommend HxD (you don’t even have to install it), but any hex editor will do just fine: https://mh-nexus.de/en/downloads.php

This guide is for the Windows version of RCT3 Platinum from Steam, and RCT3 Complete from Steam or Epic Games Store only, other versions will NOT work!!!

I can't post this guide on the Complete Edition version without buying it on Steam which I will not do without a sale.

1. Open the game in your hex editor

Select RollerCoaster 3: Platinum! or RollerCoaster 3: Complete Edition In your Steam library, press the little gear on the top-right and choose Properties…. Select the Local Files tab and choose Browse Local Files….

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Find RCT3plus.exe (for Platinum) or RCT3.exe (for Complete Edition) in the directory that opens (you might only see RCT3plus or RCT3 if you have file extensions hidden) and open it in your hex editor of choice.

You may wish to create a copy of your original executable to revert the changes in case you wish to quickly undo this patch without using the Verify Integrity of Game Files... option in Steam.

2. Change the aspect ratio

First determine your aspect ratio based on the following table. If your resolution is missing, please contact me in the comments at the bottom.

Resolution	Aspect Ratio	Hex Value
720x576, 1280x1024, 1500x1200	1.25 (default)	00 00 A0 3F
960x720, 1440x1080, 1600x1200	1.33333337307	AB AA AA 3F
1280×800, 1440×900, 1920×1200	1.6	CD CC CC 3F
1920x1080, 2560x1440, 3840x2160	1.77777779102	39 8E E3 3F
2560x1080, 5120x2160	2.37037038803	26 B4 17 40
3440x1440	2.38888883591	8E E3 18 40
3840x1600, 5760x2400	2.40000009537	9A 99 19 40
3840x1080	3.55555558205	39 8E 63 40

The aspect ratios above are the rounded decimal representation of the closest available value for the true aspect ratio calculated by dividing the pixel width by the pixel height of the resolution.

Now go to offset 8D7CCC (Platinum) or A5493C (Complete Edition) in the file, you can use Search>Go To… in HxD:


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You can now see the current aspect ratio right next to the cursor in the area marked on the screenshot below.

DO NOT CONTINUE if this is not 00 00 A0 3F (1.25), you are changing the wrong value! The only exception is if you already changed the value earlier.

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Now change the value to the aspect ratio chosen above, either by typing the hex value in the left section, or the decimal value in the right section.

3. (Optional) Change CoasterCam FOV

If you were to save and play the game now, you might notice that the vertical FOV of the Coaster Camera has changed. You need to change another value to fix that.

First determine your horizontal FOV based on the following table. As before, if your resolution is missing, please contact me in the comments at the bottom.

Resolution	Aspect Ratio	Adjusted horizontal FOV	Hex Value
720x576, 1280x1024, 1500x1200	1.25	1.57079637051 rad (90 deg)	DB 0F C9 3F
960x720, 1440x1080, 1600x1200	1.33333337307	1.63529014587 rad (93.7 deg)	30 51 D1 3F
1280×800, 1440×900, 1920×1200	1.6	1.81518673897 rad (104 deg)	0A 58 E8 3F
1920x1080, 2560x1440, 3840x2160	1.77777779102	1.91595232487 rad (109.8 deg)	ED 3D F5 3F
2560x1080, 5120x2160	2.37037038803	2.17102766037 rad (124.4 deg)	1E F2 0A 40
3440x1440	2.38888883591	2.1774353981 rad (124.8 deg)	1A 5B 0B 40
3840x1600, 5760x2400	2.40000009537	2.18124270439 rad (125 deg)	7B 99 0B 40
3840x1080	3.55555558205	2.46546044 rad (141.3 deg)	1B CA 1D 40

You may choose a different FOV based on your preference. The adjusted horizontal FOV was calculated by preserving the original vertical FOV using the Python code below:

def convert(aspect, original=1.57079637051):
     vertical = 2*math.atan(math.tan(original/2)/1.25)
     horizontal = 2*math.atan(math.tan(vertical/2)*aspect)
     return horizontal, math.degrees(horizontal), struct.pack("f", horizontal).hex()

Now go to offset 118235 (Platinum) or 4E1456 (Complete Edition) in the file, you can use Search>Go To… in HxD:


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You can now see the current coaster camera FOV right next to the cursor in the area marked on the screenshot below.

DO NOT CONTINUE if this is not DB 0F C9 3F (1.57079637050629), you are changing the wrong value! The only exception is if you already changed the value earlier.

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Now change the value to the FOV chosen above, either by typing the hex value in the left section, or the decimal value in the right section.

4. (Extra Optional) Change FOV of other Cameras

The above should be sufficient for most people.

If you wish to tinker with the FOVs of other cameras, you can find the list of all FOV locations I could find in this table (use column Plat for Platinum, CE for Complete Edition):

Offset (Plat)	Offset (CE)	Default hFOV	Name	Comments
8d7cc2	a54932	45deg	Camera	main park view, default for other cameras where unspecified
b69fd	3ca87	72deg	AquariumCam (initial)	BUG: this should equal to the static value
b5a37	3f179	90deg	AquariumCam (static)
b5a48	3f18a	72deg	AquariumCam (peep)
6645d9	406dc5	72deg	BuggyCam	James Hunt cheatcode
704418	d37cb	45deg	DartCam (initial)	only when DartCam is first activated, see below to change zoom out value
b970a8	c4f9ac	11.25deg	DartCam (zoomed in, zoom speed)	see below to change values separately
58e8e0	332139	72deg	FireworkCam
dfabe	116039	72deg	FlatRideCam (initial)	should equal to the peep value
cee2f4	e991b8	90deg	FlatRideCam (static)
cee2f0	e991b4	72deg	FlatRideCam (peep)
3afc42	3bded2	72deg	PeepCam	Jonny Watts cheatcode
71f82	404b0b	72deg	TakePhoto	manual photos at Photo Point
73ece	404a21	63deg	TakeGroupPhoto	peep group photos at Photo Point
744be	404931	72deg	TakeCoasterPhoto	peep coaster photos
4b34a9	7058c7	72deg	VistaPoint (initial)	Photo Point, takes effect when placed
b7a3d4	cb5abc	126deg	VistaPoint (max)	max zoom value (should be larger than initial)
4b0498	706e36	126deg	VistaPoint (max)	max zoom value (should be equal to above)
4b9f8e	75be2b	72deg	WaterCannon
773c72	829a0f	72deg	WildAnimal

Use the table in section 3 for adjusted FOVs where the default is 90deg.

Use the following tables for adjusted FOVs where the default is 72deg, 45deg, or 11.25deg:

Resolution	Aspect Ratio	Adjusted horizontal FOV (72 default)	Hex Value
720x576, 1280x1024, 1500x1200	1.25	1.2566371 rad (72 deg)	7C D9 A0 3F
960x720, 1440x1080, 1600x1200	1.33333337307	1.3185935855886008 rad (75.5 deg)	AD C7 A8 3F
1280×800, 1440×900, 1920×1200	1.6	1.4982619285583496 rad (85.8 deg)	0C C7 BF 3F
1920x1080, 2560x1440, 3840x2160	1.77777779102	1.6035528494266298 rad (91.9 deg)	38 41 CD 3F
2560x1080, 5120x2160	2.37037038803	1.8858933763692407 rad (108 deg)	F4 64 F1 3F
3440x1440	2.38888883591	1.8932833453572324 rad (108.5 deg)	1C 57 F2 3F
3840x1600, 5760x2400	2.40000009537	1.8976813411754363 rad (108.7 deg)	39 E7 F2 3F
3840x1080	3.55555558205	2.2402484836531733 rad (128.4 deg)	3B 60 0F 40

Resolution	Aspect Ratio	Adjusted horizontal FOV (45 default)	Hex Value
720x576, 1280x1024, 1500x1200	1.25	0.7853982 rad (45 deg)	DB 0F 49 3F
960x720, 1440x1080, 1600x1200	1.33333337307	0.83207439 rad (47.7 deg)	D4 02 55 3F
1280×800, 1440×900, 1920×1200	1.6	0.97501909 rad (55.9 deg)	DA 9A 79 3F
1920x1080, 2560x1440, 3840x2160	1.77777779102	1.0647380764 rad (61 deg)	56 49 88 3F
2560x1080, 5120x2160	2.37037038803	1.3316384481 rad (76.3 deg)	21 73 AA 3F
3440x1440	2.38888883591	1.3392059803 rad (76.7 deg)	1A 6B AB 3F
3840x1600, 5760x2400	2.40000009537	1.3437249084 rad (77 deg)	2E FF AB 3F
3840x1080	3.55555558205	1.7340603972245685 rad (99.4 deg)	B1 F5 DD 3F

Resolution	Aspect Ratio	Adjusted horizontal FOV (11.25 default)	Hex Value
720x576, 1280x1024, 1500x1200	1.25	0.19634955 rad (11.25 deg)	DB 0F 49 3E
960x720, 1440x1080, 1600x1200	1.33333337307	0.209347064 rad (12 deg)	14 5F 56 3E
1280×800, 1440×900, 1920×1200	1.6	0.2508148234 rad (14.4 deg)	CD 6A 80 3E
1920x1080, 2560x1440, 3840x2160	1.77777779102	0.278342274 rad (15.9 deg)	E1 82 8E 3E
2560x1080, 5120x2160	2.37037038803	0.36928316 rad (21.1 deg)	AF 12 BD 3E
3440x1440	2.38888883591	0.372102290392 rad (21.3 deg)	31 84 BE 3F
3840x1600, 5760x2400	2.40000009537	0.37379310 rad (21.4 deg)	CF 61 BF 3E
3840x1080	3.55555558205	0.5463017797398609 rad (31.3 deg)	6F DA 0B 3F

5. (Extra Extra Optional) Change FOVs of DartCam separately

The DartCam zoomed out value is shared with pathfinding and physics collision code, so you can't safely modify it directly. Instead you must tell the game to look at an unused part of memory and put the new FOV there. You can use the same approach to modify the zoomed in FOV and zoom speed independently. I would recommend setting the zoom speed much higher, since the default animation is excruciatingly slow by modern standards.

The sequence CC CC CC CC is often used as padding and can be safely modified, but make sure to use a 4-byte aligned location. Use the following table for a valid configuration. To use it, change the hex value at each Address Offset from Old Address to New Address, and replace CC CC CC CC with your new FOV at offset FOV Offset.

Make sure the zoomed out FOV is larger than zoomed in FOV, or the zoom animation will never finish!

Platinum edition:

Address Offset	Function	Old Address	New Address	Default FOV	New FOV Offset
701d9c, 701c72	zoomed out	50 70 F2 00	D4 1D B0 00	45deg	701dd4
701d90, 701d04	zoomed in	A8 70 F9 00	D8 1D B0 00	11.25deg	701dd8
701d7d	zoom out speed	A8 70 F9 00	DC 1D B0 00	11.25deg	701ddc
701c5e	zoom in speed	A8 70 F9 00	FC 1D B0 00	11.25deg	701dfc

Complete Edition:

Address Offset	Function	Old Address	New Address	Default FOV	New FOV Offset
d60d4, d5f84	zoomed out	1C 89 04 01	24 6B 4D 00	45deg	d5f24
d60cd, d603a	zoomed in	AC 09 05 01	28 6B 4D 00	11.25deg	d5f28
d60b5	zoom out speed	AC 09 05 01	2C 6B 4D 00	11.25deg	d5f2c
d5f7c	zoom in speed	AC 09 05 01	1C 6F 4D 00	11.25deg	d631c

6. Done

Now save the file and run the game. The Coaster Camera view should now have the proper size!

If you messed something up and the game crashes instead, you can restore the original file using Verify Integrity of Game Files… on the Local Files tab of the game settings in Steam.

[ruffi-ho]

had to also set options.txt in the appdata/roaming. all good!

[ruffi-ho]

amazing. trying this soon ty!

[Nulano]

@Fooney I have had a look at the sound system, but I couldn't easily find the volume settings. I will have another look when I have more time, but it won't be anytime soon.

[Nulano]

Correct, I have updated the guide with the values for 32:9.

[Kill Master]

My resolution is 3840x1080 (Its a Samsung Super Ultra-Wide 32:9)
I'm assuming that would make my ratio 3.55555558204651.

[Fooney]

This is amazing. I needed the peep cam changed! Now how can I adjust sound levels like make screaming not so loud?

[Nulano]

3444 divided by 1440 is about 2.8888889, so somewhere between the 2.37 and 2.40 aspect ratios (either would probably look close enough). I calculated the exact values and added them to the guide.

[Nulano]

I also found the park view FOV, but didn't realize it at the time, thanks! Note that it also affects all cameras which don't use an explicit FOV, but that is probably fine.

I would not recommend changing the zoomed out value of DartCam directly as it is also used by pathfinding and physics collision code. Instead it is best to tell the game to look at an unused part of memory and put the new FOV there, but I can't help you find that in Complete edition.

I have updated the guide with 45deg and 11.25deg (DartCam zoomed in) tables, as well as the main park Camera FOV and other DartCam FOVs.

[the birb]

Oh and fun fact, one of the 45 deg camera values I found is also the normal view you view your park in! That was an interesting discovery lol

[the birb]

Very useful, could you also make a table for the default 45 degree camera? (DartCam)

I also found the other DartCam camera so it will go back to the one you set on Complete Edition, not sure which it is for Platinum but it is one of the ones with the same value