Camera Zoom Unlocker

[Filint]

Hi all, quick external tool here to remove the new limit on camera zoom. Blizzard implemented this limit in the Legion prepatch and lots of people have complained, especially raiders, that there is no way to increase the camera zoom limit in Legion. I personally was unable to raid with the new limit so had to do something about it. Using this tool you can zoom the camera out as far as you like in Legion.

To those coming from outside Ownedcore, it's worth mentioning that this tool does not "change" or "modify" the "game files" in any way whatsoever. Nor does it change the memory of the process. However, because it is modifying the way the game client works, it is against the ToS of World of Warcraft. Use at your own risk.

This tool should be compatible with all legion patches, but supports x64 ONLY. x86 support will come if there is sufficient demand.

Instructions

1. Download, unzip, ensure both exe files are in the same directory
2. Run UnlockUI.exe
3. Select a process ID from the dropdown list.
4. Click the button.
5. DO NOT close the window that opens.

Safety

This tool does not write to any part of the game memory, and it does not inject any dll's or other modules. It is completely external. This method has proven to be safe since Mists of Pandaria with other popular tools around here (fly hack, lua unlock, anti afk etc.). There has so far (as of build 22423) not been any capability either in Warden or the game client to detect this method. That said, it's impossible to predict what Blizzard may add and when, so if losing your main account is a life or death situation for you, it's probably best not to use this tool, just to be on the safe side. I can't guarantee that it's safe, there is always a risk to these things, but put it this way - I will be using it on my main.

Download

Download x64

22624 hardcoded

As always, feel free to have a look in reflector and/or IDA if you're interested in how the program works. Nothing is obfuscated or protected in any way. You can also virus scan it if it helps you sleep at night, but do bear in mind some antiviruses will label you as a virus if you breathe in their general direction, so take positive results with a pinch of salt.

Troubleshooting
I get some error box that says strange things
Chances are you don't have both exe files in the same directory, make sure you do then try again

A black box very quickly flashes up and then disappears, what's happening?
Probably you're running the wrong exe file; make sure to run UnlockUI.exe

The program runs successfully but the zoom is not unlocked, what gives?
Likely the unlocker isn't compatible with the current patch; check this thread for updates and let me know if I missed one.

The unlock ui doesn't show any process IDs in the list!
This is almost certainly because you're running a x86 wow instance, note this unlocker is only compatible with x64 wow at the moment.

Credits
Memory editing section, specifically: Ryuk, aeo, TOM_RUS
Darthton for being a seriously cool guy that made an awesome library
Malkor for vigorous testing and feedback.

[Torpedoes]

At present I do not know whether this is scanned by Warden or some other method but I would consider it very surprising if it was. I'll update you on that when I've updated my Warden tool.

I assume you're writing to .R/DATA? Last I checked, warden really only scans .TEXT and I really don't think that Blizzard will look too closely at people unlocking their camera unless it becomes a huge problem. But if they wanted to, they can just check for "illegal" values in the cvar and ban people that way. Will they do that? given their attitude towards WoW, I don't think so. But that could change.

[Filint]

I assume you're writing to .R/DATA? Last I checked, warden really only scans .TEXT and I really don't think that Blizzard will look too closely at people unlocking their camera unless it becomes a huge problem. But if they wanted to, they can just check for "illegal" values in the cvar and ban people that way. Will they do that? given their attitude towards WoW, I don't think so. But that could change.

That's right, I'm writing to .data. They do have some non-text memory scans but like you said they are few and far between (I'm talking mainly things like climb angle here). I agree, Blizzard is unlikely to care about the camera - it provides little advantage over other players (there's more on the screen but there's also more for the brain to process ). My reasoning was the same as yours... I doubt they would check the cvar contents and if they did, they'd be faced with a further difficulty and that is that this cvar has an ingame slider which can manipulate the value within a given range. To my knowledge, the warden memory scans only check if a value equals the expected value, there's no support for range checks.. and I doubt they would add it for a camera unlock :P

[DarkLinux]

I could be wrong but I think Blizz checks to see if you have patched an if statement for the camera distance. Not much of a stretch to say they will try and detect this. I would cap it at the old distance if anything.

[Filint]

I could be wrong but I think Blizz checks to see if you have patched an if statement for the camera distance. Not much of a stretch to say they will try and detect this. I would cap it at the old distance if anything.

They do, can't remember which function it is at the moment. Your suggestion is a good one, does anyone remember the old max distance?
This is the problem for me with external programs. If I made it internal I would just add some basic warden protection, but OOP thats a lot more difficult. Then again if I was in process I'd patch the if you mentioned rather than editing the cvar....

[Alfalfa]

They do, can't remember which function it is at the moment. Your suggestion is a good one, does anyone remember the old max distance?
This is the problem for me with external programs. If I made it internal I would just add some basic warden protection, but OOP thats a lot more difficult. Then again if I was in process I'd patch the if you mentioned rather than editing the cvar....

Factor was 3.4 I believe, and the float value in memory for your actual zoom distance was 50.

Also, Blizzard does consider it advantageous.

[Filint]

Factor was 3.4 I believe, and the float value in memory for your actual zoom distance was 50.

Also, Blizzard does consider it advantageous.

Thanks, based on that link (which I hadn't seen) and the fact that it is already out of date (blizz and their patches heh) I will take a bit more time to update this and make it safer.

[Torpedoes]

If I made it internal I would just add some basic warden protection, but OOP thats a lot more difficult.

Yeah, it's actually pretty safe. I mean the functionality is simple enough that the camera could be patched from Cheat Engine or, even better, just a few lines of JavaScript. I'm thinking this functionality would be cool as part of another tool I made (Vision) but I'm probably going to discontinue it for the time being.

[VesperCore]

Reading that blue post make me sick.

Basically, Game Master learned that you could increase zoom distance by watching Boss Kills on youtube.... *sights*

That's pretty much how blizzard know its own game, and I guess, the idiot GM that discovered that was like: "OMG, this is so sick, we should fix this bug for legion".

Try Alakir, Tectus, Archimonde, etc...


I'm pretty sure archimonde mythic is not even killable without the zoom increased distance since you have too much thing to avoid and all you see is basically his 2 feet.

Thank you very much for your Camera Unlocker, I'll be definitly using that when raiding if you add Warden protection.

[DarkLinux]

I cant even fly my Felsteel Annihilator mount anymore, gives me motion sickness being so zoomed in. I guess they want it to me more immersive, but forcing that on players is crazy. Add VR support if you want people to feel like they are in the game. The last time I was this zoomed in was TBC. If they have not cracked down on morphing programs, I dont think they will for this.

[Filint]

I agree VesperCore it's as if they want to ruin their own game. I think DarkLinux you have plans to add it to your lua unlock using the hwbp right? If so I will hold off updating it for now unless someone is desperate for a different version.

[Pu3Ho]

I agree VesperCore it's as if they want to ruin their own game. I think DarkLinux you have plans to add it to your lua unlock using the hwbp right? If so I will hold off updating it for now unless someone is desperate for a different version.

I believe i am the one desperate for "confirmed safe" version cuz game simply became unplayable for me as tank/rl now.

Edit. I will still use it anyways. Ty for making this possible.

[Aquinm]

Just made an account to thank you (and anyone else helping) for offering the possibility to zoom out like we were able to for the past 10 years. Without you guys the game would be unplayable for me. <3

[Malkor]

Thank you for taking the time to create something that will help make the game playable again for so many of us that are suffering with head ache, eye strain and motion sickness.

I do have a question, does this need to be ran from a specific folder? I am on win7 pro and when I run this, select my process Id and hit unlock, nothing happens. I go back to the game, and try to zoom out more and I am still limited to what the UI slider allows for maximum zoom out. Not sure if I am doing something wrong or if it just needs to be in a specific WoW folder or maybe with the new release number they did something that blocks the tool. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thank you again!

[Filint]

@Pu3Ho, Aquinm its my pleasure I agree as a raider this is a very strange move by blizzard. They seem to have these moments where they decide they want to show they know better than their customers.

@Malkor, no specific folder is needed but I have not updated the tool for the latest patch, I guess they changed the offset. When I get a chance, probably in a few hours, I will update it. I aim to have a properly safe version out within a few days, although you can assume this is almost certainly safe until then