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Ultimate Camera Mod v3.0.1 Beta

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@fitzforge fitzforge released this 03 Apr 21:55
v3.0.1
2f40d57

UCM v3.0.1 Beta - Release Notes

Nexus Mods page temporarily unavailable - The Nexus Mods team is currently reviewing UCM's source code as part of their new-author verification process. This is a routine security check to confirm the mod is safe for the community. The review is in progress and I'm actively working with them. Downloads are available here on GitHub Releases in the meantime. Thank you for your patience!

First public beta of Ultimate Camera Mod v3.
Source code: v3-dev branch
Nexus: Ultimate Camera Mod

Clean install required

Remove any previous UCM folders from your game directory and verify game files via Steam before running v3.0 for the first time. v3 will auto-migrate any legacy .json presets on first launch.

What is v3?

v3 is a complete redesign of UCM built around an export-first workflow. Instead of writing directly to the game's PAZ archive as the primary action, v3 lets you tune your camera in-app and export a .json patch for use with mod managers - so your camera settings travel as a shareable file that anyone can import without needing UCM.

Direct PAZ install is still available as a secondary option for users who prefer it.

Export targets:

Recipients of your exported .json do not need UCM installed.

Three-tier editor

v3 organises editing into three tabs so you can go as deep as you want without being overwhelmed:

Tier Tab What it does
1 UCM Quick Fast layer - distance, height, horizontal shift, FoV, lock-on zoom, centered camera, mount sync, steadycam. Live camera preview and FoV cone preview
2 Fine Tune Curated deep-tuning in searchable bordered cards. On-foot zoom levels, horse/mount zoom, global FoV, special mounts and traversal, combat and lock-on, camera smoothing (Steadycam), aiming and crosshair position. Builds on top of UCM Quick
3 God Mode Full raw XML editor - every parameter in a searchable, filterable DataGrid grouped by camera state. Vanilla comparison column with modified values highlighted. Expand/collapse all, per-state filtering

Changes in UCM Quick sync into Fine Tune and God Mode so all three tiers stay consistent with the same session.

File-based preset system

  • .ucmpreset file format - dedicated shareable preset files. Drop one into any preset folder and it just works
  • Sidebar preset manager with collapsible grouped sections: Game Default, UCM Presets, Community Presets, My Presets, Imported
  • New / Duplicate / Rename / Delete from the sidebar
  • Lock / unlock - UCM presets are permanently locked; user presets are toggleable via padlock icon. Editing a locked preset surfaces a toast instead of silently doing nothing
  • Auto-save - changes to unlocked presets write back to the preset file automatically (debounced)
  • True Vanilla preset - decoded directly from your game backup with no modifications, in its own "Game Default" sidebar group. Quick sliders are synced to actual game baseline values
  • Import from .ucmpreset, raw XML, PAZ archives, or Mod Manager packages - with optional author / description / URL metadata
  • Auto-migration from legacy .json presets to .ucmpreset on first launch
  • Active preset header - shows preset name, author, description, and a clickable Nexus link when the preset has one

Preset catalogs

Browse and download presets directly inside UCM. No accounts, no browser needed.

UCM Presets

  • 7 official camera styles: Heroic, Panoramic, Close-Up, Low Rider, Knee Cam, Dirt Cam, Survival
  • Definitions hosted on the v3-dev branch with catalog.json auto-generated by GitHub Actions
  • Definition-based architecture - presets stored as style definitions (style_id + settings), session XML baked locally from your game files + current camera rules
  • Auto-rebake on rules change - when UcmStylePresetRevision is bumped, all UCM presets regenerate on next launch. No stale XML, no manual intervention
  • SHA256 update detection via .catalog_state.json sidecar - pulsating update icon when the catalog has newer definitions

Community Presets

  • Presets hosted on the ucm-community-presets GitHub repo, catalog auto-generated by GitHub Actions
  • SHA256 update detection - direct file hash comparison against catalog. Pulsating update icon when newer versions are available
  • Update prompt offers to duplicate the old version to My Presets before downloading

Want to share your preset? Export as .ucmpreset from UCM, then submit a PR to the community presets repo or send it to 0xFitz on Discord/Nexus.

Multi-format export

The Export for sharing dialog outputs your session in four formats:

Format Use case
JSON Byte patches + modinfo for JSON Mod Manager / CDUMM. Human-readable patch region labels. Vanilla-guarded - Prepare is only available when your live game file matches UCM's vanilla backup
XML Raw playercamerapreset.xml for other tools or manual editing
0.paz Patched archive ready to drop into the game's 0010 folder
.ucmpreset Full UCM preset for other UCM users

Includes title, version, author, Nexus URL, and description fields. Shows patch region count and bytes changed before saving .json.

Camera improvements in v3.0

Design philosophy: value edits only

v3 removes the structural XML injection features from v2 (extra zoom levels, horse first-person mode, horse camera overhaul with additional zoom tiers). Injecting structure has a much higher chance of breaking after game updates. UCM v3 modifies only existing values - same line count, same element structure, same attributes. This makes presets safer to share and more resilient across game patches.

Steadycam - massively expanded coverage

Steadycam now smooths 30+ camera states that previously had jarring vanilla snap transitions. Every section is individually tunable in Fine Tune > Steadycam.

Lock-on zoom (replaces Combat Camera dropdown)

The old "Combat Camera" dropdown (Default / Wider / Maximum) has been replaced with a Lock-on zoom slider:

  • Range: -60% (zoom in on target) to +60% (pull back wide)
  • Works independently of Steadycam
  • Affects all lock-on, guard, and rush states
  • MaxZoomDistance=30 always applied, preventing vanilla camera distance clamping

Lock-on distance scaling

Lock-on ZoomDistance values now scale dynamically with your chosen camera distance and style. No more jarring zoom-in when locking on at high camera distances.

New in v3.0.1

Preset system architecture

  • Definition-based UCM presets - UCM presets in the repo are definitions only (style_id + settings, no session_xml). Session XML is baked locally from your game files + current CameraRules on startup
  • UcmStylePresetRevision (v3) - bumped to force rebake of all UCM presets with fixed CameraRules
  • UCM preset catalog with Browse button and GitHub Actions auto-generated catalog.json
  • Community and UCM update detection - SHA256 comparison against GitHub catalogs with pulsating update icons
  • Browse catalog redesign - cleaner card layout with description/tags on the left, Download and Nexus link buttons on the right
  • Game Default sidebar group - Vanilla preset separated into its own group
  • Raw byte downloads - community presets write raw bytes to preserve SHA hash for update detection
  • Update preserves metadata - community preset updates preserve URL, author, and description

Camera rules fixes

  • Fix game crash on load - removed Player_Interaction_LockOn and Interaction_LookAt from LockOnSections. Modifying these NPC dialogue camera sections caused the game to crash on launch
  • Fix game crash on load - removed unsafe byte-replacement fallback in ArchiveWriter that produced invalid XML
  • Preview fix - camera preview and FoV now update immediately when switching presets

Tuned UCM presets

All presets tuned with mount camera sync enabled:

Preset Distance Height Shift FoV Lock-on Description
Heroic 5.0 -0.2 0.0 25 0% Shoulder-level OTS with smoothed transitions
Close-Up 3.2 -0.2 0.25 30 0% Tight shoulder OTS, cinematic framing
Panoramic 7.0 0.0 0.0 30 0% Wide filmic pullback, head-height, great for exploration
Low Rider 5.7 -0.8 0.0 25 0% Hip-level full body view with wide horizon
Knee Cam 5.0 -1.2 0.0 25 0% Knee-height dramatic low angle, action movie feel
Dirt Cam 5.0 -1.5 0.0 25 0% Ground-level extreme low angle, intense and gritty
Survival 3.0 0.0 0.3 25 0% Tight OTS with offset, tense horror-game feel

Style IDs renamed

  • Old cryptic IDs (western, cinematic, immersive, lowcam, vlowcam, ulowcam, re2) replaced with self-documenting names (heroic, panoramic, close-up, low-rider, knee-cam, dirt-cam, survival)

UI improvements

  • Height slider range extended to -1.6/1.5
  • UCM Quick layout - Custom Offsets and Global Settings side-by-side at top, camera previews side-by-side below
  • God Mode SECTION column - auto-stretches to fit window width
  • Locked preset toast on all tabs - Fine Tune and God Mode now show the red toast when clicking disabled controls
  • Steadycam tooltip on disabled sliders
  • Live camera preview shows selected preset name

Bug fixes in v3.0.1

  • Game crash on load caused by modifying NPC dialogue camera sections
  • Game crash on load caused by ArchiveWriter replacing XML bytes with spaces
  • Camera preview and FoV not updating when switching presets
  • Session XML bake producing corrupted data for UCM style presets
  • Community preset "View on Nexus" link disappearing after update
  • False update icons showing on all presets after download
  • Locked preset toast not appearing on Fine Tune or God Mode tabs
  • Steadycam tooltip not showing on disabled sliders

Known limitations

  • HUD centering (ultrawide) is temporarily disabled - a game update added integrity checks that trigger a Coherent Gameface watermark. Will be re-enabled when a workaround is found
  • This is a beta - please report issues on GitHub or the Nexus mod page

Credits

  • 0xFitz - UCM development, camera tuning, advanced editor, ultrawide HUD support
  • MrIkso - C# PAZ/PAMT parser, ChaCha20, LZ4, archive repacker
  • mcraiha - Pure C# ChaCha20 implementation
  • Maszradine - CDCamera - camera rules, steadycam system, style presets (original Python version)
  • manymanecki - CrimsonCamera - dynamic PAZ modification architecture (original Python version)
  • orangeees - RDR2 community preset

Source: v3-dev branch
Nexus: Ultimate Camera Mod
VirusTotal: v3.0.1 - Clean
Support: Ko-fi

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