Simple Over the Shoulder Camera

Put your character to one side and see more of what's ahead. Simple Over the Shoulder Camera provides a small set of camera controls for World of Warcraft: Forever.

Features

• Adjust your view: move the camera left or right with a slider, from -5 to +5.
• Swap shoulders: mirror the offset with one click or an optional key binding.
• Restore your view: center the camera or turn the addon camera off to restore your previous settings.
• Remember your preferences: save the offset and enabled state separately for each character.
• Save a favorite: click Save to keep a separate copy of your offset and enabled state, then Load saved to return to it after experimenting.
• Recover after a beta settings reset: Save also keeps a backup in one character macro, independent of the normal addon settings file.
• Keep familiar controls: normal movement, targeting, mouse controls, and mouse-wheel zoom remain available.
• Stay lightweight: no additional addons or libraries required.

How to use

1. Install and enable Simple Over the Shoulder Camera.
2. Type /shoulder to open its settings.
3. Adjust the offset slider, then use your mouse wheel for distance.
4. Click Save to keep this character's offset and enabled setting. Load saved restores that setting later.

Forever beta saving workaround: this client can write addon settings but fail to load them after reload or login. Click Save once on each character to create a small backup named ShoulderData in that character's macros. Wait for Backup ready before reloading. The macro contains only settings, performs no actions, and is not put on your action bars. Keep its name and contents unchanged.

After that first Save, your last-used offset and enabled state update automatically in the backup. Your saved favorite changes only when you click Save. On loading, the backup takes priority over normal addon preferences, so both can be recovered if the beta loses its SavedVariables. Neither store includes zoom distance.

Saving needs one free character macro slot and cannot update that backup during combat. Pending changes save after combat ends; wait for Backup ready before reloading or logging out. If saving fails, the menu explains why; the favorite is still available for the current session, but recovery after reload is not guaranteed. Saving does not reload or restart the game. A crash or forced closure can still lose changes the client has not written to disk.

Version 1.0.5 fixes Save and restores backups even when they arrive late during login. If the menu stays on Waiting for macros to load, open /macro to let the client finish loading its macro list, then check the backup status again. The loaded addon version is shown below the menu title and in /shoulder status.

The first-load setting is a moderate right-shoulder offset of 1.5. Use Swap shoulder for the opposite side, Center for zero offset, or Off / restore to return to the previous camera settings.

Useful commands:

• /shoulder 1.5 - enable a right-shoulder offset.
• /shoulder -1.5 - enable the opposite shoulder.
• /shoulder swap - mirror the saved offset.
• /shoulder off - disable and restore previous settings.
• /shoulder save - save this character's current offset and enabled state.
• /shoulder load - apply this character's saved favorite.
• /shoulder status - display camera diagnostics locally.

Optional shortcuts are available in WoW's key bindings under Simple Over the Shoulder Camera. No keys are assigned automatically. Camera changes requested during combat apply after combat ends.

Compatibility and notes

The camera controls have been tested in WoW Forever beta 1.60.1 (build 69913, interface 16001). Saving and restoring the offset after a UI reload have been confirmed in game with version 1.0.5. The update also passed simulated reload, modern API, late-loading, combat, and error checks. Other client versions are not currently claimed as supported. This is not for the original Vanilla 1.12 client.

To allow the offset, the addon temporarily adjusts WoW's character-centering and reduced-camera-movement settings. Turning it off restores the previous settings it still controls. The experimental-camera popup is hidden while enabled; other warnings remain visible. Use /shoulder off if the camera motion is uncomfortable.

Mounts and shapeshifted forms can change the apparent offset. Avoid using multiple camera-control addons at once. Before uninstalling, use /shoulder off and log out normally.

Previously named Forever Shoulder. The internal folder name remains ForeverShoulder to preserve settings and key bindings for existing users.