Star Wars Outlaws Photo Mode Updates

Mik Bromley

Oct 275 min read

ℹ️ - Star Wars Outlaws Photo Mode Updates

Developer: Massive Entertainment

Publisher: Ubisoft

Platform: PC, PS5, Xbox X|S

Initial Release: 30th August 2024

It's always good to see big new releases launch with a photo mode included. It's even better when that photo mode gets some love and attention from the studio with several upgrades and improvements after launch, and that's exactly what we're seeing with Star Wars Outlaws.

As the first brand new photo mode in a Ubisoft game since, well, "a long time ago", Outlaws delivered some excellent and refreshing in-game photography features. As mentioned in my full review though, it also came with quite a few rough edges that did make it a little awkward to use at times.

Thankfully, the teams at Massive Entertainment and Ubisoft have been keen to listen to community feedback on the matter – my own included – and have started to smooth of many of those edges while also building on the solid photo mode foundations beneath.

As you'd expect, some of the key useability issues have been addressed as a first priority with the mixed-up camera axis inversion having been not only fixed but given separate options for in-game and photo mode behaviour. The View Finder UI which was previously invisible on console versions of the game (unless Scanlines were enabled) has also been resolved, making the focus system much easier to understand.

"A lovely innovation indeed and one that shouldn't be kept quiet...."

Strangely though, this fairly major improvement doesn't seem to get a mention in any of the patch notes. In fact, there are a number of changes that haven't been listed, despite them making some pretty good improvements to the user experience.

First then, here's a round-up of the photography-related changes that ARE listed in their respective patch notes before I go over some of the other updates that can be found in the latest version of the photo mode.

Title Update 1.1.2:

Miscellaneous

Inverting one axis in the controls menu will no longer invert the other one in Photo mode

Full 1.1.2 patch notes

Title Update 1.2:

UI, HUD and Settings

Fixed an issue where FOV was not working correctly when in 21:9 mode on consoles

Photo Mode

Fixed an issue where players were unable to rotate the camera while Adrenaline Rush was active
Fixed an issue where settings would reset when switching presets
Fixed an issue where photo mode couldn't be selected while Kay was using binoculars

Miscellaneous

Fixed an issue where Kay closed the wrong eye when aiming down sights

Full 1.2 patch notes

Title Update 1.3.0:

Photo Mode

Enabled splitting camera inversion from gameplay camera
Added option to disable UI sounds in photo mode
Camera speed applies to both panning and movement
Enable switching between 16:9 and 21:9 modes
Implemented a colour picker UI
Added a black, white and neon cyan Star Wars Outlaws logo
Fixed an issue where some UI elements could be seen in photos

Accessibility

Added settings to invert X and Y axis of photo mode camera

Full 1.3.0 patch notes

Plenty of fixed listed there then, and it's worth giving special mention to the new aspect ratio toggle. Not only does this give you convenient access to the 16:9 or 21:9 ratios straight from the photo mode, but the camera's field of view responds properly to the change now too.

This is a big deal actually, because it means that the 21:9 mode no longer merely crops pixels from the upper and lower parts of the image and actually widens the viewing angle of the camera for a broader and much more cinematic presentation.

So, what about those other changes that were not listed? Some are minor, you might even say trivial; others are actually quite interesting and innovative:

Additional Changes (as of update 1.3.0):

Photo Mode

View Finder Mode UI is no longer invisible on consoles
View Finder Mode AF is no longer deactivated when resetting photo mode settings
Camera lens presets have been renamed to better reflect their focal length / zoom ranges
Photo mode settings are now adjusted in smaller and more consistent increments
An additional Hue / Saturation / Luminosity (HSL) mode has been added to the Colour Grading options
Photo mode settings can be operated while UI is hidden – a minimised UI is shown to display on the current setting

That last one is perhaps difficult to explain briefly in a change log, but it is a really great idea. All too often, photo modes in various games make it impossible to alter any settings without having the UI on-screen, blocking the view of a large portion of the image.

By simply pressing the D-Pad while the photo mode UI is hidden, a reduced UI will temporarily reappear to show only the current setting that is being adjusted. You're not limited to that one setting either and are free to cycle through every tab and option that the photo mode has to offer, just in a minimised and much less obstructive view.

A lovely innovation indeed and one that shouldn't be kept quiet.

Things are certainly moving in a great direction then and, although there are still a few bugs to be found like the image going completely red resetting the RGB colour grading, this photo mode may yet get better still.

With the next update arriving on November 21st and set to be the biggest for the game so far, could we expect to see even more upgrades to the already excellent photo mode? On current form, there's every chance we might.