Defaulted Default Controls

[Bothkill]

Does anyone use the default keys to control the ship?
Especially I'm referring to the cursor keys.

In what version of Elite were the cursor keys used to pitch & roll?

Of course you can change your keys (that was the first thing I did after installing Oolite), but, really, is the default keyboard control layout used by anyone?

Moreover, I think the default layout, especially the cursor keys, are a deterrent for newcomers.

And that's who I'm concerned about: the newcomers.

Instead of being faced with the good-old-traditional Elite's 7-keys control, i.e. 3 keys for left hand & 4 keys for right hand, the newcomers are presented with a great game but a clumsy control layout (unless they use the joystick, but, as any old Jameson will tell you, that's not an option).

If anyone here uses the cursor keys for pitch & roll I rest my case...
...
...otherwise I continue.

[Cody]

... (unless they use the joystick, but, as any old Jameson will tell you, that's not an option).

Why is that not an option? I use the cursor keys for roll/pitch when not using the 'stick, as it happens.

[Bothkill]

... (unless they use the joystick, but, as any old Jameson will tell you, that's not an option).

Why is that not an option? I use the cursor keys for roll/pitch when not using the 'stick, as it happens.

Of course sticks can be used, but I said "as any old Jameson will tell you". Old Jamesons are those who play with the original controls.

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Here's the story of how sticks were brought later in Elite universe:

Due to the great success of Cobra Mk III launch, many Jameson wanna-be's sat at the astrogation controls, but almost all of them posed a great peril upon un-docking the Lave station due to the inability to use 7 fingers at the same time.
In order to support the great succes of Cobra Mk III and to avoid the dangers of upon-un-docking-ship-to-station collision of many those who could not use more than six fingers, Faulcon deLacy Spaceways decided to implement an easier solution to ship-controlling: the joystick.
It was named as such due to two reasons:
1. because it brought a lot of joy to those who could not even fly the Cobra in a straight Einstein-curved-space line and
2. because those who adopted this easier solution, stick-ed to this, never wanting to learn to fly it the original 7-finger way.

[Cody]

<chortles> That's a load of old codswallop!

[Smivs]

What he said. I cut my teeth on a C64 back in the day, with a joystick! As a consequence I couldn't play Oolite at first until I bought a new 'stick.

[another_commander]

Moreover, I think the default layout, especially the cursor keys, are a deterrent for newcomers.

Why do you think that? New users can get used to the default controls exactly in the same way, be it ASDF- or cursor keys-like. FWIW, I use cursor keys default layout all the time and I find them a perfectly fine way of controlling the ship. I wouldn't be even able to remember the old Elite controls before reading this thread.

It's just a matter of getting used to it. Nothing special really.

[Eric Walch]

What he said. I cut my teeth on a C64 back in the day, with a joystick! As a consequence I couldn't play Oolite at first until I bought a new 'stick.

Yes, I don't remember I ever played it without a stick on the C64. And Elite was the main reason to buy a new joystick in those days. And the new stick did make a big difference in Elite.

[Commander McLane]

Does anyone use the default keys to control the ship?
Especially I'm referring to the cursor keys.

Yes, I do, and always have. It seems to me that the ship control keys are hardwired to my fingers and brain since the C64, although I may be misremembering. Did the Atari ST version use the cursor keys? Honestly, I don't remember as well. But it seems very natural to me: right hand at the cursor keys for pitch and roll, left hand at WSA for thrust and fire.

So, actually that is exactly the 7-keys control you're speaking about: three for left hand and four for right hand.

But of course that can't be the complete controls, because there are much more functions. But again, the basic functions are pretty much unchanged from classic Elite: RTYU + M for scanner and missiles, E for ECM, Z for zoom, H and G for hyperspace, J for torus. I think I used all of these for the exact same purposes on the C64.

And I'm perfectly happy with it.

[Thargoid]

Fairly much the same here - play the game (occasionally) using keyboard, and the standard config only adjusted for where the keys on my keyboard aren't where the standard one thinks it is.

As to remembering, I'm certain on the ZX spectrum version whilst the basic controls were the 4/3 mentioned, there were several other keys involved. Hence why the game package included a keyboard overlay which sat around the squishboard.

[JazHaz]

I use the BBC keyboard layout for Oolite, which was pretty much the same across the 8-bit computers (C64, Spectrum, MSX etc) which is downloadable via the Wiki, here.