Oolite Bulletins

...the 'dump cargo' and 'fire' buttons weren't so close to the accelerate/decelerate keys The amount of times I've inadvertantly hit a Coriolis with me military laser or dumped a cannister of valuable product.

I know you can remap the keps but my eyes start to glaze over whenever I see anything remotely looking like 'code'.

Just as an aside does anyone have a favourite key mapping script on a standard pc keyboard that they might be able to share with me?

virgopunk wrote:

...the 'dump cargo' and 'fire' buttons weren't so close to the accelerate/decelerate keys The amount of times I've inadvertantly hit a Coriolis with me military laser or dumped a cannister of valuable product.

virgopunk wrote:

I know you can remap the keps but my eyes start to glaze over whenever I see anything remotely looking like 'code'.

Let's try to help then.

Take the file called keyconfig.plist and copy it in to your AddOns folder.

Then, in that file look for the following lines:

Code: Select all

	key_fire_lasers				= "a";
	key_dump_cargo				= "d";

Change the "a" and the "d" to the keys you want to use instead.

virgopunk wrote:

Just as an aside does anyone have a favourite key mapping script on a standard pc keyboard that they might be able to share with me?

Can't help you there, I'm on the default settings, though the joystick buttons allow me a nice range.

Up top the secondary fire button also has two smaller buttons, just perfect for radar and target.

Down below, the closest button is the injector, and beside it the jumpdrive. The other two are ECM and witchspace drive.

http://www.box.net/shared/ixpy258orl

That's my keyconfig as an OXP you can install.

Rotate Cargo = R
Dump Cargo = G

Thanks guys. Once again proving this board really is the friendliest this side of Riedquat

Ok, since it does at least look quite easy to tweak my dashboard I'll follow your advice and see what I come up with. I guess I have to be careful not to overwrite any keys that are already mapped but I'll check with keyboard map bit on the wiki.

I'd love to go with a joystick but I need to keep it fairly low-pro so as not to annoy the Princess Although it I tend to develop carpel tunnel syndrome using my trusty T43 laptop keys.

Just out of interest, how does the mouse compare with a JS when controlling the ship?[/i]

Thargoid wrote:

Personally all I've done is swapped "d" and "D" over (so I can dock without having to go chase a cargo pod I dropped by mistake) and moved \ to z as my keyboard is UK-based.

That said there are probably keys for all sorts of useful functions that I don't use as I've forgotten about them...

What!? They let Thargoids dock!? Shakes head, stirs tea, pauses, tuts, carries on stirring tea thoughtfully

virgopunk wrote:

Just out of interest, how does the mouse compare with a JS when controlling the ship?[/i]

The mouse is a bit of a drunk driving experience.

With the keyboard or joystick, when you want to stop turning you just let go. With the mouse, if you want to stop turning you have to move the mouse to the precise center of the control.

It's as if you are using the mouse to indicate the direction that you want to move a virtual joystick. It can take some practice, but it's can be an improvement over keyboard, especially in how the mouse button is used for firing your laser.

pmw57 wrote:

The mouse is a bit of a drunk driving experience.

With the keyboard or joystick, when you want to stop turning you just let go. With the mouse, if you want to stop turning you have to move the mouse to the precise center of the control.

Actually, if you want to stop turning with the mouse, you only have to right-click once. Try it, it can't get easier than that.

another_commander wrote:

pmw57 wrote:

The mouse is a bit of a drunk driving experience.

With the keyboard or joystick, when you want to stop turning you just let go. With the mouse, if you want to stop turning you have to move the mouse to the precise center of the control.

Actually, if you want to stop turning with the mouse, you only have to right-click once. Try it, it can't get easier than that.

My 5 AM brain remembers that now. So yes, it is better with a mouse, but the joystick is hard to beat.

virgopunk wrote:

Thargoid wrote:

Personally all I've done is swapped "d" and "D" over (so I can dock without having to go chase a cargo pod I dropped by mistake) and moved \ to z as my keyboard is UK-based.

That said there are probably keys for all sorts of useful functions that I don't use as I've forgotten about them...

What!? They let Thargoids dock!? Shakes head, stirs tea, pauses, tuts, carries on stirring tea thoughtfully

I think he masquerades as a Oresrian...Apparently they look very very similar
http://wiki.alioth.net/index.php/Oresrian_Trader

Hi Virgopunk

You can pick up a perfectly good joystick for about £15.
An example is the one I use: Logitech Attack 3 Joystick.
USB connection and 11 programmable buttons. All you need.

I use an X52 FCS. There's a lot of buttons and controls on this HOTAS beastie, all of them programmable so I A) don't have to go messing about with keycontrol.plist, and B) have everything right there in my happy hands. I rarely have to touch the keyboard, and can open up the giant economy sized can of whupass.

The only caveats is that it's large and expensive. I got mine for a cool $99.

Is that the 3 axis variety? Very useful to have Yaw control on the stick.

7 axis all told, but for the purposes of flying in Oolite, 4 main axis.
Here's how I have the axis set up:
X = Yaw
Y = Pitch
R (twist) = Roll
Z (throttle) = Speed

It's real easy to pull some puke-inducing evasions with it.

There's only one word for that...Flash.