Oolite Bulletins

Hi guys!
Is it possible to use "Delete", "End" and "Insert" keys as some controls in the game? (PC version)
I've set their codes in the keyconfig file but nothing happens.
Their codes (Delete - 46, End -35, Ins -45) are ignored by the game but in the default file the key "Home" has a strange code 302 (must be 36).
Maybe there are special codes or mnemonics for this keys?

You can only use Home and Delete in 1.74.1. Note that on the 1.74 series, Home has code 303, not 302, as the enumeration changed since 1.73.4.

Oolite is a bit funny in this regard, in the sense that some keys (most of them) seem to correspond to the standard keycodes, while others do not and have codes above 300. I am not sure why this happens, but my guess is for compatibility between Mac/SDL builds of the game. In any case, trunk now is capable of using the keys Home, End, Insert, Delete, PageUp and PageDown. Their enumeration codes for keyconfig.plist are scheduled to be 303, 304, 305, 306, 307 and 308 respectively.

Thank you
My congratulations on new release!

Well, if you're running short on keys, you can always "join the joystick heresy" (or gamepad or whatever). Some joysticks have enough configurable buttons to take some of the weight off the keyconfig file.

I've been playing with the keyconfigs a bit, since I've been tinkering with modding an old keyboard to make it into something more like a small control panel for Oolite. I haven't tinkered with the insert/home/pageup/delete/end/pagedown group much, though, since I've been thinking of just pulling those keys and covering the area with a bit of flat plastic, same for the printscreen/scroll_lock/pause-break group.

Basically I want to put more empty space onto the "panel" and group keys a bit more to my idea of logic as to their functions. Not that the game doesn't run well as it is, but for me it would be more immersive to press a key marked "auto eng" (autopilot engage) or just "Engage" in the "autopilot" section of a panel than "shift c" for example.

Computer keyboards are cheap, and used ones can be dirt cheap. So it doesn't bother me to rip one up a bit, maybe paint and greeble it up some, and put new labels on the keys to have a custom control panel for any game I put as much time into playing as this one.

Almost any joystick would have a couple buttons/triggers for fire laser and fire missile.. But if you find one with enough buttons for maybe your ID, missile lock, witchdrive, precision pitch/roll, and maybe a few others, that can free up a *lot* of the "real estate" on the keyboard to lay out as you like. I'm not sure, but I think some things like the views (1,2,3,4) may be hardcoded. I don't use the keys much since I have a "tophat" on my joystick I use for views, and it's not a section of the keyboard I use much, so I'll probably pull the keys anyway.

Oh, and since this is my first post, it'll have to do for intro as well. I've been lurking for a couple months, reading fanfic, trying OXPs and etc. Great game, good forum, hi everybody.

Welcome lurker-no-more-Ganelon!

I've got a gamepad I use for Oolite - 15 programmable buttons - but I use only six, otherwise I can't remember which function I've programmed to which button - the number of times I've accidentally fired a missile rather than untargetting...

DaddyHoggy wrote:

the number of times I've accidentally fired a missile rather than untargetting...

That explains why your kills score is so high!

Ganelon wrote:

Well, if you're running short on keys, you can always "join the joystick heresy" (or gamepad or whatever). Some joysticks have enough configurable buttons to take some of the weight off the keyconfig file.

I do play Oolite with gamepad, but ideally I would want to no more have to use the keyboard with it, at least not while not docked.

It is almost impossible to use keyboard keys while also using the gamepad - you need both hands for that in the most cases.

Would I have two more free buttons on the gamepad, I would start tinkering with remapping the zoom scanner to gamepad buttons - not in Oolite itself, but with joytokey or such utility.

Yeah, too many unlabelled buttons can be a problem. Personally I keep the firing button for missiles off the joystick. Had too many little accidents with that. Besides, it's somehow a bit more gratifying to reach out with the other hand and hit a button on the keyboard/panel for that. But having the witchdrive and the precision pitch/roll on it, as well as ID and targetting functions, I like. I have the witchdrive on the main thumb button, thumb of the other hand is on the precision toggle, and fingers of that hand also run the throttle. That way I use bursts of speed and tight turns a lot more dogfights than I did when I was first playing with just the keyboard keys.

But I've found that naturally I use the keyboard for missile firing and ECM and etc, even when I have them programmed to buttons on the stick. Anything where I actually have a second to think, I'd rather have on the keyboard. But some of the keyboard commands, while I understand the necessity for the game to play on keyboard by default as soon as it's download, they are.. shall we say, "Less than 100% intuitive"?

Like when you pull up to a station after a heckuva fight and you go to autodock and forget to hold down shift and end up jettisoning some cargo. Can you imagine the ribbing a commander would get for that in the bar later?

Old Hand at the Bar: "Does a little old DoDec station scare you that much boy? Saw you drop a load as soon as you got a good look at our station here.. Looked like minerals, but I wasn't gonna git close enough to find out for sure!.. ROFL"

2nd Old Hand at Bar: "Yeah! Talk about excretin' assorted building materials. LOL!"

Be a while living that one down. It's just not a glorious reception, y'know?