More Suggestions for Controls

22SAS_Wimp · Oct 17, 2013

Hi Devs,

I would like to make a few suggestions regarding the controls of Starmade - either new controls or changes to existing ones. I've performed a search of the forums and didn't find these suggestions to add my opinions to.

My first suggestion is a checkbox in the options that reverses or inverts the mouse wheel scroll through the hotbar. At present, you scroll the mouse wheel up to cycle through the hotbar from left to right, and down to cycle right to left. However, due to other games that involve this feature too being the other way around, this way feels counter-intuitive to me now. I instinctively scroll the wrong way because that's the direction I would scroll elsewhere. Having a checkbox in the options to revert the direction that the mouse wheel scrolls through the hotbar will allow people like myself who find it difficult to adapt to change it to their liking, whilst those who manage just fine need not use the checkbox.

I would also like to suggest that, when flying a ship, that it be made not necessary to keep the forward (W) key pressed in order to maintain speed, but rather that it be a toggle - pressing it once will accelerate upto the ship's max speed, pressing it again will stop accelerating (allowing inertia to carry the ship forwards as it currently does). Or at least another checkbox option that allows us to turn this on or off. There are people like myself who have health conditions where keeping a button pressed for long(ish) periods of time can be uncomfortable and painful.
-edit- Adjustment made to this suggestion in post below.

I would also humbly like to suggest a slider in the options menu that allows us to decrease the speed at which the ship rolls in percent. Whilst it's funny to hold down the roll left/right key and spin around like a maniac (which could still be achieved by having the slider set at 100%, allowing the ship to spin as fast as it's size and mass will permit), it is currently very difficult in small ships to roll into the desired allignment because of how fast they roll. Providing us with a percentage slider in the options will mean we can turn it down for minor adjustments as required, but whack it back up to 100% as needed.

Lastly, I would like to request support for mice with more than 3 buttons, so that those of us with a 5/7 button mouse can use the side buttons as we wish.

Thank you for your time and I hope these suggestions are well received.

- Wimpoman

Imperial_Gold · Oct 17, 2013

I like all of these suggestions except the third one. There is already a way to roll softly in-game. Just hold control and move the mouse horizonaly.

MichaelSeph · Oct 17, 2013

To roll softly, just have a bigger ship, the rolling will be slow and soft enough ^^

22SAS_Wimp · Oct 17, 2013

I would also like to suggest that, when flying a ship, that it be made not necessary to keep the forward (W) key pressed in order to maintain speed, but rather that it be a toggle - pressing it once will accelerate upto the ship\'s max speed, pressing it again will stop accelerating (allowing inertia to carry the ship forwards as it currently does). Or at least another checkbox option that allows us to turn this on or off. There are people like myself who have health conditions where keeping a button pressed for long(ish) periods of time can be uncomfortable and painful.

I\'ve had some more thoughts about this and I don\'t believe either of my suggestions would be helpful.

There are times, I have realised, where it is necessary for the ship to be nudged forwards. In both cases suggested, this would be difficult. If the forward key was an acceleration toggle, to \"nudge\" forward the player would need to double tap the forward key to toggle acceleration on then quickly off - this would not have the effect of making the game easier for someone with a health condition (in instances where they need to nudge forward) and would have the adverse affect of making it more difficult to those who don\'t have a health condition (which is also not the goal). If there was a checkbox in the options that switches the forward key between \"accelerate whilst pressed\" (as it currently is) and \"toggle acceleration\", it will also complicate situations where a nudge forward is needed.

The only way around this and still allow the same effect is a seperate key that toggles acceleration on or off, which would then be bound to another button than the forward key (W).

22SAS_Wimp · Oct 17, 2013

I like all of these suggestions except the third one. There is already a way to roll softly in-game. Just hold control and move the mouse horizonaly.

But in this case, it\'s not possible to roll AND yaw at the same time. With a percentage slider in the options, those who don\'t want to use it and prefer to roll with their mouse still can (this won\'t stop them), but those who prefer to roll with a key press still can too, but would have greater control over their rate of roll.

To roll softly, just have a bigger ship, the rolling will be slow and soft enough ^^

But as I said in the OP, I understand having a bigger ship will lower the roll rate. It\'s small ships where the roll is too responsive that it becomes a problem. Solving the problem of small ships rolling too fast by suggesting not having a small ship, is like the joke where the patient tells their Doctor that \"It hurts when I do this\" and the Doctor replying \"Then don\'t do that\" - the underlying problem still exists, the problem hasn\'t been solved - the patient still has an injury that caused it to hurt when they \"do that\" whether they continue to \"do that\" or not. If there was a slider in the options allowing people to lower their rate of roll in percent, you in your big ship with it\'s already slow roll rate won\'t be affected.

22SAS_Wimp · Oct 20, 2013

So, I\'ve just built my first \"bigger\" ship, and I\'m still having a problem with rolling. It turns out it\'s not the rate of roll that\'s the problem, it\'s the degree of roll per key press.

When trying to level out my bigger ship in relation to a space station dock, I tapped the roll key for the first time in that ship. As expected, the ship rolled slowly, but still rolled past the point of straight and level. If I measured the roll in degrees, I\'m sure it rolled from it\'s starting position to it\'s resting position the same number of degrees as my smaller ship, it just took longer.

IT\'S DRIVING ME BONKERS! lol
The ship naturally rolls when it\'s yawed. Dunno why, it just does. Scenario: I want my ship facing out of my dock. I fly to the dock (from a shop, for example) and I\'m out of allignment with the station, so I press the \"allign ship\" button. But, albeit straight and level, my ship is now pointing in a different direction to the dock, so I yaw around (even 90 deg) to face the \"right\" direction, but yawing caused the ship to roll slightly which I of course I can\'t correct by rolling slightly the other way. I\'m stuck deciding between having a ship in a dock facing a wall (but level) and a ship that\'s lopsided (but facing out through the bay doors).

22SAS_Wimp · Oct 21, 2013

I would like to suggest that, when in the Options > Keyboard controls, when the player clicks on a command and key combination to change the key binds, that we have both the option to clear any button assigned to a command and also return the command back to the default key. Thanks.

22SAS_Wimp · Mar 17, 2014

Could I please get an official word from the Devs about my second suggestion above?

Whilst the first suggestion (to allow the reversal of the mouse wheel hotbar scroll) and the third (a way to adjust how far the ship rolls with a single key press), along with support for 5 button mice and the ability to \"clear all\" & \"reset to default\" of the controls, are not particularily important, I do feel the need for a throttle or forward toggle is desperately needed.

As I point out in the OP - there are players, myself included, that have health problems that can make difficult or be hampered by keeping a key pressed down for long periods of time.

I feel including a way to keep a ship travelling forwards without having to keep a button pressed very important to cater for your customers who have disabilities.

22SAS_Wimp · Mar 17, 2014

\"...just search for \"w-key\", \"dampening\", ...\"
Really? lol
http://star-made.org/search/node/w-key
http://star-made.org/search/node/dampening
Nope, not that I can see.

\"The second suggestion is suggested over-and-over again.\"
All the more reason then why it should be implemented.

\"Many peoples (including me) do not like spam.\"
I\'m not spamming. I made a reply post to adjust an idea in the OP, then another to reply to other people in the thread. Then 3 days later I again make a new post to clarify how one of the issues affects both small and big ships equally. The next day, I make a new post with a new suggestion. And finally, FIVE MONTHS LATER, I ask for some response from a Dev. That\'s not \"spam\", just because 4 posts in a row are made by the same person, it just means they had more to add.
(Definition of spam - irrelevant or unsolicited messages sent over the Internet, typically to large numbers of users, for the purposes of advertising, phishing, spreading malware, etc.)

And since your post wasn\'t necessary, it\'s not exactly helping to keep this forum clean either.

kokoilie · Mar 17, 2014

About the first one it\'s a good idea
The second one maybe to doubletap W for cruise mode and press it again to stop it and go by inertia (similar to sprinting in minecraft but you can release the W after doubletapping)

And atlast but not least you can spin your ship by holding CTRL (control) and moving the mouse horisontally as Impreial_Gold stated