DescentBB

In the spirit of getting back into the game, I thought I'd try and optimize my config. Seems like a lot of you guys do well with a KB+mouse config.

Just looking for a layout that lets me move independently up/down, for/back/, left/right, and banking simultaneously. Oh and of course afterburner lol... All with one hand.

I currently rely on the joystick for banking but feel I'd be more accurate with a mouse.

I have fairly nimble fingers so I'm open to suggestions!

http://descentchampions.org/forum/viewt ... ?f=4&t=661

see, in particular, Drakona's post at the top of page 2

Here's my Descent layout for K&J.

WASD: Basic movement (Forward, backward, and L/R Slide)

Shift: Up Slide

Ctrl: Down Slide

Spacebar: Afterburner

Here's for you. Keyboard for banking: Z and C (I use the twisting axis of joystick for those controls)

I don't play multi-player but I am a "Difficulty: Insane" single player guy. This is the layout I use:

Thrust group: All movement forward & back, up & down, left & right, using my middle three digits. (QWEASDZXC)
Weapons group: Thumb and smallest finger on Shift and Space for weapons, pull them in slightly for bombs and flares. (Shift, Ctrl, Alt, Space)
Mouse: All static turning and banking I used to have the scroll wheel up/down set to cycle weapons/secondaries but I'm pretty quick with pressing 1-0 so I don't use it that much.

Pro tip: I use the center mouse button to toggle rear view. Very handy.

Thanks for all the help guys!

Glowhyena, that's actually the exact config I started with when I got back into the game a few days ago. Joystick for banking (which was new to me) and shift/ctrl for up down. Unfortunately if I want to play with a mouse banking will be difficult to figure out, albiet I could pull it off with a fancy multi-button mouse?

Vision, your scroll wheel is set to banking? I couldn't get mine to work with banking, strange. Any tips for how to assign the "thruster" group for maximum intuitiveness lol

All that said, I must say I really like Drakona's layout. Here's what I have in mind so far:


J/K: left/right
Y/H: front/back (keeping my middle finger on front/back from my old wsad config)
T/G: up/down
R/F: banking (on my weekest digit)

As Entropy and Drakona were mentioning, moving the whole thing over on this side of the keyboard would let me use both the right alt and space bar with my thumb for rear view/afterburn... eventually. And I still have keys all around I could use with my pinky or index for weapon swaps.

Thoughts?

I don't know about fancy mice for Descent games much, but I prefer K&J rather. I have no problem with accuracy with a joystick after many years of playing games, especially Descent franchise.

MichaelAngelo wrote:Vision, your scroll wheel is set to banking? I couldn't get mine to work with banking, strange. Any tips for how to assign the "thruster" group for maximum intuitiveness lol

No no, the buttons are for banking. I edited the drawing for clarity. My mouse wheel/button is set this way:

scroll up: cycle primary
scroll down: cycle secondary
button press: rear view

As far as the thruster group goes:

forward/back: DC
sliding left/right: AS
slide up: QW
slide down: ZX

NOTE: I don't actually use the E key in my config, but you might find it more comfortable to do WASD for forward/slide and QEZC for up/down.

But really, any combination that feels comfortable for your fingers works. The way I see it is, three fingers mapped to three directions. I want to be able to easily tri-chord in every direction and this allows me to do that. Move with left hand, turn with right.

I use the NUMpad for everything on the KB.

5 Forward
6 Reverse
8 Slide up
2 Slide Down
1 Bank Left
3 Bank Right
7 Cycle Primary
9 Cycle Secondary
. Afterburner
0 Drop Bomb
4 Switch Bombs
Enter Fire Primary
+ Fire Secondary
- Fire Flare
* Automap
/ Rear View

In Overload, I use Up Arrow as my Headlights.

I find this very easy to use because it localizes everything to one small sections and you don't need to stretch your fingers very far to get things done XD

interesting, how there is so many different config concepts . I cant imagine myself playing with something different then this:

left hand:
thumb: space - secondary
index finger: E - bank right, D - slide right, X - flare
middle finger: W - forward, S - backward
ring finger: Q - bank left, A slide left
pinky: shift - primary

right hand:
thumb: left - turn left, ctrl - bomb
index finger: up - pitch forward, down - pitch backward
middle finger: right - turn right
ring finger: num1 - slide up
pinky: num0 - slide down

But I'm only descent 1 player and when I think about it, there is no good possible place for afterburner for me, I would have to switch to kb + mouse or some joystick..
Also I cant shoot flare while sliding right. That can be sometimes useful, if your selected primary is fusion. Maybe I will add some extra flare button for left thumb or pinky...

Anyway, if I switch to kb + mouse, I would highly probably use left/right mouse buttons for slide up/down and wheel button eventually for afterburner.

I've kinda got the opposite problem, I bought a joystick/throttle and haven't really got around to setting it up. Bought it because I've played keys only for 20 years and now my hands cramp up after about 20 minutes of intense flight.

My keys setup has been this:

Forward: A
Reverse: Z
AB: Left Shift
Bank Left: Q/W
Bank Right: E/R
Fire Primary: Left Ctrl
Fire Secondary: Left Alt
Flare: Space
Bomb/Countermeasure: X/C

Turn Left: Left Arrow
Turn Right: Right Arrow
Turn UP: Down Arrow
Turn DOWN: UP Arrow

(right above the arrows)
Strafe Left: Del/Ins
Strafe Right: PgUp/PgDn
Strafe Up: Home
Strafe Down: End

Some of the double keys are in case I miss a key and hit the other one, and sometimes, rarely... I'll hit Ctrl, Alt and Del at the same time, and that, well, has been a problem, but sometimes I just disable the Del key and use the Ins. Anway, it was rare enough it didn't cause me to change my layout. Some keyboards also have a limit on how many keys you can press at the same time, so your keyboard selection is important. The bad thing is, these days, they don't put that kind of information in the specifications, so its really hit or miss.

Capm wrote:Some keyboards also have a limit on how many keys you can press at the same time, so your keyboard selection is important. The bad thing is, these days, they don't put that kind of information in the specifications, so its really hit or miss.

Not only how many keys, but mostly which exact combinations.
If you buy it online, then it is a problem. I recommend go to store and ask shop assistant if he let you try. There are some programs online, where you can check key collapses. For example I tested every keyboard in local electro shop through this: https://www.microsoft.com/appliedscienc ... ained.mspx