Dogfighting Basics: Guide by Dantes (tb3)

Nic's RGN Post

Rec.games.netrek
May 13 1998, 12:00 am
On Wed, 13 May 1998, Shawn McKisson wrote:
> In relation to Fred's post, would anyone care to share their "optimized"
> keymap? Surely several people have found ones that work quite well, and
> since there is no sense in reinventing the wheel..

I don't think there is a universally optimal keymap. You will have to find out what works best for you.

One of the weirdest keymaps and buttonmaps around is probably Lauer's:

buttonmap: 122%3p4s5x6g7f8d9gawb]cg

keymap: qzamzx<owzsbxxeRdpc;rDftvit]gdb[y_h^n<u}j>m{ifk0,Iorll.m`00) $$eWwQw|Qpk;l'l\l[ ]h/XDpGdH^>oSbZ2A%
(ed - this is a pull from rgn using deja/google news, these signs are odd enough to make me think something didn't translate right despite Nic's comments - checking)

They kinda speak for themselves, but what's most odd is that he has speed on his mouse. Button 1 is warp 2, button 2 is maxwarp and button 3 is turning (p is turning remapped which you can see in the keymap). He also relies on shift, ctrl and shift+ctrl, which I could never do -- I don't think it's fast enough and not reliable enough.

My thoughts on creating a keymap is that you will want to rest your fingers on the buttons you need to access at the shortest time. I rest my left hand on + so therefore I will want the keys that I need to hit in a great hurry when dogfighting on those five keys, and other important keys very close to those four.

When designing your keymap, you will also have to remember that one finger can only press one button at a time. Therefore if you, for instance, have torps on <f>, you will not want to have some function you want to use while torping on <g>, <r>, <t>, <v> or <b> which are the keys you also use your index finger to hit.

I believe in keeping phaser, turning and something else (I used to have info when I was on a three button mouse) on the mouse.

Important keys to think about when designing your keymap:

a) Warp keys.
Speed changes while dogfighting is crucial, so therefore you will want to have warp keys as close to your default position as possible. I have found that using only two keys for warp is was suits me best. When in CA I have mapped <s> my base warp which is 3, and <a> is maxwarp; so I just switch between those two the entire time while dogfighting. One might validly argue that it is unnecesary to use both <a> and <s> for speed changes since you don't ever want to hit both "base warp" and "maxwarp" at the same time. But I switch between "base warp" and "maxwarp" so often that I have found that keeping them on <a> and <s> is what works best for me.

I also have "warp 2" on <q> which I use when I need a good orbit (and never while dogfighting).

b) Tractor/Pressor
Don't use toggles when it comes to tractor/pressor, if you do you will find yourself seriously crippled when it comes to dogfighting in high lag. In an intense dogfight, you will have to use your tractor/pressor more than 75% of the time. In really intense and quick dogfights (<10 second dogfights) I use my tractor/pressor the entire time, which is perfectly alright since the tractor/pressor takes so little fuel

I have "turn on tractor" on <d> and "turn on pressor" on <g>. I find this is really good because since I am an aggressive dogfighter I will want to fire (I have torps on <f>) and tractor at the same time. Since I have pressor on the same finger as torps, there will be a one tick delay between my pressor and torp stream, but that is perfectly alright since pressor is most often a defensive manouver used to push yourself out of the enemy torp stream, and should you torp while pressoring out of an enemy torp stream, the enemy will have a very easy time dodging.

I have "turn off tractor/pressor" on e.

c) Weapons
The torps and phasers are probably the most important thing on your keymap. These two you will want on the most easiest accessible keys. With a good keyrepeat, it is very easy to throw good torp streams, so therefore I want my torps under my left index finger (<f> on my keyboard). I want my phasers under my right index finger (left mouse button), so that I can keep a rapid pace with my phasering.

I don't believe in using the plasma in a CA in any other occasions than just for fun (since it uses almost a third of the CA fueltank), so therefore I have my CA plasma on <t>, which is not too far away but still not super-fast accessible either.

d) Keymap
My default (CA) keymap looks like this: keymap: q2roW]yeuwfttfg^e$d_ da%s3wsnrvomX~m!cc{C}rljm

I hope this helps.

Regards,
Niclas