Author Topic: Where are the keyboard controls for the game documented?  (Read 14143 times)

Offline x4000

  • Chris McElligott Park, Arcen Founder and Lead Dev
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Where are the keyboard controls for the game documented?
« on: May 27, 2009, 12:03:02 pm »
The keyboard controls are in a controls.txt file in the game installation folder.  If you look on the in-game menu (hit Esc while playing the game), there is also a View Controls button.  In future releases, thanks to an excellent player suggestion, there will also be a link to the controls text file in the Start Menu folder for the game.

And, for your reference, here is the current version of the controls document (this may be updated somewhat with future versions of the game, so be sure to always consult the document that comes with your version of the game for the most up to date info):



Mouse controls:
---------------

---LEFT CLICK---
Left click:          select unit (deselects prior selected)
            (ship placement mode) set position of ship-to-build
Left click + drag:       select multiple units (deselects prior selected)
Shift + Left click:       select unit (adds to prior selected)
            (build button) queue 5 ships instead of 1
            (ship placement mode) set position and stay in mode
Ctrl + Left click:      (on wormhole) send view through wormhole
            (build button) queue 50 ships instead of 1
Shift + Left click + drag:    select multiple units (adds to prior selected)
Left double click:      select all units of same type on screen group
Alt + Left click:       deselect unit
            (on item in build queue) send item to front of queue
Alt + Left click + drag:    deselect multiple units
Alt + Left double click:   deselect all units of same type on screen group

---RIGHT CLICK---
Right click:         selected units move to target location
            selected units attack target enemy
            (build button) dequeue ship of clicked type.
            (galaxy map) send selected units to clicked planet.
            (ship placement mode) exit ship placement mode
Shift + Right click:       (build button) dequeue 5 ships instead of 1
            selected units add target location to their waypoints
            (galaxy map) add wormhole path to end of current path
                of all selected units.
Ctrl + Right click:      (on wormhole) send selected units through wormhole
            (build button) dequeue 50 ships instead of 1
Alt + Right click:      (on empty space) attack-move
            (on enemy) kill enemy, then attack-move
            (on item in build queue) send item to back of queue
V + Right click:      (on empty space) enter free-roaming defender mode
            (on enemy) kill enemy, then be free-roaming defender
X + Right click:      (on capturable enemy on player planet) kill enemy

---MOUSE WHEEL---
Mouse Wheel:         Zoom in and out (zooming in centers on mouse cursor)
Shift + Mouse Wheel:      Zoom in and out at double speed


General Keyboard controls:
--------------------------
Tab:      Toggle Galaxy view
H:       center on friendly forces at current planet
P:       Pause
Ctrl(hold):   Show names of all planets in Galaxy View
      Show movement paths for all allied ships.
Shift(hold):   Show movement paths for all selected ships.
      Double pan speed.
      (Galaxy Map) Show wormhole paths for all selected ships.
      (Galaxy Map, Hover Over Planet) Show links to all adjacent planets.
Z(hold):   Show range of all selected units, and/or units under mouse cursor.
      Ships with cursor over them show filled range, others just border.
Z+X(hold):   Show all enemy ranges in addition to the above.
A(hold):   Show selection circle around all on-screen ships
      (this is useful to better tell owning players of ships in big battles)
I(hold):   Show hit % and damage for all selectd ships, and/or units under mouse cursor.
G(hold):   Ship movement commands issued while this is held will use Group Move.
      (Group Mode Already On) Ship movement commands will use Lone Move.
F:      Create a Flare.
~:      Go to most recent Flare.
Enter:      Open the chat window.
Delete:      Scrap selected units.
Backspace:   Scrap selected units.
Escape:      If in Galaxy View, return to the main game display.
      If in Main View, bring up the in-game menu (does not pause).
Spacebar:   Center display on selected units
Spacebar(hold): Follow selected units with display

F2:      Show/hide score display.
+/-:      Increase/Decrease game simulation speed.
[/]:      Decrease/Increase skipped frames per drawn frame on local machine.

View Controls (Zoom/Pan):
-------------------------
Q:      No Zoom
W:      Mid Zoom 1
E:      Mid Zoom 2
R:      Farthest Zoom
PageUp:      Zoom In (centers on mouse cursor)
PageDown:   Zoom Out
Arrow Keys:   Pan the view.

Control Groups:
-------------------------
Ctrl+0-9:   Set control group
Ctrl+Shift+0-9:   Add to existing control group
0-9:      Select control group ships at current planet.
      (switches to other planet if none at current)
      (never selects ships from more than one planet at a time)
Shift+0-9:   Select control group ships at cur. planet in addition to cur. selected.
0-9 (Double):   Select control group ships, as above, but also center view on them.
0-9 (Triple):   Select control group ships on the next planet that has them.

Ship Selection Shortcuts:
-------------------------
(Press the button to select the next ship of the given type at the current planet.
Hold Shift while pressing the button to center the view on that ship.)

B:      Command Stations and Mobile Builders
S:      Science Labs
Period (.):   Engineers
D:      Docks and Advanced Factories
T:      Starship Constructors
U:      Starships
O:      Scouts

--(These buttons do not follow the standard rules of cycling through ships of a type.)--

Comma:      Select next idle mobile military unit at current planet and center on it
Shift+Comma:   Select all idle mobile military units at current planet
Ctrl+Comma:   Select all military units (idle or not) at current planet
L:      Select half of the currently selected units (rounding up per ship type)

Object Viewing Shortcuts:
-------------------------
(Press the button to center the view on the next object of the given type.)
/:      Wormholes
C:      Crystal Deposits
M:      Energy Capsules (Where Metal Harvesters Are Built)

Minimap Shortcuts:
-------------------------
F5 (hold):   Show military ships only
F6 (hold):   Show wormholes and resources only
F7 (hold):   Show enemy ships only

Galaxy Map Shortcuts:
-------------------------
Alt+0-9:    Select priority-setting mode 0-9.
F:      Create a Flare.
N:      Display Mode: Normal
Q:      Display Mode: My Ships
A:      Display Mode: Allied Ships
E:      Display Mode: My And Allied Ships
R:      Display Mode: Resources Used
M:      Display Mode: Metal Used
C:      Display Mode: Crystal Used
K:      Display Mode: Knowledge Found
S:      Display Mode: My Science Labs
O:      Display Mode: Scouts
L:      Display Mode: Last Scouted
U:      Display Mode: Starships
T:      Display Mode: Starship Constructors
D:      Display Mode: All Constructors
I:      Display Mode: Incoming Waves
W:      Display Mode: Hostile Wormholes


About Attack-Move Mode:
-------------------------
Military ships that you place into attack-move mode (hold Alt while right-clicking) are drawn with a yellow border in far zoom.  They will automatically attack and chase any ships that come into their range.  Unlike most other RTS games, your ships will automatically enemy attack any ships that come into their range, even without attack-move being turned on (ships are able to move and attack simultaneously).  So the benefit of attack-move mode is the chase behavior.

Engineers and mine layers can also be placed into attack-move mode in the same manner.  Normally engineers and mine layers will only search nearby for targets to repair/rebuild/assist -- however, with them in attack-move mode, they will go anywhere on on the current planet to repair/rebuild/assist allied ships.


About Free-Roaming Defender Mode:
-------------------------
Military ships that you place into free-roaming defender mode (hold V while right-clicking) are drawn with a pink border in far zoom.  They will automatically attack and chase any ships on the current planet.  Like Attack-Move mode, they will return to their position you clicked when there is no longer a valid target on the current planet.  This mode is especially effective for protecting your planets against the situation when a few small ships slip through your defenses and start roaming around destroying your harvesters.


Setting Modes From Constructors:
-------------------------
If you set your space docks or advanced factories into Attack-Move or Free-Roaming Defender modes, then any ships they produce will automatically emerge in the appropriate mode.


About Group Move:
-------------------------
When you give a group-move command (either by having the group-move button toggled on, and issuing any kind of movement command, or by holding G while issuing a movement command), selected ships will all move at the speed of the slowest selected ship.  This is great for keeping ships together when making an attack, or when you want to provide a mobile guard for a science lab, colony ship, or another slow, poorly-defended ship.  This even works when routing ships between multiple planets!  Ships that are using group mode show up with a turquoise border in far zoom.  If some ships have damaged engines, they will still move slower than the rest of the group -- the rest of the group will not slow down to accomodate that.


Debug Info Keyboard controls:
---------------------
F1:         Toggle turn length (ms) display
F3:         Write/clear Debug Info
Ctrl+Shift+F5:      Write the UnitTypeStrength.txt file, which can be useful for relative strength analysis.
I(hold/while debug on):   Show the last target search cycle for each unit onscreen.


Network settings:
---------------------
Server port:   32320
« Last Edit: June 15, 2009, 10:25:49 am by x4000 »
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Offline Zulgaines

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Re: Where are the keyboard controls for the game documented?
« Reply #1 on: June 14, 2009, 05:47:26 pm »
X + Right click:      (on capturable enemy on player planet) kill enemy


I don't understand what this one does exactly, could you better explain?

I also wanted to know if there's a way to set military ships to attack anything that comes into your territory.

Offline Quitch

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Re: Where are the keyboard controls for the game documented?
« Reply #2 on: June 14, 2009, 06:35:47 pm »
When you go to enemy planets there will be things like Starship Constructors and Advanced Factories which, once you build a control station, become yours. If you want to attack them you need to use that key combination, though I cannot think of a scenario where you would want to do so.

To setup a defence force put your ships in free-roam mode using V + right-click. They will get a red border and attack any enemies entering the planet, apart from astro trains. You can do the same with units like engineers to have them cover the whole planet for repairs rather than just their usual 10 000 radius.

Offline x4000

  • Chris McElligott Park, Arcen Founder and Lead Dev
  • Arcen Staff
  • Zenith Council Member Mark III
  • *****
  • Posts: 31,651
Re: Where are the keyboard controls for the game documented?
« Reply #3 on: June 15, 2009, 10:31:00 am »
When you go to enemy planets there will be things like Starship Constructors and Advanced Factories which, once you build a control station, become yours. If you want to attack them you need to use that key combination, though I cannot think of a scenario where you would want to do so.

The main reason you would ever want to do this is when parasites come and take your ships, such as your metal/crystal harvesters.  In those cases you hopefully still control your planet, so there's no way to recapture them short of destroying your command station and rebuilding another one.  So this lets you target them so that you can clear the way for rebuilding your own ships back where the parasites stole yours.  It's a fairly uncommon case unless you play against parasites a lot, which is why the obscure key combination.

I'm adding this to the wiki...
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