Questions about various keyboard controls

[maturin 12]

I have the misfortune to play Arma 2 on a laptop with a small keyboard and trackball marble mouse from logitech.

I don't have a mouse wheel, nor the +/- numpad keys and as I result I cannot zoom the map in and out, either in-game or in the editor. Mapping other keys with the Zoom function has no effect. Is there some addon or clever binding trick I can use to gain control over the map?

Second, is there an entry in Controls that governs iron sights? I have it set to RMB by default, but it works selectively in vehicle turrets and I am often left fiddling with the third person button to fix it. the Humvee TOW and machine gun nest seems to lack sights at all, making them near useless on harder difficulty settings.

Third, is there some way to make it so I don't need to unmap the extra buttons on my mouse in order to use them in Arma? I have two extra buttons on my mouse, one of which is a Back button in internet browsers and the other which is a universal scroll. I have sacrificed the former (unbound it outside the game) in order to cycle through command menu options in game.

[mr_centipede 31]

about optics, its NUMPAD 0(zero)

My advice is buy a usb mouse, and use it with laptop... much easier on the hands too. I do my works on laptop, but cant get used to the trackpad. About numpads, isnt there a usb numpad?

[maturin 12]

Do you mean a physical attachment numpad?

And has anyone ever heard of a mod that makes BI's key bindings... not suck?

[nkenny 1051]

Not suck?

Unfortunately no. BIS user interface is really messy.

But seriously, buy a USB mouse. Preferably one with two thumb buttons and you'll be ready to rock. You can get an excellent older generation logitech cheap as dirt too.

I've spent a lot of time trying to 'optimize' my keyboard layout. Key is always to identify which buttons you actually need. I have myself removed the majority of "flight or vehicle" specific controls; as I rarely operate any.

-k (note; I've also played a fair bit of Arma2 on laptop. (though I have a stationary for my main computering needs)

[maturin 12]

I use a USB mouse with four buttons. One of which refuses to work unless unbound from it's web browser scroll function.

I have just enough buttons to get by (one of these days I'll bind Hold Breath to L-Control) but Arma doesn't accept some of them even when there are no conflicts. It really does seem like there should be some way to fool it into thinking that I am pressing a numpad + button.