Key Bindings help

[glide 10]

I am a dedicated FPS player, and I spend almost all my game time in Insurgency MOD. I am really having a hard time with the key bindings. Is there a guide to changing key bindings online? I got my copy from Steam, so no manual or anything (assuming there is one).

[frederf 0]

There are some rather clever things one can do with key bindings and quite a bit of "veteran" knowledge. Let's see what I can whip up as a sort of list.

[glide 10]

Much appreciated, Frederf. Double tapping keys to toggle modes and execute actions is very new to me. Gonna have to reprogram the little gray cells. :)

[jpinard 10]

I made this specifically for people like you :)

http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=11080

If you have any other problems with key remappings I'll come back here to help.

[Placebo 28]

I got my copy from Steam, so no manual or anything (assuming there is one).

Errr did you look at the page here: http://store.steampowered.com/app/33930/ ? The manual's clearly there :)

[glide 10]

Thanks, guys. After spending hundreds of hours in Falcon4, I should be able to handle this. :cool:

[jpinard 10]

Thanks, guys. After spending hundreds of hours in Falcon4, I should be able to handle this. :cool:

Glide- it was hard at first for me too. In fact I went back and remapped EVERYTHING. SOme of my remapings broke how the medi options worked so I finally went back to default to go step-by-step to see what was casuign an issue.

The irony? I found I actually liked the ArmA modes after using them a bit more than what I was trying to cook up. It really makes sense and grows on you. The only thing I've personally changed is the tiggle free-look (L-Alt L-Alt). I've "added" my mouse's thumb button so I can do that too and it makes a world of difference. If you're a trackIR guy you won't need that though :)

[frederf 0]

There are some rather clever things one can do with key bindings and quite a bit of "veteran" knowledge. Let's see what I can whip up as a sort of list.

Move forward, Move back, Strafe left, Strafe right: W,A,S,D (standard stuff, unbind the up/down/left/right keys to separate the vehicle command from actual movement)

Up, Go Prone: Blank

Fast forward, Slow forward: 2xW, Blank

Turn left, Turn right, Evasive forward: Blank (these could be bound for rotation of the player which is rather helpful when using the compass on the map for distance measurement and other things. Evasive forward is a bit of a red herring, starting the "to sprint" animation briefly when pressed. Weird.)

Evasive left, Evasive right: 2xQ, 2xE

Stand up, Crouch, Prone: C, X, Z

Lean left, Lean right: TrackIR +rZ, -rZ (I find it better than -x, +x to control, use Q and E otherwise)

Walk or Run: 2x Left Shift for toggle, Left Shift

Toggle weapons: F

Command fire: Alt+W (could be better)

Fire: Mouse1

Optics Mode: Mouse4 (changes between sights and CQB sights)

Next target: Tab (This command has a sister called "Next target" later down the list. This one commands your own weapons to step targets while the other one is to command a gunner's weapons to step target. They do act differently).

Lock or Zoom: Mouse2 hold (Without TrackIR I would be using this a lot. The lock functions are most useful in tanks and aircraft for gunnery. It locks what is directly under the command cursor)

Countermeasure 1, 2: R, Shift+R (These command flare releases in aircraft. The second key switches single flare or burst)

Reveal Target: Space (This is a biggie! The default right-click is a dreadful default bind. It causes you to start blabbing about contacts when you're simply trying to shoot them. A separate key is nice if you're controlling AI and want to add them to the AI target list. Space bar is a temporary experiment and I'd usually keep it separate from 'hold breath' which is currently on space bar as well. Also be sure to turn off "auto report" in the difficulty options especially if you're hosting a server. Dreadful.)

Raise weapon, Raise weapon (toggle): Blank, 2xAlt (I use Ctrl for voice comms so I moved this over to Alt. This gets used ALL the time. Having your weapon lowered is a very good habit and opening the map will do this for you automatically. You can spot ArmA noobs because they have their barrel pointed right at your face when looking at you. Toggle works in all stances except crouching, it will lower your weapon just fine in this stance but is buggy when raising it causing you to stand up. Instead, when crouched press fire once when lowered and it will raise automatically. Doesn't work for anything other than rifles like grenades, pistols, launchers, etc.)

Previous, Next: Mousewheel up/down, [,]

Use default action, Use selected action: Blank, middle mouse/enter (Default action is pretty useless as mousewheel+middle mouse is way more flexible and just as fast. This does action menu items as well as selecting in the command and quick-command menus.)

Headlights: L (This used to be a rarely used key but now is used to activate the PEQ-2 style weapon lasers. Consider rebinding this to a very accessible key since you're often going to want to quickly turn on and then off these lasers while fighting.)

Night vision: N (This cycles among all visual modes including IR WHT and IR BHT where available. Javelin, some M1 tanks, aircraft gunner, etc. use this.)

Binoculars: B (This used to be an option key since the binocular weapon was previously selectable from the action menu just like rifles/launchers. However now you need to press this to use your binocular class item: rangefinder, SOFLAM, etc.)

Switch gun: ; (Not all that useful as the action menu is nearly as fast and much more hands on. Reloading is almost as fast as changing to pistol anyway.)

Compass: K, 2xK for toggle (I really don't need the momentary compass so I just put simple K for toggle and left the momentary blank. However if you like both options default is pretty good and continues the momentary/2xfor sticky theme throughout the controls)

Watch: O, 2xO

GPS: H, 2xH (You're going to want more ready access to this than the default keybind so matching the theme with the compass and watch makes sense here. Who thought up RCtrl+M?)

Map/Hide map: M, M

Time accel: -,=

Optics: Mouse5 (The default right click is again a terrible default key bind as it's way too crowded with other commands. You don't want to be telling your gunner "no target" just because you wanted to bring your sights up or conflicting with the zoom in behavior. If you're got mouse buttons beyond 3 you want optics on your mouse or failing that keyboard 'V' or 'Num_0.")

Toggle view: Num_Enter (This is the personal 3rd person chase cam when difficulty settings allow)

Tactical view: Num_. (This is the fully rotatable designed for commanding AI with better control than first person commands.)

Zoom in/out (toggles): Num_+, 2xNum_+, Num_-, 2xNum_- (The zoom out toggle is an absolute godsend to CQB allowing good field of vision with the weapon sights up. Some vehicle sights only respond to the Num_+/- zooming as well. Set TrackIRz to zoom continuous if available.)

Zero Up/Dn: PgUp, PgDn (For sniper rifles, some vehicle weapons, and maybe a few others I forget but defaults are fine.)

Look: Blank (I have this not configured since I use TrackIR but otherwise it's a great key to have close at hand. Being able to look around is great. Default LAlt is a good bind.)

Freelook: Num_* (Toggle for the above behavior, generally a good idea to unbind the 2xAlt default so you don't accidentally toggle freelook. Plenty of soldiers have died trying to figure out what was going on.)

Look_x: Num_1-9 (Don't use these much but defaults should be fine unless you want to use the numpad to set up a complete 'vehicle control' setup later.)

Look (Analog): TrackIR Rot Left, Right, Up Down

Previous/Next channel: Shift+,/. (Anticipating ACE2OA I needed some more "adjust sight" keys since PgUp/PgDn is used for NVGs and there are separate keys for GL sight changes, etc. How often do you need to change channels anyway? Freeing up the keys with the nice <, > symbols on them for a more common usage could be valuable.)

Chat: / (Text chat on current channel. Default yay.)

Voice Over Net / Push to Talk: 2xCapslock, Capslock (Toggle and momentary I think it was a mistake for BIS to bind a key to "toggle VON" by default. A lot of noobs are going to toggle their VON on and broadcast yelling at their moms. PTT should be all you need unless you want to give long-winded briefings and would like a toggle. I would change the toggle option to something harder to hit accidentally like Ctrl+Capslock)

Talk on X Channel: Blank (These work like the Push to talk keybind but instead of broadcasting on the current channel, temporarily change to the appropriate channel while the transmit key is pressed. Having an "audible" bind and leaving your channel on "group" for normal PTT means you can have two different buttons to transmit on two different channels

without worry. Very handy.)

Multiplayer statistics: I "eye" (Scoreboard momentary press)

Select all units: ~ (Toggles selection of units under command and I think high command as well. When there are mixed in-formation and out-of-formation units it will only highlight the in-formation units until you press it again for everyone. A press after all units are selected deselects them all.)

Turbo/Vehicle Turbo: Blank (This is just a modifier for fastest speed in and out of vehicles. Redundant with other keys. If you really want to go from a run to a sprint without the pause in motion to press 2xW then turbo might be nice but it takes up valuable key space for little gain.)

Hold breath: Space (Another big one! BIS default is Mouse2 Hold and is another truly awful default bind.

(you don't want this on right click as you get conflicting behavior with tons of other functions)

Salute/Sit Down: \, ' (Default, whatever. Sit down is actually are rather nice command in MP to show other players that you are AFK or for roleplay purposes. Salute would only have a purpose in role playing or maybe as a crude "raise your hand if" silent response. Of course if you're role playing you wouldn't salute an officer in the field so.. yeah.)

Aim/Look: Mouse direction (I wanted this to work better with TrackIR by separating looking (TrackIR) from aiming (mouse) or the reverse but it doesn't quite work out.)

Pause: Escape

Select: Blank (No idea what this does exactly. I get by just fine without it.)

Back: Backspace, Mouse2 (Backspace is a nice keyboard backup to hook into with joystick profile software. Right click is nice because the game loves to blob up your screen with half open menus when you want a clean interface. Right click makes a handy way to dismiss them most of the time.)

Commanding mode: RAlt (Since I wanted space for hold breath commanding mode moved one to the right and it's working out great. You really don't use it that much and if you have your vehicle command gets around the arrow keys it's actually more convenient.)

Switch commanding mode: 2xRAlt (Despite the similarity in names, this actually switches to high command mode and isn't a toggle for commanding mode at all.)

Thrust analog/Brake analog: Joystick axis (These are a bit of a pain to set up but well worth it. You want to make sure to test these as you bind them. For me I only bound one direction on the axes instead of both, Y- instead of Y+,Y-. The brake axis is needed to stop landing aircraft as well as use the speedbrakealerons in the A-10)

Increase/decrease thrust: Blank (Didn't need 'em since I had the axes set up however I think that UAV altitude is changed by these so I should rebind them to default Q Z.)

Left turn/right turn: Blank (This is another goofy BIS'ism that you want to change. "Turn" axes combine bank and yaw based on speed and make piloting weird and harder. Only use these if you cannot spare separate axes for bank and yaw control. If at all possible unbind this and use the proper separated controls.)

Bank left/right, Left/right pedal: (See above)

Fast forward: E (This achieves vehicle maximum speed in boats, trucks, etc. In helicopters it actually pitches the nose down so be careful. Since you won't be using the lean keys in a vehicle the default is fine.)

Auto-hover On/Off: Joystick button N, joystick button N (If you bind both of these to the same key then that key becomes the toggle, saving key space and simplifying your life.)

Gear Up/Down: (Same as above you can make it a toggle simplifying your life since only one will ever work at a time.)

Flaps Up/Down: (Unlike the above flaps have 3 settings so you're going to want separate keys)

Seagull: Default

Car left/right, Car more left/right: Default (These work pretty well by default. I would recommend driving cars by the mouse and tracked vehicles by the keyboard. I tried reversing the more left/right onto A/D and the normal turns onto the mouse and found it less effective.)

Car forward, fast, slow, back: W, E, Q, S (Default works nice. Not sure why fast forward and car fast forward are different.)

Aim X: Mouse X (Mirroring the infantry controls this is just fine for vehicle aiming)

Command X: Left, Right, 2xUp, Down, End, Up (This is a personal departure trying to make a dedicated 'vehicle command' area of the keyboard. The arrow keys were freed earlier and are good to go. I put the slow, normal, and fast forward keys in a vertical column but I'm not 100% happy with it. I might move the whole thing over to the numpad or make END normal speed and HOME fast speed. You definitely want all speeds available when commanding.)

Change gunner weapon: Delete (Nearby to the command movement keys)

Next target: Insert (Notice this is the second time this command has shown up in the list. This command steps the gunner's target.)

Swap Gunner: Shift+F (Not 100% happy with this bind but it physically swaps you with the gunner for manual shots. Be aware that you might end up someplace unexpected if there are more than two gunners like in the M1 with the loader spot. Also be aware that the AI gunner will now be in your old seat and might do something unexpected in this new position. Most of the time the AI gunner can handle the situation.)

Toggle manual fire: ' apostrophe (Really only necessary for rocket runs in a helicopter you could theoretically use this with a tank gunner to aim for you and you would have control over shooting without the "command fire" key.)

Turn in/out: Z, C (Slight change from default. What could be more intuitive than "get down" "stand up"?)

Get out: 2xX (I recommend a similar get out key. I've tried 2xA,2xD but it would cause problems and a brief engine run getting out of vehicles. Very handy.)

Eject: Ctrl-E, Joystick N (When you have to get out, make it something natural. Ctrl-E should be fine for a F4 vet :) Hopping out of a speeding car by accident is bad for your health.)

Cancel action: Mouse2 (I think this does similar to backspace. It sure as heck doesn't cancel animations.)

Command watch: Alt (Invaluable for AI crewed vehicles and very handy for AI infantry. Simply select who you want to control and hold Alt and click. If you get some freelook behavior while doing it so what.)

Team switch: T, Blank, Blank (T should be more than enough for what little team switching goes on in the average mission. Rapid fire cycling through switchable units using Y, U is going to give your computer a heart attack anyway. Y and U are now free'd up to use for direct-to-whatever-channel VON usage!)

Gear: G (Good default)

Diary: J (Not all that necessary considering most people go to the map anyway. I think I might set my 'reveal target' to J and make diary like Shift+M or similar)

Ded Server Control: RShift+P (Blank is more than fine here since you can get to this from the map just as quickly.)

Surrender: Blank (A useless 'give up' animation that absolutely doesn't stick in the end-state. Not even good for human-v-human roleplay and the AI will shoot you dead just as quickly.)

Step Over: 2xV (Making step over a double tap of a key is a great idea since it's a similar mindset at sprinting. V is what I chose.)

Edited July 8, 2010 by Frederf

[glide 10]

Wow, thanks for that detailed reply! I certainly appreciate the time it took to type all that in. I've been experimenting, and coming back to the defaults again and again. I'm running through the boot camp scenarios to get a feel for everything, and then I'll start tweaking the setup.

The biggest challenge is getting smooth movement using the W for forward. I'm a die hard RMouse = Forward fan, but like anything, it gets smoother over time.

When I am remapping, I am not sure I am doing key combinations right. For example, if I want to map Ctrl+e, it seems to record a Ctrl and then an e. Does the Ctrl register as temporary, and the e as toggle?

---------- Post added at 08:32 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:42 PM ----------

Got the ctrl+e programmed in fine.

[frederf 0]

Most of the defaults are well thought out. There are a few big opportunities to fix major issues like the overcrowded right mouse button and adding in useful shortcuts like Get Out.

"Local knowledge" took me a long time and lots of experimenting to figure out. There's no real manual for the command list that explains things like why there are two "Next Target" commands. Hopefully it has value. Personally I spend 80%+ of my soldier time with walk toggled on, especially with ACE's stamina in effect. Running by default gets you killed that much faster.

[CarlGustaffa 4]

Depending on the rest of your keybinds, evasive forward can be activated if you are prone and hit your fast forward button before standing up. But when I map it to the same key (both fast forward and evasive forward gets a red "2*w" for me), I can activate evasive forward from prone (which is where it is useful) simply by doubletapping the w key. The other method always fails me - I'm in a panic to get into cover, and always I mess up the order the keys should be pressed, getting me killed due to the slowness of standing up then starting to sprint.

Evasive forward rocks! Evasive left and right however, I have no idea what is their intended purpose. I sometimes manage to get some weird sidestep maneuver after some key combinations, but I have yet to figure out what they are, or why I would want it.

Get Out I have at ctrl E, Eject on ctrl+2*e

[dogz 10]

can anyone tell me why my new dvd ver OA wont save my keybinds?

[Rough Knight 9]

Hey Guys,

Is it possible to map a double click for any key to a specific function, or more so....how do you do it?. I know some functions have this as mentioned, I just can't find any way to bind a double press of a key.

I have tried without success, if you press a key twice in the contols menu, it just turns the key back off!

Thanks

Frosty.

[polar bear 10]

Frosty--press it twice faster.

[Rough Knight 9]

Thanks bear I will try it. It was actually a joystick key I was trying to assign a double press to.

EDIT: It worked : P

Thanks again

Frosty

Edited August 20, 2010 by Rough Knight

[Noraf 0]

can anyone tell me why my new dvd ver OA wont save my keybinds?

Make sure the user config file isn't wreite protected.

You might also try to run it as an admin

[gregb41352 10]

I haven't seen this answered and I'm not seeing the keys in the Control Menu. Dyslexi mentions stance up/stance down.....all I can find is stand up, crouch and go prone.......which if you repeat the key stroke, you stand up. Where are the key commands to change from prone to low prone,

I'm trying to say the various iterations from prone on up to standing.......Where are those keys to map on the controls menu? I know I'm missing the obvious but it's seriously getting to me........

Thanks......noob, sorry

[tortuosit 485]

gregb41352, you talk about Arma 2 according to in which forum we are... The new substances are in Arma 3. That is probably the point :)