Using the keypad to control your Controller?


Chrome

 

Posted

I thought I would toss this thread out there. It is understood that most players control their AT by the Keypad's keys of: A (move left), W (move forward), D (move right) and S (move back) and then uses the mouser to click targets and click powers on the Power tray/s. Is this method most common with most players? Because if it is so, I find that very challenging to perform.

Well, I did somewhat the same when I first beganned playing CoH but I used the arrow keys to move and then the mouser to click targets and powers which became very annoying. So later on figured out that the numers on the Power tray/s represents the actual numbers on the Keypad. To make a long discussion shorter, I managed to put my most usable attack/buff powers on the Keypad numbers (1), (2), (3), (4), and (5). These are in sequence due to effectiveness and quick recharging powrers from (1) to (5) on Tray Number #1, #2 and #3. For an example, Char is placed on (1) on the Power tray #1 for its quick recharge and effectiveness while Cinders is on (5) because of its long recharging rate and FlashFire is on button (4) because it recharges faster than Cinders. This style increases the detail of comfort to lessen the reach for button (5).

Now additional powers in simular were placed in the "Alt + Power tray #2, (1) to (5)". Powers like Healing, and team buffing like Speed Boost and so forth. It is easy to learn this methid because my left thumb is always on the "Spacebar" and so is the left "Alt" button next to the left of it (Which do NOT stack and unstack the Power trays like the "Right-Alt" button do).

Now for the personal buffs like Transfusion, BU, Aim, Hibernate and Phases? Well those powers I placed on the Power Tray #3 from (1) to (5). The toggles? I've place those on the right-side of any of the 3 Power Trays (Except the debuffing or offensive toggles which too are on Power tray #3 for easy access since they are offensive toggles like Radiation Emmission toggles. Power tray #4 is positioned Horizontally between Power Trays 1,2 and 3 and the left bottom corner of the screen. Thats where I place temp powers, base teleporters, accolades and such.

Now the targetting. I used the "Delete" button to select thru villains, the "End" button (between the "Delete" and "Page-Down" button) to select the Nearest Foe then I use the "Page-Down" button to select thru friends and/or Allies. Why have I chosen "Delete", "End" and "Page=Down" buttons? Well they are exactly above the "Arrow" keys which I use to get around with - rather its Fly, SS and/or SJ.

Reason why I use this method is because it is very useful, less stressful on trying to target a villain bouncing around (specially PVP) with the mouser and quite efficient while navigating thru the map and selecting the targets with your middle finger. yes the long one. Also very compfortable having the keypad on my lap while I lay back at play with my arms resting ont the Armrest of the chair. Same method can be used with a Laptop as well.

Hope this is useful for some because it is indeed a very useful method especially for controlling controllers.


 

Posted

I've never personally tried using the Numpad for stuff, but I agree with general keybinding stuff. I'd imagine clicking all enemies and powers would result in very slow and awkward play.

I personally bind a lot of powers to keys close to WASD. F for travel power, X for Sprint, Q for power used all the time etc. I also rebound Target Closest to C (habit from old game ) Ally buffs bound to G and H. The first 4-5 powers in my tray I just hit the number keys/alt+number key to use. So the only powers I'm using my mouse to click would be stuff on the far right side of the trays, location powers and stuff on the top tray.

I'm definitely a big proponent of keybinding but as I said, never used the numpad much so its interesting to see from another perspective. Glad you found a system that works for you


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Posted

I use numberpad for 3 trays of powers (normal numpad, alt-numpad, ctrl-numpad) and also for selecting teammates (shift-numpad).

If I need a specific target I will click on him, but most of the time I either just use a key to target or target through a teammate. I move around similar to an an FPS, with keys for forward/backward/strafe and then the right mouse button down to use mouse for turning.

I honestly have no idea how people can click powers all the time. Seems like it would get old pretty quickly.


 

Posted

Yeah, I don't click to activate powers either. Quite apart from how tiring it would get, I can't imagine how you'd do it without accidentally dragging your powers out of their tray slots all the time.

Now, I use the actual number keys on the top of the keyboard for powers, not the numpad, but that's because I still use the mouse for looking around and some targeting. Mouselook + WASD movement is a setup that just feels as natural as breathing for someone like me that's been playing PC FPS games for a long time. To be honest, the thought of clicking on powers never even so much as crossed my mind for a very long time - I didn't even realize anyone did that until I saw it in a RWZ challenge video someone posted.

I usually end up putting the most used powers on 1-8 (the basic attacks, usually, unless I'm playing a warshade or controller), to keep them as close to the default left hand position of WASD as possible. Toggles usually go on tray 2 or 3, where I can see them but they're out of the way. The most used non-attack powers (taunt, ST holds, quick-recharge heals, etc) are bound to the two side buttons on the mouse, q, e, or shift + one of those. Between those and the 1-8 keys I've got very quick access to 16 different powers, which is enough for most characters. After that, I bind my travel power to g, and then the prereq to h (unless it's air sup, which goes with the rest of the attacks).

It's not common that I find I need more powers than this (after all, each character only gets 24 powers), but I think that'll change when I get some more clicky characters up towards 50 (I am an altaholic, so I have *lots* of lowbies but only 4 characters over 40). I'm thinking of buying this keyboard - mostly because of the very advanced anti-ghosting, but also because it's got 6 programmable macro keys down the side. I can set those to access 1-6 in the second tray, so I should have instant access to basically every power I've got.


@MuonNeutrino
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Posted

I mouse click my powers; always have. But then again it's what you're used to I guess.


@Mental Maden @Maden Mental
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Posted

LOL Yeah I've done that in the beginning and was wondering why my power didn't activate and then when I looked, the power was gone (MMO Noob then). CoH was my very first MMO ever and while I was upset, I was "Broadcasting" (embaressing moment) of where did my Power go, it was in my tray and it was gone. Unknowingly dragged out.

But this style posted above gives me a tremenodous control over my toons especially controllers. The reason why I haven't made any PB's or WS's because of all the new additional stuff it gets as you gradually level-up and the new power content they have. That is a problem I haven't figured out and "Binding" maybe simple to most, I've not yet begin to understand that method yet. Although, there is a thread on "Binding" and something about a "Master Pop-up Menu" if I am not mistaken which is worth checking out (when I understand the binding system).

Now there is another thing called "Macro". I normally run four accounts while farming, thats three trollers set on follow to main and auto attack of one-power to my target which works okay but if I can better understand this "Macro" which supposly controls all toons at once as long as their powers or matchable power type is equipped on the same exact keypad's keys.

On my controllers esspecially my ill/rad, the only time I use my mouser is to click on a Inspir/s or activate a location to activate range powers like PA, SP and Phantasm of that sort.


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Posted

I use two different computers for CoH -- one is a desktop with a game keyboard and built-in game keypad on the left, and the other is a laptop with a standard keyboard (with a keypad). For the most part, I use the W and S keys for forward and back movement, and steer by holding down the right mouse button and moving the mouse. Every now and then I'll turn with the Q and E keys, but I almost never use A and D for sideways movement. I place my most often used attack (and control) powers in the 1-6 slots for the number keys. My usual single-target attack chain is set up on the 3-2-1 keys, with 3 being the single target hold. I have a lot of buttons on my mouse, and use binds to attach a lot of powers to those buttons. (my Desktop mouse is a Razer Naga with 17 buttons, my laptop has a Logitech G-9 mouse with 9 buttons.)

I use an old program called CityBinder to set up the same arrangement of binds for every character. I start with a standard set of binds, and then customize it for each powerset -- easy to do with CityBinder. CityBinder also includes the "Speed-On-Demand" binds, several types of buffing binds (which I usually set for the keypad), various complex chat binds, Mastermind Binds and even Kheld binds for swapping trays -- all built in. The original author has left the game, but a couple of other folks have gone in to make some modifications and bring CityBinder mostly up to date with the newer powersets. CityBinder has some quirks (like all file names must have no spaces) and no documentation, so I have pretty much learned how to use it by trying things out. But I use it on every character (and I have a lot).


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Posted

I click powers with the mouse. It's slower but in a game where one mistyped command could blow a power on a 2 minute cooldown or spin me around backwards to aggro a group of 16, precision outweighs speed for me in this case. I keep powers grouped according to need. Some characters also get special layouts. E.g. my Mind troller has a separate power tray apart from the others filled only with powers that don't cause aggro (Confuse, Mass Confusion, Mass Hypnosis, and temp power self heals and intangs in case I mess up). That's to make sure I don't misclick and alert enemies while trying to stealth. Those some powers are also on my other bars, mixed among the various powers.

The lone exceptions to clicking are the various buff powers, which I always bind to the same set of keys for every character (g, h, j, k, l). Shields are always on g and h for example so I can just type "gh" quickly for each team member.


 

Posted

This is a very interesting topic to me because I find myself trying to teach my girlfriend to use the WASD keys but she just wont use them. is there a Psychological reason for not using the letters to move since the Arrows are obviously for movement... i personally use wasd as fwd left right and back in order. i change a and d with q and e so my left and right are positioned closer to the way the arrows are and strafe keys are close by. i usually use my mouse for my 2nd and 3rd trays leaving the first tray which is directly above WASD also powers in the 7890 buttons are usually long recharge powers so i use the mouse for them as well. but 12345 are main attacks. i also use the mouse to turn and raise or lower my elevation, if flying, it is alot easier and smoother especially in caves or Grandville with its many Aerial obstacles. anyways just sharing to share i guess still curious as to why people use the keys or keybinds they do


Also i believe there is a way to lock your powers in the trays so as to prevent inadvertently dragging them off


 

Posted

The reason I don't use W,A,S and D is becuase of their position on the Keypad. Lets say I must make a fast get away, I'll have to glnace at my keypad to adjust fingers on them then when I look up to see my toon, it's probably too late. In caves? Actually I was running with a pug team and we were in a cave. My troller ill/rad has Fly and manuevering thru the caves wasn't all that bad. Now with my left hand positioned always on attack buttons #1, 2, 3 and 4 and one over for #5 (longest recharging attack or Nuke), my left thumb is always on the "Space-bar" for elevation and it always finds X easily to lower the toon. Now right above the "Arrow-keys" my villain target select buttons are ... "Delete", "End" and friend select button is "PAge-Down". I find it very east to still navigate and select targets while in the midst of navigation and activate a few attacks and etc. I hardly want to depend on the mouser unless necessary to do so (clicking inspirs).

I really just want to eliminate any cripples in functioning the toon, I find this style esy to adjust to. Also, for turning-around speed, you can adjust that from the, "Menu" on the HP-bar, then Options/Control. My turning speed is at 691%, it turns fast enough for me, any faster will have my toon running down the halls like on Resident Evil Game, LOL.running into the corners before I actually get there.

Oh yeah you can lock the powers into the Power-Tray. That option is also in the Options from the Menu. It may be in Miscelaneous.


 

Posted

Well keep in mind that I may also be the only psycho who plays the game with a laptop thumb pad instead of a mouse. I got used to it while playing during a long term business trip and it kind of stuck.


 

Posted

I use the arrow keys with my right hand, although use WSAD often too. I have Q and E bound to look up and down. I use the numbers at the top of the keyboard for powers. Most common powers (primary attacks and control usually) in the bottom row grouped to ST/AoE/Cone. Special tools (snipe, AS etc) go into 0 and 9 on the bottom row. Secondary powers (Melee for blasters, attacked for Doms and Tollers) go into the second row. Toggles go into the end of this from 0 down and are usually bound to Z using ALT and CTRL for various other situation toggles. Top row has fly/jetpack in 1, sprint/ninja run in 2, hover/recall friend in 3, Rest in 4 and Ouro in 5. Everything else gets put where ever I can find space.


 

Posted

I use WASD (and X, I love flight) + mouselook for all movement. I have three trays out and visible and my powers arranged in them. I use the number keys for powers in combination with control and alt (actually mapped to option on my macs).

I dont have long spindly fingers so powers I need in the heat of battle are all in the first 4 slots of each tray. Toggles and things I can take the time to actually click get the other slots.

I also set up some keybinds like 'q' for 'targetenemynear', and 'e' for commonly used fast recharge powers (mostly heals or non-attack chain stuff).

Of course I use heaps of binds on my Kheldians and Masterminds. I used to use the numpad binds a lot, but my laptop is now more powerful, so I had to wean myself off of them, heh.


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Posted

Once you get used to WASD, your hands go to the right spot automatically. Binds definitely speed things up. No matter what you choose, your fingers/mind will get used to it. Why not set things up the most efficient way?

I use TAB for target nearest, then 1/2 for next/prev. All my AT's find it useful. I bind everything that will get used in combat to the keypad, as well as the buttons around it. + is always a Green Insp, - is usually a blue. NumpadEnter and 0 are emergency buttons (Heals, EMPulse, fast recharge AOE's, etc). RightArrow is also a good "Oh crap" button. Target area powers like Phantom Army or TP get alt+lbutton binds, or ctrl+lbutton. I removed the windows button from my keyboard so I don't accidentally hit it going for these. It also makes it easy to find them.

I enjoy the player skill aspect of using all these effectively. But even if you want to play on autopilot, good key setups will make that easier. There are some very good guides that explain how to do all this. Setup a /bind_save_file once you've done it and then you just have to load it up for all your other toons. Kheldians will obviously require some extra tinkering.


 

Posted

I use WADS plus X and SPACEBAR to control movement on my toons. It's a combination that's been around on PC games for a very long time, so I am used to it. I use TAB for targeting (Shift+Tab, and Ctrl+Tab as well), and 1-6 are close enough to WADS that those powers are activated via keyboard. I will use mouse-clicks for 7-0, and anything in trays 3+ (I have at lease 4 trays on all lvl 50 toons). I use the NumPad for binds now, as I've found I tend to forget binds if I haven't played that toon in a while . Nothing like rediscovering them by accident when I've forgotten/missed hitting Enter or Backspace to chat .

I know it's not the most efficient, but...this isn't a twitch-reflex game. Even when my mouse skills fail and a teammate or myself dies...well, there are powers in the game for that (vengence, fallout, rezzes, etc), so, I'm just "helping" .