More keybinds needed

[Merlins51]

Less a bug and more of a feature request.  For some of the system switches only toggle keybinds are currently available.  For others, I've not been able to find the keybinds at all.

Examples:  

1) Master Arm.  Toggle only

2) Center/Inboard/outboard guns.  Toggle only

3) Gun sight.  Toggle, but may not be working.

4) Gun charge/safe knobs.  No keybind found.

I've not been exhaustive but am sure there are many others.

 

[granola1861]

Agree with OP on this.  Also some 3 position options would be nice as well.  Especially for the hook (up, down, park).  Overall many DCS aircraft could use some more 3 position options...

[Cheese16]

Not only are half of the bindings missing, half of the ones that are there flat out just don't work. And the ones that are there feel like they were hastily tossed in there in a couple minutes. Half of the stuff that should have a bindable axis has something like a single word +/-. It feels like this was barely tested honestly. After a couple hours I found these bindings that are included but are non functional

 

Rocket fire/release

All pylon release/pylon arming binds

Gunsight, regardless of how its bound

Cock Pit light on/off

 

There are no bindings for circuit breakers, no bindings for the rocket control panel, half of the switches there are also not clickable or non functional. Some of the cockpit lighting dials don't have any bindings that I could find, but considering how a lot of them are labeled anyway, I'm honestly not confident about that. For all I know everything is there and half of is just labeled incorrectly. 

[Raven (Elysian Angel)]

I'd also like to see more flap bindings than just "+" and "-".

[Raisuli]

5 hours ago, Raven (Elysian Angel) said:

I'd also like to see more flap bindings than just "+" and "-".

+/- how much Magnitude 3 attacks this, and that's completely variable and they do have other things to do, the next trick is to create the .lua to make up for all the missing controls.  Might get started on that this weekend, but I'm not the foremost expert; that would be @LeCuvier

[tempusmurphy]

glad to see I wasn't the only one spending 10 min trying to figure out why my binding for the gunsight light wasn't working  

[Kreutzberg]

I agree that more binding would be very useful. My personal wish list also includes bindings for each flap position and each fuel selector position.

This may be better in the new "wish list" section as well, if any mods want to move it!

[_Hoss]

Landing gear\dive break option keybind would be nice too. I've gotten to where I just don't use it when bombing anymore. 

[Bowie]

13 minutes ago, _Hoss said:

Landing gear\dive break option keybind would be nice too. I've gotten to where I just don't use it when bombing anymore. 

"Airbrake, Toggle".

 

Bowie

 

[LeCuvier]

17 hours ago, Raisuli said:

+/- how much Magnitude 3 attacks this, and that's completely variable and they do have other things to do, the next trick is to create the .lua to make up for all the missing controls.  Might get started on that this weekend, but I'm not the foremost expert; that would be @LeCuvier

It seems to me that this is a "very early" access release. Looks like they were in a hurry to release something to generate revenue. Hopefully Magnitude 3 will add a lot of bindings over the coming months (or years? ) and hopefully they will try to be as good as Heatblur in this; the Phantom 4 is a model for doing it right!
So any work you do yourself adding bindings needs to be re-done when the stock file has changes/additions after updates, unless you use the Command Injector by @Quaggles (which I do).

I did experiment a bit and found that the Magnitude 3 approach is pretty much in line with how ED does it. So the same approach to modding should work fine. The limitation for modding is what handles they provide in "clickabledata.lua". I looked specifically at the flaps switch. Flap positions range from 0% (UP) to 50% (DOWN). The stock commands (+/-) change the flap position in steps of 10%. So in order to go from UP to DOWN you have to click the bound button 5 times. I don't like that. I want to switch directly between UP, DOWN and 30% (for takeoff from carrier), using the 3-position flap switch on my TM Warthog throttle. I ceated 3 new lines in the "default.lua" under Saved Games (using the Command Injector):

{down = device_commands.iCommandFlaps, cockpit_device_id = devices.CONTROL, value_down = -1.0, name = _('Flaps to 0 DEG (UP)'), category = _('Flight Control')},
{down = device_commands.iCommandFlaps, cockpit_device_id = devices.CONTROL, value_down = 1.0, name = _('Flaps to 50 DEG (DOWN)'), category = _('Flight Control')},
{down = device_commands.iCommandFlaps, cockpit_device_id = devices.CONTROL, value_down = 0.6, name = _('Flaps to 30 DEG from UP'), category = _('Flight Control')},

The command "Flaps to 30% from UP" is bound to the OFF event of the Flaps switch "UP" position. It does nothing when you use it from the DOWN position
I tried this on my rig, and it works fine..

[_Hoss]

23 hours ago, Bowie said:

"Airbrake, Toggle".

 

Bowie

 

Totally missed it... mainly because I was looking for "Dive Break"......

Thanks

[Merlins51]

There's also an odd thing where the "show/hide pilot body" can be set to a keystroke but not to a joystick button.

[dsc106]

Everyone here is said, here to say it again... ^^ All of the above. Ran into many myself (can't bind the gears dive break, gun charge/safe, show pilot body, can't bind many latches correctly)

Several broken keybinds that aren't working, several that won't bind to a HOTAS, several just missing, and many without insufficient options for those of us with a mix of momentary & latching switches, rotary knobs, etc.

All switches need "toggle" and "on/off" positions for latches (and centered, if applicable).

Also, is the autostart procedue scripted? I couldn't bind it to my HOTAS, but also, not sure if its implemented.

[Merlins51]

I was able to bind the gear dive brakes.   Did you bind and it doesn't work, or did you just not find the binding?  

[LeCuvier]

9 hours ago, dsc106 said:

...Also, is the autostart procedue scripted? I couldn't bind it to my HOTAS, but also, not sure if its implemented.

It's certainly implemented. It's default-bound to [LWin] + [Home]. They have simply not bothered to add the line for the binding to the "default.lua" under "...\joystick".These are the lines for auto-start and auto-stop from the "default.lua" under "...\keyboard":

{combos = {{key='Home',reformers={'LWin'}}}, down = device_commands.AutoStart, cockpit_device_id = devices.AUTOSTART, value_down = 1.0, name = _('Autostart Procedure'), category = _('Engine')},
{combos = {{key='End',reformers={'LWin'}}}, down = device_commands.AutoStop, cockpit_device_id = devices.AUTOSTART, value_down = 1.0, name = _('Autostop Procedure'), category = _('Engine')},

If you paste them into the file under "...\joystick", you can bind the commands to flight controllers. However, as I said in my post above, the "default.lua" files will see lots of additions and maybe also changes during early access. And if you start adding to these files you may end up with a lot of rework each time the stock file changes, unless you use the Command Injector.

Unlike in most other modules, the feature is not scripted in a file named "Macro_sequencies.lua"

[Pribs86]

On 6/21/2025 at 4:43 PM, _Hoss said:

Totally missed it... mainly because I was looking for "Dive Break"......

Thanks

Speaking of bindings. Are they able to add an 'on' and 'off' not just toggle? I don't mean this just for the airbrake.

 

Edit: whoops, I realize now that this has already been said. So I guess I say it now for redundancy lol

Edited June 23 by Pribs86

[dsc106]

Thank you for the help. Good to know about the manual LUA edit option, but yes I think I will wait for official support added to avoid getting into the constant fixes throughout EA.

What was dive break labelled as? I couldn't find it, whatever it was labelled.

[_Hoss]

Just in case they ran out, here's a new one for them... like it says, keep it safe and guard it well. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Saxman]

I'd like to be able to bind the flaps to an axis so I can use an actual handle to set the position.

Same with the landing gear/air brake. Since raising/lowering the gear has to pass through the "brake" position, anyway, you should be able to treat it like the Supercharger and Mixture control.

[GTFreeFlyer]

I’d like to throw in my vote for discrete flap positions.  i.e. Separate bindings for flap 0, flap 10, flap 20, etc.  

[_Hoss]

I'd really like the fuel tank selector rotary to be like the Jug and Mustangs. Okay, and the armament switches. For me the flaps lever is much like the Mustangs, physically sequential. Most of the time I dislike using the mouse once in flight. Engine start, engine stop is fine, I'm not flying anymore..... 

[LeCuvier]

I certainly hope that the developer will provide a complete set of bindings that work, over time. But I don't have the patience to wait for months (if not years) to get there.
So I have started to help myself and got some improvement for myself. I will share here what I got and how.  Anybody who wants to use this is welcome.
Note: I will never post a complete edited "default.lua" as that would need to be reviewed and re-worked after most updates during E.A.

Edited 30-JUN-2025: added subject 7. for non-BAT bomb release selectors and arming.

Edited 03-JUL-2025: The developer has fixed/added some bindings. This makes some of my additions redundant. The respective LUA lines are prefixed wit "-- " below.

1. Flaps
The existing bindings Flaps +/- do not work, and I could not create incremental commands. But could create commands to set the flap positions I'm interested in:
- Flaps UP (=0%)
- Flaps 30 DEG
- Flaps down (=100%)

{down = device_commands.iCommandFlaps, cockpit_device_id = devices.CONTROL, value_down = -1.0, name = _('Flaps to 0 DEG (UP)'), category = _('Flight Control')},
{down = device_commands.iCommandFlaps, cockpit_device_id = devices.CONTROL, value_down = 1.0, name = _('Flaps to 50 DEG (DOWN)'), category = _('Flight Control')},
{down = device_commands.iCommandFlaps, cockpit_device_id = devices.CONTROL, value_down = 0.6, name = _('Flaps to 30 DEG from UP'), category = _('Flight Control')},

With the same aproach you can set any other value you want. For flaps to 20% , 20%/50% = 0.2; so the value_down should be = 0.2.
2. Airbrake
The existing binding is a toggle command and it works. But I want separate bindings  for Extend and Retract. The following lines do this:

{down = device_commands.Airbrake_kb, cockpit_device_id = devices.CONTROL, value_down = 0.0, name = _('Airbrake RETRACT'), category = _('Flight Control')},
{down = device_commands.Airbrake_kb, cockpit_device_id = devices.CONTROL, value_down = -1.0, name = _('Airbrake EXTEND'), category = _('Flight Control')},

3. Gunsight Switch - see edits
The existing binding does not work for me at all. The 3 LUA lines below provide commands for the 3 positions of the switch:

{down = device_commands.Gunsight_light_switch, cockpit_device_id = devices.WEAPON, value_down = -1.0, name = _('Gunsight light switch ALT'), category = _('Weapons')},
-- {down = device_commands.Gunsight_light_switch, cockpit_device_id = devices.WEAPON, value_down = 1.0, name = _('Gunsight light switch ON'), category = _('Weapons')},
-- {down = device_commands.Gunsight_light_switch, cockpit_device_id = devices.WEAPON, value_down = 0.0, name = _('Gunsight light switch OFF'), category = _('Weapons')},

I use only ON and Off as I have very few 3-position switches and I hope that the light bulb won't die during a mission.

4. Gunsight brightness
The existing "Gunsight light intensity +/-" bindings don't work for me at all, and I could not getting this kind of functionality to work. So I settled for 2 lines that allow me to switch the brightness to 50% or 100%:

{down = device_commands.Gunsight_light_intensity, cockpit_device_id = devices.WEAPON, value_down = 0.5, name = _('Gunsight light intensity 50%'), category = _('Weapons')}, 
{down = device_commands.Gunsight_light_intensity, cockpit_device_id = devices.WEAPON, value_down = 1.0, name = _('Gunsight light intensity 100%'), category = _('Weapons')}, 

There is no need for a 0% option as I can switch the thing OFF. Any option between 0% and 100% can be easily added using different values for "value_down".

5. Guns Charge
I could not find any bindings for the charge buttons, and I would hate to fumble for these awkwardly placed buttons in flight. So I came up with the 4 lines below to control the CHARGE/SAFE mode of left and right guns:

{down = device_commands.Guns_left_charge, cockpit_device_id = devices.WEAPON, value_down = 1.0, name = _('Guns Left Charge'), category = _('Weapons')},
{down = device_commands.Guns_left_charge, cockpit_device_id = devices.WEAPON, value_down = -1.0, name = _('Guns Left Safe'), category = _('Weapons')},
{down = device_commands.Guns_right_charge, cockpit_device_id = devices.WEAPON, value_down = 1.0, name = _('Guns Right Charge'), category = _('Weapons')},
{down = device_commands.Guns_right_charge, cockpit_device_id = devices.WEAPON, value_down = -1.0, name = _('Guns Right Safe'), category = _('Weapons')},

6. Master Arm Switch 2-Position ON/OFF. Fixed by the developer.
The existing toggle switch works, but I prefer separate ON and OFF commands to bind to a 2-position switch:

-- {down = device_commands.Master_arm, cockpit_device_id = devices.WEAPON, value_down = -1.0, name = _('Master arm OFF'), category = _('Weapons')},
-- {down = device_commands.Master_arm, cockpit_device_id = devices.WEAPON, value_down = 1.0, name = _('Master arm ON'), category = _('Weapons')},

7. Bomb-related (not BAT bombs) - Fixed by the developer. The pylon release selector also works now.
Bindings for the 3 release selector do not work. I managed a solution for the left and right hand switches, but not for the pylon switch. Here are the bindings for L.H. and R.H. switch:

-- {down = device_commands.Left_wing_release, cockpit_device_id = devices.WEAPON, value_down = 1.0, name = _('L.H. wing release selector ON'), category = _('Weapons')}, 
-- {down = device_commands.Left_wing_release, cockpit_device_id = devices.WEAPON, value_down = 0.0, name = _('L.H. wing release selector OFF'), category = _('Weapons')}, 
-- {down = device_commands.Right_wing_release, cockpit_device_id = devices.WEAPON, value_down = 1.0, name = _('R.H. wing release selector ON'), category = _('Weapons')},
-- {down = device_commands.Right_wing_release, cockpit_device_id = devices.WEAPON, value_down = 0.0, name = _('R.H. wing release selector OFF'), category = _('Weapons')},

The 3-position switch for bomb arming didn't work, but the solution was easy. Here are the 3 lines:

{down = device_commands.Arm_tail_nose, cockpit_device_id = devices.WEAPON, value_down = -1.0, name = _('Arming selector NOSE and TAIL'), category = _('Weapons')},
{down = device_commands.Arm_tail_nose, cockpit_device_id = devices.WEAPON, value_down = 0.0, name = _('Arming selector SAFE'), category = _('Weapons')},
{down = device_commands.Arm_tail_nose, cockpit_device_id = devices.WEAPON, value_down = 1.0, name = _('Arming selector TAIL'), category = _('Weapons')},

While I'm not happy about having to click the pylon switch with the mouse, I now can do most of the work without fiddling with the mouse.

Edited Thursday at 03:23 PM by LeCuvier

[Mistermann]

48 minutes ago, LeCuvier said:

I certainly hope that the developer will provide a complete set of bindings that work, over time. But I don't have the patience to wait for months (if not years) to get there.

Thanks for doing this.  Given the mess that these keybinds are in, it says a lot about Mag3's commitment to standards and quality.  I'm beginning to see a pattern with this company.  Do "just enough" to call it done and move on.  Like you, I don't expect them to address these self inflicted issues anytime soon.  Thing is, it'll take them longer to fix the issue than if they'd just done it correctly the first time.

Anyway, do you plan on releasing your entire lua file as a single download?  That way we can install and opt to configure whatever new keybinds we desire.

Thanks.

Edited June 27 by Mistermann

[MAXsenna]

I certainly hope that the developer will provide a complete set of bindings that work, over time. But I don't have the patience to wait for months (if not years) to get there.
So I have started to help myself and got some improvement for myself. I will share here what I got and how.  Anybody who wants to use this is welcome.
1. Flaps
The existing bindings Flaps +/- do not work, and I could not create incremental commands. But could create commands to set the flap positions I'm interested in:
- Flaps UP (=0%)
- Flaps 30%
- Flaps down (=100%)

{down = device_commands.iCommandFlaps, cockpit_device_id = devices.CONTROL, value_down = -1.0, name = _('Flaps to 0 DEG (UP)'), category = _('Flight Control')},{down = device_commands.iCommandFlaps, cockpit_device_id = devices.CONTROL, value_down = 1.0, name = _('Flaps to 50 DEG (DOWN)'), category = _('Flight Control')},{down = device_commands.iCommandFlaps, cockpit_device_id = devices.CONTROL, value_down = 0.6, name = _('Flaps to 30 DEG from UP'), category = _('Flight Control')},

With the same aproach you can set any other value you want. For flaps to 20% , 20%/50% = 0.2; so the value_down should be = 0.2.
2. Airbrake
The existing binding is a toggle command and it works. But I want separate bindings  for Extend and Retract. The following lines do this:

{down = device_commands.Airbrake_kb, cockpit_device_id = devices.CONTROL, value_down = 0.0, name = _('Airbrake RETRACT'), category = _('Flight Control')},{down = device_commands.Airbrake_kb, cockpit_device_id = devices.CONTROL, value_down = -1.0, name = _('Airbrake EXTEND'), category = _('Flight Control')},

to be continued later today
 

Have you considered to add all your fantastic work to Munkwolf's Github?
Cheers!

Sent from my SM-A536B using Tapatalk

[_Hoss]

I wouldn't know what to do with those Lua files. You should put them into a OVGME Mod pack and offer them as a download.