Understanding Options > Controls > Keyboard Shortcut Notations

[Toasting Aces]

To all the more experienced players of LOP:

 

I now realize this is going to take some time--no a lot of time to understand how use this simulator. I'm thinking to self: "What have I've gotten myself into?" :noexpression:

 

That being said, I have a few questions.

Start > LOFC2 > Options > Controls

The left column lists various Actions. Okay, I'm gonna have to learn all this stuff.

The next column lists Keyboard Shortcuts. This is where I have questions.

 

1. What am I doing when it says: LShift? Does this mean I have to press the keys for the letter "L" and "Shift" at the same time?
   
2. What about LAlt?
   
3. What about LWin?
   
4. Now what does it mean or what do I have to do when I see the "+" sign in between various keys or combination of keys? Do I have to actually press the "+" sign or just know that I have to press the next key or key combination?
   
5. Okay, now I have an Hp Pavilion notebook computer. The keyboard does not show the following keys: num/ , num* , so what do I do if I need to use these key combinations?
   
6. Also, in addition to question #5, is num/ a combination of [num and /] , and is num* a combination of [num and *] ?
   
7. Where is the "num" key on my keyboard? It's not there.
   
8. I do see a key called "num lk" which I believe is the "numlock" key. It appears under the scroll key, but it is a "fn" key, which means I have to press the "fn" key to access it. What do I do here when I need to use this key?
   
9. "NumEnter" where is this key?
   
10. In the Aircraft line: What does Free Camera mean? How is it used?
    
11. What about the mouse? When it says: "Mouse X" , "Mouse Y" , or Mouse "Z" ? (For example, when I'm looking at: A-10A, Axis Commands.)
    
12. What does "Clear Category" do?
    
13. What does "Save Profile As" do?
    
14. What does "Load Profile" do?
    
15. Explain the Modifiers: 'Add" , "Clear" , "Default" , "Axis Assign" , "Axis Tune" , and "FF Tune" do?
    

General Comment:

It seems much more appropriate when going through a basic lesson for a new player that they can practice immediately what has just been taught. There needs to be a separate space to do this and only what was just learned from a lesson.

 

To throw the new player into the deep waters of this game program, meaning understanding the key shortcuts (like above), is a bit over-the-top for the new player.

 

Had the developers of this program felt it was first necessary for a player to learn these various codes before starting to play the game then they should have started with that as lesson one.

 

Apparently this game is quite complicated, and I realize it's going to really take some time before I can appreciate the actual use of the game itself.

 

I've also noticed that there is a FC2 Printed Manual now available in the US from Amazon.com. I wonder if this is more accurate and clear in teaching new players about this game program?

 

I wonder whether a lot of the things I'm about to learn is close to learning how to fly various aircraft in real life? Much of what is presented here about the HUD and various avionics, so far, seems like the actual reality?

 

TA

[Sel94]

Welcome to the community!First off, I think it's better to use the aircraft and watch some videos before doing all that keyboard options stuff. It let's you see how the aircraft and all its components work, which makes it easier to map on a stick. Now to answer your questions. These are answere corrosponding to your questions.

 

1-3)When it says LShift, it means to hold down the shift on the left side of the keyboard. So, something like RCtrl would mean the Ctrl key on the right side of the keyboard.

4) When you see something like LShift + R, it means to hold down the left Shift key and press the R key while holding down Shift.

5-10) Sorry, can't help you there. Maybe remap them. You do know the numpad is the right-most section of the keyboard with all the numbers, usually called the numpad. Just making sure.

11)I havn't used the mouse in a while because I use a stick, but I assume they mean the axis, as in the X-axis, Y-axis etc.(I could be wrong though.)

12)"Clear Catagory" will delete all maped contols in the selected catagory.

13-14)I've never used the "Save Profile", but I assume it saves the controls you maped, so you can make multiple contol layouts. You would then Load it to use it.

15)"Add" will map a control of your choosing to that function.(ex- If you want flaps to be a certain button on your stick, you select "add" and then press the button so the function will be on that button.)

"Clear" deletes the button/key maped to that function so you can then use "add" to change it.

"Default" will change the functions' button to the original one. (ex-you changed flaps to the "w" key. You then press "default on it to change it back to "f", the original key.)

"Axis Assign" simply put, lets you use a stick with the sim. Connect the stick, then you can select "roll"(or whatever it is) and use "add" to assign the X-axis of your stick to rolling.

I havn't used the last two.

A digital manual should have come with the sim.

Yes, it is complicated but if you can grasp the basics, it can be really fun.

And yes, this is pretty realistic.

 

Okay, sorry I couldn't answer all of them but I hope it helped! Have a fun time flying!

Playing online can always be good practice. I great practice server would be "SU's(Stike Units) Server" or something like that. I am usually on there so if you see the name "Shane", that's me! I can help you learn the basics if we bump into eachother. Use the "`" key to type a message FWI.(It's to the left of the "1" key. Have a fun time!

Edited August 2, 2010 by Sel94

[Sarge55]

A quick caution if you are remapping the keys. Do not use "Save Profile" whatever changes you've made will be saved when you exit options by clicking on OK. If you use the "Save Profile" it can screw up your settings.

 

The digital manual is found in X:/LockOn Flaming Cliffs 2/Doc/..... X being the drive you installed into.

[nomdeplume]

Okay, now I have an Hp Pavilion notebook computer. The keyboard does not show the following keys: num/ , num* , so what do I do if I need to use these key combinations?

 

As Sel94 mentioned, the num- stuff refers to the numeric keypad. Since you're on a notebook, you probably don't physically have a numeric keypad, but you probably have one doubled-up on some existing keys.

 

Here is an image of a typical notebook keyboard: click.You can see the numpad markings in blue around the JKL keys. If you hold the blue Fn key down and press one of those, it'll behave as if you'd pressed the corresponding key on the number pad. So, that can provide a workaround. If the keystrokes prove to be useful and it's too cumbersome to use the Fn key to access them, you can remap them within the sim.

 

Another thing to consider is getting a full-sized USB keyboard and plugging that in. Depending on how and where you use your laptop, this might not be a viable option, but it's something to consider.

 

In the Aircraft line: What does Free Camera mean? How is it used?

Sometimes you're not controlling an aircraft, for example if you're spectating or activate the free camera view (Ctrl F11 or something... probably wrong, I don't use it much). Essentially it lets you just move the "camera" around without being attached to any particular object. Not all that useful really, although people making movies sometimes use it to good effect.

 

What about the mouse? When it says: "Mouse X" , "Mouse Y" , or Mouse "Z" ?

X is horizontal movement, Y is vertical movement, and Z seems to refer to the scroll wheel, even though it's not really an axis. The sim needs to generalise inputs as much as possible so you can use a variety of devices. With a joystick, X is the side-to-side axis, Y is up-and-down, and Z is the twist (if it has one)

 

"Axis Tune"

Lets you adjust the "curves" for the selected device. Basically this allows you to have something other than a 1:1 mapping between the movement of your physical joystick and the "virtual" joystick of the aircraft. It's often helpful to reduce the responsiveness near the center, so you can make small adjustments easier with consumer-quality input devices, which are perhaps not as sensitive as we'd like.

 

"FF Tune"

Force-feedback settings. I don't have a force-feedback stick so I've never used this.

 

Had the developers of this program felt it was first necessary for a player to learn these various codes before starting to play the game then they should have started with that as lesson one.

There's no getting around the fact that it's pretty complicated to learn to fly a military jet from scratch. It's a fairly steep learning curve.

 

I would suggest your best bet is to focus on flying the plane first. To start with, all you need to do is be able to raise/lower the landing gear ("G"), and possibly operate the flaps ("F" I think, but I have this bound to by HOTAS so I'm not sure what the actual keypress is). Once you're comfortable flying around, learn the different Nav modes. Then once you can fly comfortably, you can start thinking about weapons employment against static targets.

 

If you go step by step, the actual number of controls and systems you need to use in each step is fairly small, so you can learn the keypresses or assign them to your controller as you go.

 

Alternatively, you can go into the Options screen and disable all the "simulation" features. It's still not going to be quite an easy pick-up arcade shooter, but it'll get much closer. If you're intending to play the game as a sim in the long term, then going the arcade route is probably a bad idea as you'll pick up lots of bad habits that you'll have to unlearn. Instead, be very patient and don't expect to be shooting bad guys for some time.

 

Also: what aircraft are you flying? You've probably noticed that each aircraft has its own set of controls, which is a bit annoying but kind of unavoidable since they all have different systems. It's better to focus on learning one aircraft, especially at the beginning. The Su-25 and Su-25T have a more advanced flight model than the other planes, so if you're in it mostly for the "flying experience" it's probably better to use those (even if there is a bit of a language barrier). Otherwise, you should pick whatever most suites the kind of flying you want to do.

[Bearitall]

As Sel94 mentioned, the num- stuff refers to the numeric keypad. Since you're on a notebook, you probably don't physically have a numeric keypad, but you probably have one doubled-up on some existing keys.

 

Here is an image of a typical notebook keyboard: click.You can see the numpad markings in blue around the JKL keys. If you hold the blue Fn key down and press one of those, it'll behave as if you'd pressed the corresponding key on the number pad. So, that can provide a workaround. If the keystrokes prove to be useful and it's too cumbersome to use the Fn key to access them, you can remap them within the sim.

 

Well, I would say it all depends what laptop he has, my Acer Laptop has numpad on the right side..and is distinctly seperate from keyboard.as on a regular keyboard..but hey nice break down for him....