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I whole heartedly agree with allowing customization of the navigation keys. It can easily be done in away that insures that only users who intend and are capable of implementing a customized configuration will have access to this option. I errantly wrote a bug report on this issue and was redirected to this Public Issue Tracker, which I hope the designers pay close attention to. What follows is my original ticket:
"This is not a bug, but it's a critical flaw in the customizable features of Second Life. The Keyboard cannot be reconfigured. While this may be of no concern to non-PC-Gamers drawn to your game (which is probably most of your audience considering the nature of the game), to native PC-Gamers this is extremely irritating. Many of us gamers have become accustomed to setting up specific key configurations that EVERY Avatar-based PC game will allow us to alter. I would venture to say that the reason many PC gamers try Second Life and give up after a few entries into the meta-verse is because of the limitations in navigability (relative to PC games) caused in part by this lack of reconfigurability. I know you're just a customer service rep, but please forward this to your supervisor who should make sure it gets in front of someone who can respond properly. I know others have voiced there concern over this issue and that many more have not, but are nonetheless effected by it. And I know that many who have tried SL, but never felt comfortable within the world have had an issue with this, and frankly that's lost market share over the simple implication of a gui that allows for changing the key to walk forward or to pull up the chat menu (as well as opening the door to other input methods such as smart-mouses and next gen controllers). Thank you for deeply considering this issue as you continue to improve upon an amazing user experience." Anyway, we'll see how this changes in the future. I also come from playing many computer games where being able to customize key bindings helps me to play. I often find myself pressing Q and E to Strafe.
This is one of the major issues that prevents me from taking Second Life seriously. To me, the lack of a key-binding option is the mark of a second-rate/immature client. It's the first thing any veteran of FPS or MMORPG games looks for when they enter a new game environment. It's bad enough that you can't re-bind keys, but confirming that key-binding isn't possible was a worse experience. I ended up on this page after Google searching because I couldn't conclusively determine anywhere in the game or wiki documentation whether key binding is possible.
I wholeheartedly agree with Revelin's comment above, and I'd agree that there are lots of veteran PC gamers who abandon SL upon finding that they cannot re-bind their keys.I hope this gets changed in the future. The keybindings seem to be customizable by editing C:\Program Files\SecondLife\app_settings\keys.ini
( or wherever you have SecondLife installed ) it would be a fairly easy project to make a small offline keybinding editor for SL for use by folks not comfortable editing the ini file directly. I also would like to see a re-mapping feature for SL. I play a number of MMOs and FPS games and having to switch from the "WASD" keys to the arrow keys is anoying to say the least. I've gotten so used to using my Cyber Snipa, that having to use arrow keys really limits the play and comfort of the controls.
If SL works it like all the other games, typing in the chat box simply suspends the movement keys for the short time your typing and resumes the moment the cursor isn't in the chat box. Would really like to see this key mapping issue fixed/improved. Rewriting description to reflect current situation while addressing the original concern.
You can also add "better access for people with disabilities" to the list or reasons why this is a good idea.
Whenever possible - and I've been doing this since I used a Kaypro - I remap keys to let me use the keyboard with no physically painful combinations. I agree we need customization of the keyboard shortcuts.
For more than 1 year, Linux users haven't been able to hide UI anymore because the shortcut had been changed to a key combo they can't use, and they cannot change it - VWR-2085 @Vandrek Kytori:
The world of MMOs has defined the best and most flexible character movement method. using a combination of mouse and wasd keys. and using the right mouse button to rotate the camera. Key mapping is basic feature, included on virtually EVERY Third Person VR game. (WOW, Aion, etc etc).
The fact that Second life does not support these two basic features is just unbelievable. |
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New Feature
Open
Normal
Custom key binding
But I agree on the customization of the keyboard shortcuts.