The problem with multiple functions on the use key.

(Talak) #1

It’s great that Splash Damage finally got around to prioritizing disarming c4 over reviving a team member laying on top of it, but there are still several issues of having multiple functions on a single key bind when it isn’t necessary on a PC game.

Currently, the use key arms/disarms c4, revives teammates, recovers delivery objectives, heal/ammo stations, turrets, mines, sticky grenades as well as mounts and dismounts machine gun emplacements. Too many context sensitive functions on a single key bind that often results in something happening that you don’t intend to.

For example, I was playing a stopwatch match on Chapel and the attacking team dropped the EMP beside the generator. I cleared them out and attempted to recover the objective, but instead the game decides that planting the c4 on a secondary objective is more important than recovering the main one. I ended up having to plant the c4 (I was playing Kira at the time) before I could recover the objective which is something I shouldn’t have to do in a PC game with dozens of key bind options.

Multiple functions for a single key is something that console players have to contend with because of the limitations of controllers, but it’s not something that should ever be a problem for a game developed for PC.

(SteelMailbox) #2

I have a problem that relates but is a bit different.
Everytime I want to do the OBJ and put a deployable before that, instead of repairing it reclaims the deployable leaving me defenseless while doing the OBJ.

(Amerika) #3

The age old struggle of ease of use and simplicity vs. full customization options and potentially overwhelming key management.

I do think a good middle ground for an issue like this is to let people switch to a bomb/defuser manually but also put in a toggle that lets the use key function as it does now. Allowing people who want to have more control have it while not adding too much complexity for players who really don’t care.

(Talak) #4

It worked well in W:ET. 6 was to equip and toss dynamite and 5 was for the pliers to arm/disarm/repair/build.

(Amerika) #5

Yes, but ET was a relatively small blip on the FPS radar compared to a generation of people brought up on games like CoD games who are used to a much simpler system. Gaming has gotten as big as it has because things have been simplified so that players who might not have played before due to something as trivial as having extra keys to learn might play now or might not quit in the first 30 minutes.

Look at MOBA’s and how huge they are. They got there because they took the popular RTS genre and stripped out a ton of the complexity and made a game that appealed to a less tolerant group of people while also still appealing to many of the more hardcore. The same can be said about CoD. Infinity Ward made a simple FPS that didn’t require a ton of consistent aim skill while still being fast paced and they built that out.

You and I might prefer a more complex system with more keybinds but a lot of players aren’t that tolerant. Which is pretty much social commentary on gaming today. Simplicity tends to be the safe bet when it comes to adoption and making money sadly. So we get bugs with all-in-one “use” keys :frowning:

(Jostabeere) #6

Well you know, you could revamp them by yourself instead of complaining about them. That’s what PC players do. Optimizing their controls by themselves. Cause PC control settings. Y’know.
Edit: Although all abilities will stay on 2 same buttons, which it good.

(SnakekillerX) #7

Could just split these into different keybinds and have them all set to the same key by default.
People who want to change it further by having some or all binds on different keys are then able to do so.

(Talak) #8

Yes, but ET was a relatively small blip on the FPS radar compared to a generation of people brought up on games like CoD games who are used to a much simpler system. Gaming has gotten as big as it has because things have been simplified so that players who might not have played before due to something as trivial as having extra keys to learn might play now or might not quit in the first 30 minutes.

Look at MOBA’s and how huge they are. They got there because they took the popular RTS genre and stripped out a ton of the complexity and made a game that appealed to a less tolerant group of people while also still appealing to many of the more hardcore. The same can be said about CoD. Infinity Ward made a simple FPS that didn’t require a ton of consistent aim skill while still being fast paced and they built that out.

You and I might prefer a more complex system with more keybinds but a lot of players aren’t that tolerant. Which is pretty much social commentary on gaming today. Simplicity tends to be the safe bet when it comes to adoption and making money sadly. So we get bugs with all-in-one “use” keys :([/quote]

I wouldn’t call Wolf:ET a small blip in the PC world, but I understand where you’re coming from. At it’s peak it had a few thousand servers and several hundred thousand players. Splash Damage giving us the source code and all the maps, mods and skins we created with that access is what kept Wolf:ET going for as long as it did.

[quote=“Jostabeere;139752”]Well you know, you could revamp them by yourself instead of complaining about them. That’s what PC players do. Optimizing their controls by themselves. Cause PC control settings. Y’know.
Edit: Although all abilities will stay on 2 same buttons, which it good. [/quote]

If you know where the lines of code are and can direct me that would be fantastic.