Key mapping?

[Stellar Jetman]

As a right-handed person who plays Audiosurf on a laptop (hardly a minority), I'm essentially forced to use the arrow keys for control, making it virtually impossible for me to shift effectively between the left and right lanes.  As a compromise, I keep my left hand on the number keys and use them when necessary, but it's a clunky setup at best, and keeping my hands synchronized for fast, tricky maneuvers is out of the question.  (I say this as someone who has little difficulty with tasks like typing and playing the piano.)  I've tried mapping the 1, 2, and 3 keys on my number pad to their counterparts at the top of the keyboard, but it somehow refuses to work.  (Yes, the mapping was successful, as I could use the remapped keys to type "!", "@", and "#".)

I - like, I'd imagine, many other people - would love to be able to map the keys to my own preferences, and it would be trivial to add that option.  I'd even be happy if the number pad were a "built-in" control scheme like the others, a feature that could probably be coded in less than a minute.  Anything to let me use lane controls with my right hand!

[Rynex]

Use a mouse?

[blue_h3x]

The game is designed to be used with a mouse, as so the controls work best for one. Although using a trackpad can be cumbersome, plugging in a mouse is generally accepted as a good move.

[Stellar Jetman]

I already said that I have a laptop, so there's no mouse to use.  (I'm certainly not going to buy one just to play Audiosurf.)  Even then, I've played using one on a friend's computer, and it was awful.  No precision at all compared to using a keyboard.

And, even if I had no problem with using a mouse, it's still ridiculous to force people to use one side of the keyboard or another depending on the control scheme that they want.  Regardless of whether the game is "designed to be used with a mouse" or not (and, given that the control system essentially amounts to switching between three fixed positions, that idea makes little sense), there's no excuse for such a shoddy implementation of keyboard controls.  It would almost have been better to leave them out of the game entirely.

Again, this would be unbelievably easy to change; there's no reason to avoid the issue.

[blue_h3x]

Even then, I've played using one on a friend's computer, and it was awful.  No precision at all compared to using a keyboard.

Damn, guess all those videos are lying then, showing dexterous precise movement with a mouse.

t's still ridiculous to force people to use one side of the keyboard or another depending on the control scheme that they want.

Don't ever buy a console then, they force you to use use their pre configured keys, no change from ABXY/▲●■X
At least AS gives you more than one layout to choose from.

[Mincus]

Key config should be in there, it's true.
Honestly you're the first person that's brought up this specific issue though.
I should point out, mouse is considered better because moving between lanes with a keyboard is much slower than when using a mouse as the game limits the horizontal speed of the ship and has an acceleration/deceleration curve attached. This means you can move across the entire road in 2 or 3 frames with a mouse at high sensitivity whereas you're looking at much longer with the keyboard.

But that's besides the point if you're happy with keyboard.
There's not really an answer other than trying some other keybinding software possibly. Don't expect a change in Audiosurf though, we've not seen a serious update for it since the end of 2009.

If you're willing to make the investment then you can use a 360 pad with the game as well.

[stupidstraycat]

I recall reading comments on a Youtube vid ages back bout players who prefer the arrow keys over the mouse.
Being an old FPS player, I also understand the desire for the WASD mapping.
For the DV car types I could understand if there was coding added to split the left car for WASD, while the right car is on the arrow keys.
I also recall a lurk ages back in Steam about laptop touchpads (I tried it, it sucks) being useable...

I do see a drawback to the request though, for those of us who've tried the [as-4lane] game mode with the mapping structure that Stellar's requesting.

[Stellar Jetman]

Damn, guess all those videos are lying then, showing dexterous precise movement with a mouse.

I know that it's possible to use a mouse precisely, but I'm not about to put in the kind of practice that would be necessary to get to that point - and having to manually line the vehicle up with each lane is inherently less precise than pressing a key that does it automatically, regardless of how well anybody pulls the maneuver off with a mouse.

Don't ever buy a console then, they force you to use use their pre configured keys, no change from ABXY/▲●■X
At least AS gives you more than one layout to choose from.

I can't even wrap my head around what you're trying to say here.  Audiosurf has exactly one layout to "choose from" (otherwise, I wouldn't have started this thread), and that comment about controller buttons is both needlessly snide and dumbfoundingly stupid.  (Seriously, what on Earth could you possibly have meant by that?  Do you even know what a control configuration is?)

I should point out, mouse is considered better because moving between lanes with a keyboard is much slower than when using a mouse as the game limits the horizontal speed of the ship and has an acceleration/deceleration curve attached. This means you can move across the entire road in 2 or 3 frames with a mouse at high sensitivity whereas you're looking at much longer with the keyboard.

I can tell you right now that there's no way that I'll be that good with a mouse in my lifetime.

But that's besides the point if you're happy with keyboard.

Thanks.  Nice to see a voice of reason here.

There's not really an answer other than trying some other keybinding software possibly.

The one that I used works by rewriting the registry, so I doubt that a better option exists short of physically rewiring my keyboard.  The only explanation for its failure that I can think of is that, since I left the actual 1, 2, and 3 keys alone, Audiosurf is still treating them exclusively as inputs.  I'll see if monkeying around with it some more doesn't get results.  Update: it didn't.

Don't expect a change in Audiosurf though, we've not seen a serious update for it since the end of 2009.

Ouch.  Why is this board still around, then?

If you're willing to make the investment then you can use a 360 pad with the game as well.

Not interested at all, but thanks for the tip.

[blue_h3x]

I'm not about to put in the kind of practice

I can tell you right now that there's no way that I'll be that good with a mouse in my lifetime.

If you don't put anything in, you won't get anything out. With practice you become better at things.

Audiosurf has exactly one layout to "choose from"

AS has two keyboard options, pressing the lane number (number key), or holding a key(A and D (though might be different as I don't use keys that much)) to move to a lane (left/right) and releasing it returns to the centre lane.

[Stellar Jetman]

If you don't put anything in, you won't get anything out. With practice you become better at things.

You either missed or completely ignored my point, which was that the kind of practice necessary to have that kind of finesse with a mouse isn't worth the effort to me just to be able to control an interactive music visualizer, especially when far less effort would be necessary to fix the broken (and they are broken; I seriously have never seen worse keyboard controls in my life) keyboard controls in the first place.  I don't know how I can make that any clearer to you than I already have.  I have better things to spend money on than a mouse that I'd be using just to control one game, and I have better things to do than practice for hours with that mouse just to do what I already can with the keyboard controls, as badly-implemented as they are.

I don't know why you're trying to turn this into a debate on whether or not I should be using the keyboard in the first place.  Even if I didn't use the keyboard at all, Audiosurf's shoddy keyboard support is a legitimate issue that the developers should address.

AS has two keyboard options, pressing the lane number (number key), or holding a key(A and D (though might be different as I don't use keys that much)) to move to a lane (left/right) and releasing it returns to the centre lane.

You think that I don't know that?  They're spread across the keyboard in one immutable layout.  What part of that do you not understand?  The game literally requires players to be ambidextrous in order to use different control modes, which is completely inexcusable.

Quick question: do you have Asperger's Syndrome?  I'm honestly getting that impression here.

[blue_h3x]

Oh, indeed the system is broken, but not the worst possible.

Pressing 1 jumps the ship to the left most lane.
Pressing 2 jumps the ship to the middle lane.
Pressing 3 jumps the ship to the right most lane.

Holding S moves the ship to the left most, releasing moves the ship to the middle.
Holding D moves the ship to the right most, releasing moves the ship to the middle.

Pressing left-arrow moves the ship one lane to the left.
Pressing right-arrow moves the ship one lane to the right.

So after all, there's three possible ways to play with the keyboard not just the 'one layout'. For someone who plays the piano, surely you have equal command over each hand and so left handed play style should be that much of an issue. Training the brain pathways won't take more than an hour or two. Rather like learning a new piece of music.

There's little continuity, though the game was designed for PC and uses the standard PC input. Which happens to be the mouse. If you buy a console, you are equally fixed with what buttons the game was made to take as input. There's no point complaining that you want the movement joy stick on the right hand side of a PS3 controller. Which was my earlier point.

Using a trackpad on a laptop can cause more severe RSI issues compared to a mouse, not to mention the greater flexibility of use it provides. The mouse won't just help with playing Audiosurf, but your general use of the portable computer.

Your blatant lack of patience to learn something new and the rage it causes is most amusing.

[Stellar Jetman]

Get out of my thread if you have nothing of value to say.  There isn't a single point in that post that I haven't already addressed multiple times.

Again, why are you so determined to turn this into a debate?  There is absolutely nothing that you can say to make me spend money on a mouse and time on practicing with it when Audiosurf is a fun little diversion for me at best.  It's not important enough to me to warrant what you keep cluelessly insisting on.

Your blatant lack of patience to learn something new and the rage it causes is most amusing.

Oh, give me a break.  (Take a look at the second item on the list.)

[Laserrobotics]

This is now my thread.  As such, you will now be following my rules.  No more responses for two days.  Stellar has been given time to cool down.  Everyone else here, the man had a reasonable request at the start and there was no reason to continue suggesting mouse after he said he didn't want to use one.