Do you guys think these are too many keys to remember for a story / shooter PC game? :-)

[EtienneAndlau]

KEYBOARD LEGEND FOR PC VERSION OF THE GAME

Trigger volumes will determine how the character walks, crouch walks, crawls and will help choose
what the character does if you LMB. In that way you can use same keys like WSAF and LMB for various
different actions.
Character will always reach for something in front of him. So, if you have a choice of items to his
sides and in front of him you need to turn the character first. If its lower or higher than character
it will reach up of bend over to pick up.

Game project is here: www.escapefrommillstation.com

LEGEND ON OR OFF:

L Toggle to hide or show legend for keys.

BASIC MOVEMENTS:

W Walk
W + Shift Run
W + Alt / Alt Sprint
Strafe left or right is mouse vector dependent and automatically
kicks in. It also depends on situation or terrain.
W + S Walk backwards. Character typically strafes a little then turns.
W + S + Shift Run backwards. (Can’t sprint backwards)

S Turn 180 and walk the way you came facing camera.
A Turn and walk to the left facing the direction you walk.
D Turn and walk to the right facing the direction you walk.
V Lie down.
C Crouch.
Space bar Jump.

CLIMBING AND SITTING / LEANING:

W, S, A, D Climb / Hop or climb over / step over / jump up very low object.
(Just keep pressing and hold down key and character will decide what do
to.
Either climb up, or down, stop climbing, etc. Also, to sit in a chair you
just walk into it, hold down key like W and character will “decide” to sit.
To get back up you just reverse. Like the S key.)
If you walk slowly up to ladder going down or cliff’s edge character will
turn around and know that he needs to climb down.
If you just run off edge character will fall or he will fall if there is no way
To climb down.

WEAPONS:

F1 If revolver is in holster, character takes it out and
aims from the hip.
RMB Tight aim. RMB again for hip aim.
F1 again and character puts the revolver back into holster.
F2 2nd weapon he has slung hold and aim.
F2 again and character slings 2nd weapon.
F2 (When revolver is held or tight aimed) Character swaps out revolver with
2nd weapon.
F3,4 … Other weapons.
LMB To fire any weapon or stab with knife.

PHYSICAL FIGHTING:

F Character goes into physical fighting mode. (He will punch and kick only
even with weapon in hand).
RMB Kick (Will kick with whatever leg is right for the moment).
LMB Punch / hit hard (always with right arm and fist).
Punch kinda blends in with hard push depending on situation.
You can punch out a window too or break through barrier.
MMB Block.
F Character comes out of physical fighting mode.
(Weapons reload automatically when empty.)

OBJECTS AND CLOTHING:

1 If nothing in hands, hands move up to anything worn on head.
RMB Whatever is on head character takes off.
MMB Character takes off backpack and opens it. He is ready to either
drop item in bag or take item out.
Down arrow Character drops item in hand into backpack.
Up arrow Character takes next item out of backpack. And so you “cycle” through
the contents of backpack.
1 If a hat is held in hand. Character moves hands up to head as if want to
take off what is on head. (If another number key is pressed the character
cancels his plan and move his hands to another part of the body).
RMB If another hat is held in hand, character swaps out hats. He continues to hold
whatever he took off in his hand.
Down arrow Character puts whatever he has in hand down. Either on a table or surface nearby
or just on the ground in front of him. If he is under the water he just lets
it go.
Up arrow Character picks up whatever he is close too and facing. If he picks up a note
or book he will hold it in a reading position so camera can see the pages.
L/R arrows Character turn pages / roll schematic either to the left or right.
H Swap items if items in both hands. (Right hand will put something away or
down). If only 1 item in left hand left hand will do all the work of putting
away, down or wear.

2 Torso.

3 Pants.

4 Right hand.

5 Left hand.

6 Feet.

PUSHING OR PULLING:

P Character goes into pushing or pulling mode.
RMB If character is near object that he can push. Like a board, cart, statue
Or any object that can be pushed. He will get into position and be ready
to start pushing. (Grabs onto it / get a grip on it).
The same if character can pull something. Like a cart, dolly, something with
rope attached.
W You just press W to push object forward.
S You would walk backwards if you are pulling something.
RMB To release object being pulled or pulled.
If you walk backwards and forwards character will swap between pushing and
pulling. (It will know where to place hands).
P Character comes out of pushing and pulling mode.

[EvilCleric]

I don’t think they are that many.

However, I really hate to use function keys for gameplay actions. But that’s just me.

[EtienneAndlau]

Thanks guys franktech you made some good points there about longer holds on keys.
I didn’t think about that.
I see it as a challenge and want to keep the UI as clean as possible and have the gameplay as slick and smooth as possible too without any popups in the viewer where the game pauses and you select things.
I know its done that way but I personally don’t like it.
I really love the seamless gameplay in Uncharted 4.
If I can get it to that level of complexity and maybe push it a little and still keep the UI clean that would be awesome
This version is a huge improvement though I had it a lot more complex with a lot more keys too remember before.
I like this idea I have right now where you hit P and you go in and out of a “mode”.
In that way you free the same keys up to do other things that you “normally” would use it for.
Like shooting with LMB but if you are in P mode you would be pulling or pushing.
I have to test that though and see how that works and I don’t think I will be able to use key binds then.
I noticed in Uncharted Lost Legacy they had a clever trick to know when you should let go of a rope
when you swing back and forth.
They had the character raise her one arm reaching out.
That was a signal that it was safe to jump off the rope.
Love that.
I think when I have my character go into P mode (to push and pull) I will have him chance his idle position as to “gesture” that he is ready to push or pull.
In that way I can avoid having another “warning” up on the UI.
Just make it natural through body language
So his body language will basically be the indicator what mode he is in.
For example if I hit F and he goes into physical fighting mode then he will raise and hold his fists like a boxer would.
So you wont forget what mode you are in that way … I hope

[EtienneAndlau]

Here is a revised one. I simplified it even more and added drowning and healing:

KEYBOARD LEGEND FOR PC VERSION OF THE GAME

Trigger volumes will determine how the character walks, crouch walks, crawls and will help choose
what the character does if you LMB. In that way you can use same keys like WSAF and LMB for various
different actions.
Character will always reach for something in front of him. So, if you have a choice of items to his
sides and in front of him you need to turn the character first. If its lower or higher than character
it will reach up of bend over to pick up.

LEGEND ON OR OFF:

L Toggle to hide or show legend for keys.

BASIC MOVEMENTS:

W Walk. Characters leans in depending on mouse vector.
W + Shift Run
W + Alt / Alt Sprint
Strafe left or right is mouse vector dependent and automatically
kicks in. It also depends on situation or terrain.
S Walk backwards a few steps then turns and walks in that direction.
S + Shift Run backwards a few steps then turns and runs in that direction.

A Turn and walk to the left facing the direction you walk.
Strafe left a few steps if gun in hand and loosely aiming.
Strafe left only if tight aiming.
A + Shift Same but just faster.
D Turn and walk to the right facing the direction you walk.
Strafe right a few steps if gun in hand or loosely aiming.
Strafe right only if tight aiming.
D + Shift Same but just faster.
V Lie down.
C Crouch.
Z Sit down on the ground or anything near character he can sit on.
Space bar Jump.

If character backs up against lower wall and you continue to press S the character will sit on the wall. If you face the lower wall and walk into it and continue to press W he will climb onto it and stand on top of it. If you run or sprint into it character will jump over lower wall.

CLIMBING AND SITTING / LEANING:

W, S, A, D Climb / Hop or climb over / step over / jump up very low object.
(Just keep pressing and hold down key and character will decide what do
to.
Either climb up, or down, stop climbing, etc. Also, to sit in a chair you
just walk into it, hold down key like W and character will “decide” to sit.
To get back up you just reverse. Like the S key.)
If you walk slowly up to ladder going down or cliff’s edge character will
turn around and know that he needs to climb down.
If you just run off edge character will fall or he will fall if there is no way
To climb down.
If you run up to a cliff edge or edge high off the ground and stop right
on it, the character
will lean over it for a second and lose its balance and correct itself.
If you start sitting on a chair and in front of a table with a note or book
on it and hit the up arrow character will finish sitting and pick up the
note or book and read it.

WEAPONS:

F1 If revolver is in holster, character takes it out and
aims from the hip.
RMB Tight aim. RMB again for hip aim.
F1 again and character puts the revolver back into holster.
F2 2nd weapon he has slung hold and aim.
F2 again and character slings 2nd weapon.
F2 (When revolver is held or tight aimed) Character swaps out revolver with
2nd weapon.
F3, 4 … Other weapons.
LMB To fire any weapon or stab with knife.
If character is holding a rock, bottle, book or any other object in his one
hand he will throw that object.

PHYSICAL FIGHTING:

F Character goes into physical fighting mode. (He will punch and kick only
even with weapon in hand).
RMB Kick (Will kick with whatever leg is right for the moment).
LMB Punch / hit hard (always with right arm and fist).
Punch kinda blends in with hard push depending on situation.
You can punch out a window too or break through barrier.
MMB Block.
F Character comes out of physical fighting mode.
(Weapons reload automatically when empty.)

OBJECTS AND CLOTHING:

1 If nothing in hands, hands move up to anything worn on head.
RMB Whatever is on head character takes off.
MMB Character takes off backpack and opens it. He is ready to either
drop item in bag or take item out.
Down arrow Character drops item in hand into backpack.
Up arrow Character takes next item out of backpack. And so you “cycle” through
the contents of backpack.
1 If a hat is held in hand. Character moves hands up to head as if want to
take off what is on head. (If another number key is pressed the character
cancels his plan and move his hands to another part of the body).
RMB If another hat is held in hand, character swaps out hats. He continues to hold
whatever he took off in his hand.
Down arrow Character puts whatever he has in hand down. Either on a table or surface nearby
or just on the ground in front of him. If he is under the water he just lets
it go.
Up arrow Character picks up whatever he is close too and facing. If he picks up a note
or book he will hold it in a reading position so camera can see the pages.
L/R arrows Character turn pages / roll schematic either to the left or right.
H Swap items if items in both hands. (Right hand will put something away or
down). If only 1 item in left hand left hand will do all the work of putting
away, down or wear.

2 Torso.

3 Pants.

4 Right hand.

5 Left hand.

6 Feet.

PUSHING OR PULLING:

P Character goes into pushing or pulling mode.
RMB If character is near object that he can push. Like a board, cart, statue
Or any object that can be pushed. He will get into position and be ready
to start pushing. (Grabs onto it / get a grip on it).
The same if character can pull something. Like a cart, dolly, something with
rope attached.
W You just press W to push object forward.
S You would walk backwards if you are pulling something.
RMB To release object being pulled or pulled.
If you walk backwards and forwards character will swap between pushing and
pulling. (It will know where to place hands).
P Character comes out of pushing and pulling mode.

DROWNING:

If character is diving under the water the viewer slowly just becomes blurrier (as he is losing consciousness) and eventually just turns black as he dies, if he doesn’t get air in time.
You can also hear the distress in his voice.
There will be more air bubbles escaping in front of the viewer.
The blurriness creeps in from the side so the player can still see the center.
When blurriness reaches center of viewer that is when everything turns to black and character dies.

HURT OR WOUNDED (medical needs):

If your character is wounded his animations will reflect that. So if he jumped off a too high object and hurt his ankle he would limp when he walks or runs.
Then he would run slower and maybe fall at random intervals.
Character gets up himself after a fall.
If he got shot in the shoulder he would hold his shoulder with his one hand or lean in on that side.
His body movements will reflect what the type of hurt is. He will also bleed (mesh swap) if he got hit or scraped with something).

M That will tell the character to heal himself. So, he will stop, sit down and take out a med kit
from his backpack and address his wounds. You can’t control how it will fix his wounds the
character “knows what to do”.
M Again to either interrupt procedure and get back up.
If he is putting a bandage on he will finish that part before he responds.
If you just wait until character finished with healing, then he will put everything away in his
backpack and return to state he was in before you hit M.
So, if he had his revolver out when you hit M he will pull it out of its holster again and hold
It in his hand after he is done.

[EtienneAndlau]

I simplified it even more
I hope the “mode system” will work.
Anyone feel free to try this system and use it in your games.
I will build this myself and test it but you may also

LEGEND ON OR OFF:

**L ** Toggle to hide or show legend for keys.

BASIC MOVEMENTS:

**W **Walk. Characters leans in depending on mouse vector.
W + Shift Run
W + Alt / Alt Sprint
Strafe left or right is mouse vector dependent and automatically
kicks in. It also depends on situation or terrain.
S Walk backwards a few steps then turns and walks in that direction.
S + Shift Run backwards a few steps then turns and runs in that direction.

**A ** Turn and walk to the left facing the direction you walk.
Strafe left a few steps if gun in hand and loosely aiming.
Strafe left only if tight aiming.
A + Shift Same but just faster.
**D ** Turn and walk to the right facing the direction you walk.
Strafe right a few steps if gun in hand or loosely aiming.
Strafe right only if tight aiming.
D + Shift Same but just faster.
V Lie down.
C Crouch.
**Z **Sit down on the ground or anything near character he can sit on.
Space bar Jump.

If character backs up against lower wall and you continue to press S the character will sit on the wall. If you face the lower wall and walk into it and continue to press W he will climb onto it and stand on top of it. If you run or sprint into it character will jump over lower wall.

PICKUPS:

Up Arrow Character will pick up any item in front of him. What he is closest to and
facing. If it’s a note or book he will hold it so he can read it.
L and R Arrows Flipping through pages of a book, last page will flip to back of book and
if
you continue to press R Arrow book will flip to front cover.
If character is holding a piece of paper or note L and R arrows will flip it.
Down Arrow Character puts down whatever he is holding in his hand. If he is sitting at
A table he will put it down on the table, or if he is standing next to it
And close to it and facing it.
Otherwise character will put it down on the ground. He will “decide
himself”.
H Swap items in both hands.

THROWING:

LMB HARD throw. Throw far.
RMB SHORT throw. Just throw something through a door or over a low wall.
Character will always throw whatever he has in his right hand. If he has only one item and in the left hand he will throw with left hand.

CLIMBING AND SITTING / LEANING:

W, S, A, D Climb / Hop or climb over / step over / jump up very low object.
(Just keep pressing and hold down key and character will decide what do
to.
Either climb up, or down, stop climbing, etc. Also, to sit in a chair you
just walk into it, hold down key like W and character will “decide” to sit.
To get back up you just reverse. Like the S key.)
If you walk slowly up to ladder going down or cliff’s edge character will
turn around and know that he needs to climb down.
If you just run off edge character will fall or he will fall if there is no way
To climb down.
If you run up to a cliff edge or edge high off the ground and stop right
on it, the character
will lean over it for a second and lose its balance and correct itself.
If you start sitting on a chair and in front of a table with a note or book
on it and hit the up arrow character will finish sitting and pick up the
note or book and read it.

WEAPONS AND SWORD FIGHTING:

1 If revolver is in holster, character takes it out and
aims from the hip.
RMB Tight aim. RMB again to come out of tight aim and just lose aim from
hips. Swipe with a sword if sword in in right hand. (Revolver can
still be held in left hand).
LMB To fire any weapon or stab with knife.
If character is holding a rock, bottle, book or any other object in his one
hand he will throw that object.
Stab with sword is sword in held in right hand.
MMB Block if sword is held in right hand.
H Swap weapons in hands.
2 For the next weapon. If a rifle for example is slung over shoulder. Or if a
knife in held on belt or pouch.
3, 4 …. More weapons character is carrying on him.
To keeps things simple character will always carry a knife through the belt and the revolver in holster. Rifles are always slung over shoulder.

PHYSICAL FIGHTING:

F Character goes into physical fighting mode. (He will punch and kick only
even with weapon in hand).
RMB Kick (Will kick with whatever leg is right for the moment).
LMB Punch / hit hard (always with right arm and fist).
Punch kinda blends in with hard push depending on situation.
You can punch out a window too or break through barrier.
MMB Block.
**F ** Character comes out of physical fighting mode.
(Weapons reload automatically when empty.)

CLOTHING:

**C ** If C is pressed character assumes “clothing mode” posture. He indicates with body
language that he is ready to remove clothing, put on or swap out.
**LMB ** If you click and hold down, you cycle through head, hands, face (glasses), and so on.
RMB If you press RMB character will remove whatever he is wearing on that part of the
body selected by the LMB actions.
C Again, character comes out of clothing mode and resumes last mode he was in before
C was pressed.
If you happen to have a hat in your hand while pressing RMB when head is selected character will swap out whatever is worn on the head at that time with the hat in his hand.
Character can also remove the belt and holster with side arm. He cant put it in his backpack though but he can put a knife and the revolver in his backpack.

BACKPACK:

B Character goes into “backpack mode. He removes his backpack and opens it on the
ground or on a low wall if he happens to be sitting on it or a table.
**RMB ** He drops whatever is in his hand into backpack.
LMB He picks an item from his backpack and lifts it out to look at it.
If you click and hold down LMB he cycles through everything inside backpack. This will
continue looping until you release LMB and then he will have a single item in his hand.
If you change your mind you drop the item in bag by pressing RMB.
H Swap items if both hands full. He does the picking and dropping of items only with right
hand.
B Again, to come out of “backpack mode”. He closes the backpack and puts it back on.
Keeps on holding the item (if he took anything out) in his hand.

PUSHING OR PULLING:

P Character goes into pushing or pulling mode. Gets into position and is ready.
W / S Push or pull object.
W / S Stop pushing W or S to release object being pulled or pulled.
If you walk backwards and forwards character will swap between pushing and
pulling. (It will know where to place hands).
**P ** Character comes out of pushing and pulling mode.

DROWNING:

If character is diving under the water the viewer slowly just becomes blurrier (as he is losing consciousness) and eventually just turns black as he dies, if he doesn’t get air in time.
You can also hear the distress in his voice.
There will be more air bubbles escaping in front of the viewer.
The blurriness creeps in from the side so the player can still see the center.
When blurriness reaches center of viewer that is when everything turns to black and character dies.

HURT OR WOUNDED (medical needs):

If your character is wounded his animations will reflect that. So, if he jumped off a too high object and hurt his ankle he would limp when he walks or runs.
Then he would run slower and maybe fall at random intervals.
Character gets up himself after a fall.
If he got shot in the shoulder he would hold his shoulder with his one hand or lean in on that side.
His body movements will reflect what the type of hurt is. He will also bleed (mesh swap) if he got hit or scraped with something).

M That will tell the character to heal himself. So, he will stop, sit down and take out a med kit
from his backpack and address his wounds. You can’t control how it will fix his wounds the
character “knows what to do”.
M Again to either interrupt procedure and get back up.
If he is putting a bandage on he will finish that part before he responds.
If you just wait until character finished with healing, then he will put everything away in his
backpack and return to state he was in before you hit M.
So, if he had his revolver out when you hit M he will pull it out of its holster again and hold
It in his hand after he is done.

[EtienneAndlau]

What I am trying to get at here is to have the player only remember the “mode keys”
And then do everything (as much as possible) with left and right mouse buttons.
I am hoping this will result in smooth gameplay