Things have been pretty lively on the forums recently and that’s great! Thanks to everyone for dedicating their time to getting involved and voicing their opinions about the game.
It’s clear you want more interaction and involvement in some of the decisions we make and this post is partly in response to those comments.
While this might not be a juicy secret reveal or the announcement of a spy camera in the studio, we have been looking at our control scheme for dual wielding and we’re wondering if we are going down the right path. Some of us think the mouse wheel should switch both hands by default, and some of us think the wheel should only switch your “primary” hand by default.
We now think this is something we need to check with the community and see what everyone thinks about the current dual wielding control scheme. So here it is:
Dual Wielding Controls - Keyboard v0.2
Q (Hold) = Opens radial menu Q (Hold) + LMB (Hold) = Select left hand item Q (Hold) + RMB (Hold) = Select right hand item
Mouse Wheel = Switches items in both hands Mouse Wheel + Ctrl (Hold) = Switches the item in your left hand Mouse Wheel + Alt (Hold) = Switches the item in your right hand
Number Keys (1-8) = Switches items in both hands to number slot selected Number Keys (1-8) + Ctrl (Hold) = Switches the item in your left hand to the number slot selected Number Keys (1-8) + Alt (Hold) = Switches the item in your right hand to the number slot selected
We want to know:
What’s everyone’s thoughts on this control scheme?
Will you use the radial menu, the keyboard only shortcuts or will you use the mouse and keyboard shortcuts?
Do you think they should be in a different order or done differently?
Mouse Wheel scrolls one hand by default
Mouse Wheel scrolls both by default
0voters
Please remember that you can also rebind your setup so this topic is about the default layout for new players and not your own personal combo.
i think mouse wheel should only switch your “primary” hand by default. the current setup works but i think its “slow” and different from other games default controls
This probably isn’t what you’re looking for and it might be better in a separate suggestion thread but I think having “groupings” would be really nice. So say you want to have a grapple + torch combo, an axe + hammer combo, etc. You can just set each combo to a different keybinding and that way you get two items that you use frequently in your hand at once (provided they’re in your inventory, or toolbar, or w/e. So continuing the example, the grapple+torch could be ctrl-1, axe+hammer could be ctrl-2, and so on.
In terms of your original post, I think Q (Hold) + LMB or RMB should be LMB or RMB clicks if at all possible instead of holds.
when i try to switch secondary items by holding alt and scrolling mouse wheel i find only pressing alt(or other key) to switch secondary (left hand) and scroll mouse wheel to switch primary (right hand) faster, i’m comparing to dark souls controls.
Grouping is an interesting topic, but one for another day I think.
Yeah, I am wondering if this makes more sense too. When you open the Q menu you are essentially locked into that menu unless you close it. You can still move but you can’t attack.
already do just that if you manage your hotbar propably? (Slotting the items you want to form a group into the corresponding slots)
You already mentioned an issue I’d have with the mouse wheel switching both hands simultaneously by default.
You’d have to slot “supportive” tools like the torch or chisel in like half of your slots…
I think this is a best solution! My experience with the duel wield is that I like to set my off hand to something and then basically forget about it, only switching my main hand tool as needed. This way, I can always keep a torch or grapple equipped, then switch between hammer/axe/shovel as needed. A simple indicator to let me know which hand is my current focus would prevent me from unequipping my grapple while high up on a cliff.
Also, \[T]/ praise the sun!
But the downside is that now you have to “scroll” through two lists of items to get to the pair of items you want. That could take a while, and you might overshoot, especially mid-combat
An other thanks for the explanation of all possible variations (i didn’t found the ALT / CTRL variation when i was testing and i wanted to ask for something like this).
I’ve always used Q + LMB / RMB for the selection and this worked really well. I think you are on a good way for you dual wielding controls.
But i’d like to address an other “issue” that has been addressed long ago but has been “discarded” for some reasons (@ben answered this question IIRC but this has been long ago).
In most RPGs it’s possible to open and use the inventory WHILE you are running. In B< you need to “stay at position” to interact with your inventory (because the open invertory requests all IO focus). This is annoying if you travel around and want to “clean up your inventory” while you have nothing else to then jump over something. This is something i do a LOT on most RPGs if it’s possible and i’d like to see this “feature” in B< too if possible.
The current implementation is great, but I agree with @nevir about the power user thing.
To make it easier to use, I guess scroll wheel changing both makes sense.
I also would like to add that I think Q could be a toggle. Although I think the hold Q and hold MB is so quick and a very clever thing, it also doesn’t feel necessarily intuitive imo.
Is there any way that each user can customize these things, allowing for a best of both worlds, with the default settings being the most intuitive ones?
Yeah, I agree with you on that. I like how it is, but it does feel a bit clunky and troublesome to work. It could simply be me, seeing as I don’t play many games with duel wielding, but as it is right now with the mouse wheel controlling the first hand and then holding control to switch items in the other.
I’ve mostly been using the hold Q and click-drag the LMB and RMB to the items I want, which I think works pretty well. I tend to have combinations of tools that make the most sense to me, so a lot of duplicated positions.
I’ve not really played much with number keys and I’m not a major fan of mouse scroll, as I tend to overshoot my desired tool/weapon sometimes.
For the default set though, I think the combinations you have suggested would probably be the best fit to start the game with.
The reason I say that, is that there have already been quite a few players asking on the forums, why they can’t change the equipped left-hand item. Having both hands change by default negates that initial question and will allow people to play right away (albeit in a slightly more clunky sort of way)… beyond that I think it’s then simply a case of giving new users a nudge in the right direction that they can fine-tune their selections with the Ctrl/Alt modifier keys or they remap their controls altogether to something that suits their play style better.
