Movement controls, camera controls, and other stuff

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Cadarnfel
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Movement controls, camera controls, and other stuff

Post by Cadarnfel » Wed Jul 01, 2015 11:41 am

I'm looking for some opinions here ...

A couple of recent party skirmishes, I had trouble getting organised, as my fingers got all tangled up, trying to bring my character's assigned target into view, so I could target it, before the party leader called for the attack to start. The results were not pretty :( including some friendly fire.

I've got WASD set up for walking around, and tend to use the arrow keys for moving the camera around. This can lead to a bit of a flurry when I need to use the mouse cursor in a rapidly changing situation, with attendant mistakes.

I play in a 1600 by 1200 window, so using screen edge camera turning with the mouse isn't functional, which is a pity, as it would keep my hand on the mouse, while still being able to look around, independent of the direction the character is facing.

I use a window, as full screen on a 27" monitor, while showing impressive views at 2560 by 1440, means I'm moving my head around a lot to keep an eye on the chat window, as well as the character's immediate surroundings. I also like having a notebook open on the desktop to type up any notes about FOIG stuff, and the characters I encounter, as well as stuff that my character RPs.

So...
I've tried all the camera modes, I've tried zooming in (to play in "over the shoulder" mode, seeing what my character sees), and a number of other things that haven't worked out so well.

The best I've come up with, and it's not without compromise, is to use Shift-click for walking, map WASD to the camera controls, with a default of chase cam, and zoomed in a medium distance.

This keeps my right hand on the mouse, for the all important targeting, and stuff, while my left hand is free to move the camera angles and hit those quickslots, and other keybinds, as necessary.

I have a handful of additional buttons on the mouse, if I could figure out how to map those to controls in game, it would be useful.

How are you folks set up?
Irongron wrote:This is a fantasy world after all, and the risk of being eaten by an unexpected monster has to be part of that.

JediMindTrix
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Re: Movement controls, camera controls, and other stuff

Post by JediMindTrix » Wed Jul 01, 2015 12:00 pm

Do you have a middle mouse button? Mine controls that camera angle quite easily, letting WSAD be reserved for walking.

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Re: Movement controls, camera controls, and other stuff

Post by Ozzy.nl » Wed Jul 01, 2015 4:04 pm

Same here, and that while using the top down cam. That way I descide what the camara sees not nwn.

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Re: Movement controls, camera controls, and other stuff

Post by mf_hansen » Wed Jul 01, 2015 4:49 pm

Top Down camera with WASD for walking/turning if stuck, QE for rotating camera counter/clockwise, middle mouse for detailed camera adjustments. I heard at one point that keyboard movement lags the server so I try to avoid that and simply shift+click to move.

I really ought to use the programmable mouse buttons more, for some of the quick combat spells/feats/items - perhaps F9 to F12 since they're placed so far from WASD anyway.
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Re: Movement controls, camera controls, and other stuff

Post by CragOrion » Wed Jul 01, 2015 5:44 pm

Get a logitech mouse. most of them have a tilting scroll wheel that you can map to the arrow keys to make it easy to look around. i got one and cant live without it

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Cadarnfel
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Re: Movement controls, camera controls, and other stuff

Post by Cadarnfel » Thu Jul 02, 2015 12:45 am

Thanks for the feedback.

I have a Logitech MX 950t mouse, haven't been using the tilt wheel function, so I'll give that a try. It might take a bit of muscle retraining, as I tend to rest my middle finger on the wheel, leaving the index finger to click.

I think I prefer to shift-click for walking, as it seems to be easier to control where the character is walking to, and easier to allow the character to break into a run if the goblins are a bit too numerous :)
Irongron wrote:This is a fantasy world after all, and the risk of being eaten by an unexpected monster has to be part of that.

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Re: Movement controls, camera controls, and other stuff

Post by Cadarnfel » Thu Jul 02, 2015 4:35 am

CragOrion wrote: a tilting scroll wheel that you can map to the arrow keys
Okay, I'm missing something obvious. I've mapped the left and right scroll functions to the arrow keys in the Logitech SetPoint software, but it doesn't seem to be working. Any ideas?
Irongron wrote:This is a fantasy world after all, and the risk of being eaten by an unexpected monster has to be part of that.

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Re: Movement controls, camera controls, and other stuff

Post by JediMindTrix » Thu Jul 02, 2015 6:30 am

Also, I noticed your mention about a journal-- the in game journal works just fine, as long as you remember that when you put on a disguise it creates and starts a new journal (rendering the original blank). It saves to a textfile in the localvault everytime you close it.

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Re: Movement controls, camera controls, and other stuff

Post by Madukthedoppelganger » Thu Jul 02, 2015 12:11 pm

Have you tried clicking and holding down the mouse wheel? That seems to me both the most precise and the most convenient method for camera control.

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Re: Movement controls, camera controls, and other stuff

Post by CragOrion » Fri Jul 03, 2015 1:00 am

Cadarnfel wrote:
CragOrion wrote: a tilting scroll wheel that you can map to the arrow keys
Okay, I'm missing something obvious. I've mapped the left and right scroll functions to the arrow keys in the Logitech SetPoint software, but it doesn't seem to be working. Any ideas?
did you map the wheel tilt in the main settings, or the advanced application settings?

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Cadarnfel
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Re: Movement controls, camera controls, and other stuff

Post by Cadarnfel » Fri Jul 03, 2015 7:34 am

CragOrion wrote:did you map the wheel tilt in the main settings, or the advanced application settings?
I hadn't, but I've tried just now, and it hasn't made any difference.

I know the tilt is working, I've tested it in other applications :(
Madukthedoppelganger wrote:Have you tried clicking and holding down the mouse wheel? That seems to me both the most precise and the most convenient method for camera control.
Next time my character meets your character in the Nomad, the drinks are on my character :)

Works a treat, and seems to be far more responsive than the arrow keys. I'll practice a bit in one of the OC modules, to try and get my reflexes and muscle memory working.
Irongron wrote:This is a fantasy world after all, and the risk of being eaten by an unexpected monster has to be part of that.

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Re: Movement controls, camera controls, and other stuff

Post by CragOrion » Tue Aug 11, 2015 2:53 am

Cadarnfel wrote:
CragOrion wrote:did you map the wheel tilt in the main settings, or the advanced application settings?
I hadn't, but I've tried just now, and it hasn't made any difference.

I know the tilt is working, I've tested it in other applications :(
I believe I've solved this issue for you.

SetPoint itself needs to run as administrator in order for it to have key assignments carry over into NWN. Depending on what OS you are running, this solution can either be easy or a pain in the beehive

For Windows 7
1. Open file explorer, go to Program Files > Logitech > SetPointP
2. Scroll down and find SetPoint.exe
3.Right click on it and select properties
4.Under the Compatibility tab, look to the bottom and check the box that says "Run as Administrator"
5. Click OK, restart the PC, and make sure SetPoint starts

It should start, but if it doesn't, then you'll have to take the extra steps that Windows 8&10 users have to do as well. (listed below)

For Windows 8 & 10 (or Win7 if SetPoint didn't start up)
Admin Approval Mode stops Windows from activating any programs in the Startup list that are set to run as an Administrator.
Assuming you don't want to have to manually start SetPoint everytime you restart the computer, there are 2 ways to get around this. Either disable AAM in the Local Security Policy (which can make your computer less secure) or have Task Scheduler run it at login. Before proceeding with either solution, you will need to make sure and follow steps 1-5 listed above for Win7 users


Turning off AAM
This can make your computer insecure, if you wish to use Task Scheduler instead, scroll down
1. Go to: Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Local Security Policy > Local Policies > Security Options > "User Account Control: Run all administrators in Admin Approval Mode"
2. Right click on "User Account Control: Run all administrators in Admin Approval Mode"
3. Select Properties
4. Select Disabled and click OK
5. Restart the PC

Using Task Scheduler
1. Go to: Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Task Scheduler
2. On the right, in the Actions Pane, select Create a Task...
3. Under the General Tab, in the Name field, type in "Start SetPoint"
4. Also under the General Tab, look down to the Security Options. Check the box that says "Run with highest privileges"
5. In the "Configure for" dropdown menu, select your operating system.
6. Under the Triggers tab, click New...
7. In the New Trigger window that comes up, at the top is the "Begin the task:" dropdown menu. Select "At Log on" then click OK
8. Under the Actions tab, click on New...
9. Click Browse...
10. Go to Program Files > Logitech > SetPointP
11. Scroll down, select SetPoint.exe and click Open
12. Click OK
13. Under the Conditions tab, in the Power section, uncheck the box that says "Start the task only if the computer is on AC power"
14. Under the Settings tab, check the box that says "If the task fails, restart every:" and leave it set to 1 minute and 3 retries.
15. Uncheck the box that says "Stop the task if it runs longer than:"
16. Click OK
17. Your new task is now listed under the Task Scheduler Library. Restart the computer.

Once you log in, give it a few minutes for the usual startup processes and the task should have run, starting SetPoint.

Now you should be able to bind your mouse buttons to specific keys using SetPoint, and have them work in NWN.

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