Topic

Keyboard shortcuts we don't have but oughtta. (EDIT: Hey, we DO have keyboard shortcuts!)

Glitch is extremely keyboard friendly. I love that most of the time I can get by  with just WASD or arrow keys, spacebar, and enter. But there are some things I can't do from the keyboard (or can but just don't know it, and I'm sure someone will enlighten me here!), and I wish I could.

* Inventory. If there were some key that would move the keyboard's focus from the play area to the inventory, then we could arrow-key/WASD/Enter to interact with our stuff and our bags.

* Entering Chat. If there were some key that would toggle focus between the play area and at least Local Chat, so I could talk without having to grab for the mouse just to click on a text field.

...that's all that comes to mind now. Other players may be able to add to the list.

Edited to add: katlazam says, "And I would love to be able to navigate crafting menus with the keyboard - as it is now, you can't even hit enter to launch the crafting after you've indicated how many whoozits you want to make." Unlike the stuff I came up with, there actually isn't keyboard controls for this, and there should be!

Also -- and this may be a bug -- there are times when the play area seems to lose keyboard focus without me knowing why or where it went. I go to move my glitch around with the arrow keys, and suddenly arrow keys are having no effect at all. I finally have to mouse-click on the ground somewhere before they'll respond.

Again, thanks for giving us the opportunity to beta-test, and thanks for considering our feedback!

Posted 17 months ago by Vortexae Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

  • Ctrl+enter or Cmd+enter will move you between play area, local chat and group chat :)

    For me, interacting with my inventory using the keyboard might end up more time consuming than clicking with the mouse. I know I've wished for it sometimes, though :)

    A shortcut I'd like is one to switch between different groups' chats. I've no idea how tricky that might be :p
    Posted 17 months ago by Millie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Oh, Millie, thanks for that. Great information :)
    Posted 17 months ago by Innie✿, Obviously Subscriber! | Permalink
  • +infinity Millie! Thank you!

    How did you find out about CTRL-Enter / CMD-Enter?

    I'd also like a keyboard shortcut to get between different groups chats, but I didn't mention that in my post because it seemed like getting into "asking the devs to redesign the browser" territory. If group chat and friends' names weren't presented as browser links, maybe there'd be a way? But I don't know how the devs could fit even more into the Flash area!
    Posted 17 months ago by Vortexae Subscriber! | Permalink
  • B is supposed to move you to the inventory if I recall correctly.
    Posted 17 months ago by Fokian Fool Subscriber! | Permalink
  • There actually are keyboard shortcuts for inventory: (which I did not know about until Rascalmom mentioned them in another thread)

    B moves the focus between the play area and the inventory. You can use arrow keys/WASD to move along your bags and items, and Enter to interact with an item.
    Posted 17 months ago by Varaeth Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Vortexae I found out from some friends (forget who).

    Ooh, I did not know that about inventory :D  Thanks, Varaeth and Fokian Fool!

    How come these shortcuts aren't better known?
    Posted 17 months ago by Millie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Don't know. They are in the game FAQ
    Posted 17 months ago by Fokian Fool Subscriber! | Permalink
  • THIS THREAD IS GOOD AND YOU SHOULD FEEL GOOD.

    I think I have an idea why these shortcuts aren't better known. Take a look at that FAQ that FF is talking about. I'd seen it, right there at the bottom of the "Help" page, but under "General Glitch Questions," the two questions showing are "When is Glitch going to launch?" and "What does 'beta' mean?" Those don't really lead me to expect that clicking "Show more..." will reveal the third question to be, "Can I use my keyboard to play Glitch?" One of these things is not like the other!

    (And -- really -- when there are only three questions, what sense does it make to hide the third question behind a cut? Just show all three questions by default! Sheesh! [/grumble])

    Thanks for pointing me in the right direction! The keyboard shortcut cheat-sheet there is fantastic!
    Posted 17 months ago by Vortexae Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Afterthought: Those mysterious times when my arrow keys ceased to make me move about the world, I had probably hit "B" and put my keyboard focus in my inventory and hadn't known it. Awesome.
    Posted 17 months ago by Vortexae Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Yes, great thread! I have always thought the keyboard shortcuts should be given in the in-game help pop-up. And I would love to be able to navigate crafting menus with the keyboard - as it is now, you can't even hit enter to launch the crafting after you've indicated how many whoozits you want to make.
    Posted 17 months ago by katlazam Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Good point, katlazam - i'd forgotten about that one, but it bugs me to pieces! I'll just reflexively hit Enter after typing in my number, and then I'll be frustrated that it won't work. I've edited my original post to add this to the list. Unlike the things I brought up, this is something for which we don't have a shortcut but we ought to have.

    The "Max" button is also "conveniently" placed such that I often click on it when I mean to click on "Make X whoozits". It's not just that both start with M; it's that the "Max" button is right where I expect a "confirm and do it" button to be. And then of course my automatic circuits kick in -- "Oh, that's not the button I meant to push. THIS is!" -- and before I know it I've accidentally used up all my raw materials. Good thing that most crafting interfaces impose a limit on how much you can make at once!
    Posted 17 months ago by Vortexae Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Afterthought: Those mysterious times when my arrow keys ceased to make me move about the world, I had probably hit "B" and put my keyboard focus in my inventory and hadn't known it. Awesome. -Vortexae

    Yea, looking at this comment, I know there's millions of times I hit 'B' automatically to "bring up my bags", but then I remember I'm not playing LotRO or WoW, and I'm like, "Wait, that doesn't work here." But now I realize why my focus was suddenly off. I guess I didn't really notice that it did shift to the inventory, most likely because the inventory didn't pop up in the middle of the screen (and I usually have one bag "open" so it probably didn't change the look of my inventory at the bottom of the screen). lol
    Posted 17 months ago by Little Miss Giggles Subscriber! | Permalink
  • interesting observation about the max button, vortexae!  this kind of slip-up has been the source of some legendary rage around these parts, and now that you point that out, i can't help but wonder how much frustration an enter-to-craft function would have saved...
    Posted 17 months ago by katlazam Subscriber! | Permalink
  • F opens the magic rock's menu. Good for when you want to check time left on skill learning or quicker access to teleport.

    Tab shows the mini-map as long as you hold the key down.
    Posted 17 months ago by SleepyAce Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I would like to see a quick key that prompts a comment from my glitch saying (hello or want to chat) something to quickly acknowledge another glitchen's presence or comment before they leave thinking I have chosen not to respond. I have a hard time manipulating between keyboard/mouse/local and im before they've gone and i've given a wrong impression, missed an opportunity to make new friend or have fun with a could be better friend. A quick key response would let the other glitch who is standing there staring at me be acknowledged before they give up, while i do one or any combination of the following:
    a. find my mouse and choose the appropriate chat window to reply in
    b. find out my fingers are on the wrong keys on the keyboard
    c. switch from the laptop i am writing a paper on at the same time i play glitch.
    d. hit my quick button #3 to signal my willingness to speak but is actually viewed as me laughing at the fact i have said nothing in return or I accidently hit #2 and give them the mean face. it's all down hill from there.
    e.think of something interesting to say. too late.

    Granted, most people won't be working three screens and two systems but it brings to mind a hundred other reasons someone may be slow on the draw here and have an interest in this type of quick key help.
    Posted 17 months ago by coolbettycakes Subscriber! | Permalink
  • there are times when the play area seems to lose keyboard focus without me knowing why or where it went.

    If you click outside the flash box (at least on my machine) the game completely ignores key presses until I click the box again.
    Posted 17 months ago by Skwid Subscriber! | Permalink
  • "Tab shows the mini-map as long as you hold the key down."

    M opens the map permanently. Or, at least, until you press M again. :)
    Posted 17 months ago by Ferbot Subscriber! | Permalink