Number pad alternative

So I figured I'd post here before messing around in the RFE section and potentially making a fool of myself.

So I play on a laptop that doesn't have a number pad. Some laptops will have some of the letter keys take number pad input when num lock is on, but not my laptop. Are there any other directional controls in the game? If not, would adding some be a good idea?

I was thinking that adding some controls like NetHack or vi could work, which use the inputs 'hjklyunm' for directions. Some of these keys have actions and would need to be changed.

h - I think I can count the number of times 'handle' is used in the game on 1 hand.
j - not used
k - kick, would need to be changed. Maybe K or ctrl-k?
l - look
y - not used (well, there's y/n questions, but you can't move when answering a y/n question anyway)
u - use, might be a hard one to rebind
n - name
m - as far as I know only drakelings use this command

Anyone else think this is a feasible idea?

My brother got accustomed to the normal number (1-9) input pretty quickly and could play at amazing speed (although it is a bit less comfortable ofcourse.. but good training for your finger/wrist muscles) :P

That's kinda what I do now, arrow buttons and 1379.

I use 1379 and arrow keys myself. TB has been looking at various configurations to try to replace the numpad for both ADOM I and II, but most are pretty unsatisfactory. For your personal use, you can always rebind keys to whatever system you think will work best. I intensely dislike the vikeys myself.

That TB has been looking into it is good news.

Rebinding keys must be a newer feature (or just one I've not noticed for years). I'll check it out next time I get a chance.

You have always been able to rebind keys by editing the adom.kbd file, AFAIK.

I think we have a couple of posts about this thing.
Had been playing ADOM on various laptops for the whole time and it's 13579 + arrows for me. Truth to say, I've tried on numpad once and boy that was so uncomfortable I nearly broke my fingers. The power of habit is somewhat unlimited.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JellySlayer

You have always been able to rebind keys by editing the adom.kbd file, AFAIK.

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Mind blown. :eek:

Gonna take a look at that file this evening and make viADOM a reality.

I'd be pretty leery of using 'y' or 'n' as movement keys, given the likelyhood you'll eventually bump into water or a friendly monsters and accidentally agree to something you really ought not to. I can't think of a situation where the 'n' would be especially bad but I'm sure one exists.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by _Ln_

I've tried on numpad once and boy that was so uncomfortable I nearly broke my fingers.

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That's interesting. I'm at the other side of the spectrum; given it many tries, but I find it extremely cumbersome to move around with anything that's not the numpad. Which limits me to playing ADOM on my desktop computer only.

There is already an RFE about this.

I posted in said RFE the following combination. It differs from yours in that b & n are SW & SE rather than n & m; this saves having to rebind use special power.

Code:

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y  k  u
  \ | /
h - . - l
  / | \
b  j  n

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Also from that post:
Keybindings that have to be changed:
'u'se tool - rebound to \CU
'h'andle something - rebound to \Ch
'k'ick something - rebound to \Ck => requires rebinding of 'toggle (more) prompt' key. I bound it to \C\S, but it doesn't work, so I still have to find a good combination for that.
examine environment ('l') - rebound to x (makes more sense anyway)
'n'ame something - rebound to \Cn

and from another post after it turns out the above is broken on non-Windows platforms (because there is no difference between \CU and \Cu). Of course, I myself can't use these keybindings because alt is used as a modifier for my window manager.

'K'ick
Display 'm'issile, 'w'eapon and 'k'ick statistics are all bound to :\C<quoted key> [yes, this means :<return> displays missile statistics].
toggle (more) prompt is back at \Ck
use tool is \Mu (alt-u)
display experience is \Mx (alt-x)

more at http://www.adom.de/forums/project.php?issueid=1367

That's kinda what I was looking for, I'd searched the forums a little and not found anything. I'll tinker around with the key bindings and see if there's a combination that works well for me.

Also, in the adom.kbd file, I think it lists \M as being the code for the 'Ctrl' button, when it's actually 'Alt'. Has this been reported?

I reported it a while ago. (as well as the \CU and \Cu being the same on non-Windows platforms)

I actually find the \M thing to be a very weird bug since it was correct in 1.1.1 as I recall (else I'd have had no idea what it was supposed to be!), so I have no idea how that got changed, lol.

I'd like to point out that the survey is biased by the fact that the 'no' option is more attractive to click.