Anyone play on a laptop without a numpad? Share your keybindings?

Yes, I've paid $5 for a USB numpad. But my friend who I want to get into ADOM hasn't!

So does anyone have a keybind file for use on a laptop? That enables diagonal movement etc. Called "vi mode" or "vi keys" in other roguelikes.

Hm, I always thought it wasn't that bad to play on the laptop's innate numlock numpad.

The keys that will be less convenient are j, k, l, u, i, o, p, which require you to hold fn or Shift+fn to access.
However, I have already gotten so used to this that when i play on a normal keyboard, i compulsively hold the windows key when i try to access my 'i'nventory or such.

1, 3, 7, 9 on the number row. I've never done it any other way.

Silfir, isn't it a torture?

Why would it be? We all press t, Z, e, r, d and so forth all the time without having to think, why not 1, 3, 7 and 9? It would feel like torture to me to have to press more than one button just to move diagonally.

I've never done it any other way except of course when I have a numpad, which is most of the time.

I don't remember what I did when I played ADOM (probably the same), but I've simply used Page up/Page Down/Home End on my laptop keyboard along with the arrow keys. Not the most convenient, and sometimes I would forget which key did which diagonal, but it worked.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Spellweaver

Silfir, isn't it a torture?

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I've once tried to use numpad and that felt like a torture.

Ran some live tests on myself while typing this message (I'm right-handed):
1) Left hand is much more used for more elaborate finger actions: most of the typing is performed by left hand (obviously, I'm doing it wrong for super-efficient typing techniques, but I've never trained any of them).
2) Right hand on the other hand (yeah, that was terrible) is much more efficient in move-and-press types of action. I suspect moving from right side of letter part of the keyboard to navigation keys (arrows and page-up/page-down) has to do with this effect. That should also be connected with increased stress on left hand typing.

Now these two points clearly show why I can't use numpad for Adom and why I have no problems with 1, 3, 5, 7.

I suggest your friend checks out his keyboard habits and gives 1, 3, 5 and 7 a go before searching for ideal layout, because it could be ok for him.

I specificly got a laptop with numpad. Not just because of ADOM. I hate writing numbers without one.
It's too bad there are no smaller laptops with numpad, then I'd know which one to get.
Bigger laptops don't have enough batterytime and are not as handy on trips. We should contact manufacturers :D

I use the laptop's "fake numpad" like LFk.

I'm not going to say it's very comfortable. It isn't. But one does get used to it after a while, and it's the least bad option I have found (I can't stand vi keys or any other layout where keys are not in more or less "natural" positions representing their direction).

I have 10 inch laptop and it hasn't numpad. But it has num keys when I press the function key (Fn on most laptops). When I press that key, the num keys are below 8, 9, 0 triple. Then its i, o, p = 5, 6, 7, and k, l, `;` = 1, 2, 3. Very nicely done:)

I picked up ADOM on a laptop and have never played roguelike games with a numpad. My solution was just...

123456789

up on the number row. It worked out by grouping each set 123/456/789 into a low/middle/high when I was started out but now I've been using this stupid system so long it's just reflex.

I used Ctrl+Right to go northeast, Ctrl+Up to go northwest, and so on.
Worked more or less ok for me.

In my laptop, the arrow keys and and PgUp and PgDn keys form a straight 3 x 2 block of keys, so I binded north-west to PgUp, north-east to PgDn, south-west and south-east to \S\L and \S\R (space followed by left arrow or right arrow) and it works great!

That extra space hitting isn't that much trouble since my thumbs are always over it and those two directions aren't even needed that often. As a consequence of this, I have to hit space two times when selecting a target for certain actions, but that hardly matters.

When I need to wait or seleft myself as the direction of some actions, I just hit the '.' key, which is easy enough too, and works without custom keybindings.

I think I used to have 890iopklö (ö is right of l on finnish keyboards) for movement when playing on a laptop without numpad. Obviously some commands (namely [i]nventory, [o]pen, [p]ay, [k]ick and [l]ook) had to be bound to other keys. All but inventory and maybe look are used quite rarely though so it doesn't matter too much if those gets a bit harder to access.