[SUGGESTION] - Additional HOTAS commands

[Bourrinopathe]

As a HOTAS user, I'd like to suggest a couple of commands that would help us keeping our hand on our precious flight controls.
Imho, some essential commands are still missing due to the mouse and keyboard nature of the interface.

Here's the functions I'd like to map to my HOTAS to avoid using the mouse :

• lock any object under the crosshair (not the mouse cursor)
  (it's currently necessary to drop the flight stick and use the mouse to lock a non-hostile target or a specific hostile - "target closest enemy", "target prev/next" is not always convenient)
• scan target
  (currently requires to right click on the target, then select "scan" in the drop-down menu, while pursuing the target ("pause" is convenient but the action could flow without interrupting the action))

I'm currently using voice commands so I can keep my hands on my HOTAS.
It's much more comfortable and makes the general experience in the ships much more enjoyable for me.
If anyone can draw some inspiration from it, here's my VoiceAttack profile (WiP):
http://tof.cx/images/2019/02/27/1753d82 ... ad4092.jpg

Please add any suggestion or trick you might have found to make things more comfortable
And thanks to Egosoft for actively improving X4!



{Images posted directly to the forums should not be greater than 640x480 or 100kb, oversize image now linked - Terre}

[rrohde]

+1 from me!

Those two suggestions are the very basics that need to be mappable on a HOTAS button asap:

*** lock any object under the crosshair (not the mouse cursor) -
(it's currently necessary to drop the flight stick and use the mouse to lock a non-hostile target or a specific hostile - "target closest enemy", "target prev/next" is not always convenient)
*** scan target - (currently requires to right click on the target, then select "scan" in the drop-down menu, while pursuing the target ("pause" is convenient but the action could flow without interrupting the action))

I actually died from having to scan with the mouse instead of from the HOTAS. So, grabbing the stick with the left hand, trying to stay on target, using the mouse with the right hand, cannot see the cursor right away, moving the mouse like a fool until I see the cursor, place cursor on enemy, right-click, select, scan, all the while trying to manouver with the target, and bam... dead. That extra time needed to fumble with the mouse was enough to die in that case.

So, please, please, please give us at least that mappable "Scan" button for our HOTAS.

Thanks.

[Belgarath]

As a HOTAS user, I'd like to suggest a couple of commands that would help us keeping our hand on our precious flight controls.
Imho, some essential commands are still missing due to the mouse and keyboard nature of the interface.

Like you, I use a HOTAS and Voice Attack. You may want to take a look at my Voice Attack Profile (link in my signature). I have some work arounds that do well, like for scanning ships without having to pause and targeting things in the center of the screen, even clearing targets. There are some things that I don't have working yet like automatically retrieving deployables. I did get the commands to actually deploy Sats, probes, beacons, mines, etc. working great. Once you see how I did it, you'll slap your forehead and wonder why you didn't think of it. Some things there are not going to work like the voice responses I've programmed. I'm using the Alix for X4 and Verity for ED voice packs and kind of mixed them together.

Anyway, this may give you some ideas that you can try until we find out if Egosoft is going to implement additional hot keys for us.

[Bourrinopathe]

Thanks for sharing your VA profile Belgarath! I'll definitely try it.
I don't use any voice packs but I can imagine how it might sound when you play
Deploying satellites and probes by voice could come in handy.

[ThomasAH]

You can scan ships, deactivate satellites/beacons/probes, etc. by mapping a button to the interact command (not sure about the name, but the usual hotkey is "F"). With that I can press the interact button, select scan/deactivate/... using the joystick's hat and then press the fire button to initiate the scan or other command.

Not as easy as a single button, but (for me) much easier than switching to the mouse.

Alternatively just press the Pause key (or map Pause to a button), then you can use the mouse to initiate the scan without problems, but of course this is more immersion-breaking.

[Markus]

Testing mostly with HOTAS myself, I can see the benefit of mappable "Scan" functionality and will pass the request along.

What I do is open the interact menu, select and execute the scan operation from the context menu. All via buttons/axes on the stick. It is less convenient than a dedicated button, but I don't have to remove my hands from the HOTAS.
In general I operate most menus with the stick - it is not as fast as mouse and keyboard, but I don't like switching inputs all the time.

For Target selection I mapped "Target Object", which usually does what I want. if there are some targets close to each other, I have to retrigger it sometimes. Can you maybe give examples in which situations this does not work? (or a save where its repro). When in a fight, I use the next/prev enemy buttons sometimes, but usually the standard "target object" works best.

[ThomasAH]

Testing mostly with HOTAS myself, I can see the benefit of mappable "Scan" functionality and will pass the request along.

Thank you!

What I do is open the interact menu, select and execute the scan operation from the context menu. All via buttons/axes on the stick. It is less convenient than a dedicated button, but I don't have to remove my hands from the HOTAS.
In general I operate most menus with the stick - it is not as fast as mouse and keyboard, but I don't like switching inputs all the time.

Ninja'd by one minute

For Target selection I mapped "Target Object", which usually does what I want. if there are some targets close to each other, I have to retrigger it sometimes. Can you maybe give examples in which situations this does not work? (or a save where its repro). When in a fight, I use the next/prev enemy buttons sometimes, but usually the standard "target object" works best.

One situation where this fails is targeting stations if I'm already close and want to dock. I can use the mouse to click on any part of the station to select it, but when using the "Target Object" button, usually some civil traffic at the dock area gets selected instead, sometimes (but not that often) a turret or shield generator.
The only other situation where this does not work is with mines: I can click on the question marks on the map to select the "unknown objects" around abandoned ships, but I can't do this using HOTAS buttons. But as I can't select mines using the mouse in cockpit view either, I consider this an intentional challenge of the game.
Other than that it works fine for me.

[Belgarath]

For Target selection I mapped "Target Object", which usually does what I want. if there are some targets close to each other, I have to retrigger it sometimes. Can you maybe give examples in which situations this does not work? (or a save where its repro). When in a fight, I use the next/prev enemy buttons sometimes, but usually the standard "target object" works best.

I've seen target selection go after ships (Military and Civilian), wares that are floating near the station, even asteroids on the other side of the station, but won't target the station itself. I had to create a Voice Attack Command that moves the mouse cursor to the center of the screen and left-clicks to target what I want. Targeting what's centered in the reticle only works if there is nothing else near to the object you're trying to target.

[Toidiboy]

Might I suggest modifiers on the Hotas itself, something akin to elite dangerous, where you can use combinations to gain more functions.
eg. if I press and hold button 5, I can then use buttons 1 thru 4 as different functions, similar as to how 'Shift D' works for example.

[Bourrinopathe]

Testing mostly with HOTAS myself, I can see the benefit of mappable "Scan" functionality and will pass the request along.

Thanks for considering it, Markus! Getting the possibility to trigger a scan on the fly while pursuing a ship would certainly be very helpful (hunting a ship, preparing a boarding operation, etc.).

I don't use a hat to navigate the menus myself but that's certainly a valid option.
I used to do it for Elite Dangerous but I didn't map my flight stick the same way in X4. (I'm using a VKB Gladiator (1 4-way hat) + Saitek X55 throttle + (VKB T-Rudder pedals not recognized by X4))

For Target selection I mapped "Target Object", which usually does what I want. if there are some targets close to each other, I have to retrigger it sometimes. Can you maybe give examples in which situations this does not work? (or a save where its repro). When in a fight, I use the next/prev enemy buttons sometimes, but usually the standard "target object" works best.

I've just tested this again and you're right. It works.
I probably lost the habit of using this function due to the (now fixed) bug of the targeting functions for the captured Ventures ships.
I had "Target Object" mapped to my 'target management' hat on my HOTAS and stopped using it at some point as it's been inconsistent. But now that it's been fixed with a recent patch it seems everything's fine. Thanks for reminding me
No issues targeting a station using this command either - as long as I aim for the center of the station marker (brackets), it works, even if there are defense drones, civilian ships or defense turrets around. At least with the one I've just tested. Maybe some other station layouts are more tricky.

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@Belgarath: Thanks for sharing your VA profile! It's pretty thorough. Congratz. I might borrow one or two functions in there but I prefer keeping the voice commands to a bare minimum. And additionally, it must be way cooler with those voice packs you're using (I'm familiar with ED's packs but do not own one). VA is a very powerful tool! I've added custom sound effects to the few essential commands I have (displaying/closing the map, pause the game). Love it

[Bourrinopathe]

Might I suggest modifiers on the Hotas itself, something akin to elite dangerous, where you can use combinations to gain more functions.

I concur! That's an excellent suggestion!
Using modifiers helps a lot in many games and allows to use numerous functions with just a few buttons.

[Bourrinopathe]

Can you maybe give examples in which situations this does not work?

A quick follow-up with more tests, and results where using the left click with the mouse cursor "lock" command is much more efficient than the "Target Object" (TO) command:

• targetting an object while being in an asteroid field - often the TO would select an asteroid instead - fails to target a lockbox or a ship in the distance but centered in the crosshair
• targetting a distant object (ship, lockbox) (100+ km or less) - often the TO would pick an object closer to the player's ship
• targetting a specific object as multiple objects are close to each other - often the TO would fail to target the desired object
• targetting an owned ship while in EVA (to ask for docking clearance) - doesn't work with TO

In these situations, using the mouse cursor (using my voice command) never failed to lock the desired object (ship, lockbox, cargo drop, etc.) and overall felt more reliable in those cases.
Otherwise the TO works as expected without any issue, but does not always lock the object under the crosshair. At least from my experience so far.
I hope this helps

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Additionally, another command that might be more convenient as a possible HOTAS command would be the turret behaviour.
It would greatly help shutting them down in case we don't want to destroy a ship and just use the main weapons configuration to carefully damage it. Same when engaging a specific ship (Attack all Enemies, Attack my Current Enemy), or switching from mining to a defense role, etc.
The icons on the HUD for the turrets mode might be sufficient to display what specific mode is selected.

[Belgarath]

@Belgarath: Thanks for sharing your VA profile! It's pretty thorough. Congratz. I might borrow one or two functions in there but I prefer keeping the voice commands to a bare minimum. And additionally, it must be way cooler with those voice packs you're using (I'm familiar with ED's packs but do not own one). VA is a very powerful tool! I've added custom sound effects to the few essential commands I have (displaying/closing the map, pause the game). Love it

Hey, no problem. I received the Alix for X4 for free in a giveaway from HCS but a lot of the commands didn't work right or didn't work at all. So, I rewrote the commands from scratch. I do like the voice responses that the voice pack provided, though.

There are youtube video tutorials that show how to write certain types of commands (using variables and tokens) and I also received some assistance from folks on the Voice Attack forum (programming the POV Hat switch to look around). I agree that Voice Attack is a very powerful program and if you're using a HOTAS, it helps you keep your hands on the controls rather than having to reach for the keyboard/mouse. There will always be some functions that will require you to use the keyboard or mouse, but it's minimized using this software.

Again, there are some commands I haven't completely sorted out yet, but once the game is in a playable state again, I'll get back to working on those.

[z13l5ch31b3]

Ive binded 'targeting system on/off' which is doing the job with the target object on crosshair, if that helps

[Bourrinopathe]

Ive binded 'targeting system on/off' which is doing the job with the target object on crosshair, if that helps

Thanks for the suggestion!
Could you please highlight the command? (INPUT_ACTION_… ?)
Editing the xml could be a fine temporary solution, indeed. I'd like to try. (I'm still using a voice command atm)

[Marco Nero]

Hello guys, any news on this out there?

This thing is boring me very much and i can't get into the game.

Any news on the capability of selecting a target by clicking on a hotas button even this target is farther then others?

[CBJ]

Please don't dredge up 4 year old threads that may be full of outdated information. Control handling has changed a lot since this was posted. If you want to ask a question, start a new thread and explain what it is that you want to know.