koo@pub2.HAC.COM (07/25/90)
Why do flight simulators *have* to map different keys for the same functions?!!
I have Flight Simulator II, and it bugs me that FA/18 and FALCON have different
keys for throttle, flaps, banking, etc. The machine is hard enough to control
as it is!
Has anyone thought about standardizing the key controls? There are so many
great flight simulators being introduced... I'll probably want to get one or
two, but I'd hate to learn the different keystrokes for each one! Plus it's
pretty hard to admire the scenery when one has to keep looking down at the
manual.
Question: Can something be done with the keymaps directory? I noticed that
different keymaps are supported by WorkBench e.g. keymaps/usa0 and
keymaps/usa1, etc. How about keymaps/FSII_to_Falcon, or
keymaps/Falcon_to_FA18? Then all one has to do is to edit the
keymap to load a custom environment on an unfamiliar simulator.
One problem I can forsee is that the flight simulators will need to know
whether a custom keymap is being used, so the key will be mapped according to
context (e.g. 'A' could be a letter for entering a name, or it could adjust
the aileron (or something)).
Frances (koo@tcville.hac.com)cmcmanis@stpeter.Eng.Sun.COM (Chuck McManis) (07/26/90)
In article <9702@hacgate.UUCP> koo@pub2.HAC.COM () writes: >Why do flight simulators *have* to map different keys for the same functions?!! because they could be sued them otherwise! -- --Chuck McManis Sun Microsystems uucp: {anywhere}!sun!cmcmanis BIX: <none> Internet: cmcmanis@Eng.Sun.COM These opinions are my own and no one elses, but you knew that didn't you. "I tell you this parrot is bleeding deceased!"
xanthian@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG (Kent Paul Dolan) (07/26/90)
In article <9702@hacgate.UUCP> koo@pub2.HAC.COM () writes: >Why do flight simulators *have* to map different keys for the same functions?!! > >I have Flight Simulator II, and it bugs me that FA/18 and FALCON have different >keys for throttle, flaps, banking, etc. The machine is hard enough to control >as it is! > >Has anyone thought about standardizing the key controls? There are so many >great flight simulators being introduced... I'll probably want to get one or >two, but I'd hate to learn the different keystrokes for each one! Plus it's >pretty hard to admire the scenery when one has to keep looking down at the >manual. > Frances (koo@tcville.hac.com) Well, thanks to the cretins at Lotus, and a braindead judge who never noticed how much easier standard interfaces make driving cars, it is now _legal_ _suicide_ to adopt a competitor's interface to make using a lot of similar products easier for the user. Don't you just love life in a society dominated by lawyers? Bleah. Kent, the man from xanth. <xanthian@Zorch.SF-Bay.ORG> <xanthian@well.sf.ca.us>