Reduce # of control modes: Harmonize controls for better player experience

[antbin]

Congrats Squad on the buzz and great Steam sales of KSP. There's a lot of new players trying the game, and judging by the questions on the forums (and discussions on Reddit) a lot of them are having difficulty with the controls, especially things like docking. I did a quick analysis of the controls ( I work as a human factors engineer ) and realized why:

There are too many control modes, and some keys behave inconsistently depending on which mode the system's in. Humans are very bad at learning and switching between multiple control-key associations. They will instead switch strategies to "press this key and see what it does", which makes frustration when trying to RCS a docking, and rage for unintended staging.

Combining and harmonizing key controls would go a long way to improving the player experience, even for the experienced veterans.

There's at least 6 different control modes - a reflection of how much great gameplay the game offers, but also a danger sign. If you count rover wheel behavior, there's 7.

• The most deadly multi-mapping is highlighted in red. Players used to Docking Mode or using SHIFT in the VAB/SPH, are liable to throttle up or decouple a spacecraft freshly docked to a space station. That usually makes things explode and players frustrated.
  
• Some easy-to-harmonize multimappings are at the top. The mousewheel and Middle Mouse Button (MMB) behaves differently in the VAB compared to anywhere else in the game.
  
• IVA views are a bit inconsistent - leftclicking on windows to look out them isn't obvious, and the Right-Click functionality to switch between point-and-click and view pan mode is strange.
  
• Rover wheel and craft pitch behavior has come up here before. It's consistent with Docking Mode, at least.
  
• Staging Mode IJKL translation behavior is inconsistent from docking mode, EVA, and rover wheels. I and K translate up and down, not forward and back as in all other modes.
  

Straightforward (?) Suggestions:

1. Change IVA mode to use Hold Right Mouse Button (RMB) to rotate view, like everywhere else in the game. Get rid of the RMB view toggle.
   
2. Switch the mousewheel and MMB-drag behavior in the VAB to be consistent with everywhere else in the game.
   
3. Delete L-SHIFT as a mouse zoom modifier in the VAB / SPH, since hold-MMB-and-drag already works and SHIFT is a throttle key.
   
4. Instead of SPACE to shift Docking Modes, use another key (TAB?). Training players to hit the space key when they mean to maneuver is just mean.
   

Discussion Questions:

• Can some of these modes be merged / eliminated altogether? *edit* Like maybe the Docking Rotation and Staging modes?
  
• Since the throttle and staging buttons are so dangerous and irreversible, should SHIFT, CTRL, and SPACE be set aside and not re-used in any other mode?
  
• Instead of keys to the left of WASD (SHIFT/CTRL) for up/down, what about keys to the right? R/F? F/V? That would let IJKL use P and ; or ; and / with the same key mapping.
  
• Should the IJKL keys be harmonized with the EVA / Rover behavior? Should I and K go forward/back rather than up/down?
  
• Or should the EVA / Rover behavior be switched to use IJKL keys rather than WASD?
  
• Finally, what about adding a "tracking target" camera mode that works like EVA cam for docking? It could lock the viewport to align between a docking target and the "control from here" docking port on the craft, with the camera orientation set by the craft orientation. Since the controls would behave consistently, yet the target would always be in view, I argue it would be better than Chase Cam for keeping oriented when docking.
  

Hope to have a good discussion about this! Just please don't suggest I should remap the controls for myself. This isn't about personal preference, it's about "sensible defaults" for a mass-market game.

Next up: Camera angles and how they interact with the pitch / translate controls... kekeke

Edited August 6, 2013 by antbin

[Scoundrel]

First of all, I completely agree with everything you have posted. +2 from me for this.

Secondly, I've never used docking mode as using RCS for landings is no different than using RCS for docking. Your docking camera suggestion would in fact make docking mode obsolete since tapping V until you get your docking view would solve just about every issue with docking I can think of.

I would like to see rovers use the same throttle settings as rockets, and use keys used to shift gears forward or reverse rather than the currently inferior "full throttle or no throttle" setting, as it would make travelling on low gravity planets a lot easier, as well as offroading hijinks much more fun! (as a side note, I personally remap the rover keys and EVA to use my numeric keypad... for obvious reasons)

And lastly, I agree in that space should be reserved, though I think there are reasonable uses for shift and control outside of ship throttle.

[Beeman]

I had issues with translation controls, even though it's honestly not difficult to figure out(IJKL is identical to WASD but with the other hand). But now it's easier for my brain to handle because I bound the RCS translation keys to my keypad. 8, 4, 6 and two translate up, left, right and down respectively while five translates forward and keypad zero translates backwards. I still use q and e for roll but for some reason the keypad just works better with my brain than IJKLHN >_>

I tried using docking mode once and it broke my mind after growing accustomed to WASD+keypad for docking maneuvers >_>

[antbin]

Agreed translation controls aren't that difficult to figure out, but it's easier to learn (and remember!) if it's consistent between all modes. The problem is that the Staging mode IJKL keymaps are designed to match with the navball behavior, while the default EVA keymaps are designed to match with the on-screen character behavior (and the Kerbals auto-orient to the camera, which is cool but also a bit inconsistent).

Normally I'd say "keep the navball consistency", but there's a convention in every 3PS game of using WASD type controls to make characters walk. So W and A (or I and K) are going to have to be "forward / back". Given that, I understand why the devs decided to make two modes and try to have the cake & eat it too.

If every keyboard had a numpad (some laptops don't), I would argue for switching camera rotation to IJKL and using the numpad for the translation controls. The way you map 8 / 2 and 5 / 0 reminds me of how a lot of us used to play Descent.

Edited August 5, 2013 by antbin

[antbin]

If docking mode's going to stay, what about getting rid of Docking Rotation mode, at least? With the new ASAS behavior allowing rotation at any time, there's really no reason for its auto-ASAS toggling anymore. A safe (non-space) key (TAB?) could switch between Staging (WASD rotation) and Docking (WASD translation) mode and get the same pseudo-noob-friendly WASD-only behavior.

[Yourself]

Staging Mode IJKL translation behavior is inconsistent from docking mode, EVA, and rover wheels. I and K translate up and down, not forward and back as in all other modes.

Also in translation mode the default keybinding has the direction of IK differentl from JL. J and L attempt to move your spacecraft in the direction you're pressing, whereas I and K do the opposite (K will thrust in the upwards direction). I don't have a problem with it being backwards, but I do have a problem with it being inconsistent.

[vexx32]

To be honest, I'm all for the opinion that the user should experiment with the controls themselves, and figure out a method and control set that works for them. Myself, I've not had much trouble at all with all the different modes the controls have, except on the rare occasions I've accidentally clicked a wrong button and changed to Docking Mode by accident.

However, rover controls need to be mapped to IJKL, or else the WASD keys' control of pod torque needs to be disabled whilst driving a rover around; perhaps that could also be controlled by yet another key.

[Rockhem]

remap the keys??? is this not possible or something, I thought I would have heard about that.

[vexx32]

I'm not sure what you mean. If you're looking for the keymap settings, they're in the Settings on the Input or Controls tab, whatever it's called (I forget).

If you're trying to suggest that this is already a possibility, I'm sure OP is aware of this -- he's suggesting more organised defaults.

[Cannibal]

I completely agree that the number of control keys needs to be culled.

Ideally all movement/rotation (rocket, vehicle, kerbal on EVA) should be handled with the hand in one position (WASDQE).

[innovine]

Can't say I've had any problems with the controls. I'm also surprised you didn't mention the horrible mouse view gimbal locks and focus.

BTw up and down translate control are backwards. Press left to translate left, press up to translate, uh, down?

[antbin]

I'm surprised you didn't mention the horrible mouse view gimbal locks and focus.

That's for another thread View orientation is a big part of the controls problem. Unless the flight can be done completely instrument-based with the navball, control / view compatibility is a big issue. Witness the number of threads where people recommend "only use chase view when docking" - that's a sign of how confusing default views can be.

up and down translate control are backwards. Press left to translate left, press up to translate, uh, down?

Are you sure? I might have made a mistake with the table... or the controls could be that confusing.

[innovine]

That's for another thread View orientation is a big part of the controls problem. Unless the flight can be done completely instrument-based with the navball, control / view compatibility is a big issue. Witness the number of threads where people recommend "only use chase view when docking" - that's a sign of how confusing default views can be.

It's not that. I understand that the camera's reference frame can be totally different to the vessels. I mean more that when I try and rotate around, it often goes in unpredictable ways or experiences gimbal locks. Having the cameras focus point fixed means it's very tricky to see parts of a large ship. afaicr the EVA views are really weird too. Can't be precise since I'm not at my gaming machine to test. Simply put, the whole view thing feels in need of a makeover..

Are you sure? I might have made a mistake with the table... or the controls could be that confusing.

Pretty much. Again, without testing, if memory serves me correctly and you are in Stage View with the camera mode set to Chase, and you position the camera behind the vessel looking forward past the part you chose as 'control from here', and treating IJKL as arrows, then J translates the craft left, but I translates the craft down. The wiki page confirms this too. I guess your chart is incorrect. I think that the horizontal arrows control the direction of the vessel, and the vertical arrows control the direction of the rcs exhaust. So it's inverted. Silly

Edited August 8, 2013 by innovine

[Haze-Zero]

I agree with this, the control scheme for the game could use a hard looking at.

[innovine]

I completely agree that the number of control keys needs to be culled.

Ideally all movement/rotation (rocket, vehicle, kerbal on EVA) should be handled with the hand in one position (WASDQE).

You can't do that, because that'll either let you rotate on all 3 axes, or translate, but not both. You could toggle between rotation and translation, but that's annoying as you sometimes need to do both at the same time. Using WSADQE and IJKLHN at the same time is an acceptable solution imho. But it should be consistent with the EVA controls.

[Dunbaratu]

[*]Should the IJKL keys be harmonized with the EVA / Rover behavior? Should I and K go forward/back rather than up/down?

I agreed with most of what you said but to me this one point seems like a terrible idea. You're trying to make IJKL agree with ROVER behavior even though IJKL are used during space maneuvering, not during rovering, and therefore it's far MORE important to make IJKL agree with WASD while doing space manuevers. In my brain, they do match as they are now: When I think "rotate up" I hit "A", and when I think "pan up" I hit "K". When I think "rotate down" I hit "W" and when I think "pan down" I hit "I". On the other hand, if "A" means "up" when rotating but "backward" when translating, that is really going to screw with my head, especially since I'm using both at the SAME time because I dock using staging mode (i really dislike using docking mode because I want to be able to control rotation and translation at the same time without a mode switch. In staging mode you can think "left hand is for rotating, right hand is for translation, and the two match up 1-to-1." With what you're proposing they wouldn't match anymore.).

[innovine]

In my brain, they do match as they are now: When I think "rotate up" I hit "A", and when I think "pan up" I hit "K"

I think you are just used to it. Ok, the original problem is perhaps that rotate up is assigned to S(down), but since that's how all airplanes work I think it's safe to say it can remain so. However, when it comes to translations, there's no real reason to do two wrongs in attempting to make it right.

[manskal]

I have a feeling things like these will happen further down the road, when release is near and Squad is optimising like there's no tomorrow. As the game is in alpha stage, there tends to be many redundant/unhelpful controls and guis in the game.

No excuse they shouldn't be ironed though, even if at a later date.

[Dunbaratu]

I think you are just used to it. Ok, the original problem is perhaps that rotate up is assigned to S(down), but since that's how all airplanes work I think it's safe to say it can remain so. However, when it comes to translations, there's no real reason to do two wrongs in attempting to make it right.

Well, yeah I'm "just used to it" but I'm "just used to it" from a lot MORE than just KSP. KSP is not the only program that works that way. The "back for up, and forward for down" standard is VERY old, and dates back to the very first areoplanes, and makes sense if you think of the control stick as rotating around a ball rather than moving in straight lines. When you push the stick forward, it's not just moving straight forward. It's a lever rotating at the fulcrum, and that rotation is rotating downward.

Or to put it another way, imagine a flat board on which you've painted a silhouette of an airplane, and you glue a stick to the board sticking up normal to the plane of the board. If you hold the stick and want to use your grip on the stick to rotate the board, the way you move the stick to rotate the airplane picture on the board matches the way airplane controls work where forward is down and backward is up.

This is a standard that's been in common usage a LOT longer than video games. It raises my hackles every time a video game's settings screen describes doing it the correct way as "inverted", when it's not. Back-means-up is normal, BOTH historically, AND by the geometry of what the stick represents. The NEW standard where forward means up and backward means down is an inversion. It's the first thing I fix in any game I'm playing that defaults it to the wrong way around and incorrectly calls the intuitive right way around "inverted".

I would agree, however, that everything needs to be mappable so people can play it the way they like.

I was just contending that the claim that IJKL are doing things differently than WASD is incorrect if you're used to the controls that have been standard for airplanes for ages.

[innovine]

I understand and agree completely with what you say regarding a lever and a fulcrum, and that works fine if you are rotating a ball. but IJKL are translation controls. There is no rotation involved and the analogy does not hold.. One shuld just press left to go left, press Up to go up. Press forward to go forward. Straightforward and easy.

[Andersenman]

imagine a flat board on which you've painted a silhouette of an airplane, and you glue a stick to the board sticking up normal to the plane of the board. If you hold the stick and want to use your grip on the stick to rotate the board, the way you move the stick to rotate the airplane picture on the board matches the way airplane controls work where forward is down and backward is up.

Those were the days ...

It's the first thing I fix in any game I'm playing that defaults it to the wrong way around and incorrectly calls the intuitive right way around "inverted".

The first computer games with directional control I got really into were flight sims, so I was used to the up-down thing. When I later got into playing shooters, "inverted" mouse control was a given for many years (not to mention with arrow keys instead of WASD, but that's another thing of the past). For some reason, after many years of knowing people who don't, and also after some flight-sim-free time, I tried non-inverted mouse control for the heck of it and I just couldn't go back anymore. From literally - and I mean it, I'm not just throwing this word in for emphasis - one match to the next of the same game (CoD4 I believe), pushing the mouse away to make the view tilt up became so natural as it had been unnatural all those games before, and I have never been able or even wanting to go "inverted" again.

In essence, I wouldn't give intuition that much weight when arguing about what's right as it is so subjective. Usability is foremost about feeling invited and capable, not about familiarity. Granted though, it is a welcome bonus, and more often than not it is means to the end.

Edited October 21, 2013 by Andersenman

[Nuke]

^reminds me of my analog keyboard concept, where i put pressure pots under the membrane under certain keys so that i could detect key pressure, best part was the key still worked as a button, but the pressure sense was less than liner on the oscope.

by biggest gripe is i think throttle needs to be moved to free up modifier keys so we can have things like more action groups.

Edited October 18, 2013 by Nuke

[JoCRaM]

rover keys have to be different from flight keys have to be different from RCS keys - my planes have electric wheels and I use RCS to fine tune space thrust.

[FleshJeb]

Good ideas, but my issue with using MMB to control camera is that I play on a laptop. No MMB or really hard to use.

[Nemrav]

inb4 lock, (this is a necro from 2013)

I think one thing they should do is have a gui button on the iva, because when I started playing, I got into iva and then couldn't get out