My binds

[Urcscumug]

I've been playing for a while now (a few weeks) and my binds have reached a stable status so I've decided to share them. I hope they're self explained, if you need any help please ask.

A few caveats:
* These are mainly for human (soldier and builder), but they have basic alien binds as well. Feel free to expand upon them.
* I have a split keyboard (split at F5 and 6TGB). I use AWSD and the mouse so everything truly essential I've placed in the left side close to AWSD. I don't consider anything in the right side or the numeric keypad as handy.
* I use the Volt HUD, which has a very useful menu (tells, builds, evolves) bound to the numeric keys, so I've left those completely untouched. It also means that I've relied on that for some stuff so I didn't define it myself. For instance, you won't find any evolve or build binds in my cfgs.
* I don't like mixing excessive amounts of stuff on one bind. Such as both buy and throw grenade, or buy all the possible armors, or automatically buying a battery with any energy weapon.

Let's start with autoexec.cfg. It needs to be placed under the tremoulous preference dir, in the base/ subdir. I've placed my cfg files in base/personal/ subdir.

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exec personal/common.cfg
personal/common.cfg. These define things common to the entire setup:

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// set name
name YourNameHere

// general binds
bind F11 "screenshotJPEG"

// choose team
bind h "team humans;class rifle;exec personal/binds_human.cfg"
bind l "team aliens;wait;class level0;exec personal/binds_alien.cfg"
bind F12 "team spectate;exec personal/binds_spectate.cfg"

// FPS changes
seta com_maxfps 65
bind KP_INS "seta com_maxfps 25; echo FPS set to 25"
bind KP_DEL "seta com_maxfps 30; echo FPS set to 30"
bind KP_END "seta com_maxfps 35; echo FPS set to 35"
bind KP_DOWNARROW "seta com_maxfps 40; echo FPS set to 40"
bind KP_PGDN "seta com_maxfps 45; echo FPS set to 45"
bind KP_LEFTARROW "seta com_maxfps 50; echo FPS set to 50"
bind KP_5 "seta com_maxfps 55; echo FPS set to 55"
bind KP_RIGHTARROW "seta com_maxfps 60; echo FPS set to 60"
bind KP_HOME "seta com_maxfps 65; echo FPS set to 65"
bind KP_UPARROW "seta com_maxfps 70; echo FPS set to 70"
bind KP_PGUP "seta com_maxfps 75; echo FPS set to 75"

// public broadcast
bind b "messagemode"
// talk to team
bind t "messagemode2"
// talk to crosshair target
bind SEMICOLON "messagemode3"
// talk to your last killer
bind k "messagemode4"

// voting
bind y "vote yes"
bind n "vote no"

// scores and menus
bind TAB "+scores"
bind ENTER "+button2"
bind ESCAPE "togglemenu"
bind ` "toggleconsole"
bind ~ "toggleconsole"
bind [ "scoresUp"
bind ] "scoresDown"

// define general movement
exec personal/binds_move.cfg
// default binds
exec personal/binds_spectate.cfg
Next comes the common movement binds, personal/binds_move.cfg, which will be used by all the three mode configs (spectate, human and alien):

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// basic movement
bind a "+moveleft"
bind w "+forward"
bind d "+moveright"
bind s "+back"
bind c "+movedown"
bind SPACE "+moveup"
bind SHIFT "+speed"
The spectator mode binds are quite simple (personal/binds_spectate.cfg):

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// define basic movements
exec personal/binds_move.cfg

// toggle spectate/follow mode
bind MOUSE3 "+button2"
// cycle players in follow mode
bind MWHEELUP "weapnext"
bind MWHEELDOWN "weapprev"
I've defined a common cfg (personal/binds_player.cfg) for both alien and human:

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// primary attack
bind MOUSE1 "+attack"

// define basic movement
exec personal/binds_move.cfg
The alien binds are also quite simple, like I said (personal/binds_alien.cfg):

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// common player binds
exec personal/binds_player.cfg

// secondary attack (dash)
bind MOUSE2 "+button5"
// third attack (shoot)
bind MOUSE3 "+button2"
// taunt?
bind MWHEELDOWN "+button3"
Finally, the human setup, which is a bit more involved. Normally it would also be a single cfg file, but due to this issue it needs to be spread in two files.

First, personal/helper_boost.cfg:

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bind w "+forward;boost"
bind a "+moveleft;boost"
bind s "+back;boost"
bind d "+moveright;boost"
And the main file, personal/binds_human.cfg:

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// common player binds
exec personal/binds_player.cfg

// donate credits (if server allows share)
bind o "donate 50"
bind p "donate 100"

// quick weapon changes at armoury
bind F1 "sell weapons;sell battpack;buy rifle"
bind F2 "sell weapons;wait;buy ackit;wait;buy ckit"
bind F3 "sell weapons;sell battpack;buy shotgun"
bind F4 "sell weapons;buy prifle"
bind F5 "sell weapons;sell battpack;buy chaingun"
bind F6 "sell weapons;buy lgun"
bind F7 "sell weapons;buy mdriver"
bind F8 "sell weapons;sell battpack;buy flamer"
bind F9 "sell weapons;buy lcannon"
bind F10 "sell weapons;sell battpack;buy psaw"

// quick upgrades
bind g "buy gren"
bind z "sell upgrades;buy helmet;buy larmour"
bind x "sell upgrades;buy bsuit"
bind j "sell upgrades;buy jetpack;buy helmet;buy larmour"
bind v "buy battpack"

// builder binds
bind e "deconstruct"

// quick uses
bind f "itemact gren"
bind ALT "itemtoggle jetpack"
bind MOUSE2 "itemact medkit"
bind MOUSE3 "itemtoggle blaster"
bind MWHEELUP "buy ammo"
bind MWHEELDOWN "+button5"

// always boost when going backwards
bind s "+back;boost"

// define boost/non-boost modes
set boostmove "exec personal/helper_boost.cfg; bind CTRL vstr normalmove; echo BOOST MODE ACTIVE"
set normalmove "bind w +forward; bind a +moveleft; bind d +moveright; bind CTRL vstr boostmove; echo NORMAL MOVE ACTIVE"

// boost mode by default
vstr boostmove
bind CTRL vstr normalmove
Some explanations:
* Like I said, I want essential things close to AWSD. This means I've bound things as follows.
* Q for the menu, for those rare cases when binds won't help.
* E for builder deconstruct.
* R for reload. It's too hardwired into my brain I'm afraid.
* T for team talk, B for broadcast. Make more sense like this.
* F for throwing grenade, G for buying it. I don't like binding both to the same, you can end up nading your own base. I would also add a say_team "Grenade!", but it also says it if I don't actually have a grenade and hit F by mistake, and that's not funny.
* Z and X to equip myself in helmet+armor and battlesuit, respectively.
* C for crouch, another hard-wired move.
* V for battery.
* ALT for toggling jetpack, CTRL for toggling normal/boost move, SHIFT for slow-walk, TAB for scores.
* F1-F10 for weapons. Like I said, VoltHUD puts useful stuff on the numeric keys so I didn't touch those. Also, since the keyboard is split I put the weapons I use most often on F1-F5: rifle, ckit, shotgun, pulse rifle and chaingun.

I've given special thought to the mouse. It's a simple 3 button mouse with scrollwheel.
* Left button fire, right button medikit.
* Right button is secondary attack (pounce) for aliens.
* Middle click toggles blaster and current weapon. Very useful when building, to be able to quickly use the blaster if I need to. Also very useful as a soldier. There are cases when a blaster is enough: when destroying alien structures and you can take your time it's perfect, since it doesn't use up ammo. Also, I can use it to trick aliens into thinking I'm out of ammo and running away; and when they come close enough I quickly switch to my main weapon and blamo in the face.
* Middle click is also shoot for aliens who are able to.
* Wheel down is cancel structure for builder, taunt (I think) for alien.
* Wheel up is buy ammo at the armory.

Other interesting binds:
* F11 screenshot.
* F12 spectator mode.
* O and P are donate 50 and 100 credits for servers with team share enabled. A great feature, often overlooked.
* H and L are human and alien team.
* I've put voting on Y and N for yes and no.
* Jetpack is on J.
* I've put talking to crosshair target on ; (cause it looks like eyes) and talk to last killer on K.
* 1-= and Backspace are used by the VoltHUD menus.
* I've mapped the numeric keypad keys to various levels of FPS. It helps me to improve my response time on some servers or in very crouded situations.

There you go, hope it helps, it has helped my gameplay imensely and I'd advise any newb to study binds and make his own because quick reaction is one of the main requirements of the game. There's simply no way you're going to be useful if you spend ages through the menus at the armory, take ages to select a structure to build or fiddle with your fingers looking for the medikit.

It's also advisable to make your own setup in order to benefit from often overlooked tricks, such as boost-moving all the time (gives you speed to rival the aliens).

I also find the VoltHUD much more useful than the default. It groups essential information in the middle bottom side of the screen in a concise yet very clear manner.

[Hendrich]

You've only been playing for a few weeks? Do you mean you've been using these binds for a few weeks? 

Anyways, thanks for sharing your binds Urc and giving out detailed information about them, I'm sure someone could find them useful. But then again, some of these binds are only usable for Volt's Hud, if I've read correctly.

[Urcscumug]

I didn't start out with these binds, I obtained them gradually by playing these last few weeks. They haven't changed now for a while so I deemed them "stable" and thought it's time to share.

All the binds are usable by themselves. The only way Volt's influenced me is that I left the numeric keys alone. You can ignore that and bind weapon purchases to numeric keys if you feel it's more natural (I've seen that most people do).

What I like about Volt's is that it has a sort of IVR system, or chained keybinds, which allows you to get a lot of things done with just two keypresses. I can dial 44 to place a turret or 24 to say "sorry" when I TK, for example.

There's still ways to improve them. For instance, I'd like to get rid of the annoying popup message when a purchase goes wrong at the armory (not enough credits for instance). I'll experiment with adding an "Enter" action, see if it helps.

I'd also liked it if Trem binds had a sort of error control that would only execute more commands if the previous worked well. Like the && operator on the shell command line if you know what I mean.  It would stop trying to buy the armor if the helmet couldn't be bought, and would only say "Grenade!" if I the throwing of the grenade actually succeeded (ie. I had it).

[Hendrich]

Good, I  can obviously see that you put good work into these binds from experience and testing, good job Urc. 

Btw, you don't have to make a bind to get rid of the annoying "You don't have enough creds" or the other similar pop-ups, press ESC while playing and go to Options. There should be a "No warning pop-up whatever" option for you to turn off.

[Urcscumug]

Thanks, that's better.

[Archangel]

I'm righthanded, but I still use arrow keys, and I cluster my binds near them.

main.cfg

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bind x "exec alien.cfg;team aliens;class level0"
bind z "exec alien.cfg;team aliens;class builderupg;class builder"
bind v "exec human.cfg;team humans;class rifle"
bind c "exec human.cfg;team humans;class ackit;class ckit"
bind MENU "+speed"
bind WINDOWS "+speed"
bind PRINT "kill"
bind SCROLLOCK "screenshotjpeg"
bind PAUSE "noclip"
set sensitivity 8.5
bind ' "+movedown"
bind - "give all"
human.cfg

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exec name-human.cfg
bind o "buy ammo"
bind l "reload"
bind MOUSE1 "+attack"
bind MOUSE2 "+button5;+zoom;itemact medkit"
bind mouse3 "+button2;+button3"
bind SHIFT "+moveup;give stamina"
bind UPARROW "+forward;boost"
bind LEFTARROW "+moveleft;boost"
bind RIGHTARROW "+moveright;boost"
bind DOWNARROW "+back;boost"
bind KP_SLASH "sell weapons;buy ackit;buy ckit"
bind KP_HOME "sell weapons;buy rifle"
bind KP_UPARROW "sell weapons;buy psaw"
bind KP_PGUP "sell weapons;buy shotgun"
bind KP_LEFTARROW "sell weapons;buy lgun"
bind KP_5 "sell weapons;buy mdriver"
bind KP_RIGHTARROW "sell weapons;buy chaingun"
bind KP_END "sell weapons;buy prifle"
bind KP_DOWNARROW "sell weapons;buy flamer"
bind KP_PGDN "sell weapons;buy lcannon"
bind KP_INS "buy larmour"
bind KP_DEL "buy helmet"
bind KP_ENTER "buy battpack"
bind KP_PLUS "buy bsuit"
bind KP_MINUS "sell weapons;sell upgrades"
bind KP_STAR "buy gren"
bind 1 "say_team ^7Move up, Team."
bind 2 "say_team ^7Fall back! Back to base!"
bind 3 "say_team ^7Incoming enemies, front entrance!"
bind 4 "say_team ^7Incoming enemies, alternate entrance!"
bind 5 "say_team ^7Our base requires repairs immediately."
bind 6 "say_team ^7Flank! Check behind you!"
bind 7 "say_team ^7The ^1aliens^7 have reached ^1Stage 2^7."
bind 8 "say_team ^7The ^1aliens^7 have reached ^1Stage 3^7."
bind F3 "build reactor"
bind F4 "build telenode"
bind F5 "build arm"
bind F6 "build medistat"
bind F7 "build mgturret"
bind F8 "build repeater"
alien.cfg

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exec name-alien.cfg
bind MOUSE1 "+attack"
bind MOUSE2 "+button5"
bind SHIFT +moveup"
bind UPARROW "+forward"
bind LEFTARROW "+moveleft"
bind RIGHTARROW "+moveright"
bind DOWNARROW "+back"
bind KP_HOME "class level0"
bind KP_UPARROW "class level1"
bind KP_PGUP "class level1upg"
bind KP_LEFTARROW "class level2"
bind KP_5 "class level2upg"
bind KP_RIGHTARROW "class level3"
bind KP_END "class level3upg"
bind KP_DOWNARROW "class level4"
bind KP_PGDN "class builderupg;class builder"
bind 1 "say_team ^7Move up, Team."
bind 2 "say_team ^7Fall back! Back to base!"
bind 3 "say_team ^7Incoming enemies, front entrance!"
bind 4 "say_team ^7Incoming enemies, alternate entrance!"
bind 5 "say_team ^7Our base requires repairs immediately."
bind 6 "say_team ^7Flank! Check behind you!"
bind 7 "say_team ^7The ^1humans^7 have reached ^1Stage 2^7."
bind 8 "say_team ^7The ^1humans^7 have reached ^1Stage 3^7."
bind F3 "build overmind"
bind F4 "build eggpod"
bind F5 "build acid_tube"
bind F6 "build trapper"
bind F7 "build booster"

[Urcscumug]

Ah, you can bind the Windows key as well... I'll have to look into assigning something to it as well. Although the position is awkward, it's in the middle of the palm and I can't reach it easily neither with the pinky nor the thumb.

Binding the right side of the keyboard is always an option, of course, but since mine is curved it would be in a very strange position. Conflicts with the clutter on my desk, really.

I've seen FPS players who resort to buying an USB keypad, like they have for laptops, and use that and the mouse. And there are also those special gamer keypads but they look pretty strange and I've never been very sure about them. Besides, there are hardly enough keys on one of those.

[Archangel]

Well, Like I said, I use the arrow keys as my main hand position, so it's quite useful for going down the hall and saving stamina.