Useful keyboard shortcut keys

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Useful keyboard shortcut keys

Postby Eukanuba » 02 Aug 2012, 00:07

Supcom has a lot of shortcut keys, most of which are pretty much useless. However I bet that there are a few that are worth knowing that aren't used very much. This thread is for players to list which shortcut keys they use and why, so that new players (or players that have forgotten about them) can use them to help improve their game.

The keys I use:

EDIT: the single most important key, originally forgotten because it's so ubiquitous: SHIFT - used to queue up orders. By holding shift literally any series of commands can be stacked on top of each other. Shift also acts as a modifier on factories so that clicking a unit's build icon will add 5 to the build queue.

Ctrl-Z: Select all units of selected type. So if you've got one fighter plane selected, Ctrl-Z will select all your fighter planes. I often use this in combination with:

Ctrl+(#1-9): Like other RTSes, you can assign Ctrl groups to units. In Supcom FA this is mostly redundant because you can draw a box around the entire map if you want. However this is useful for a few specific reasons: grouping all fighter planes; grouping all bombers; grouping all TML so that all can be launched together easily; grouping some engineers that are assigned to upgrade mexes so that you can switch their priority easily.

T: Track unit: this is a hangover from Total Annihilation, but it can be really useful. The only time I use it in a game is when I've clicked the Engineers Idle button and I can't immediately see where that engineer is. Press T and then the mousewheel will zoom in directly to his position. This is also good if you're watching a replay and you want some bomber porn. :-)

Alt+rightclick: Attack-move: If used on an engineer, this will make him reclaim everything from where he is now to the point you click. This is exceptionally useful, and it's better than patrol because once he's finished he pops up on the Engineers Idle button. I also use this if I have shields or AA in with my ground force, to make sure that all the units move (roughly) together.

Space: Battle porn.

I'm sure there are plenty of other useful shortcuts, please post them here.
Last edited by Eukanuba on 02 Aug 2012, 13:56, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Useful keyboard shortcut keys

Postby Adraius » 02 Aug 2012, 00:24

Thanks! crtl-z is one I'll make use of, and I've been wondering how the heck to do the reclaim 'trick' since I got FAF. :)
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Re: Useful keyboard shortcut keys

Postby Gowerly » 02 Aug 2012, 00:41

Ctrl + A = all Air
Ctrl + L = all land (excluding engineers)
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Re: Useful keyboard shortcut keys

Postby eXcalibur » 02 Aug 2012, 01:50

CTRL + K = destroy marked units after 5 seconds

CTRL + N = rename the marked unit. this is not necessary, but can be funny.

ALT + F2 = when you start a game in sandbox mode (that is the victory condition) and enable the cheating option, you can cheat and spawn any unit in the game (in any amount) as your own or as a hostile unit. this can be useful to test everything you can imagine.

F11 = in online games this shows the ping to each other player in your game.

open console and type: "ren_ShowNetworkStats" = shows a window with ping to all other players and their maximum simspeed. this way you see who has the fastest/slowest cpu. when the guy with the slowest cpu gets killed but stays as an observer, the game does NOT speed up. this way you can tell him to leave and watch the replay. If the mod GAZUI is used, the "ShowNetworkStats"-function can be assigned to a key on your keyboard by pressing F1 ingame - very comfortable.

L = fire tacticle missile

O = overcharge

mark a bunch of units, hold your right mouse key pressed and move the mouse in the direction of the enemy. this way the bunch of units will group in a formation and move to the location you right klicked. this has pros and cons. use it wisely.

F1 = show all keyboard shortcuts. they can be edited when using the mod GAZUI.
Last edited by eXcalibur on 02 Aug 2012, 14:16, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Useful keyboard shortcut keys

Postby rootbeer23 » 02 Aug 2012, 05:17

other essentials:

TAB - toggle infinite build of selected units
z - toggle pause of selected units
ctrl+shift+rightclick - remove a job under the mouse pointer from a build queue
the hotbuild mod - allows you to assign shortcuts to buildings or units in a factory, no need to click on the icon
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Re: Useful keyboard shortcut keys

Postby Rathik » 02 Aug 2012, 13:18

Is there a way to add a shortcut key to select radars?

Just like Total Annihilation had with ctrl + r that would select all radars.

I am always having problems to find my radar so i can upgrade it.

It really annoys me ...
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Re: Useful keyboard shortcut keys

Postby Eukanuba » 02 Aug 2012, 13:54

Rathik wrote:Is there a way to add a shortcut key to select radars?

Just like Total Annihilation had with ctrl + r that would select all radars.

I am always having problems to find my radar so i can upgrade it.

It really annoys me ...

Not sure if there's a specific shortcut, but you could assign radar a group number (e.g. Ctrl+0), then you would just need to press 0 to select the radar. You could even press 0 then T to select and locate it.
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Re: Useful keyboard shortcut keys

Postby Gowerly » 02 Aug 2012, 18:05

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Re: Useful keyboard shortcut keys

Postby uberge3k » 03 Aug 2012, 15:59

If you like keyboard shortcuts, make sure you give this a try: http://forums.gaspowered.com/viewtopic.php?t=32628

It takes some getting used to, but it's seriously awesome once you get the hang of it. :)
Ze_PilOt wrote:If you want something to happen, do it yourself.
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Re: Useful keyboard shortcut keys

Postby Eukanuba » 04 Aug 2012, 11:53

Another really useful one is [comma], which selects and centres on the ACU, very handy when you get the under attack warning.

Also F11 shows all players’ pings, so you can identify laggers.
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