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The n52te is a highly configurable gaming keypad (http://www.n52te.com). When set up properly, it can be a pretty convienent way to play Starcraft 2. There's been some interest in this device, so I've written this guide to share a setup that I find to work quite well. This setup allows control groups to be accessed by using a modifier key together with the qwert/asdfg keys, so there's no need to reach across the keyboard for that '0' key, instead it becomes 'alt-g'. It allows me to easily use all 10 control groups without moving my hand from it's regular position.
Setting up Command Buttons:
The 5x3 command buttons in the lower right hand corner of the starcraft screen map directly to the 5x3 Nostromo buttons (counting the mousewheel as the bottom-right button). To set this up in Starcraft 2, we simply select the "Grid" hotkey setup from the options menu. On the Nostromo side, use the Nostromo software to setup the buttons 1 through 14 as Q,W,E,R,T,A,S,D,F,G,Z,X,C,V, and the wheel down as B. This should allow you to use all the Starcraft 2 command buttons from the Nostromo.
Setting up Control Groups Actions:
The basic principle here is that all control group actions, even control group recall actions, are accessed by pressing a direction on the D-pad with the thumb. Using the Nostromo software, set D-pad-down to "Alt", D-pad-right to "Shift", and D-pad-left to "Ctrl". Setting it up on the Starcraft 2 side requires editing the hotkeys as described by Tamerlane in this post: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=117649. Using the UI tool, go to UI Changer -> Control Group and make the following changes (save a copy first!):
Control group append 1 through 5 -> shift-q through shift-t
Control group append 6 through 0 -> shift-a through shift-g.
Control group assign 1 through 5 -> ctrl-q through ctrl-t
Control group assign 6 through 0 -> ctrl-a through ctrl-g.
Control group recall 1 through 5 -> alt-q through alt-t
Control group recall 6 through 0 -> alt-a through alt-g.
I use the bottom row for idle workers and a few camera actions:
Idle Worker -> alt-z
Camera Save 0 through 2 -> ctrl-x through ctrl-v
Camera View 0 through 2 -> alt-x through alt-v
Finally, I set the thumbbar as space, and put tab and backspace on the mouse. The orange thumb button and the d-pad-up keys remain unused, and could be used for vent, or to change the Nostromo keymap, giving access to 14 more keys.
Issues and Workarounds
- No real 'b' key
Yea, the wheel button is kind of a poor excuse for a key, but fortunately it's usually just the "cancel" action (and burrow for zerg units), so I usually just click it with my mouse noob style if I actually need it. Some other options are to set the orange thumb button as the 'b' key, or to use the UI tool to move the cancel and burrow actions to a different command button.
- Shift-s toggles sound
This seems to be hardcoded into the game. My workaround is to actually set the Nostromo button 7 to be the 'H' key, instead of the 'S' key. Using the UI tool, change the control group 7 append, assign, and recall to shift-h, ctrl-h, and alt-h. I don't think it's possible to change the command button using the current version of the UI tool, so you need to use the "manual procedure" described in that post. Open patch.SC2Archive and browse to Mods/Core.SC2Mod/Base.SC2Data/UI/Hotkeys, and grab the 2_GridLeftSide.SC2Hotkeys file, and change CommandButton06 from S to H.
- Some shift actions already have uses
Most of the default shift actions don't seem particularly time critical to me, like toggling minimap terrain with alt-t, so I just unbind them altogether. If you want to keep any of them to be used from the keyboard, you'll can simply move them to a key on the right side of the keyboard.
- The poor man's Nostromo:
Just a final note, nothing in this setup uses the special functionality of the Nostromo. So, in principle, this setup could be used with a normal keyboard, using the regular shift, ctrl, and alt modifier keys. I don't find keyboard modifier keys to be as conveniently placed as the Nostromo D-pad, nor have I even tried playing like this, but I thought I'd mention it.
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Hey Thanks! this is exactly what I was looking for
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awesome, thx for this, maybe i can put my nostromo to some sort of use
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Great guide. Have you used the G13 before?
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On May 19 2010 06:54 Aiu wrote:
Great guide. Have you used the G13 before?
I don't have a G13, but assuming the keys are configurable it should work fine. The important thing is to have buttons available to the thumb as modifier keys. One of the reasons regular keyboard layouts are so inefficient is that they assign only the spacebar to the thumb. The thumb is the "smartest" finger, and is able to most naturally work independent of other fingers. Keypads with thumb buttons allow you to give it an appropriate share of the work.
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I'm sorry to bump this, and I'm not trying to necro this thread to advertise the n52te or anything, but at the end of your post, Nakas, you mention that your setup doesn't do much to harness the functionality of the n52te specifically. After tinkering and experimenting within the game and the editor a bit, I found another slightly different setup that does use the alternate keymaps without being unreasonably complex or hard to learn.
Basically, everything is as you outlined. Under the primary keymap, everything is set up how you have described. However, instead of messing in the UI with the group keys, or having to adjust the shift+H as a work-around for the sound switch issue, you can use a second keymap for numerical keys 0-9, with each group number bound to its respective numerical key on the pad (i.e. 1 is 1, 2 is 2, 3 is 3, etc. 10 is 0.) Within the primary keymap, you can set d-pad south (which goes un-used in your setup) as 'toggle keymap <whichever secondary keymap you choose for groups> momentary'. What this does is allows you to simply hold down d-pad south to toggle your secondary keymap momentarily for the purpose of selecting groups. When you release d-pad south your keymap reverts to primary, and you can then issue commands to your group. Since, within your set up, you have to hold down a d-pad key to bring up a group anyway, I thought it might be easier to just use a secondary keymap for this purpose.
Again, my apologies for bumping this thread rather late, but doing a google search for 'n52te starcraft 2' brought up only a few useful links, of which I found this to be the most useful and I assume would be the most viewed by other people looking up suggestions on starcraft 2 configs for their n52te.
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I hope this is a good enough reason to bump, but I got to thinking, and am considering making a full post about it. Could the d-pad of the nostromo be mapped to the arrow keys of the keyboard, allowing you to scroll the screen without jerking the mouse to the edges of the screen all the time? The time saved may seem minimal, but every time you move the view of SC2 (or any rts ) you have to readjust the mouse and put it back into your sights/neutral position/next command. Moving the screen with the left hand would, as long as it doesn't interfere with hotkeys, allow for a smoother and more precise experience with less hand fatigue from the mouse, and allow for better flow of the gameplay. I haven't tried it, but it's just a thought.
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EPT
