I say for newer players since vets will probably be too used to the default, or have your own setups, but feel free to incorporate any of this too.
I was a new player too until only recently. I couldn’t make sense of all the random symbols used and keys way out in the middle of the keyboard and/or shift variants out there too, making you constantly and awkwardly have to move your hands away from their natural positions alot. To say nothing of some similar actions and menus seemingly being totally random in their placement on the keyboard.
I guess there’s a way to use the middle of the keyboard as the natural right hand position, including for movement, especially for those that don’t have a Numpad? Which would help some things make sense but i feel like the Numpad is a much more natural, accessible and allround globally used method.
Maybe in the future there could be 2 default profiles for both Non-Numpad and Numpad users.
Either way here’s what i managed to come up with to make life alot easier:
MAIN KEYS:
q + Q = look around + center view
w + W = list all items/creatures + peek
e + E = examine + grab/drag nearby
a + A = pick up at feet + haul
s + S = stairs down + stairs up
d + D = drop + drop to adjacent tile
z + Z = apply/use item + eat/drink/consume item
x + X = wield/unwield item + unload/empty item
c + C = wear + unwear
r + R = reload + throw
f + F = fire wielded gun + toggle firing mode of wielded gun
v + V = wait some time + chat to NPC/yell
t + T = disassemble + butchery
g + G = sleep + read
b + B = zone activities + manage zones
y + Y = view/activate mutations + view/activate bionics
h + H = workout + toggle thief mode
n + N = next in line to use
MENUS:
F1 Character Sheet, F2 Armor/Clothing Layering Menu, F3 Morale Menu, F4 Debug Menu, F5 Craft Menu, F6 Repeat Craft, F7 Construction Menu, F8 View Message Log, F9 View Missions, F10 View Factions, F11 View Achievements, F12 Save and Quit
NUMPAD:
/ = advanced inventory * = smash nearby terrain
5 = wait 1 turn
. - = toggle run
. + = toggle walk
Enter = toggle crouch
0 = close . = open
pg up + pg down = zoom in + zoom out
REMAINING:
Shift + 1 safemode toggle
shift + 2 quicksave
shift + 3 control vehicle
shift + 4 compare 2 items
shift + 5 martial arts
shift + 6 look up at the sky
shift + 7 commit sudoku
REMAINING DEFAULT KEYS:
TAB = auto attack target in range
i = inventory
m = map
shift + tilde = safe mode manager
} = sidebar UI options
Some things to note:
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Most menus were moved to the F keys to free up room and make much more sense, being alot more accessible in one close group while easier to depict since needing to be a little further away.
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Upper and lower case letter combos were used because 1 - more actions are closer to the left hand instead of the middle of the keyboard and 2 - there were some great natural combos such as apply/use item + eat/drink/consume item and view/activate mutations + view/activate bionics.
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The first group of combo keys listed are for the top row on the left of the keyboard (Q’s W’s E’s) and are mostly for vision around the game world, which then blends into the next row below
(A’s S’s D’s) that starts to become equipment and player picking up and dropping
(stairs up/down teehee), then on the next row below (Z’s X’s C’s) we have most equipment manipulation. Those are closest to the left hand because they make up the majority of the important and most commonly used actions, while the remaining combo keys further away are for the remaining, lesser used actions and so are grouped vertically from here
(R’s F’s V’s etc) noting this should help visualizing the setup for easier reference and future additions you make yourself as new actions come out. -
The Numpad keys may or may not seem odd, but it makes sense when looking at it like this: Advanced Inv and Smash keys above your movement, run/walk/crouch in a row on your right, open and close doors below, and zoom in and out to the left with pg up and down. Utilizing all keys on the Numpad (except for numlock which seems to mess things up) and generally around your right hand for increased accessibility. Increased accessibility is Keybind meta.
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I also rebound moving items in the Advanced Inventory (changes done in that menu) except moving singular items with Enter:
q = split stack/specific amount, w = move entire stack, e = examine still, r = move entire list
This keeps the different options close together, on the same row, as well as close at hand. -
It feels kind of awkward at first (as is anything including the default setup) but having a cheat sheet notepad on your desktop helps and this setup is amazing after spending like a day or 2 getting used to it.
I hope my weaponized Autism is useful to anyone out else out there whose eyes started bleeding when they looked at the keybinds menu.
If it’s possible and anyone cares, let me know if you’d like a string (or copy of keybind file) to import these keybinds instead of needing to set them manually.
Happy deathing!