New keybinds.

[Gazz292]

Just had a little drive after the update, i really like the extra key binds for controls,

 

For anyone who hasn't found this out yet, we now have new keyboard keys for:

Brake Release button (used after setting the brake handle to emergency)
Train Brake Handle To Running Position
Cab Lights
Instrument Lights
 

The key that allows us to write in chat can now be set (before it wouldn't allow us to bind a key to that function)... but i haven't got that to work yet.... i assume it should be like mouse clicking in the chat window, but a key to press that activates the chat writing bit.

And i also noted that in the EU07, the combo of SHIFT and power wheel up and down keys (usually + and -)
before it just rapid moved the wheel between notch 28 and to zero, and if in notch 43, it would rapid move to zero.

Nnow a second press of SHIFT + the power increase key moves the wheel to notch 43, and SHIFT + power decrease rapid moves to notch 28, a second press rapids it to zero.... awesome.

:

I would like to see every button in the cab have the ability to assign keys to them, maybe that will happen in the full release,

We still need a way to turn switches off via the keyboard, as ATM we can only flip toggle switches on, i know the dev's said a toggle switch changing state with each key press can't be done, but there must be a way.. say 'SHIFT + the key' to flip it off? as that would count as a separate key press event??  as that works with the EU07 rapid power wheel movement.

 

i mostly drive the EU07, and another key bind that would be handy is the traction motor overload button, as i am still tripping the overload occasionally, and have to use the mouse to pan the view then press the reset button.

A big thankyou to the SimRail team for listening to their customers and implementing things people ask for.

[TheShotte]

Thank you for the heads up. Yeah, I really wish they added modifier keys (Shift, Control, etc. + YOUR KEY). That way, we could do like A/D for throttle, and Control + A/D for Shunting Regulator.  

Edited December 16, 2022 by TheShotte

[BigVern]

Did we get a key for windscreen wipers yet? The drivers side on the EU07 are behind the brake handle and almost impossible to find the sweet spot.

[Gazz292]

Hopefully they will enable the modifier keys....
obviously it's not a game breaking thing, more important stuff to work on atm, but it's a 'would be nice' feature...
There are people out there who don't like using the mouse to click and drag controls, and even some people who can't use a mouse and rely on keyboard alone.

Enabling modifier keys is not just to enable one key to operate a control in both directions, but to allow us enough keyboard keys to assign to all the controls in a train,

When assigning controls to keyboard keys, if we just use the letter keys alone, we have 26 of them, but add the SHIFT modifier, and that's now 52 keys available, add in CONTROL and its 78, ALT makes for 104 ... and each modifier has a left and right one you can have ... 208 keys to assign to controls.. plus the number pad and so on.

We'd likely need separate key maps for each different train, that's where games like tsw fall down,  trying to have just one universal key set that covers all trains (and that horrible thing they do where how far a control moves depends on how long you hold a key / game controller button down for)
train simulator (classic) has a key map for each loco, and we know a lot of tsw is just 'tarting up' past tsc content and reselling it to us over and over again 🤬

SimRail is the breath of fresh air we've been waiting for

 

[Gazz292]

3 minutes ago, BigVern said:

Did we get a key for windscreen wipers yet? The drivers side on the EU07 are behind the brake handle and almost impossible to find the sweet spot.

no wipers keys yet.

I agree, it's hard to get at the wiper switch, the washer switch is totally hidden by the brake lever stanchion, and when the brake lever is in 'initial' position, i find i can't operate the wipers switch, as the brake controls are popping up all the time.

[TheShotte]

Okay, so I noticed a bit of an issue with the new controls. You can turn all the stuff on (cabin light, console light, etc) using the keyboard controls, but you can't turn any of it off. I'm gonna post this in the Bug section.

[Niinox]

6 hours ago, TheShotte said:

Thank you for the heads up. Yeah, I really wish they added modifier keys (Shift, Control, etc. + YOUR KEY). That way, we could do like A/D for throttle, and Control + A/D for Shunting Regulator.  

I've started using Z/X for the shunting regulator. A modifier would be nice, but at least they're right underneath the throttle then.

[TheShotte]

Z/X for it is actually not a bad idea since I'm not using those binds for anything.

[Gazz292]

oh yeah, a few people have been asking for keybinds to turn toggle switches off too... there was a post where the devs said they can't set a single key to trigger a control in the opposite direction (flip flop style) , i.e. press say 'k' for cab lights once and the switch turns on, press 'k' again and it turns off.

I'm hoping that it can be done with modifier keys, so 'K'; turns cab lights on, 'SHIFT + K' turns them off.

I think maybe the devs thought using the mouse to operate the trains was ok, but there are people who hate using the mouse, and people who can't use one, but can press keys.

 

:

 

Im using my numberpad for all the trains power and brake controls,
 
emergency brake is 'backspace' 
brake release is 'zero'
PLUS and RETURN on the number pad is for power up and down,
3 and 6 = shunt reg,
2 and 5 = loco brake,
1 and 4 = train brake,
7 = train brake lever move to running position' 
So i have a (logical to me) setup where to increase a control it's the upper button, to decrease it is the lower button.... none of this A for regulator increase, D for regulator decrease stuff side by side keys for up and down lever movements.

The alerter reset is my left shift key, fast rotate for the EU07 power wheel is left control key (that's the 'quick move' aka 'sprint when walking' key i discovered)

This is so it's comfortable for me to rest my hands each side of the laptops keyboard and have all the most used controls at my fingertips, only needing to move my hands to operate the horn, the door switch in the EMU's, or turn the cab or instrument lights on (but not off 🙂

My reason for this is i have an arthritic condition and especially in this weather my hands are a bit stiff so i wanted to reduce movement to a minimum.

 

[TheShotte]

1 minute ago, Gazz292 said:

oh yeah, a few people have been asking for keybinds to turn toggle switches off too... there was a post where the devs said they can't set a single key to trigger a control in the opposite direction (flip flop style) , i.e. press say 'k' for cab lights once and the switch turns on, press 'k' again and it turns off.

I'm hoping that it can be done with modifier keys, so 'K'; turns cab lights on, 'SHIFT + K' turns them off.

I think maybe the devs thought using the mouse to operate the trains was ok, but there are people who hate using the mouse, and people who can't use one, but can press keys.

:

Im using my numberpad for all the trains power and brake controls,
 
emergency brake is 'backspace' 
brake release is 'zero'
PLUS and RETURN on the number pad is for power up and down,
3 and 6 = shunt reg,
2 and 5 = loco brake,
1 and 4 = train brake,
7 = train brake lever move to running position' 
So i have a (logical to me) setup where to increase a control it's the upper button, to decrease it is the lower button.... none of this A for regulator increase, D for regulator decrease stuff side by side keys for up and down lever movements.

The alerter reset is my left shift key, fast rotate for the EU07 power wheel is left control key (that's the 'quick move' aka 'sprint when walking' key i discovered)

This is so it's comfortable for me to rest my hands each side of the laptops keyboard and have all the most used controls at my fingertips, only needing to move my hands to operate the horn, the door switch in the EMU's, or turn the cab or instrument lights on (but not off 🙂

My reason for this is i have an arthritic condition and especially in this weather my hands are a bit stiff so i wanted to reduce movement to a minimum.

If you play on a laptop with an arthritic condition, maybe consider getting yourself an external wireless keyboard. I think in your case it wouldn't be a bad idea to get one without a numberpad and with a touchpad. They make some of them light and small. Would probably beat playing on built-in laptop keyboard.

[Gazz292]

ahh, i spend most of my time laying on my bed,  so i have an over bed table that my laptop sits on,

i can operate the laptops keys at a good height right in front of me, and there's a shelf to the side of the table that the trackball sits on,  as using the laptops trackpad is a pain for me.

 

Earlier this year i was making a (mostly 3D p[printed)  train driving controller that sat over my laptops keyboard, this was for 'that train driving game i don't like anymore'

Hopefully i can resurrect it next year, and get it working with SimRail (with a more EU07 set of controls)
as to get it working with tsw needed a lot of hackery and even then half the controls would be dead, so i've given up with that game.

 

[TheShotte]

On 12/17/2022 at 9:47 AM, Gazz292 said:

Earlier this year i was making a (mostly 3D p[printed)  train driving controller that sat over my laptops keyboard, this was for 'that train driving game i don't like anymore'

Cough * TSW * cough... That's a nice concept. I reckon something like that would need some Arduino controller(s) as a backend for interfacing with your PC (if you would want everything to work mechanically the way you designed it). I was doing some research on something like the above a while back. Wanted to see how difficult it would be to put together.

[Gazz292]

oh it was pretty much all working electronically,  
the levers have mechanical notches (that can be changed to suit different trains) and they turn potentiometers to send the position 'signal' and all the switches work similar to the real things.

i was running it on an arduino due, which was seen by the computer as a multi axis joystick,

I even had a colour oled in the controller that showed the train selected (as i had to do all the control changes onboard, as tsw only has one global set of control for all trains via the raildriver hack)

But it became more and more obvious that tsw was not intended to be used as a simulator, it was aimed mostly at console users as a game, hence the very restrictive control inputs.