[Freeciv] Re: got now "diagonal-keys"

[Alan Horkan <horkana@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> > Usually I give up and play freeciv on a different machine, dont even get
> > me started about trying to use a broken trackpad with only 2 buttons (I
> > know I could probably emulate the third button by clicking both buttons
> > at the same time but that has an unpleasant tendency to slip and do
> > something I did not want).  Accessibility and Usability are good for
> > everyone, I cant state that strongly enough.
>
> What do you suggest for people which don't have a numpad?

I thought that all laptops overloaded certain keys to act as a numpad when
NumLock is on (and if they dont I'm sure a little bit of xmodmap magic
would be an alternative).

> What keys should move a unit? Also don't forget the diagonal moves.

I would use the arrow keys.  Trying to press both up and down at the same
time to get a diagonal does not work, but if someone really wanted it to
you could capture the keypresses and if they come close enough together
treat them as a diagonal instead.
A less elegant but adequate and probably easier solution would be to use a
modifier key (shift, and ctrl) with some combination of he arrow keys.

I am only just after noticing (this was suggested earlier in the thread)
that currently there are keys available (freeciv 1.13):
Home is diagonally Up and Left (Northwest)
End is diagonally Down and Left (Southwest)
Page Up diagonally Up and Right
Page Down diagonally Down and Right.
I wonder what Insert and Delete are being used for, if anything.

What I would have expected would have been:
Home, Up
End, Down
Delete, Right
Page Down, left.
Insert could have been Diagonally up and left
with page up as Diagonally up and right, and shift or ctrl to turn that
into the downward diagonals.
Strange expectations i know, and I could be deluding myself but I suspect
I must have used something like that for Doom or Wolfenstien, it is hard
to be honest and objective after the fact.  I just dont feel comfortable
moving from the arrow keys to the Home keys or trying to do somevery
complicated two handed manouver.  (I dont like writing disclaimers but
most of this email is entirely off the top of my head, and confusingly out
of order, and I might change my mind at any time).

While I am brainstorming, I just thought of what might be an interesting
enhancement to GOTO.  In Diagramming programs such as Dia
(OpenOffice.org Draw and Visio) if you hold down a modifier key (not sure
if it is Control or Shift) you can draw a straight line.  Not sure if it
would actually be useful but since my brain is actually working for a
change I thought I would through it out there ;)
Maybe if you were allowed to "draw" the goto line as if it were a line,
hold down shift and click on a point you want to go to and while still
holding down click on the next point you want to go to and the line would
join the dots.

Hopefully with all the recent improvements in the GOTO code I wont find
myself disagreeing with the suggested route so much.  (I will have to try
and figure out what exactly it is that bothers me first, if i can
distract myself from playing the game for long enough).

Sincerely

Alan Horkan
http://advogato.org/person/AlanHorkan/