Is there a way to make an easy to use exit key?

from Elemental Forums

 

In most games I play, such as civ4, the escape key can be used to universally exit the current window, dialog box, mode, etc.   And sometime the same key is also used to exit to the top-level menu.

From my experience so far in Elemental:

*) The escape key always takes you to the top-level menu ... even if you're simply in a dialog (or reading the help book) that you'd like to "close" out of.

*) There is no key available for use in closing dialogs, thus clicking with a mouse at an appropriate point on the screen is typically required, and different dialog boxes of course have close buttons in different places.

*) If you do use esc and find you're in the top-level save/load/exit menu, then unlike most games, you can't simply press escape again to get back into the game where you were.

 

I'd really appreciate it if there were key codes for navigating most all aspects of the game so I can avoid many of the hunt-and-click mouse movements.  It would make it easier to put functions on mice and facilitate use by handicapped players for whom keys are often easier for navigation than are mice.  Perhaps many of these codes are available in some config file and a kind user or dev with a clue can point me in the appropriate direction.

 

Thanks!

elemental
4,329 views 4 replies
Reply #1 from Elemental Forums Top

I don't know about keystrokes, I think it would be good to clean that up, but I don't think anyone - ever - should have to X out of a standard dialog box. This happens a few times over the course of the game, and it makes me die a little inside.

Reply #2 from Elemental Forums Top

I thought they fixed that, do you have the latest patch.

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Reply #3 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Zorbane, reply 2
I thought they fixed that, do you have the latest patch.
End of Zorbane's quote

Thanks for the heads up.  I just tried it in the latest patch, and indeed they did make at least one small change.  Entering "Esc" will indeed close the Hiergamenon (help book).  On the other hand it won't for example close the Kingdom Report; instead it goes directly to the top level options, and it won't work at all in a trade window.  In short, the problem is that usage of the key is unpredictable and is not guaranteed to either universally work or to back you out just one level.  Thus the conclusion that (this) user quickly comes to is that it should simply be avoided completely.  I've no problem with ESC always you backing out a level, or with it always taking you to the top level; I've played a variety of games that do both.  But an unpredictable interface and lack of ANY key to simply close a dialog just makes usage a pain.

 

 

Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top

They sort of half-ass fixed the Esc key, it closes some menus, on others, it still opens the main menu. It's really inconsistent and irritating :/