Keyboard Labels

[MadMike]

Has anyone used a keyboard overlay or labels to help with remembering all of the controls? I've searched all over and haven't found one, so I made one a couple of days ago. Printed on a cheap sticker paper my kids had lying around and put it on an old keyboard. Seems to work great, as they have held up to several hours of game play already and are not showing any signs of wear yet. Also added a set of button overlays for my LH gaming keypad. Have some high quality printable vinyl coming today to make the next version, which will include slightly larger overlays to help with readability. May also add a few different sizes of the blank keys in black. The ones blacked out on my keyboard I did with a Sharpie, which allowed me to cut them larger if needed.

If anyone is interested in the Word doc, just let me know and I will gladly share!

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[Ace Antilles]

Hard to see what you've done exactly in the small pic.

There was a XWA keyboard cut out released years ago. This is a German one I think.
Michals Twitter had it. I'm sure I had a UK one but not anymore. Cool idea.

XWA Keyboard Layout.jpg

[MadMike]

Higher res....

[MadMike]

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[MadMike]

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And the template in higher res....

[Ace Antilles]

It's a cool idea. If I played on XWA on the keyboard it might be worth it.
Otherwise I would have no idea what I was typing lol

I have this saved on my desktop

XWA-Keys.png

[MadMike]

I use my joystick and have most commands that I use often programmed there, but seem to always forget the odd commands when I need/want them. Thought that this would help. Also have a friend that just started playing and he found this very useful.

[MadMike]

The extra keys on the bottom left of the template are for the keypad shown here that is mounted just above my throttle....

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[MadMike]

And I guess if you didn't know where the letters were on the keyboard, it may be a bit confusing. Although, thinking of it as a sim, the keys wouldn't be labeled with any letters. My end goal is to use a split keyboard, and program the keys to be in bunches. That way the weapon controls can be together, communication together, energy management together, etc and can be placed in the appropriate locations in the cockpit. Have to be sure that the keypads are interchangeable, as I also use the cockpit for MW5 and for console gaming as well.

[Phoenix Leader]

Nice ideas, but I suggest you use a keyboard with macro-keys. It's going to help a lot in missions where you have to press many keys in a very short time.

[MadMike]

Makes sense, but the macros I use religiously are programmed on my HOTAS. It's a resource that is here if anyone else wants it!

[Driftwood]

Makes sense, but the macros I use religiously are programmed on my HOTAS. It's a resource that is here if anyone else wants it!

I would not mind a copy of those macro configurations, or a master sheet for printing out the lables on whatever size sticker paper. My 9 year old is kind of able to play XWA but all the controls are a bit beyond his ability to track.

[Ace Antilles]

I can use Macro buttons on my MS Sidewinder keyboard but not sure what I would set them to do?
Speed presets maybe? Programming the extra buttons on my Mouse for FPS is a life saver.

[MadMike]

Only Macros I use are to raise cycle energy 3 times and laser energy 3 times. Way back I used them for comms, but now I just talk to whomever I’m playing with. Not sure what other macros others use, but more power to them. If anyone wants a copy, just shoot me a DM. Working on a little bigger covers to allow for larger print.

[MadMike]

Driftwood: Shoot me a DM with your email and I will send them to you. I use a standard 8.5” x 11” sheet. It’s a Word doc, so easily manipulated if you want to alter anything.