Oolite Keyboard Controls

Default Key Assignments

Key assignments are stored in the file keyconfig.plist. This file, by default, is in the following location:

• Linux: /usr/lib/GNUstep/Applications/oolite.app/Resources/Config/keyconfig.plist
• Windows: C:\Oolite\oolite.app\Resources\Config\keyconfig.plist - (was C:\Program Files\Oolite\... before 1.73.x)
• Mac OS-X: In “Extras” folder, or in Oolite.app/Contents/Resources/Config/keyconfig.plist

++Please Note: All characters in capitals are shift + character, i.e. R = shift + r.++

Action	Key	Keycode (Dec)	Keycode (Hex)	Notes
Roll Left	Left arrow	253	FD
Roll Right	Right arrow	252	FC
Pitch Forward	Up arrow	255	FF
Pitch Back	Down arrow	254	FE
Yaw Left	,	44	2C
Yaw Right	.	46	2E
Increase Speed	w	119	77
Inject Fuel	i	105	69
Decrease Speed	s	115	73
Fire Lasers	a	97	61
Target Missile	t	116	74
Untarget Missile	u	117	75
Launch Missile	m	109	6D
Next Missile	y	121	79	Multi-Targeting System required
Activate Ident System	r	114	72
Cycle forward between targets	+	43	2B	Target System Memory Upgrade required
Cycle backward between targets	-	45	2D	Target System Memory Upgrade required
Activate ECM	e	101	65
Launch Escape Pod	Esc	27	1B
Energy Bomb	Tab	9	09
Energy Bomb (On the Mac)	Tab	"\t"	09
Galactic Hyperspace	g	103	67
Advanced Navigational Array	^	94	5E	Hold down to activate, release to deactivate
Hyperspace	h	104	68
Jumpdrive	j	106	6A
Dump Cargo	d	100	64
Cycle cargo to dump	R	82	52
Autopilot	c	99	63
Autodock	D	68	44
Take a Snapshot	* (shift+8)	42	2A	Written to $HOME/oolite-saves
Docking Music Toggle	s	115	73	Only if Docking Computer fitted!
Scanner Zoom	z	122	7A
Map Dump	! (shift+1)	33	21
Map Home	Home	302	12E	Selects your current system
Comms Log	`	96	60
Next Compass Mode	\ or #	92	5C
Display Frame Rate	F	70	46	Displays frame rate, object- and collision-counter and player's pwm-coordinates.
Cycle through external views	v	118	76
Pause Game	p	112	70
Toggle Mouse Control	M	77	4D	When activated, the mouse becomes a virtual joystick (in full screen mode only). The left mouse button fires and the right re-centres your ship.
Dump Target State	H	72	48	Writes a detailed dump of your current target to the logfile. If no target is chosen, the player's state will be dumped. (Only available in test releases.)

Debugging Keys

The following keys only work while you have paused the game by pressing p. Most of them will dump debug-messages to Oolite's logfile. This is highly useful for debugging OXPs or helping to debug Oolite.

Action	Key	Notes
Entity Dump	0 (zero)	Writes a list of all entities in your current system to the logfile. Useful e.g. to find out whether a certain ship exists.
Collision Debug	b	Enables collision test debugging.
Octree Debug	c	Enables octree debugging, which will print the line “DEBUG Octrees collide!” in the logfile whenever two objects collide.
Complete Debug	d	Enables all debug flags.
Shader Debug	s	Enables shader debug messages.
Entity Boxes	x	Enables drawing of bounding boxes around all entities in the game.
Planet Textures	t	Turns on the experimental on-the-fly generation of planet textures. Dock and launch or hyperjump to see the effect. This feature is still under development and may produce unintended results. Therefore it is disabled in Oolite 1.69.1.
Switch off HUD	o	Switches off the HUD.
End Debugging	n	Disables all debug flags and the textured planets. Switches the HUD back on.

Changing Key Assignments

If you want to change key assignments don't alter the default file. Instead copy keyconfig.plist into your local AddOns directory:

• Linux: ~/.Oolite/AddOns
• Windows (except Vista): C:\Program Files\Oolite\AddOns
• Windows Vista: C:\Oolite\AddOns
• Mac OS-X: ~/Library/Application Support/Oolite/AddOns

You can edit keyconfig.plist with any standard text editor. In Oolite 1.65 and earlier, keys are specified as key codes. You'll find a list of Linux keycodes here. Note that Oolite uses decimal values whereas most keycodes are expressed in hexadecimal. This can cause confusion. For example the comma key produces a keycode of 2C (hex) which translates to 44 (decimal), whereas keycode 44 (hex) refers to the uppercase "D" key, which is actually 68 (decimal)! (If you don't have a hex/decimal calculator handy try this table or this online converter.)

In current test releases, key assignments can be specified as text instead.

Classic Elite keyboard controls

In the original BBC version, you could control your ship with the following controls: S and X to dive and climb; < and > (well "," and ".") to roll left and right; and A to fire the lasers.

Here is a download link to grab the keyconfig.plist file that you need to change the keys.

Classic Elite keyboard config

Silly Keyboard Tricks

• Change key_launch_missile to 112. Now you'll need to hit "p" to launch a missile - which also pauses the game. You'll sometimes get a nice snapshot of the departing missile!