What keyboard do you use for QB64 PE?

[SMcNeill]

I have a solid gold keyboard, so my programs are literally worth their weight in gold. Steve uses a similar approach. He codes while sitting on a solid gold toilet seat, so no one can his programs aren't worth a...

Written on my standard cheap-ASCII laptop keyboard.

Pete 

I can't work anymore, without a series of nice G-keys on my keyboard.   (Take a look at the image of the keyboard I posted earlier -- it has 18 G-keys there on the left hand side of the keyboard.)   Those things are GOLDEN!!

As an author, I can set macros for those keys, as vast shortcuts for things that are very repetitive typing.   A long arse character name, or the name of some long arse city/place -- just set it to one of those G-keys and then click it and PRESTO!! Instantly in your work, without having to think about spelling, typing, or anything else!   Set CTRL + that G-key and PRESTO!! Instant insert of nickname for that thing.  Shift+G-key might be a quick command to pop up your notes for that thing, so you can add to them, reference them, or whatever else.   And that's all with ONE G-key -- I have 18 of them to make use of! 



As a programmer, I use those G-keys in a very similar manner.   Long arse commands that I know I'm going to be using a lot in my programs get mapped to them, for ease of use.   G-1 may be PRINT.  CTRL+G-1 would be _PRINTSTRING(.  Shift+G-1 would be _UPrintString(.   G-2 is usually something like _FileOpenDialog, with CTRL+G-2 being _FileSaveDialong....

One click of those keys, and I don't need to wrack my brain if it's OpenFileDialog or FileOpenDialog or LoadFileDialog or....  It's a new command.  I know what I want to do, and I know it does it, but my brain hasn't indexed it fully yet into my common set of usage keywords so I can always keep it's name/syntax and such clear, without having to look it up.   With those G-keys, I just need to remember G-2 is "Load", Ctrl+G-2 is "Save".

 

As a gamer, those keys absolutely RULE the world!!

Play a game like EveryQuest, and you have 800 different keys you can press to do stuff, along with 1000 typed in commands.  G-keys takes all the hassle out of those.

For example, in EQ my character is a mage.  G1 is set as this macro:
/cast 8 (cast the 8th spell in my spell bar, which is my pet summon spell.)
/wait 3  (it takes 3 seconds for the spell to finish to summon the pet)
/pet target mine (have the pet target whatever I'm targetting personally)
/pet attack  (attack that target)

One key click and it casts the spell, times the completion, targets the enemy, attacks the enemy --- and that's a SIMPLE attack macro.

I want to go fishing?  Set a macro for G2
/fish
/wait 3
/loot all
/repeat

Click.  Go to bed.   Fish all night, wake up to 800 various fish all loaded in my pack so I can now work on my cooking skill -- which I met set to G3, and who's macro is now complex enough as to require mouse movements and mouse clicks along with those slash commands....

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Those G-keys are GOLDEN as far as I'm concerned.   I honestly don't want any keyboard anymore, that doesn't have at least a half dozen of them built-in to it.