W key fatigue

[Totoro]

I always try to drive unless a hog right in front of me needs a gunner. Sometimes when I am driving for a long time, my "W" key finger gets... fatigued. I start letting up pressure when driving without realizing it, making our hog stop or slow. Sometimes this can look bad and put my gunner in a bad position.

I'm worried this might be an early symptom of carpal tunnel, and am gonna go look that up, but in the mean time, Priorities! I need to keep gaming! Anyone have any ideas on a less stressful way to hold down one key, but still to be able to finesse it when needed to slow down / stop. (I. E. I can't wedge a gummy bear between the keys to hold it down)

Thanks all,

-Nerd

[BFM_Ðragons]

hello dude i use two different keys to go forward...

W and pushing the button down on my middle mouse wheel saves constantly holding down W

and it gives my left hand a break for a bit..

if not try switching fingers dude

[MrMxyzptlk]

I switch to use my index finger when driving on Death Island and Infinity....

In my early days on BFM's forums someone told me of a programmatic way to "hold down a key," which I guess I must've found cumbersome or something, because I no longer recall how it was done....

Hopefully someone from back then still knows it and will post it here.... 

[Ben-BSH]

I always try to drive unless a hog right in front of me needs a gunner. Sometimes when I am driving for a long time, my "W" key finger gets... fatigued. I start letting up pressure when driving without realizing it, making our hog stop or slow. Sometimes this can look bad and put my gunner in a bad position.

I'm worried this might be an early symptom of carpal tunnel, and am gonna go look that up, but in the mean time, Priorities! I need to keep gaming! Anyone have any ideas on a less stressful way to hold down one key, but still to be able to finesse it when needed to slow down / stop. (I. E. I can't wedge a gummy bear between the keys to hold it down)

Thanks all,

-Nerd

Personally, I use a button on my mouse as well as the w key, allows for one handed driving / mid map tea drinking, or sometimes even texting while driving!   

[BFM_JANE]

BFM_2Much made something so he could hold down the W with his foot. That's probably what Mxy was talking about.

http://www.bfmracing.net/forums/index.php?topic=39399.0

The link is dead now so you can't see the images, but he had a second keyboard and used some wood, a nail, and a rubber band to build it. It was a foot pedal with a stop on it (so it wouldn't push through the keyboard) and the rubber band pulled the pedal back up when he took his foot off. He steered with his mouse and had a free hand while driving, had another keyboard on the desk for other things. He used it for a few years, but doesn't come around much anymore.

[Oblique]

As above switch fingers. And as for carpel tunnel, woudnt worry about it, that usually affects people like secretarys who have their wrists locked in an unusual position, and using their fingers for eight hours a day. Hence the need for ergonomic keyboards--wrist supports etc.

 he had a second keyboard and used some wood, a nail, and a rubber band to build it.

I made something similar



 

Regards

[Totoro]

Thanks all I will for now  try mapping mouse button I'm not using to the W key (or vice versa). I also have a Nostromo N52 gamepad that I am going to explore and see if I can outsmart it enough to make a toggle to a constant W with a momentary S config for driving then swap for when I'm on foot. In my copious spare time.   

I don't think I'll be doing any carpentry or rigging on this one. My desk already looks like one of those tentacle robots from the matrix. After a hurricane. Even one more rubber band could cause structural failure.

My other stupid problem is I have bad circulation in my hands, so they get COLD when I game. So cold they get stiff and it is hard to play. That's why I sometimes have to quit so often, to warm those puppies up. Even when the rest of me is toasty roasty. I have resorted to using (shhhhhh) yoga gloves to keep them warm and still have my fingertips. Not half bad, but still not perfect. I think I saw a heated mouse somewhere, most likely a skymall catalog, so probably utter junk! 

-Nerdstrøm

[Trael]

If you've got a rockband drumset I can show you how to rig the pedal to work without any carpentry, just a program.

[BFM_Ðragons]

im interested about that trael

[Trael]

actually forgot, with halo you need no separate program.
Anyways

PLUG IN YOUR ROCKBAND DRUMSET TO A USB PORT.
Make sure the Foot Pedal is plugged into the drumset
START HALO
Go to controls, gamepads, select the name for the drumset
GO TO CONTROLS, KEYMAPPING
Or however it is for halo, click on the top to switch from keyboard to your drumset,
SET DRIVE TO THE PEDAL
click the control, press the pedal, let go of the pedal. done.