Favorite Angbanding keyboard?

[rhutson]

Does anyone have a favorite keyboard they use that seems especially suited to Angband? Suggestions, anyone?

Programmable keyboards like the Northgate Omnikey were top of the line for gaming until they stopped making them. Creative Vision Technologies subsequently offered two styles of Avant keyboards. I bought an Avant Stellar when my Omnikey suffered death by beer. But I just learned that the Avant keyboards are no longer being made. You can buy refurbished Omnikeys, Avants, and more here: http://www.northgate-keyboard-repair.com/ (Obviously I didn't realize that someone could repair an Omnikey, but I am quite pleased with my Avant Stellar.)

[rhutson]

My PC keyboard is an IBM "model M". Heavy as all hell, basically indestructible, clicks loudly /every/ key you press...and playing rogue-likes on it feels amazing

You are wielding an IBM Keyboard (1d6) (+1, +5)

[rhutson]

most computers don't seem to have PS2 connectors any more. .... I guess there's adapters you can get.

Oh yes. AT->USB and PS/2->USB adapters exist and are in service.

[Pete Mack]

I use the "original" (rogue) keyset, so any keyboard is fine. I usually play on a removable-screen laptop. Sometimes I play in touch-screen mode.

[rhutson]

I use the "original" (rogue) keyset, so any keyboard is fine.

I wrote the initial version of the Angband macro code so that I could utilize the function keys of my outrageous keyboard in the game. I do not recall what brand of keyboard it was, but it had two rows of function keys above the normal layout and probably more on the left. I played Angband with my right hand on the numeric keypad while I manipulated function keys with my left hand. My macro code was UNIXish and hacky by my nature. Ben implemented more portable and reliable but slightly less functional code and added it to the official release of the game. I read in the FAQ that the macro code has been removed, so I'm not sure how useful function keys are in modern versions of the game on various platforms. I do see why the maintainers would prefer that I have a shell alias or script like "load_abkeys; angband; unload_abkeys" rather than having the macro code in the game. (That's easy to do with Linux, but I don't know how to swap out keymaps on a Mac with the same functionality: F1->maa, etc.)

Anyway, the IBM keyboard mentioned and the Avant Stellar are the best general keyboards I've ever used. (I'm surprised to find that my Gateway Anyway programmable keyboard is selling for more on eBay than I paid for it. It's not on the same class as an IBM or an Omnikey lineage keyboard.)

[Timo Pietilä]

I read in the FAQ that the macro code has been removed, so I'm not sure how useful function keys are in modern versions of the game on various platforms.

Macros have been removed, but keymaps are still there, so not much has been lost. IIRC only real difference between keymaps and macros was that macros could be used anytime game accepts input, but keymaps only when game is ready to accept commands. There has been some improvements also on keymaps, you can for example remove -more- prompts by surrounding your command sequence with brackets() and special keys can be used by their name ([Tab] is tabulator {S}[Tab] would be shift-tabulator [Esc] is esc etc.), making writing them easier even outside of game.

[EDIT] extra bracket removed.

[Derakon]

"Macros" were removed; "keymaps" were kept. As far as I can tell, the only practical difference is that keymaps cannot be invoked when the game is in the middle of something (e.g. looking at inventory, or asking which spell to cast, or in a -more- prompt), while macros can be. Unwary players who weren't aware of this could thus "break" their macros by invoking them in the wrong context, potentially getting themselves into trouble. Of course, savvy players had also written macros that looked like "hit the escape key a bunch of times, then cast this spell" so they could cast things whenever...but in practice, the "automatically clear -more- prompts" option solves most of the need for that kind of shenanigans.

[rhutson]

"hit the escape key a bunch of times, then cast this spell" so they could cast things whenever

Yeah, that's what you were supposed to do.

Thanks for the explanations. I didn't realize that there was keymap code in the code. I obviously thought that the reference to keymaps meant to use whatever keymapping was available on your OS. The Linux keymap utilities presumably didn't exist at the time that I first added macros to my copy of the game as I would have just used a custom keymap instead of writing code.

[rhutson]

Avant Stellar and Gateway Anykey

What you want are the 12 function keys on the left as these keyboards have. Then you can control movement with your right hand while using your left hand for spells / prayers.

Besides cost and availability, the main problem with the Avant Stellar is the placement of the vertical bar and backslash key. That's not a problem playing Angband, but that's a commonly used key in C*, UNIX, TeX, and DOS. It took me a while to become accustomed to the key being there.

The Gateway Anykey has my favorite keyboard layout, but it is lacking in tactile feel. I've never really enjoyed typing on it ... (My Anykey is version 5. Other versions may have better feel.)

I am currently using an original Matias TactilePro. I was using a wireless Logitech which had "a lot more keys", but this discussion about mechanically switched keyboards has reminded me that I can type much faster with my Matias. I would suggest checking out Matias Keyboards if you are looking for a "good" keyboard in general. There's a lot of interesting products for sale for keyboard enthusiasts (but nothing with 12 function keys on the left).