Spring RTS Engine

Here is a list of useful keys/hotkeys/etc that are set by default in BA.

Chat
enter: send chat message
alt + enter: send chat message to allies (alt (x2) to change target without sending)
shift + enter: send chat message to spectators (shift (x2) to change target without sending)
alt + backspace: toggle fullscreen
control + mousewheel: scroll chat

Unit Control
left mouse (+drag): select unit(s) and show control menu
left mouse (single click): deselect units

Orders (use with a unit selected, to choose an order)
The default order is move.
a: attack
y: set priority target
j: cancel priority target
s: stop (clears order queue)
d: dgun
e: reclaim (eat!)
r: repair
p: patrol
f: fight
w: wait (pause current command)
ctrl + d: self destruct

Giving orders (use with unit(s) and an order selected)
left mouse (+ drag): give order to selected unit(s)
right mouse + drag: give line order to selected unit(s)
right mouse, single click: deselect order

Queueing orders (use when giving orders)
(some order) + shift: add order to end of order queue
(some order) + space: insert order at start of order queue

Unit Selection and Unit Groups
ctrl + c: select com
ctrl + z: select all units of the same type as the currently selected unit
ctrl + b: select all constructors
double left click: select all units of targetted type within current view
ctrl + num: add selected units to group (num=1,2,3...)
num: select all units assigned to group num

Constructor orders (use with a constructor selected)
z: cycle through mexes
x: cycle through energy production
c: cycle through commonly used radar/defence/etc
v: cycle through labs
b: space buildings further apart
n: spare buliding closer together
[ and ]: change facing (rotation) of build order (also , . and o, depending on your keyb layout)

Build orders (use when giving a build order to a constructor)
(some build order) + shift + drag left mouse: build multiple buildings with single order
(some build order) + shift + ctrl and/or alt: build in formation (line, square)
(some formation build order) + meta: split build order across multiple constructors
(some build order while dragging/holding left mouse) + middle mouse: change facing of build order

Random stuff
l: show LOS view
i: show info on map/game
f11: show widget control panel
ctrl + f11: enter widget tweak mode (escape to exit)
q + dbl click: place marker point on map
q + drag left mouse: draw on map
q + drag right mouse erase marker points & drawings
h: control panel to share metal/energy/selected units to allies
shift+escape: Show quit/resign menu
alt and -/+: Change replay speed
ctrl + click on playername: Ignore/unignore player

Sound
f6: Toggle sound on/off
-/+: Volume control

Other Function Keys
f1: show height changes
f2 (with unit selected): show passability map for unit
f3: cycle through recently placed marker points
f4: show metal map
f5: show/hide GUI

Camera
ctrl + f1,2,3,4,5: change camera mode
scrollwheel or page up/down: zoom camera (hold shift for fast zoom)
arrows: move camera (hold shift for fast move)
ctrl + scrollwheel: rotate camera angle
middle click (+ hold): drag camera
tab: toggle full map view


Useful text commands (type into the console)
/clock: show/hide the clock
/fps: show/hide fps
/luaui reload: reload luaui
/luaui disable: disable luaui




Please reply to this about things I've missed and I'll add.

These binds are a combination of:
Engine default bindings: https://github.com/spring/spring/blob/5 ... gs.cpp#L39
BAs extra bindings set by "Building Hotkeys", "Set Target Hotkeys", and "Alternate Chat Keys" widgets. There are also several widgets (e.g. "Custom Formations 2", "Easy Facing") which capture mouse and keyboard input without using bindings.

tl;dr but what about these:
http://springrts.com/wiki/Keyboard
http://springrts.com/wiki/Balanced_Anni ... ing_Orders
(it is basically the same info)

http://springrts.com/wiki/Keyboard is useful but not very readable when you want a specific thing and omits BA specific keybinds - http://springrts.com/wiki/Balanced_Anni ... ing_Orders really is tl;dr . http://springrts.com/mediawiki/images/a ... Layout.jpg is useful but is out of date in many places and also contains nothing BA-specific

Useful information, is there still a button to change game-speed in a demo?

Yes, alt and -/+ should do that. Ty, will add.

This one is super practical for macro in different parts of the map, especially if you use autogroup widget, or control+z: it refines your current selection to the current screen:

bind Alt+z select Visible+_InPrevSel+_ClearSelection_SelectAll+

better than cycle directions:

bind numpad2 buildfacing south
bind numpad4 buildfacing west
bind numpad6 buildfacing east
bind numpad8 buildfacing north


I think you should add all to default

oooh i did not notice how different BA keybinds are now from spring defaults. Until I played recently and everytime I wanted to change buildspacing and suddendly mexes everywhere!
What is easiest way to make BA go back to spring default?
(some keys are actually better and more logical but i dont want to change due to habits)

I think you'll get all the engine default keys back if you remove the 'building hotkeys' widget, but you might need to reload BA with that widget disabled since it sends bind/unbind commands on initialize.

Edit: with 7.76 and later you'll also need to remove 'set target hotkeys'

In the OP what are the asterix's referring to when it says:

"*** + shift: add order to end of order queue."

Is it referring to a key, or a mouse button?

Or do you need to bind a key to it to make it work?

http://springrts.com/wiki/Balanced_Anni ... ing_Orders is more of an exaustive reference than a quick summary... I'm slightly saddened to see it relegated to a dark corner of the wiki...

That page is both seriously out of date and so long that no one will read it.

"*** + shift: add order to end of order queue."

*** refers to an order. For example, if you press "e + shift" you can add a 'reclaim' action to the end of a units order queue. Edited the OP to make it clearer.

Silentwings wrote:That page is seriously both out of date and so long that no one will read it.

True... and it was never meant to be BA specific, it was just that BA was keeping their control schemes as close to "Stock Spring" as possible... and since then the engine has changed a lot without it being updated, the parts that are right still seems helpful to me but they exist in a sea of uselessness...

@silentwings

Thanks that make a lot of sense now.

Two questions...

1. The quit menu does not seem to work any more?

2. There are a few threads about saving the game, but nothing seems current. I want to be able to play Chicken defence on my breaks at work and be able to save the game to come back to it (Good time for practice!) is there a key for saving? I have read that there is a Lua widget for it but there doesn't seem to be anything in the list when I press F11?

Thanks in advance for any help!!

1. It's shift-esc now.
2. currently not possible :(

Thanks for the help, but shift-esc does not work despite the console repeatedly telling me that it should!

See http://springrts.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=31137 if some keybinds don't work for you.

Unstickied since more recent list of keybinds now exists ingame.