Am Handicapped and have questions = gameplay

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hello everyone, a few of yall might know me from the SFC days :)

anyway as stated i am handicapped and cannot use a keyboard nothing near like an able bodied person. i have read the online manual and so on and the game seems to be played with 7/8th of the KB , if space combat doesnt play like SFC did or atleast close to it i wont be able to play STO :mad: :(

can someone please give me more detailed info on what all the mouse can do as far as flying/moveing around and so on.thanks

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If you hold down both mouse buttons you can fly the ship (steering)
You can click the abilities on the toolbar to use them.
You can click the shields and Engine settings to get them where you want.

If you have a mouse with extra buttons you can probably map those to other keys you might want.

I believe the only thing you have to do with the keyboard is Chat (unless someone has found a way to get around that with voice chat somehow)

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A gaming mouse would be your best friend. A 7-button gaming mouse would be able to handle all the functions of basic starship control. Flight, abilities, you name it.

I also believe that there is a joystick option, you may want to check that out.

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thanks holding down multiple mouse buttuns may be a prob, is there or will there be a demo for STO

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hello everyone, a few of yall might know me from the SFC days :)

anyway as stated i am handicapped and cannot use a keyboard nothing near like an able bodied person. i have read the online manual and so on and the game seems to be played with 7/8th of the KB , if space combat doesnt play like SFC did or atleast close to it i wont be able to play STO :mad: :(

can someone please give me more detailed info on what all the mouse can do as far as flying/moveing around and so on.thanks

It's possible to play the game with a minimum of keys - if you can handlke something like a Nostromo n52 gaming pad you can play this game no problem.

Same with ANY controller with a d-pad that can be mapped to keyboard actions, if you can't use the standard keyboard mappings. Take a bit to set up the remaps, once it's done should be seamless.

If you don't have access to them, the keypresses that are critical pretty much anywhere is the WASD combination for movement. Everything else in-game can be put onto hotbars and activated with the mouse.

By default, mouse left button selects targets. Targets can be auto-selected by facing your view towards the enemy you want to target and using the fire key or hotbar tray - though the computer may not always the foe you want it to.

Holding things down is primarily for movement of the player character - everything else can be activated with a press/release. Weapons on average will fire for 4 seconds, recycle in 1 and be ready to fire again on the sixth second - so there's some time between keypresses

Some players have reported success by using speech recognition for most commands - that still leaves the WASD combination for movement though, and introduces a small time delay while the speech program does it's thing - delay is reported as being 0.5 second.

Hope that helps you make a good decision - most of these issues are shared by most MMOs though, so it's not uncommon. Sadly, designing interfaces for the handicapped is still a work in progress (I'm disabled too - right leg BTK amputee).

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yea im a quad and cant use fingers so i use my thumb nuckle for the KB, i can use the mouse / KB in conjuction with mapping and setting things up for the point and click, my whole problem will probly be with the wasd keys to get around or fly the ships, in SFC you just needed to click on the outside edges of your ship to turn and such.as with moving chars around in STO to bad it isnt like NWN and the such, point and click as an option.

is there or will there be a demo.

and thanks for the replies so far, nice and speedy :)

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Highly unlikely to be a "trail" for this game for ages (its an MMO so no demo, it a trail instead) I expect it be 6 month to a year down the line before one implemented.

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The Collector's Edition and Gold Edition game boxes each include three 'buddy passes'.

If Champions Online is any indication, then these will probably be 14-day trials that give you a full gameplay experience - as in, you can pretty much play the entire game. But only for 14 days.

A few months after launch (but only a few months, not immediately), we will likely get a 'general' invite-a-friend programme. In CO, any user can generate friend invites.

These are 14-day trials as well, but the trial account is limited in where they can travel to in-game, and has a level cap. The trial account also has some restrictions on what chat channels they can use.

I expect STO to follow the CO model, since they have the same management.

This means your best bet is to secure a buddy pass from a Collector's or Gold Ed owner after launch.

Or else wait a few months for the regular trial.

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is there or will there be a demo.



There won't be a demo - if you mean a cut down version of the full game. It's not really possible with an MMO. The game is downloadable, though, and you can probably pick up a game card to try it out. Unfortunately, the open beta just finished.

As mentioned above, I think you'd be ok with space combat via mouse. Away missions might be more awkward, though.

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yea space combat vids look allot like sfc style, how much will this be pay to play i think i saw 10 dollars a month ?

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yea im a quad and cant use fingers so i use my thumb nuckle for the KB, i can use the mouse / KB in conjuction with mapping and setting things up for the point and click, my whole problem will probly be with the wasd keys to get around or fly the ships, in SFC you just needed to click on the outside edges of your ship to turn and such.as with moving chars around in STO to bad it isnt like NWN and the such, point and click as an option.

is there or will there be a demo.

and thanks for the replies so far, nice and speedy :)

Well, that's why I was suggesting the Nostromo - it has a d-pad on the side that could be mapped to WASD. If you can use a joypad, it can help

Linkage to the Nostromo N52 Speedpad (http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=164714)

Since I don't know exactly what you have left on that hand, it's hard to recommend anything. Sadly, though the game is loosely based on SFC it's nowhere near exact. Being able to HOLD WASD is pretty much essential as the commands are not toggles - they only work so long as you hold 'em down. With something like a mappable controller, it would be POSSIBLE to make 'em toggles - though that would raise it's own set of issues.

Anyway, hope this helps - if even in a small way.

OH - and about the demo thing...

Cryptic has a bad habit in their MMOs, of limiting trial availability in a attempt to restrict RMT types from exploiting. Mostly, trials are from "buddy codes" or similar partially-verifiable sources - I wouldn't count on a trial being available soon for this game. Sadly, I have the digital version (which doesn't have any buddy codes), or I'd send ya one myself.

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I just found out that if you hold both mouse buttons you can walk forward and turn... on ground maps!

I haven't seen this posted anywhere, and it's not listed in the keybinds section of the game. Was this posted and I just missed it?

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would this work cuz this would be perfect for me, its how i play consoles.

http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/234312734/PC_LAPTOP_USB_JOYSTICK_JOYPAD_GAMEPAD/showimage.html

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I would think that should work as long as you can map keyboard keys to the buttons. if not you can use a program like xpadder or something similar to map the buttons. One nice thing about using xpadder is you can set a key to switch between controller setups so you could have a button to switch between setups for ground and space controls easily. I'm using it with my cyborg command unit and it works great.

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I would think that should work as long as you can map keyboard keys to the buttons. if not you can use a program like xpadder or something similar to map the buttons. One nice thing about using xpadder is you can set a key to switch between controller setups so you could have a button to switch between setups for ground and space controls easily. I'm using it with my cyborg command unit and it works great.

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yea space combat vids look allot like sfc style, how much will this be pay to play i think i saw 10 dollars a month ?

Here is a link to the pricing page:

http://startrekonline.com/subscribe

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Highly unlikely to be a "trail" for this game for ages (its an MMO so no demo, it a trail instead) I expect it be 6 month to a year down the line before one implemented.

There already is one. the codes from those del taco things also give 48hour trials. stackable upto 10 days (if you get 4)

To the OP:
Personally i play the entire game with just my mouse except my directional controls.

WSAD is my steering and the rest is 100% my mouse controls.
i play with a standard 3 button ( mouse 1 mouse2 + Wheel)

Alternativly there other options like controling the computer with your voice, just about any half decent voice recognition program can be set to run keystroke combinations from vocal commands through a microphone.
You could use simple voice commands like up down port starboard fire1 fire2 fire3 etc.

As a disabled gamer you may find ablegamers.com a useful website. They can often give you advice or help if you have any difficulty with the controls.

keep in mind that STO has full key remapping support so you can customise the controls to the way that is comfortable for your personal use.

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hey shadow. i will try to check if i can map some macros onto my keyboard. if its possible i will give you a pm.


i made a couple macros for my logitech g9. basicly one macro is fire all weapons + equalize shields while keeping a mouse button pressed down. like an old nintendo turbo button. if it works with my keyboard i will give you a tutorial

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Since you have porblems using a keyboard, I found something in another Thread here on the forums that mybe could be of use.
Star Trek Online Voice Control (http://www.wegame.com/forums/General-Gaming-Discussion/voice-control-in-star-trek-online/)
Its not built inot the game, but someone who used a third party program to work With STO.
I dont remember who the original poster was, but it might be usefull for you. :)

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You can steer the ship by holding down the left and right mouse buttons, and that will work in space or on the ground. I steer by mouse this way all the time. If you have trouble holding both at the same time, you could map it to just holding down the left or right button and rearrange other commands. If you can do alt-mouse button etc..., then will be able to for sure.

The only problem I have steering with the mouse (I also map jump and roll to my side mouse buttons), is increasing/decreasing ship speed, but if you click the middle mouse by default it toggles max/min throttle. I would prefer to use the scroll wheel, but then I lose convient camera zoom. I think I'll try holding the middle mouse button (the scroll wheel, and dragging up and down to control the throttle. If that works then you can do everything for movement with a Microsoft Habu mouse or something with at least 4 buttons + the scroll wheel button, 5 total.

HTH!

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I have spinal muscular atrophy myself with limited range of motion. I seem to be fine with the current controlls as far as customizing...... anyway i can help suggest or test a setup for you just let me know. Pm me here on the boards i even have vent we can discuss it if ya need.

I been gaming for 15 plus years and i know exactly what your concerns or questions might be and id be glad to help in anyway.

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would this work cuz this would be perfect for me, its how i play consoles.

http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/234312734/PC_LAPTOP_USB_JOYSTICK_JOYPAD_GAMEPAD/showimage.html

Took a quick look at it at the link you so kindly provided. It's a little sparse on details, so it's kinda hard to say.

As long as the joystick shown can be mapped to keypresses (as well as the buttons), there should be no problem. If not, there's software out there like XPadder that can do the same thing.

In terms of buttons and presses, you'll still need to do some binding in game as ground and space both have their own keymaps. In both modes, the TURBO button on that controller will be useless, as nothing in STO would benefit from a turbo button.

For space, you'd need 1 button for Fire All Beams (fires all beam weapons tthat face towards your target), then individual buttons for your torpedo launchers - depending on ship this can be up to 7. Realistically, people probrably won't use more than 4 at a time - if you're comfortable with volleys, there's a "Fire All Torpedoes" command. The others can be all hotbar'd with little issue. Shield reinforcement would be good to have mapped as well - as would the "Emergency Power to Shields" Engineering BOFF command that'll save your butt more than a few times.

For ground, you'd need one button for primary attack, one for secondary attack, one for melee. Others can be hotbar'd or mapped as you choose - they're not essential (a good BOFF setup can keep you healed for quite a bit). You'd think melee wouldn't be a issue - believe me it IS. Especially when you start dealing with Klingon Swordmasters - their weapons ignore shields, and your melee is also a knockback.

No matter what, some powers/secondary items will have to be onthe hotbars, and accessed with the mouse - there's 3 hotbars, with 6 slots per bar - 18 possible commands all at once.

Good luck to you - hope this helps.

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hello everyone, a few of yall might know me from the SFC days :)

anyway as stated i am handicapped and cannot use a keyboard nothing near like an able bodied person. i have read the online manual and so on and the game seems to be played with 7/8th of the KB , if space combat doesnt play like SFC did or atleast close to it i wont be able to play STO :mad: :(

can someone please give me more detailed info on what all the mouse can do as far as flying/moveing around and so on.thanks

with a little work you can make almost everything in the game short of movement voice activated using the info here....

http://www.wegame.com/forums/General-Gaming-Discussion/voice-control-in-star-trek-online/

hope that makes it so you can enjoy this wonderful game.

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my brothers a quad and is playing too. He uses a single typing stick and a splint though. He had to go into options and set some key binds. The real thing that would help that I can see at higher levels is that they need to allow you to set more weapons to autofire besides just one for and one aft weapon. When he gets his big cruiser with 4 weapons in front and 4 in back it is going to be very difficult. If you use the keybinds you shouldn't have to use the mouse as much though. You can move using the keys.

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my brothers a quad and is playing too. He uses a single typing stick and a splint though. He had to go into options and set some key binds. The real thing that would help that I can see at higher levels is that they need to allow you to set more weapons to autofire besides just one for and one aft weapon. When he gets his big cruiser with 4 weapons in front and 4 in back it is going to be very difficult. If you use the keybinds you shouldn't have to use the mouse as much though. You can move using the keys.

change the fire all weapons button from ctr+spacebar to spacebar then with one push you can shoot anything that is in firing arch.

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yea space combat vids look allot like sfc style, how much will this be pay to play i think i saw 10 dollars a month ?

I don't think anyone's elaborated on the subscription plans here, so:-

When you buy the game, it comes with a month (30 days) of free gameplay. After that it's US$14.99 a month - or a similar price depending on your region. This is the standard price for MMOs.

From now until the 2nd of February, they're offering lifetime memberships for $239.99...one-time payment, then no further monthly fees.

You can still buy a lifetime after the 2nd of February, but the price goes up to $299. And the current offer package includes some perks the regular lifetime membership won't get. But the option will always be there if you think you might play STO long-term.

There's also a discounted annual subscription plans for $119.99 - about $60 less than paying monthly.

If you're not sure on the game, I'd definitely suggest trying it out before buying, or subscribing. Though a lot of the control suggestions folks have made in this thread look very promising.

It should be said that STO is actually designed to be ported to the Xbox 360 console someday, and the PC version can currently be played with an Xbox 360 controller. It's pretty decent with a controller.

As such, it should work fine with your USB Joystick, provided a proper control scheme can be figured out.

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Greetings... Have you checked out the Razer Naga? It has 17 buttons on the mouse and is meant for MMO play. You could get many of the buttons on that mouse and still do mouse steering. Hope this helps!

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These posts may be of some use to you for alternate control setups...


How to Use a Joystick in Game (A Tutorial) (http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=90690)

Xbox 360 Controller: a How To & Feedback (http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=66946)

Depending on your hand/thumb mobility, I concur with The.Last.Red.Shirt's suggestion. Try out a Razer Naga (http://store.razerzone.com/store/razerusa/en_US/pd/productID.169418900/categoryId.35208800) mouse. Got one a short time ago and it is really nice for MMO play.

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Try this if you have vista, many players play with full voice commands...

http://www.webtechglobal.co.uk/blog/game-reviews/star-trek-online-and-vista-speech-recognition

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disabled vet here, but at least i have use of all my limbs :)

if you want to give the game a shot, PM me and i'll send you one of my buddy keys.

edit: notice you're not online right now, i was waiting to see if you needed a key before i hopped in game. but guess i'll hear from you tomorrow if you do. :)

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I've set up my ship controls so that:

Right Mouse button press (hold) = camera turn-to-face
Right mouse button drag = enable mouse-look.

This makes me able to hold the right mouse button to steer the ship in whatever direction I look, just like what the original controls do with left+right mouse button.

Left mouse button still enables mouse-look (without the steering)

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hello everyone, a few of yall might know me from the SFC days :)

anyway as stated i am handicapped and cannot use a keyboard nothing near like an able bodied person. i have read the online manual and so on and the game seems to be played with 7/8th of the KB , if space combat doesnt play like SFC did or atleast close to it i wont be able to play STO :mad: :(

can someone please give me more detailed info on what all the mouse can do as far as flying/moveing around and so on.thanks

The best thing to do like others have stated would be to use a gaming mouse, or perhaps a G15/13 programmable keyboard.

http://store.razerzone.com/store/razerusa/en_US/pd/productID.169418900

That is a really good mouse, I have seen great reviews on youtube about it.

That would give you 12 buttons on the mouse. Also a gaming pad like the nostromo might help.

There are "invite a friend" keys out if you have not gotten one, or the game and are still interested in playing feel free to pm me.

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Speech attacj is a pretty good voice command program I found on one of the voice command threads. It cost 8 bucks, and is better (in my opinion) then windows speech recognition (WSR). unlike WSR, it will not randomly open windows when it mishears you. You can also record new words (or, if you have a speech impediment) record the way YOU say a word and map it to a specific command. I linked it below. Their is a 21 day free trial.

http://www.voiceattack.com/

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hello everyone, a few of yall might know me from the SFC days :)

anyway as stated i am handicapped and cannot use a keyboard nothing near like an able bodied person. i have read the online manual and so on and the game seems to be played with 7/8th of the KB , if space combat doesnt play like SFC did or atleast close to it i wont be able to play STO :mad: :(

can someone please give me more detailed info on what all the mouse can do as far as flying/moveing around and so on.thanks

I can go through the game and try to get a key map layout that can work for you. I am pretty certain you can maneuver in space with just your mouse by just taking your time and clicking only one mouse button. I also have been working on voice activated controls too which would cut down the need to use so many keys.

I got it to work on Win XP with the microsoft speech recognition sdk and voice attack. I can do just about anything with my ship besides accurately move.

I'll check for you. I have a few friends that need adaptive technology to play games and help them a lot with that. I have nerve damage in my left fore arm and have to play one handed most of the time.

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thanks holding down multiple mouse buttuns may be a prob, is there or will there be a demo for STO

If you want to try it PM me and I can give you one of my 5 day passes

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On phone currently but send me a message as I'm sure this thread will go south before tomorrow. And ill give you my buddy key so you can try it out.

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I'll give you my 5 day buddy key if you like.

(( edit: lol...soebody else thought the same thing :) ))

:)

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There won't be a demo - if you mean a cut down version of the full game. It's not really possible with an MMO.

Really? Might want to tell that to the folks that make WoW, EVE, ***, etc... All of those trial programs that MMO publishers have ARE the demo.

So yes, it IS possible. Does STO have an open demo option like many MMOs? No. However, there are buddy passes available that can be used for 5 days, should someone happen to pass him one.

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I would like to thank everyone in this thread for restoring my faith in this community.

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@Shadowrising66

If you are unable to find a free trial. Send me a PM and I will give you my remaining trial key from my collectors edition.

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Hiya! i belive you are looking at game control without keyboard use. As has been said if a mouse is an option most things can be mapped to mouse keys and abilities can be clicked on the screen using the mouse buttons.
So yes if you can use a mouse it would be possible to control and fight in space and on ground. Not knowing how steady you are with a mouse it is good to know you can resize the UI to give you bigger targets to click when you want to use a skill. So if you have a multi-button mouse (as you said holding 2 buttons at once is a problem i would suggest atleast 4 buttons you can use that can be mapped too).

You are probably already aware of voice activated software such as dragon naturally speaking, this would maybe be an option for social interaction via typing, though you would be best off with a fleet who use voice chat obviously.

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pardon if this was mentioned already...i only quickly scanned the thread

i came across this the other day from hardOCP's website

hope this helps....

http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/ocz_peripherals/nia-neural_impulse_actuator

i myself use a logitech g11 keyboard and mx518 mouse....have not figured out how to take advantage of the additional function keys of the g11 despite programming it using the logitech software...the mx518 mouse 5 buttons and i remapped "toggle mouselook" to the right mouse button...this allows me to switch seamlessly between mouselook and cursor mode...i mapped one of the side buttons to "autorun" (i think thats what its called)...so i can use my mouse on the ground to move and look without touching the keyboard...the scroll button i made the "f" key to interact with stuff and the other side button i mapped to "target next enemy"

works pretty well on the ground...

in space, i still find myself holding down both mouse buttons to change direction...i switched the "autorun" button to be "target next enemy" as autorun in space is not needed...i mapped the scroll button to full impulse...

good luck to you...i hope you find a hardware/mapping solution so you can enjoy the game

:)

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I too am disabled (c4 quad) and use a g11 keyboard. Have the G-keys for mapped for space to pitch-roll and turn for 10 seconds at a time

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I too am disabled (c4 quad) and use a g11 keyboard. Have the G-keys for mapped for space to pitch-roll and turn for 10 seconds at a time


i wasnt able to get the game to list the g keys in keybind options....this i thought was no big deal as cryptic may not have gotten around to it...so i programmed the g keys using logitechs control panel to mimic unused regular keyboard keys which i could then bind to in sto's keybind options....i thought i was pretty slick....no luck tho lol

how did u do it? were the g keys listed in the keybind list already or did u remap with logitechs control panel as i mentioned?

im using win7 home premium 64bit fwiw....its been a week since i tried...maybe ill give it another go...

ps...op, pardon the temp hijack :o

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I personally think there may be an issue with space combat.

the weapons fire is completely dependent on key presses, while your are flying ship. and you have top press the key (usually space bar) every two seconds.

On other have ground battles at early levels are quite easy in group, you only have movement and a couple key. Higher levels and especially when you have Bridge Officers, there are more things to do than there are keys on a keyboard. Many shift combination. however movement during combat is better but not required.

The game is a little misleading a very beginning. you have only a few skills, and would easily map to the device pictured, however later in the game you will have 8 or so things to do at any time, and each of your bridge officers will have 4 as well. So the number of keys involved gets quite high.

So long story short, the early game is quite playable with limited function, but I found the later game more demanding of keyboard than most MMORPG. For example, to kill an exposed enemy, require a G (target exposed) and 2 (fire secondary effect) and (and possibly a Z before that to swap weapons) and hat to be done within 2 seconds, to be effective.

The game is however quite accessible to be enjoyed playing far skill. There is no death penalty (at the moment) so worse case is you have to try again, you will proceed and can play far below even level with some but slow gains.

The G11 keyboard however may help with some of those fast key combination and especially a real auto fire. IMHO, that was the best keyboard for the money Logitech ever made. You may want to set up autofire (repeating spacebar every 2 seconds) and have another key set to stop autofire. (will require some LUA coding), if you also go 100% turrets, you can just focus on keep your shields up and picking on the other ships low shield.

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Depending on how much finger dexterity you have, consider this mouse... the newest naga razor.

http://store.razerzone.com/store/razerusa/en_US/pd/productID.169418900

This would probably allow you to play STO one handed though I can't say for certain. One of my friends has this and I have to say it seems to impressively do the job.

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Depending on how much finger dexterity you have, consider this mouse... the newest naga razor.

http://store.razerzone.com/store/razerusa/en_US/pd/productID.169418900

This would probably allow you to play STO one handed though I can't say for certain. One of my friends has this and I have to say it seems to impressively do the job.
OMG, I have to get one of those ! That is what I have been waiting for.

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I have similar issues with holding buttons down for a long time, due to RSI concerns. I found one thing that really helped me out, and I hope this helps you too.

I don't have a lot of time to post right now, because I have to go to work, but you can find info on the forums about assigning key binds through a file. The following key binds will allow you to just push the W key ONCE and then your ship will stay in "turn to face" mode" until you manually turn it (A or D keys) or press shift+W.

w "CamTurnToFace 1"
Shift+w "CamTurnToFace 0"

This, combined with the camera's auto-folowing of your target, should allow you to avoid holding down mouse buttons or keys on the keyboard for prolonged periods of time.

Please post back if this helps you out.

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i would like to thank everyone that responded to my post, and thank you all very much that offered me a free trial pass it goes to show there are good people in this world and makes me feel good. a friend gave me a free trial and through allot of posting and reading the forums was pointed toward a program called voiceattack its a free 30day demo and only 8 bucks to buy, this program let me very easily set the WASD keys up to voice commands so when i say down it goes down ,say climb it climbs ,and the same with left and right. :) i still use the follow option when on teams so if ur klink and see me following you thats why and im great back up. but in a pinch at least i can now fly and put up a somewhat fight hehe.

thanks again everyone :)

@cripp7 im about the same disability quad wise as you, you should try this voiceattack program its excellent and pretty easy .