Controls Menu

[fireundubh]

The first thing I do in every PC game is configure the controls, so the controls menu is often where my initial expectations are set.

 

Here's a few ways that I think you can improve the controls menu:

 

• When you map a key to an action, the game should check whether that key has been mapped to another action. If the key has been mapped to another action, the player should be prompted for a decision: continue mapping that key and lose the existing mapping, keep both mappings (if you want to allow one key to perform multiple actions), or cancel.
   
• Reduce the total number of key mappings by combining actions where appropriate. Do you need separate mappings for "Stealth On" and "Stealth Off" when you already have "Toggle Stealth"? Is it necessary to have separate mappings for "Half Speed, "Double Speed," and "Normal Speed" when you could have "Cycle Speed"?
   
• Each action should have a tooltip so that a new player can determine whether to configure an action now or later.
   
• Organize groups of key mappings into clearly labeled sections. Currently, there's Game, Interface, and Screens, but these labels look like every other label. These are important labels and should be distinguished. Additional sections could be Party, Camera, and System. 
   
• The two mapping columns should be labeled, too. I know that column one is Primary and column two is Alternate, but that knowledge is based on prior experience. You can't expect all players to have the same level of experience with software, PC games, etc.
   
• Can the entire Options window be expanded to reduce the amount of scrolling needed in the Controls menu? An alternative would be to add section tabs to the Controls menu and move each section into those tabs. The alternative would reduce the impression of complexity that a long, scrollable list of key mappings provides.