Many of you may never have heard of dyspraxia, yet it is estimated that 10% of the population in the UK are afflicted to some degree with 2% of the population reporting this affects them severely. Many people don't even know they suffer from it and just think they are clumsy or have appalling hand writing. What is Dyspraxia Dyspraxia (or Developmental Coordination Disorder DCD) is a neurodivergence which affects fine and gross motor skills, coordination, and processing. As dyspraxia is a life long neurodivergent condition, it is protected under the Equality Act 2010 and disability law. Many sufferers like myself struggle to use a mouse etc and prefer using keyboard short cut keys. It is not just dyspraxia which affects a persons ability to use a mouse, touchpads or tracker balls. Rheumatoid arthritis is another condition which can affect a persons ability to make fine adjustments using mice etc. This condition affects 1% of the population and that rises considerably within the age bracket or 30-50 year olds which I would guess would be a large proportion of the train sim market. But I hear you say that we already have lots of keyboard short cut, yet there are many functions and controls which dont have keys available, such as using MFU displays and even banking comm switch which is used on the vast majority of US freight services doesn't have a short cut key mappable. It doesn't need every possible shortcut binded as default and many could be left for people to assign as they wished. Basically if the function exists using a cursor then please make a keybind possible.
If anyone would like to know more about Dyspraxia and thinks it may affect themselves or a child, this is a really good resource https://dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk/what_is_dyspraxia/dyspraxia-at-a-glance/
My 6-year-old son has recently been diagnosed with Dyspraxia so I applaud the time you have made to bring awareness to it.
I am truly sorry to know that you are suffering from this disorder and I wish you all the best in dealing with it. Without knowing much about it other than the information you linked, I recommend Tobii Eye Tracker 5 that can be used in a wide range of games. To control the computer, the previous version is much better as this one is mainly focused on gaming but v.4 was very good to also control Windows with it.
I don't mean any disrespect or offence, redrev1917, so I hope it doesn't come across as such. Very sorry to hear of your troubles. Out of curiosity, would it be easier for people suffering from this condition to use a controller (with rather low sensitivity perhaps) or is that just as difficult as using a mouse etc.?
Absolutely no offense taken, I can only speak for myself and it will affect people differently but personally I find controllers great unless I need to be precise or needing to make minor adjustments, for example trying to place the cursor. For example in a FPS shooter trying to hit a character at close range - easy. Trying to hit that same person in the chest problematic. In a TSW example - using a controller to hit a AWS reset button on a javalin - fairly straight forward, trying to select day running lights next to impossible.
I think most of us forget that there are probably many people on the forum who, like yourself, struggle with physical and/or mental illness that affect their vision, hearing or challenge their ability to play the game using the motor skills that the rest of us take for granted. It's as well to remember this when responding to someone's request for help or difficulty understanding some aspect of gameplay. And maybe a little understanding is in order instead of dumb advice about seeing an eye doctor. As I've gotten older, I don't have the dexterity I used to have and the old peepers are not quite what they were 20 years ago. I can use the mouse, keyboard and Raildriver well enough, but I know I would not be able to master a controller, even though I would love to try my hand at a console and drive from the comfort of an armchair once in a while. Of course, if I did, I'd probably need at least a 75" TV.
Interesting. I (sadly) have pretty much had to stop playing mouse intensive RPG/FPS such as Mass Effect or the Fallout series as I have a similar condition called Multifocal Motor Neuropathy. tl:dr the immune system attacks the nervous system compromising the outer sheath (myelin) leading to loss of motor function/strength in the hands and also in my case partial numbness and tingling too. It is kept in check by a very expensive (for the NHS) treatment called IVIG which has to be periodically infused into the bloodstream. However it does wear off meaning extended use of the joypad or mouse can be difficult - and holding a pen or simple everyday tasks even more challenging. So the more that can be offset to the keyboard the better, even if it means coming up with vague and arcane commands as found in Run 8. Off the top of my head I don't think we have a KB command for the pesky brake switch which you nearly always have to switch on taking over a German loco.
Thank you for sharing this - it makes it much clearer for me the priority that this kind of thing needs to have, i'll see what can be done.
My ex is dyspraxic so I am pretty familiar with how much of an impediment it can be. I have my own, different motor skills issues where I have fine motor control at the level of my hands, but constantly slam into doors and stuff while moving any body part larger. Which is why I use a pad for most gaming and for my computer use, a mouse with a DPI most people I know find impossible to use, but which I've tuned so sensitively as to work the entire screen on the range of movement of my fingers, with my wrist stationary, since my arm jerks all over the place if I move the wrist. I'm all for better access all around, and this suggestion sounds like that, alright..
redrev1917 (and indeed anyone) - what key bindings are missing that you're finding are essential but not supported atm? I've got the team looking at the brake unlock key on german trains, and we've proved we can add bindable keys to everything now without having to actually set a key to them by default as one option - but I want to just review the essentials and make sure those are covered with keys. We're looking too of course but wanted to get your feedback as someone facing it every day. Thanks
One that occurs belatedly after running a Baby Bullet/Drive Trailer last night is consistency for mouse switching. Some require a simple click, but others require you to actually drag the mouse up and down to find the correct spot. The Generator Field etc. switches in the BB trailer cab car were like this, couldn't simply be toggled on or off. There are instances of this throughout the game. Even better would be the ability to have keyboard commands for all these functions, though we don't want to get into Run 8 territory with its arcane default setup (Ctrl-F11 to enter cab view!). Some of the hot spots for these switches are quite small and fiddly even (surprisingly) the couplers between vehicles.
Sorry I'm away so apologies if I inadvertently list some which already are binded as doing it off the top of my head on the big ones which frustrate me. Inserting reverser Banking Comms Turning AFB on ICE3 at least I can never get it to switch on via the usual binding. Opening up couplers on US freight wagons prior to coupling up. Setting and activating distant counters.
I have noticed and I'm not sure if this ties in with accessibility or general gameplay but when using the map, particularly when switching I sometimes find it really hard to see what set of points you've switched and where the blue line changes to due to how the cursor overlays. I'm used to it but I can imagine if you have dicky eyes it may be more problematic . Its more of a challenge when in the complex yards and where the lines run horizontally with the "switch lever" tag. Could switch lever be pulled out and replaced with the ingame symbol perhaps?
Controllers are not very well implemented in TSW so I don't think using a controller will make it easier. The controller almost functions like a mouse would function when you need to turn switches or push buttons.
Insert reverser is ctrl w and afb is ctrl r - are they not working or not remappable or something? Others noted.
Ctrl R doesnt work for me on the ICE3's or never did in TSW2. Whilst on the subject of key binds to the overall menu could do with a overall as it's far to long Elite Dangerous has a good system where you collapse and extend fields to view and edit. For example all steam binds could be under one collapsible menu etc
On the ICE 3 one must use the MFD screen to enable and disable AFB; the keyboard shortcut does not work. Cheers
The US locos short cut works but IIRC at least one of the German trains isn't/wasn't working at one point
