Several control schemes that make more efficient use of your keyboard and mouse than the default controls with extensive use of convenient modifier keys, mainly Caps Lock and Tab, as well as a focus on ergonomics and making logical sense. To free up Tab, the non-crucial scoreboard has been manually moved to F1, a key which is normally used for the help menu (still accessible through the Esc menu) and cannot be changed or unbound from within the game, requiring manual editing of an exported controls file.
Note: all of the following control schemes assume you're using the weapon selection system and not the legacy weapon controls. Make sure to enable the Automatic activation of aircraft weapon selection at mission start option in Air Battle Settings.
- Controls.blk - default control scheme intended for most aircraft
- Controls_VTOL_and_VWS.blk - same as Controls.blk, but with flap and wing sweep/VTOL buttons swapped, intended for variable wing sweep and VTOL aircraft
- Controls_FritzX.blk - Same as Controls.blk, but with modified guided weapon controls, intended for aircraft carrying the PC 1400 X glide bomb and possibly other similarly controlled guided weapons in the future, not recommended for use with MCLOS missiles such as AA.20s or AGM-12s
- Controls_Sim.blk - same as Controls.blk, but with Full-real controls enabled in all modes, mouse wheel controlling the vertical position of the camera instead of zoom (still available with Tab + Mouse Wheel) for better control over cockpit visibility, and Y-axes inverted such that moving the mouse up pitches the aircraft up and vice versa with normal, non-inverted free look and gunner camera
Note: if you suddenly find you can no longer change the vertical position of the camera in the cockpit, that's probably due to Opentrack somehow interfering with the game. To fix this, rename the Opentrack folder to anything else (e.g. Opentrack1). The issue persists between game launches and even Windows restarts until you rename the Opentrack folder and will repeat every time you open opentrack.exe. I have little idea how or why this happens and even less of an idea why it's so persistent.
- Controls_Sim_and_VWS.blk - same as Controls_Sim.blk, but with flap and wing sweep/VTOL buttons swapped
- Bind X (Fire countermeasures and Rangefinder), L (Lock Radar/IRST on target) and **Tab + ~** (Toggle control mode) to the additional mouse buttons (the ones not recognized by games as actual mouse buttons and usually used for stuff like DPI cycling by default, NOT the two proper side buttons often known as Mouse 4 and Mouse 5) if you have any for convenience
- Consider using Aruco as a very affordable yet reliable alternative to TrackIR to have a hands-free freelook in Sim. All it requires is a webcam (a phone's camera can also be used as one if you're really desperate) and some extremely basic handicraft skills.
