The Witcher Configuration

Posted by on May 18, 2011 in Game Macros and Configurations |

This is the first in a series of posts that will introduce ideal FragPedal Quad configurations for different games. The first step to improving your game with the FragPedal is discovering what commands will be most useful and convenient to access with your feet — you will need your FragPedal to execute different commands in different games! Each entry in this series will look at a new game and suggest the best ways to configure your FragPedal for the game. I’ll try to cover the newest, most popular, or most interesting games. If there’s a game you’d like to see in the series, shoot me a PM or leave a comment on the post.

Ideally, the Fragpedal hosts commands that are used frequently in-game, but are inconvenient to reach via mouse or keyboard. Advanced FragPedal users might also assign buttons to complex macros, or assign a button to a “shift” function to enhance the capability of other buttons. The configurations provided by these posts will focus on more simple configurations, and are intended as suggestions for how to to best use your FragPedal with the featured game.

If you haven’t heard, CD Projekt RED STUDIO released the sequel to their hack-and-slash RPG The Witcher yesterday. Reviews of the game so far are very positive and the sequel is said to look and feel better than the original. But today I wanted to publish control schemes I forged for the first game, The Witcher (1).

The Witcher content used in this post is available in the newest content pack, v1.07. Specifically, the content pack includes: three (3) Witcher-themed background images, a control file to help you map your FragPedal directly to commands in The Witcher, and a graphical display of The Witcher controls that will display when you’re assigning commands to the FragPedal. Check out the “Files” page for the content.

The Witcher’s timing-oriented combat system makes for good play and pretty simple controls (Projekt RED removed the timing aspect of combat in the sequel, however). Let’s see how the FragPedal can help you play the game in your own style.

Configuration: Swordplay

Assignments for the Swordplay configuration

Mapping the FragPedal buttons to left-, double- and right-clicks is necessary if you want to use them as your primary combat buttons, and getting into the combat rhythm by tapping your toes is quite fun. Left click initiates a sword strike, right click casts a spell, and double click makes the character dash evasively. In this configuration, we’re going to be frantically tapping our toes to keep up with the speed of combat, and your character will have to keep on his toes to deal with all the evasive move commands I’ll be sending. Since this configuration is themed to handle combat controls, let’s make sure our remaining button complements the other three. Q, for draw steel sword / cycle combat modes, is a good bet. This way, while the right foot is tapping away, ordering attack and dodge commands, the left foot can switch combat styles or cast spells.

The Swordplay configuration, for the frantic tapper

 

Configuration: Combat Styles and Show Items 

Assignments for the Combat Styles configuration

Assignments for the Combat Styles configuration

  If you prefer your combat controls to stay on your mouse, we can map the FragPedal to cover auxiliary commands that are used frequently in-game. I found myself playing the Witcher with Alt held down pretty much the whole time, to display the location and names of any items on the ground. Alt (Show Items) is a great candidate for a function that you can stomp on all day with the FragPedal and keep your fingers nimble and over other keys. That gives us three remaining FragPedal buttons clear for commands — just enough to cover the three combat styles: Group, Fast and Strong.

Our configuration is good to go! None of these commands will ever be used together at the same time. Furthermore, the Show Items button is something we’ll probably sit on 90% of the time, whereas we’ll hit the combat style keys only in combat. I like that there is a continuity among the FragPedal button assignments (3 for combat styles, 1 for use outside of combat). It reduces the chance I’ll get confused about what’s mapped to the FragPedal, and accordingly lets me fire the commands faster and with greater certainty.

The Combat Style hotkeys and Show Item commands on the FragPedal

 

Stay tuned for an update for control schemes for The Witcher 2.

Download the Witcher starter pack used in this post!