Dark Radiant Controls, Keys & Mouse

Key and mouse control in Dark Radiant...

written by Fidcal

This is an unformatted provisional copy of my personal rough notes which I update as I find time and discover new stuff. It is very incomplete. At some stage hopefully I'll tidy it up properly and make it more comprehensive.

Keys shown are defaults and may be changed in the Help menu > shortcut keys list. The shortcut keys list itself gives a guide to what features are available from the keys but they are not all obvious. As well as assigning and removing shortcut keys there in that dialog you can also examine, copy, backup, make alternatives, even edit (with caution), the file in which they are stored at

<drive>:\Documents and Settings\<user>\Application Data\DarkRadiant\input.xml

camview = 3D camera view xyz = any orthoview, top, front, side. [ ] square brackets indicates no default key assigned LMB, MMB, RMB - Left, middle, right mouse buttons and MMW is middle mouse wheel (rotation)

CAMERA VIEW: RMB in camview = toggle free mouse look around In free mouse mode: Zoom in and out with MMB Ctrl+Shift+slide mouse forward,backward, left and right WITH FINE CONTROL. Ctrl+slide mouse moves up, down, left and right WITH FINE CONTROL.

XYZ GRID ORTHOVIEW: Ctrl + MMB in xyz = camera to cursor or drag camera MMB in xyz = camera turns to where clicked Ctrl + Alt + Tab = View to camera on selected view Crtl + Shift + Tab = View to camera on all views

Ctrl + Alt + 1 through Ctrl + Alt + 0 = store camera position Alt + 1 through Alt + 0 = camera to stored position Alt + RMB on item in camview = camera to item centre (but keeps your current orientation)

Move: Arrow keys = forward/back/strafe left/right D & C = Move vertically up and down A & Z = Tilt up and down END = horizontal view (ie, not tilted up or down)

Move selection in orthoview: LMB Drag with mouse pointing within the selection. To move in one plane only: Hold down LMB, THEN shift (NOT shift then LMB!) and then drag either left right (only) else up down (only) Alternative: Alt + arrow key on selection

XYZ ORTHOVIEWS: Ctrl + tab = cycles through top, front, side views AND... moves view centre to selected item ELSE... moves centre to camera if nothing selected. Zoom in and out with MMB

Selecting : shift + Lclick* = select or add to already selected (if any) alt + shift + Lclick (repeatedly) = select stacked (e.g., behind, in front...) ctrl + shift + Lclick* = select face ctrl + shift + Ldrag = select all faces in rectangle dragged out. [tab] = group cycle forward = select next in entity group, eg, atdm:mover_door > related brush

Filtering, Hiding, Regioning: Dark Radiant has powerful filtering tools to help you to see more clearly the specific item or area you want to edit in a complex mission. They part the jungle of confusion in both camera and grid view to show as much or as little as you want to see. Caution: Some operations may include items that are not visible. For example, dragging a brush around a group and using 'select inside' will still also include any items 'Hidden' or not in the 'Region' within that brush so if you then move or delete that group the non-visible items will be effected too. 'Filtered' items will not be affected.

Hide: Use Hide (View menu) to quickly hide individual items that obscure your view. You can hide as many items as you wish one by one, now or later. They will all be revealed later if you select 'Show'...

H = Hide selection Shift + H = show hidden selections

Region: Use the Region feature to exclude everything but the area you are working on.

Ctrl+Shift+R = hide everything except the selection and possibly some local related items.

Reveal everything again with View menu > Region > Switch off. The same menu also offers alternate way of setting Region, cropping to your chosen zoomed XYZ view or by using a temporary brush to define an area (the brush is removed in the process)

Filter: The Filter menu lets you filter out entire types such as all visportals or all lights, etc. You can also customise your own (see Defining custom Filters in DarkRadiant)