Chameleon is an alternative hotkey layout to TheCore. It has all of the benefits of TheCore with the exception of the advantages that come from having the thumb on shift. This means that you can be on the conventional side of the keyboard, and can play on a laptop. No key removal or keyboard tilt required.
Chameleon is a one-size-fits-all layout. So there’s only one file to download, and it works equally well for all races. Chameleon works well with both ASDF and WASD homekeys so whether you’re a touch typer or a FPS player, you’ll be able to use your old muscle memory. Chameleon does not use any 3rd party programs, is tournament legal, and does not break any of the ToS for Starcraft 2. Remember that you do not have to make changes manually. Download and install instructions are at the bottom of this post.
The individual advantages gained by these principles will seem insignificant; however, as Starcraft is a game of twitch reactions and timing windows as small as seconds, the many milliseconds you gain by each of these changes will allow you, with practice, to execute more commands in less time. This is an investment, if you go on the ladder without first getting used to this setup, you will lose games, but when you have memorized this new setup you will be better than before.
The less you have to move, the faster you can execute commands. When playing guitar quickly it is a very important aspect to lift your fingers only as far above the string as you need to. This allows for the sweeping arpeggios and lightning fast scales played by the fastest guitarists on earth:
One of the most glaring examples of reaching in the standard hotkey setup is the Patrol hotkey as P. Firstly, most of us don’t have that key memorized in the fingers enough to snipe it without looking down at the keyboard, which can cost you. Secondly, even if you do, that’s time wasted moving your entire hand across the keyboard. Time that could have been spent making units, workers, buildings, catching a drop, micro-ing a battle, ANYTHING!
While this may seem the opposite to the above principle, it is instead a special exception. The closest key to the B key is certainly the B key… So why is it faster to press BA than it is to press BB? (try it if you don’t believe me) The answer to this is the same reason that it is faster to use a mouse and a keyboard instead of just a mouse, (but obviously on a smaller level because it involves using 2 fingers instead of 2 hands). When a piano player is required to hit the same key repetitively at a very fast rate, the player will use two fingers alternating back and forth, or in extreme situations, (like Billy Joel's Prelude/Angry Young Man):
the player will use two hands. Same thing for shooting with alternating fingers while playing paintball, the 1-2 punch… the list goes on…
Match the Most Frequently Used Keystrokes to the Most Ergonomically Efficient Keystrokes + Show Spoiler +
Let’s face it, how many times have you found a use for the M key for Move? How many times have you found a use for the P key as Patrol? If you’re like me, I find more uses for the Patrol hotkey, so why put it further away? The simple answer is that there is no reason you should have the Patrol Hotkey further away than the Move Hotkey.
Use Reason (Not Tradition) to Determine the Best Setup + Show Spoiler +
Again, this is an investment, traditions not based in reason hold back progress. In this case, the traditional hotkey setup is holding you back from faster reactions and more capacity for actions when they are needed. It is littered with keys on the far side of the keyboard, repetitive keystrokes, and less comfortable combinations for more frequently used commands. Just because Guardian Shield begins with a G doesn’t mean it’s the best hotkey for the job. Just because Psionic Storm has a T as the second letter in the second word doesn’t mean it’s the best hotkey for the job, detach yourself from this mental block and you will become faster.
TL:DR This is my first go at an optimized custom hotkey layout, to check out my most recent (and best) work, check out TheCore. To try out Chameleon, Download this file:
Macintosh HD >Users >(Your user profile) >Library >Application Support >Blizzard >Star Craft II >Accounts >(Your account number)>Hotkeys(if there is no folder, create a new folder and name it Hotkeys)
In game, go to menu>hotkeys>Selected Profile and Chameleon should be in the drop down menu.
GLHF, JaK
Last edit: 2013-03-29 07:10:06
Imagination is more important than knowlege
JaKaTaK United States. May 02 2012 05:14. Posts 1413
EDIT: TheJaKaTaK (a show to help noobs improve quickly) airs every night at 5pmPacific (8pm eastern) as of May 1, 2012. You can find the show at www.twitch.tv/thejakatak thanks for your support :D
I have saved all of my money and now have enough to live for a year without any income. I have done this to address a need in the Starcraft 2 community to bring in new players and teach misguided players how to learn Starcraft 2 in the most efficient manner possible. Day[9] does amazing work at something similar to what I want to accomplish, my goal will be to bring in people with no experience or little experience and build their fundamentals to the point where they can optimally benefit from people like Day[9], Artosis, and dApollo. I have put more work into this method of teaching than anything I have ever done. If you are interested in being on the show, or know someone who is, PM me. I look forward to helping to grow starcraft 2 and eSports as a whole. See you soon :D
I read a good portion of it and I agree with most things however I don't like that you only have two positions to save screen location. I think using f1-5 is better.
edit: ^ stuff above sounds legit
Last edit: 2012-05-02 05:18:05
Make love not war, condoms are cheaper than guns.
Frozenhelfire United States. May 02 2012 05:19. Posts 405
I'd have to agree with the above. This hotkey layout may be the most efficient, but sacrificing functionality for efficiency is a pretty decent pitfall especially in regards to something like this. If I, or anyone else, were to spend time to unlearn a current hotkey layout and accept this one, I wouldn't want to be limited to only two screen locations.
polar bears are fluffy
JaKaTaK United States. May 02 2012 05:21. Posts 1413
There are 8 positions to save screen hotkeys. the 6 you are missing are accessed with the alt key, similar to the Darkgrid layout. No functionality has been sacrificed.
Imagination is more important than knowlege
JaKaTaK United States. May 02 2012 05:25. Posts 1413
On May 02 2012 05:16 cvgHuShang wrote: I read a good portion of it and I agree with most things however I don't like that you only have two positions to save screen location. I think using f1-5 is better.
edit: ^ stuff above sounds legit
Thanks :D I am really really excited and have been testing for a while now. Its definitely the fastest way to teach starcraft 2 that I know of :D
Imagination is more important than knowlege
Frozenhelfire United States. May 02 2012 05:26. Posts 405
I see. I couldn't really find anything in the post talking about the camera locations until I checked out the spoiler for the people that can't get it to work. I'll give this a try. I'm going to have some hilariously bad games. Changing to a new hotkey layout may make a decent funday monday...
polar bears are fluffy
JaKaTaK United States. May 02 2012 05:30. Posts 1413
Holy shit, I think if Day[9] made that a funday monday and someone got on the show trying my layout, I would probably shit my pants immediately in excitement.
Awesome man. Really nice setup, though I'm afraid it's a bit too late for me to re-memorize a hotkey setup, but I could definitely learn how to do some tweaks to play faster.
Yes but, holding down alt does not help because the point of the f1-5 keys is to get there instantly, if i have to hold alt then that will be slower then clicking the location on the screen. I also think that saying this is the best hotkey setup will never actually be true because different people like different things. You also need to take into consideration different people have different hand sizes and like to place their hands on the keyboard differently. Like, in my case I have done something similar to yours in that I have changed almost every key but this would never work for me because i hold my hand facing at an angle towards my mouse, instead of away from it. Therefore a lot of these key combinations wouldn't work for me. Although, saying that I think the setup that most bronze-diamond players have is awful but only because they don't know any better. Basically, I don't think you should put this on your show in a way that they need to do it this way, but rather give them ideas on how to set up their hotkeys in different ways and then let them choose based on their own needs. However, if they're lazy and want to sacrifice perfect functionality.... basically I think you should just have an option on your show and more explanation on why !.
Make love not war, condoms are cheaper than guns.
JaKaTaK United States. May 02 2012 05:35. Posts 1413
On May 02 2012 05:30 Adonminus wrote: Awesome man. Really nice setup, though I'm afraid it's a bit too late for me to re-memorize a hotkey setup, but I could definitely learn how to do some tweaks to play faster.
I would definitely consider trying it out. I used the standard setup for over a year before trying to mess around with it. It only took me a week of games to have it in my blood, but that was at 10 games a day. Good excuses to play a lot of games??
Imagination is more important than knowlege
JaKaTaK United States. May 02 2012 05:36. Posts 1413
On May 02 2012 05:34 cvgHuShang wrote: Yes but, holding down alt does not help because the point of the f1-5 keys is to get there instantly, if i have to hold alt then that will be slower then clicking the location on the screen. I also think that saying this is the best hotkey setup will never actually be true because different people like different things. You also need to take into consideration different people have different hand sizes and like to place their hands on the keyboard differently. Like, in my case I have done something similar to yours in that I have changed almost every key but this would never work for me because i hold my hand facing at an angle towards my mouse, instead of away from it. Therefore a lot of these key combinations wouldn't work for me. Although, saying that I think the setup that most bronze-diamond players have is awful but only because they don't know any better. Basically, I don't think you should put this on your show in a way that they need to do it this way, but rather give them ideas on how to set up their hotkeys in different ways and then let them choose based on their own needs. However, if they're lazy and want to sacrifice perfect functionality.... basically I think you should just have an option on your show and more explanation on why !.
Really great feedback. I am of the opinion that pressing Alt+Q is faster and more reliable than clicking the minimap, but that is just my personal opinion. And I in no way believe that this hotkey setup is the "best". I do believe it is the "most efficient" in that the most commonly pressed commands are assigned to the fastest to press key locations. The title is a bit cocky though, I'll definitely give you that. As far as explanation goes, I will definitely get more into it on the show. I tried to keep the post as brief and to-the-point as possible so more people would read it. I am all about individuality, this is aimed to be the best layout for most people (it definitely wouldn't work for NaNiwa). Which key combinations wouldn't work for you?
I can say that this is totaly bullscheisse. Dude this is so stupid lol. Trust me all of you this wont work well don't even try. I am top master player so dont rage plz.
User was warned for this post
JaKaTaK United States. May 02 2012 06:00. Posts 1413
On May 02 2012 05:58 TotoroHren wrote: I can say that this is totaly bullscheisse. Dude this is so stupid lol. Trust me all of you this wont work well don't even try. I am top master player so dont rage plz.
Lol Totoro :D you're feedback is definitely appreciated
But for example, Raven, OC, Ghost, Infestor, and probably some more, have 3 abilities. How do we use those? What about Burrow? I like to ahve different hotkeys for burrow + unburrow. And how do you construct buildings?
On May 02 2012 06:05 Toastie wrote: You have C/V for Unit/Building abilities.
But for example, Raven, OC, Ghost, Infestor, and probably some more, have 3 abilities. How do we use those? What about Burrow? I like to ahve different hotkeys for burrow + unburrow. And how do you construct buildings?
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Toastie Netherlands. May 02 2012 06:05. Posts 104
