Zoom without mousewheel?

I'm sorry if this has already been asked and I missed it. I did a search and couldn't find any subjects already posted like this, so I figured it was best to start my own thread.

I have a trackball instead of a mouse, and like most trackballs I've seen in Australia, it has no wheel on it. I logged in to try the game out today and try as I might, I could find no menu for changing key bindings so that I could use the zoom function without a mousewheel. For example, most mmo games have a section under options where you can change which keys do what, such as zooming in and out. I believe World of Warcraft had the mousewheel as the default zoom binding, but I was able to change it to ctrl + and ctrl - in the key bindings.

Can anyone please tell me where in the options/UI menus I can change how the zoom function is activated in my game, or if I can go into the .ini file and do something there? As it stands, I can't zoom in or out at all, which I think was really short-sighted of the game creaters since not all mouse devices come with a wheel. Surely there must be a way to change it. I can't play with the default camera distance because it's too far away for me and makes it awkward. I tried getting in touch with customer service about it but all I got was an automated response basically giving me the finger and telling me they can't answer individual questions. I'm not impressed.

Thank you in advance to anyone that can offer help.

Anyone? Please? I can't get an answer anywhere I look, and I'd hate to think I have to buy a new mouse just to use one function.

If you hold down right-click and move your mouse/trackball forward or backward you will zoom in and zoom out a bit, but it's not nearly as convenient as the mousewheel. Might help a little bit if you didn't notice that already.

I don't know what brand of mouse you have, but I use a ball as well, it's a logitech. I had the same problem as you, but I was able to map one of the buttons to "autoscroll" in the mouse software/drivers. I also had to turn on "Use MS Office compatible scroll only", whatever that is.

After I did this, while holding the button I'd mapped, moving the mouse up/down zooms in and out. Doesn't work as well as a wheel might, but I hate standard mice.

god... Optical mousewheel mice these days are fricken cheap.. and dont tell me u cant afford it.. Microsoft Standard optical mouse are good~ theyre cheap, may not be as good as MX510s or razerbacks but they do the job and they dont lag liek the standard logitech ones.. theyre around 15-20 bucks go pickup one from ur local ITwarehouse... how can u not have a mousewifout a mousewheel~

He/she probably prefers the trackball over a regular mouse.

I don't have a trackball but on my 3 button mouse the right button rotates and handles up and down, the middle mouse button zooms in and out...

Yes, I had a 6 year old mouse with just 2 buttons. I had to go out and buy a wheel mouse just so I could zoom, it was quite an inconvienence especially since the new optical mouse with wheel I got wouldn't work on my nice black gel mousepad.

gosunahc, FYI the majority of trackballs don't come with a scrolling device, and this has never been a problem before now. Mice suck, to be quite blunt. They put more stress on the hand, wrist and arm than a trackball because they are so clumsy and require repetitive motions of all three body parts. For a person that has carpal tunnel syndrome, a mouse is just a bad move. For another thing, I already explained that my workspace is small and even if I didn't mind irritating my condition I wouldn't have the room on my desk area to use a mouse.

I asked a simple question. Why it was met with a snarky comment is beyond me. Most games have an option where you can bind keyboard keys to interface functions, and I was surprised to find that every function in the UI could be assigned in game to a different key EXCEPT for the one function I needed changed. All I wanted to know was if there was a way to change it so that I could use keyboard keys until I can afford to purchase a new trackball with the wheel feature. I've found one from Kensington for thirty-ish dollars, but I can't purchase it until I get paid again, and frankly I think it's ridiculous to have to buy another one for the sake of one feature in one game that the developers didn't have the foresight to mention before people buy.

The principle of the thing is this: It was bad business to assign a feature to something that not all modern mouse/trackball devices have, at least without offering an alternative. The game requirements say "keyboard and mouse", not "keyboard and mouse with scrolling feature". They should either allow keybindings for the zoom function or let people know beforehand that they would be S.O.L without a wheel.

I never bothered with a wheel because when I used to use a mouse I never once used the bloody thing. I just wanted to know if I could change that particular setting rather than buy a new device for a game I haven't even played long enough to decide if I like it or not. To everyone else, thank you for your understanding and polite replies. To gosunahc, perhaps you need to experience repetitive stress injury yourself to understand. I certainly hope you don't have a job that requires you to work with people.

Zeppelin, thank you for that bit of information. I'll try it and see if it makes gameplay a little less awkward for me (I just don't like how far away my camera is in the default...makes me feel too detached if that makes sense).

*note: Edited because I got names mixed up. My apologies to Zeppelin for confusing their name with gosunahc's.

I too have limited workspace and thus bought a trackball, but mine has a scrollwheel on it. I didn't realize that most of them don't.

I agree that it was a bad decision for them to have a somewhat important function be bound to something that not everyone is going to have. I hope there is another way around this, because I've seen a lot of people ask about it. It's not fair to expect someone to buy a new mouse just because of their decision to assign a function to the scrollwheel.

FYI mousepads are dated. Optical mice don't need them, and in fact most mousepads will make an optical mouse function poorly. Besides, don't you hate having to clean mouseballs?

That... sounds wrong.

On topic: Optical mice do make mouse pads obsolete, but I still feel more comfortable with one. I've grown used to it, and now I don't want to give it up.

this killed me :rofl:

If your trackball or mouse has a third, "middle" button, you can use that to adjust the zoom.

(I agree, mice suck, never did like the little beasties. I love my Logitech Trackman Marble FX.)

I'll have to try that too. Thank you for the suggestion. I've got a fairly extravegant keyboard (zboard interchangeable) but my trackball is simplicity. If I hadn't splurged my petty cash on season 5 of the Simpsons I probably would be ordering the new trackball from the Kensington site right now.

I intended to get a new one eventually but I didn't expect to need one for one function. The one I'm looking at has laser censors rather than rubber "wheels" inside of the chamber that the ball fits in, which will be good because all the cleaning of mine has left the friction wheel deteriorated.

xenobia...

I had a similar question, as I too have a trackball and wanted to figure out a way to map all of the mouse commands to keys so that I never have to touch the mouse. With all the comp work I do, the last thing I need is carpal tunnel from playing a game.

If you are pretty good with tech docs, and have some basic understanding of scripting events or running scripts, then there is a freeware program called AutoHotkey that allows one to map all/any mouse event to the keyboard. That's what I'm using and it works great, though it is a little techy to use... there's no windows interface, and it requires inputting strings into a Notepad file. Here's the link...

AutoHotkey

If you search through the documentation, there's a section which lists all of the key mapping names for different keys, along with a how-to section for mapping mouse clicks or macros to specific key strokes. Currently I'm mapping the scroll wheel to the Page Up and Page Down keys, and this is the string I've inserted into the AutoHOtkey.ini document...

PgUp::MouseClick, WheelUp, , , 1 ; Turn it by two notches.
PgDn::MouseClick, WheelDown, , , 1

After it's installed and running, if you right-click on the 'H' icon next to the clock and choose 'Edit this script' then you can add this in and then choose 'Reload this script' from the same context menu. If you place a shortcut in the Programs > Start Up folder of the Start Menu, it should load in the script everytime the computer starts.

Hope this helps.

You are a godsend! Thank you for this, I'll hop to it as soon as I finish the docs I'm working on. *cheers*

This is just ridicelous, as far i like the developers ideas (no monthly fee, etc) having not added that you can have a alternative for camera zoom is just plain stupid of them. I mean how hard can that be compared to programming graphics? Could not one guy of them stay for 1 minute longer until he made his break to add such a simple line? No we fans have to fight around with it instead. At a only multiplayer game modding something is quiet hard, at a singleplayer game that "problem" had been fixed by the community the first day the game was released i am sure.

To those that simple suggests getting a new mouse they are such cheap, ever heard to use something till its broken? Its no wonder that we produce so much garbage if we for every little crap go and buy something new, when the alternative would be so simple.

I've tried to find a way to remap the zoom also, but to no avail. I've actually tried to turn OFF the zoom on the mouse scroll wheel for my wife. She's not normally an avid gamer and I'm starting to get her hooked on GW, but she is still trying to get used to the pan/zoom controls. She keeps accidentally spinning the zoom wheel and gets all discombobulated. So I tried to disable it for a while until she got used to the panning.

Unfortunately, no remapping the action was available.

May I suggest that the next GW update have a key mapping available for the zoom.

Dwig

I agree this is entirely ridiculous. Key mapping should be available. I spent a while trying to figure out how to map the scroll. My mouse wheel doesnt work (and no I can't afford a new one). I shouldnt have to either, the option should be available. As a result I find running away is most frustrating. This is due to the fact I can't see where I'm running because I'm zoomed right in.