Note: the following key assignments are the default settings for WarBirds‚Ñ¢. You may reassign any function to any key via "Keymap" in the "Configuration" menu.
Engine Controls
Engine Start/Stop e
Select all Engines shift e
Select Engine 1 shift 1
Select Engine 2 shift 2
Select Engine 3 shift 3
Select Engine 4 shift 4
Kill/Start Eng. 1 alt 1
Kill/Start Eng. 2 alt 2
Kill/Start Eng. 3 alt 3
Kill/Start Eng. 4 alt 4
Throttle Up =
Throttle Down -
Full Throttle 0 (zero)
Emergency Power (WEP) f10
Engine Idle 1
Aircraft Controls
Left Rudder a
Right Rudder d
Center Rudder s
Center Sticks F12 (release controls and hit F12 to memorize center
position)
Gear up/down g
Wheel Brakes space bar
Flaps Down 1 notch q
Flaps Full Down shift q
Flaps Up 1 notch w
Flaps Full Up shift w
Dive Brakes (off/on) v (on planes so equipped)
Autopilot Level x
Autopilot Speed shift x
Autopilot Angle ctrl x
Elevator trim up k
Elevator trim down i
Rudder trim left j
Rudder trim right l
Eject enter enter enter (quickly)
Exit plane .e (must be on ground and stopped when online)
Note: all "dot" commands must be typed into the radio buffer.
If you don't see the light grey radio buffer, hit the slash "/"
key first to activate it before entering any "dot" command.
View Keys (keypad)
Forward 8
Left 4
Right 6
Back 2
Up 5
Forward/Right 8 + 6
Forward/Left 8 + 4
Forward/Up 8 + 5
Right/Up 6 + 5
Left/Up 4 + 5
Right/Rear 6 + 2
Left/Rear 4 + 2
Rear/Up 5 + 2
External View toggle option v
Map View toggle F1
Zoom In (map/external) [
Zoom Out (map/external) ]
Icon Toggle F2 (hit f2 to toggle display of enemy info)
View Range cycle option r (reduced range = better frame rate)
Visible aircraft debris option n (toggle)
Bombers- additional keys and commands
Open/Close bomb bay o
Bombardier y (puts you in bombardier position and engages autopilot)
Bombsight keypad 2
Drop bombs b (one bomb per keypress unless in “pickle” mode)
“Pickle” on/off F9 (drops multiple bombs with each press of the bomb
release, see “.salvo” command)
Bombsight magnification [ (increase)
] (decrease)
.salvo xx Sets number of bombs to drop with each keypress when in “pickle” mode
.delay xxx Sets the delay in milliseconds between each bomb in the salvo
(value range 50-1000 milliseconds)
Host commands
All host commands are preceded by a “.” (period). Some host commands can be issued in flight via the radio, others can only be issued when on the ground.
Note: all host commands must be typed into the radio buffer. If you don't see the light grey radio buffer, hit the slash "/" key first to activate it before entering any host command.
.help shows a listing of available host commands
.roster shows a listing of players currently online
.fields shows a listing of the available fields and current ownership
.score SIGN shows a players score…. Replace “SIGN”
with the player’s callsign
.rank displays rankings for the top 100 pilots (updated daily)
.clear resets your score (soon to be disabled)
.squad SIGN info about a squadron. Replace “SIGN”
with the squad leader’s callsign
.fuel XXX sets fuel level for your plane. Replace “XXX” with
percentage of full load desired (now works OFFLINE too)
.ord [0-3] loads ordnance set 0, 1, 2, or 3. Typing the “.ord” command
without a number will list the available loadouts for the currently
selected plane.
.move [f,b,g] XX move to the field, briefing room, or General room of your
choice. Note: you can only move to fields owned by your
country. XX can be any valid field number, or 1-7 for general
and briefing rooms. “move hq” moves to headquarters.
.country [1-4] choose a country
.fly to the runway…
.e exit plane (must be on ground and stopped when online)
.exit leave the WarBirds‘ arena, or quit the program if offline.
Squadron Commands
.invite SIGN invites player with callsign SIGN to join your squadron
(squad leaders only)
.jsquad SIGN accepts a squadron invitation from player "SIGN"
.withdraw withdraw from your squadron
.name names the squadron (leaders only)
.slogan assigns or changes the squadron motto (leaders only)
.remove SIGN removes a player from your squadron. Replace “SIGN” with ID
of player to be removed. (leaders only)
.disband disbands the squadron (leaders only)
Gunner Commands
WarBirds 1.11 brings crewable gunner positions online. Players will now be able to join a bomber pilot and man the gun positions on the aircraft. Any gun positions not crewed by a live player will be taken by Otto (the automatic gunner.) Like all WarBirds host commands, the following gunner specific commands should be typed into the radio buffer, preceded by a period.
.gun [position] XXXX request a ride in the position specified
.greject XXXX rejects a request from player “XXXX”
.greject all rejects ALL outstanding requests
.gclear clears previously accepted gunners from
plane , or clears your gun position.
.jump [position] allows a gunner to move around from
one position to another onboard the plane
.status XXXX displays the status of a pilot and his plane
(open slots, filled slots, etc.)
Note: some gun positions are power turrets, others are flexible
mounted machine guns. You may find that you prefer mouse
or joystick control, depending on the type. To switch to mouse
control, type “alt m” while in a gun position. We recommend
mouse control for flexible guns, stick control for turrets.
Custom Gunsights
Note: The custom gunsight feature is so new that it only barely made it in to this version. In the future, custom gunsights for the Mac version will use a more intuitive interface than this.
You will now be able to customize the gunsight reticle. All planes will default to the original "cross" reticle unless a custom reticle is specified for a particular plane. Custom gunsights are defined in text files which are named using the same naming conventions as the aircraft's art files, using a ".gst" extension ( for example, "P381.gst" or "p383.gst" for a custom P38 gunsight in 640 or 1024 resolution, respectively.) A "defgst1.gst" (or “defgst3.gst”for 1024 resolution) file can be placed in your art directory to define a custom gunsight for all planes without their own specific gunsights. For example, when you choose a plane, WarBirds will first look for a custom gunsight with that plane's name. If it finds none, it will then use the "defgst1.gst" or “defgst3.gst” if present. If it does not find that, the plane will use the original standard "cross" reticle.
Gunsight definition file syntax- The gunsight file is an ordinary text file. The first line of a gunsight file specifies the total number of line segments to be defined. Each line thereafter defines a segment (x and y coordinates for the line segments start and end points.) the coordinates 0,0 represent the center of the screen.
Note: You can't define line segments of zero length. If you want to define a single pixel dot, you'll need to define a segment one unit in length. For example, to make a reticle consisting of a single pixel dot centered in the gunsight, define the line as 0,0,0,1 or 0,0,1,0. Remember, the first line in your gunsight file specifies the number of line segment definitions in the file.
Example: The following example is a simple custom reticle that looks almost the same as the standard cross, but adds a pair of ranging markers to the horizontal bars. When a typical single seat fighter is 200 yards away, its wingspan covers the distance between the tick marks. This is a useful aid to gunnery in the Historical Arena, where no ranging icons are displayed. In this example, the first line specifies that the reticle is comprised of six line segments, the next four lines define the crosshairs, and the last two lines define the small vertical tick marks. To see this reticle in action, highlight the following lines and choose “Copy” from the edit menu, then paste them into a text file. Save the text file as “defgst1.gst” (or “defgst3.gst” if you run WB in 1024 resolution), and move the file to your WarBirds directory.
6
4,0,18,0
-17,0,-3,0
0,4,0,18
0,-17,0,-3
12,2,12,-1
-12,2,-12,-1
Using the Radio
The WarBirds‘ radios can transmit on any of four user selected channels. The channel assignments in WarBirds‘ are:
Common 100 (everyone can transmit and receive channel 100)
NOTE: When you are in a tower or HQ, only those
players in the same room will receive your channel
100 transmissions. To transmit to players in flight,
use one of the country, squad, or private channels.
Red Channel 101 (anyone can transmit, but only Reds receive 101)
Green Channel 102 (anyone can transmit, only Greens receive)
Gold Channel 103 (anyone can transmit, only Golds receive)
Purple Channel 104 (anyone can transmit, only Purples receive)
Squad Channel 110 (private squadron channel, squadron members only)
Version 1.09 adds channels 1-99. Channels 1-50 are private within a country… Channels 51-99 are common to anyone tuned to them, regardless of country. Only radio 1 can be tuned to these channels. These channels afford private communications for fliers that are not members of the same squadron
Starting with version 1.09, your radios will not reset to default tuning every time you enter an arena. Once you’ve tuned your radios in an arena, the settings will be retained. The only exception is if radio 1 is tuned to one of the country channels (101-104)… in that case, it will default to your current country channel whenever you enter the arena.
The radio bar now indicates the radio number (1-4) and the channel tuned.
To tune your radios, use the command “.radio X YYY” where X is the radio you want to modify, and YYY is the channel you wish to assign to it. In flight, you transmit by hitting the “/” key for radio 1, “shift /” for radio 2, “ctrl /” for radio 3, and “alt /” for radio 4. You can enter the “.radio” command with no arguments to receive a summary of your radios currently tuned channels.
For example… a player flying for purple might leave radio 1 tuned to 100, and tune radio 2 to 104. In flight, he or she would then hit “/” to transmit to everyone, or “shift /” to transmit sensitive information to his or her own countrymen only. If the player is a squadron member, tuning radio 3 to 110 would allow for communications with only the members of his or her squadron by hitting “ctrl /”.
Radios may also be tuned to individual planes with the “.radio X SIGN” command, where X is the radio you wish to modify and SIGN is the four letter callsign of the player you wish to assign to that radio.
