Mouse/Keyboard for Excavator control. SOLVED!

[Obiwan]

So, I like many others have definitely struggled a bit with the digging in the excavator using a mouse and keyboard.

I completely appreciate HM recommends a controller but this is a PC game and I definitely prefer using my PC controls. Rather than demand change I went to see how the streamers are doing it and found a few videos in particular that showed a method of diggin that I believe alot of the vets already use.

My forte outside of gaming is UI/UX and I have designed a very comfortable and easy to use config that has turned the game from awkward and frustrating to hugely enjoyable and fluid and thought that if even just 1 person appreciated it, it might be worth sharing here.


SO!!! what I am going to do here is first provide the exact key mapping you are gonna want to consider and then detail the few steps to combining then with the modified version of the digging method that I learned from the very helpful YTers including Kage848? apologies if the name is wrong I am not much of a viewer.

Setup your key mapping as per this image. https://imgur.com/nQmKqym

Digging method.

1. First position your digger, use W and R to extend the arm as far and as long as it can go. Then hold LMB down to close the bucket fully.

Now drive the digger (shift to swap modes) to position the arm above the bucket or loader you wish to dump into. Hit spacebar to engage the handbrake and switch back to dig mode.

2. Hit C 3x to change the camera to the "bucket cam" or I believe the shortcut is the 4 key. Hold RMB to open the bucket fully.

3. Use and A or D to swing the digger to your dirt you wish to dig, Use S to lower the arm till the whole bucket is hovering just above your dirt, Now simply hold down LMB to take a "bite" out the ground.

At some point the bucket wont move, when this happens simply hit W to raise the arm while still holding LMB. This will take a little practice to perfect but the result is that you should take a nice big fat scoop and close the bucket AS you raise the arm so not to drop too much dirt.

4. Swing the arm back over using A or D and once above the dump location hold down RMB.

If you positioned your machine correctly this should now make a nice fluid animation and dump all the bucket into the desired location.


At this point its a case of rinse and repeat and getting used to this method.

Advaned use of the arms is when you are requireing to lower the arm below the actual surface level of the dirt, in this case you use F to curl the arm in to get to the hover position and then take a "bite" with LMB as usual.

I am hoping that you will find this as fluid and intuitive as I have to work with for MKB config and I think it is a damn sight better than the default method that uses the mouse buttons as a hydraulic activation and mouse motion to control the hydraulics.

Please leave comments and thoughts or any thing you did to perfect it even more or make it work for you. This is of course a Right handed setup but there is no reason why it cannot be applied to the IJKL setup and simply mirroring the relevant keys.

They key point was making the bucket much much easier to control in tandom with the refined and better clustered arm controls.



Hope it helps, may the Gold Rush be with you!

[toeska21]

i have easier way to use excavator, use your numeric pad, i have bucket up/down to set 7/4 and small arm up/down to 8/5, little bit of practice and u r a digging master :D

[Xarxid]

I Also use button 3 and 4 on Mouse for small arm, and rebound f key to close bucket since i find this Way faster to Close bucket rather than lift it all up with lmb. I find no use to open bucket, since lmb push it automatically

[Obiwan]

Originally posted by Xarxid:

I Also use button 3 and 4 on Mouse for small arm, and rebound f key to close bucket since i find this Way faster to Close bucket rather than lift it all up with lmb. I find no use to open bucket, since lmb push it automatically

indeed but i bound close bucket to an accessible key just in case anyways.