G13: A First Report
For the G13, there is a button-configuration application and it looks like this:
What one does is click master key, the M1 or M2 or M3, and one is allowed to configure one of twenty-four keys, as well as the joystick, (forward, back, left, right, and down). So when M1 is active, your twenty-four keys and joystick have one set of commands, when M2 is active, another set, etc.
You can configure the keys to do pre-programmed WoW-macros, your own macros, key-combination, pure text, or other things:
We have assigned to each of our M2’s keys a simple set of key-combinations.
G1 = Shift + 1, which is pressing the Shift key and the 1 key at the same time.
For the joystick, we used pre-programmed commands for forward, backwards, and strafing. Also, the G23 key finds our Nearest Enemy, and the G24 key is Jump.
After we set this all up, we launched WoW and started playing with Bartender4, and made this configuration of action bars:
The four rows of action bars directly under our character have their button’s key-mapped to correspond to the G13’s M2 settings, like so:
In Bartender4, we said that Bar 7, Button 1, is activated by pressing the “Shift + 1″ combination. Then we put the Hunter’s Mark spell on Bar 7, Button 1. Remember that we programmed the G13 so that when the G13’s G1-key is pressed, that will send a “Shift + 1″ combination to the game. Bartender4 will intercept that “Shift + 1″ command, and that will now cast a Hunter’s Mark.
Simple, yes? We repeated that for action bars 7, 8, 9 , and 10, with 7, 7, 5, and 3 keys each, respectively.
The pet-action bar and the two bars beneath that are configured for use with our F-keys and the number keys. They do not interact with the G13 at all.
This is not The Only Way To Do It, but it’s what we’re starting with.
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32 Responses to “G13: A First Report”
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So you use the little joystick for movement now? How’s that working out for you? Don’t have the G13 myself, but I have the idea I wouldn’t be able to react as fast with the joystick as I do with the normal esdf (or wasd) keys…
@Beagan: The stick is easily reached with the thumb and so my reaction time when it comes to movement has increased. I also just got a G13, just like BRK.
I am still having muscle memory issues on my main, but am getting the hang of it. On one of my alts that I have barely played it’s like magic, really works well.
so its worth the cash then? Of course IF i pick this up is that pretty much addmitting that I am an addict?
I have an nostromo and there simply isn’t enough keys available for a hunter. It’s fine for my DK but where are you going to fit the 40+ binds I have for my hunter
On my KB I use F1-6, 1-6 and every key on the LHS of the KB with shift, alt and ctrl for most things. I have one action bar visible with some handy stuff like buffet and some quest items i use in dailies and everything else is kb activated so I see no way to transfer this kind of setup to a gamepad
Do you really feel comfortable using it?
Seems like some real getting used to, my buttons are so messed up right now Id be scared.
lol
I’m a lefty, so unless you can swing around that thumb pad, I’m screwed. Umm, can you? It doesn’t look like it. I will have to stick to my Fang pad, which works out pretty well.
Wow! That is something else. I wonder just how upset Mrs Woodrun would be if I brought home ANOTHER piece of hardware for the “game”. /lol
Thanks again BRK for getting me in trouble with a redhead (whom I love dearly)
P.S. Good call on the moderation approach. I like to read passion in peoples posts but when it gets rude…well that just aint my cup o’ latte.
You’re a geek, BRK.
Now send me one too! They’re not too widely available in civilized countries yet.
With the many, many abilities a hunter has, creating a “shift state” is very valuable when using the G13 or n52. Just have one key (I use the key under my ring finger) mapped to “shift”. Then you have almost double the number of keys available right under your hand.
looks like itd take too much time getting used to, and i dont have anything binded anyway lol, other than disengage
with the jump key mapped to just under the stick, how to you jump shot now? with the n52 I had to map one of the central keys to jump, so I could move with the stick, jump, and turn with the mouse all at the same time. (guess I could use an extra mouse button for jump…)
I’ll be following this subject closely, as I was a huge fan of the Logitech G15 keyboard. The minute I heard about this gadget I was quite interested.
Keep the reviews coming.
How does that work with macros? Example: I have my hunter’s mark macroed and linked to my pet attack so when I mark it sends the pet in to the attack unless I use my shift modifier. The reason why I ask is that I’m not too familiar with gaming keyboards as I’ve never gotten into a game so much as to where I’d spend a good bit of money on a gaming keyboard and mouse but WoW may be that game where I break that.
So how are you configured? I mean, you still play with your keyboard right?
So you use the g13 with your right hand or left hand?
The stick of the g13 is used with your thumb?
I am right handler, so i use my mouse with my right hand.
With the g13, would I have to use the g13 with my left hand, because i see that the stick is on the right side, can you switch it to left?
I recently purchased an Alphagrip … (alphagrip dot com) and it’s very interesting. It’s an entire keyboard and trackball mouse in a gaming controller shape. Typing is tricky (I’m up to 23 WPM!), but playing WoW is awesome now that I’ve practiced a bit.
I’m definitely not a great gamer .. or even a very good one. I do what I enjoy, and I’ve been playing WoW for 3.5+years, to my own tune. I don’t raid enough to worry too much about my DPS, and as long as I don’t get killed while farming, I’m happy.
So I’m not sure if the alphagrip is right for more hardcore players, but I sure do like having EVERYTHING at the tip of my fingers. With my new gaming laptop, I can literally kick back in my recliner and not even have to reach out to my laptop keyboard. Total relaxation while gaming FTW! 
Didn’t someone you know run into a problem getting banned because they said they used A logitech G15 keyboard and set up macros and that for some reason Blizz thought that was cheating? Think you talked about this a long time back.
It’s my understanding the using it to trigger in-game macros is fine, but having it actually send out-of-game macros is bad. Funny thing is, the “official” WoW mouse advertises it’s ability to send out-of-game macros…
BRK, have you found the D-pad for movement to be uncomfortable?
I had the G13 for a week and returned it for two reasons:
1) The d/pad joystick is only 4-way (you cannot move diagonally)
2) It’s awkward to use your thumb for movement and still have full range of the main buttons on the G13
There’s also one big other reason — I felt like I had to constantly move my hands off of the G13 to my main keyboard to type chat messages/emotes. This isn’t a problem for raids when we’re all on vent, but it is for regular casual play.
I read on the Logitech forums (http://forums.logitech.com/logitech/board/message?board.id=gserieskeyboards&thread.id=865) that the designers never intended the Dpad/joystick to be used for WASD movement. They intended its usage in FPS/MMORPG’s to be to pull up your map, inventory, etc. With that in mind, I think BRK has convinced me to go back and pick one up :-p So I’ll give it another shot.
There was a good review (and video) posted on Roguespot for those people interested:
http://forums.roguespot.com/viewtopic.php?t=9189
Great review BRK. In your pic of your Bartender layout you have button labeled “shoot”. What are you using for a macro on that?
@BRK could you give us an idea of how well the thumb control works, that was a beef of mine with the n52te, is it stiff, or realatively easy to change direction?
Since my dexterity with my thumb is at best around 15% of the dexterity of my index finger, this looks like a really bad idea for me. Actually, I could probably get by with a flightstick with 3 triggers, like I used to use for Mantis back in the day, but my G15 keyboard and G5 mouse are working fine. Then again, I don’t raid with my hunter (I’m probably the guy they coined the term “huntard” for).
It took a week of getting used to, but I love my G13. The thumb movement doesn’t feel akward… but then I never used WASD either, prefering number pad (yeah I was a clicker, and still am for some stuff, but much less so with this). This thing does take some getting used to… some buttons are just kinda bigger than you might expect so you might bump it til you get used to it.
G4, G10, G11, G12 buttons each have a circular depression in them, so you could map those to movement if you really wanted and for it to feel natural… but I kinda felt that made pushing buttons on my hotbars akward.
I’ll admit it was a mega-pain to find a setup for my main as a druid of many specs though, placing the right buttons in the right spots for all forms… and making sure bartender switched to the right pages… so my layout is different than BRK’s… as there just wouldn’t have been enough bars… to make it resemble the G13 layout, took 2-3 bars per form.
I’d definitely use thumb movement for strafe left/right, originally it started out as turn left/right and it was just awful… I tended to use mouse to move camera for turning anyway. So really it feels like it works perfectly. The option to push down the thumbstick as a keypress isn’t too viable I don’t think, as the stick itself doesn’t have a thick top like the PS2 analog sticks. But the stick doesn’t feel stiff. Jump I have in the same place as BRK, and use mouse to go the direction I want and can hit a key at the same time with fingers.
Just thought I’d toss in my 2cp.
Thanks BRK for posting more about the G13, I’m very interested in it. I only have limited use of one hand which makes playing WoW, um, interesting to say the least. I’m hoping maybe the G13 would make it easier for me to play. I hope you post more about your experience with it.
This looks terribly confusing ._.
There’s only one drawback to these keyboards, and that they don’t actually provide you with /new/ keys. Once you’ve exhausted the supply of F-keys (F1-F12 only, F13-F24 have been killed) you’re kinda stuck with binding these new buttons with already existing key combinations, which leads to annoying keypress collisions.
It means at the very least if you want to bind G1 to press F1, you get to unbind Blizz’s default use for that button (target self). Going further into “really annoying”-space, you’ve got to unbind CTRL-S for toggling sound on and off, because if you’ve bound one of the gaming keys to say, CTRL-SHIFT-F2 or something and you press that key while backpedaling your toon (pressing S) the game will detect you pressing both CTRL and S together and disable sounds.
It doesn’t make the new keys useless, but it does mean you have to think carefully about what you’ve got bound to what.
in reference to the banning for cheating using the G15, it was actually because they were using the macro to make their charactor jump every 5 mins to prevent being kicked for AFKing.
anyway, man i want one of these gamepads. pity they dont sell them in australia yet. (along with the G19, the ONLY replacement for my G15…..)
just ordered minr BRK, thanks for the tip, my m15x laptop is a bit limiting in the keyboard department as are most laptops, this will make my life easier
I’ve had mine for about 2 weeks now and I love it. The only button that I don’t use on it is the click down on the dpad. It takes too much pressure for any quick action.
I’ve been playing with the Belkin Nostromo n52 for a couple of years, but I’d plumb run out of buttons until I saw the G13.
I liked your use of Bartender so I tried something similar, but I’ve run into a HUGE bug: You cannot see ANY of your vehicle’s abilities! When I know I’ll be doing one of those quests (like the Dragonblight daily), I have to relog with Bartender turned OFF. What a pain.
@Teni
You just need the latest version of Bartender. They fixed the vehicles bar a couple months ago.