Tiberian Sun Keyboard Command Hotkeys

TIBERIAN SUN STRATEGY GUIDE 2024

 

KEYBOARD COMMANDS--HOTKEYS

 

Keyboard Commands/Hotkeys: Keyboard Commands (Also known as Hotkeys) are very important in Tiberian Sun. The best players use many of the hotkeys. Using hotkeys allows you to minimize mouse movements and quickly multitask between objectives.

 

Space Bar = see hotkeys: Press Space Bar during a game to see all of your current hotkeys.

 

Not all hotkeys are assignable: Most of the hotkeys are assignable, but some hotkeys are not assignable and hardwired into the game like “Q”, CNTL, and ALT.

 

 

ASSIGNING HOTKEYS--------KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS

 

How to setup your hotkeys: To setup your keyboard command hotkeys, start a game and click the options button in the top left corner. (Note: If the game you are playing is multiplayer online, then the game will not be paused and will continue running while you change your hotkeys. You might want to play a skirmish game off line so that the game will be paused while you change your hotkeys.)

 

Some hotkeys are necessary: You do not have to use all of the keyboard commands, but there are a few that are absolutely necessary to setup. Click the link below for a quick reference with pictures of how to assign the most frequently used keyboard commands.

 

• https://forums.cncnet.org/topic/12054-tiberian-sun-hotkeys-tutorial-beginners-guide/

 

 

Options button: To change your hotkey setup click the “Options” button at the top left of your screen while playing a game. You will need to click the “Game Controls” button in the list that is presented. Next, click the “Keyboard” button and you will be taken to the screen where you can change your hotkeys.

 

Keyboard: After clicking on the “Keyboard” button, you should be presented with five categories of hotkeys:

1) Chat

2) Control

3) Interface
4) Selection
5) Team
 

LIST OF ALL THE KEYBOARD COMMAND HOTKEYS---AND EXPLANATION
 

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1) CHAT:

 

CHAT TO ALL: This allows you to chat to other players. ( ENTER )
 

CHAT TO ALLIES: This allows you to chat with your allies. (BACKSPACE)
 

CHAT TO PLAYER: This allows you to chat with specific players. (F1-9 keys)
 

TEXT BACKGROUND COLOR: Changes the background color of your text chat in the game.

 

 

2) CONTROL:
 

ALLIANCE: This hotkey allows you to ally your teammate. Usually “A” = Ally

 

DEPLOY OBJECT: This hotkey lets you deploy a unit. Usually “D” = Deploy

 

GRANT CONTROL: Once you have set your Grant Control Hotkey, you have to turn on Shared Control in the Game Lobby Control options before you start a game. This allows other players to use your units when you press the hotkey during a game. Other players can grant you control of their units during a game too.

 

GUARD: Units are on guard and attack nearby units that are farther away from them automatically.

 

SCATTER: Your units spread out automatically in different directions, but only a inch or two.

 

SELECT ONE LESS UNIT: Select one less random unit in the group that you have highlighted. You might need to do this if you want that one unit to attack something else while you send your main group somewhere else.

 

STOP OBJECT: Stop your units where they are. (Usually “S” = stop) but you can change it.

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3) INTERFACE:

 

DELETE WAYPOINT: This hotkey deletes your waypoint.

 

FOLLOW: Highlight a unit and press F so that the map view centers around that unit. The map view will follow that unit as it moves across the map. (Note: To make Units follow other units, highlight the unit you want to follow another unit with left mouse click. Then, hold CNTL+ALT and left mouse click on the unit you want the highlighted unit to follow).

 

GOTO RADAR EVENT: This sends the map screen to wherever a radar event happened. Radar events will be a verbal warning you can hear usually. This is your clue to hit the radar event hotkey. (Usually, it is set up as “V” = View )

 

OPTIONS MENU: This hotkey brings up the options menu.( It is set to ESCAPE key by default)

 

PAGE USER: The page user hotkey does not work during a game. F1-F7 can be used to text to individual players during a game. F8 is text chat to all players(Note: If your keyboard has a FN key, you might have to hold FN and then press the F1-F7 key.)

 

PLACE BUILDING: You can place buildings more quickly by using the “Place Building” hotkey. Bring the scroll bar to right where you will place the building, so your mouse literally moves off the scroll options and onto the map.

 

POWER MODE: This hotkey will power down or power up a building.

 

RADAR TOGGLE: This hotkey will toggle the radar map on and off (or press TAB)

 

REPAIR MODE: This hotkey allows you to repair buildings.

 

REPEAT BUILDING: The Repeat Building Hotkey builds the same building that you just built. It is faster than clicking the sidebar options to build the same building. Component Towers, Sams, Lasers, Tiberium Refineries, Tiberium Silos, Helipads, Walls, Pavement, Laser Fences are a few examples of buildings that you might want to make several of in a row. Use the “Repeat Building” Hotkey to do this quickly.

 

SCREEN CAPTURE: This Captures a picture of the screen. (Mainly used to catch cheaters)

 

SCROLL EAST: These four hotkeys let you scroll across the map. (These are slow and not necessary)

SCROLL NORTH

SCROLL SOUTH

SCROLL WEST

 

SELL MODE: This hotkey allows you to quickly sell a building.

 

SET BOOKMARK 1: These four hotkeys allow you to quickly view an area of the map.

SET BOOKMARK 2

SET BOOKMARK 3

SET BOOKMARK 4

 

SIDEBAR DOWN: These four hotkeys will quickly scroll both sidebar options. (Page is faster)

SIDEBAR PAGE DOWN

SIDEBAR PAGE UP

SIDEBAR UP

 

STRUCTURE LIST DOWN: These hotkeys will quickly scroll the structures sidebar options.

STRUCTURE LIST PAGE DOWN

STRUCTURE LIST PAGE UP

STRUCTURE LIST UP

 

TOGGLE HELP: “Space Bar” This hotkey is set to Space bar by default. When you press space bar you can see all of your current hotkeys that you have setup.

 

TOGGLE INFO PANEL: This hotkey is useful. It shows a mini screen on the sidebar under your build options. The Info panel shows all sorts of interesting game statistics such as the game timer, connection statistics of the players in the game, veteran status statistics, and much more. Make sure to press this hotkey three times to see all three different information panels. ( Some players use “M” for this.) You might want to keep the Info Panel off during most of the game because it covers up some of your onscreen build options. Only use it when you need it by toggling the hotkey. (NOTE: If you load a saved game during online play and try to toggle the information panel on, the game might crash)
 

The In-Game Information Panel has three pages which include the following information:

 

• Page 1: Game Timer, FPS, APM, EFF, Showkey, Space

• Page 2: Unit type, HP Health points, speed, weapon, wpnbonus, AmrType, ArmorBonus, Veteran

• Page 3: Network, rh, loss

 

UNIT LIST DOWN: These four hotkeys will scroll the unit sidebar options quickly. (Page is faster.)

UNIT LIST PAGE DOWN

UNIT LIST PAGE UP

UNIT LIST UP

 

VIEW BOOKMARK 1: These four hotkeys will show the four bookmarked areas on the map you set.

VIEW BOOKMARK 2

VIEW BOOKMARK 3

VIEW BOOKMARK 4

 

WAYPOINT MODE: “W” is the default key for “Waypoint Mode”. This hotkey allows you to setup waypoints on the map which are very useful during a game. You can find more information about waypoints in the Tiberian Sun Strategy Guide.

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4) SELECTION

CENTER BASE: “H” for Home is the default button. This centers the map view on your home base.

 

CENTER VIEW: Num+5 is the default. This hotkey centers the map view around the unit or building that you have highlighted. (It is not used by many players.)

 

NEXT OBJECT: This hotkey selects the unit or structure that is next. (opposite of previous object)

 

PREVIOUS OBJECT: This hotkey selects the unit or structure that you previously had highlighted. (Note: Use the “Next Object and Previous Object hotkeys to quickly change which unit is highlighted. These hotkeys only work with individual units and not groups. It does not center the map view on those units.)

 

SELECT SAME TYPE: “T” is the hotkey that most players use for select same type. This button selects all of the same type of units on the map screen that are the same as the unit you have highlighted. For example: If you have a Titan highlighted by left mouse clicking on a Titan, and press “T”, then all of the other Titans on the map will become highlighted too. (Note: The “T” command does not work on units inside of tunnels.)(Note: The “T” command does not work on underground units, but you can select above ground units by having an underground unit highlighted. You might, however, lose the highlighting of the initially highlighted underground unit in the process.)

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SELECT VIEW: “E” for Everyone is the default key for Select View. Select View highlights every unit that is within view on your screen on the map.

 

5) TEAM

ADD SELECT TEAM 1: These 10 hotkeys let you add a unit to a team you already created.

ADD SELECT TEAM 2

ADD SELECT TEAM 3
ADD SELECT TEAM 4

ADD SELECT TEAM 5

ADD SELECT TEAM 6

ADD SELECT TEAM 7

ADD SELECT TEAM 8

ADD SELECT TEAM 9

ADD SELECT TEAM 10

 

CENTER TEAM 1: These 10 Hotkeys center the map view on your groups. (0-9)

CENTER TEAM 2

CENTER TEAM 3

CENTER TEAM 4

CENTER TEAM 5

CENTER TEAM 6

CENTER TEAM 7

CENTER TEAM 8

CENTER TEAM 9

CENTER TEAM 10

 

CREATE TEAM 1: These 10 Hotkeys let you create your 10 possible groups. (0-9)

CREATE TEAM 2

CREATE TEAM 3

CREATE TEAM 4

CREATE TEAM 5

CREATE TEAM 6

CREATE TEAM 7

CREATE TEAM 8

CREATE TEAM 9

CREATE TEAM 10

 

SELECT TEAM 1: These 10 hotkeys allow you to select your 10 possible groups. (0-9)

SELECT TEAM 2

SELECT TEAM 3

SELECT TEAM 4

SELECT TEAM 5

SELECT TEAM 6

SELECT TEAM 7

SELECT TEAM 8

SELECT TEAM 9

SELECT TEAM 10

 

 

TIPS FOR SETTING UP AND USING HOTKEYS

 

Learn all hotkeys: Take the time to learn all of the Tiberian Sun hotkeys. Every new hotkey that you learn will save you precious time during a game.

 

Practice hotkeys: It takes time to master a new hotkey setup. If you do change to a new hotkey setup, expect to lose a few games before you master it.

 

Most used hotkeys = closer: During a game, record how often you use which hotkeys. The most used hotkeys should be the most quickly accessible keys by your hand. Minimize the distance your fingers must travel when you setup your most used hotkeys. ( Q, G, E, H, T, A,W, X, etc....)

 

Multiple Attack Numbered Groups: Hotkeys allow you to simultaneously control multiple attacks with multiple groups. Pro players will group many attacking units into several groups and attack opposite sides of an enemy base. This can be quite difficult to defend if you have not setup your defensive units into groups.(Or placed your defensive units on guard with “G”, or with a CNTL+ALT waypoint loop)

 

Number Harvs: You can number your Harvesters for easier access to help micro manage your economy without needed to use your mouse to highlight the Harvesters.

 

Numbering groups: It is much easier to control multiple groups of units if you assign numbers to each of the groups. You can assign a number to a group of units by highlighting the units, holding CNTL, and then pressing a number 0-9.

 

Gaming mouse macro hotkeys: Some newer Gaming mouses allow you to program certain buttons on the mouse. You can use this feature to assign group numbers. Instead of using CNTL+1, you would just click one mouse button that has been programmed to be CNTL+1.

 

10 groups = left hand on number pad: Since you can assign 10 groups in Tiberian Sun, ideally you would want to utilize this feature. A left hand on the number pad can allow you to quickly switch between 10 different groups. The number pad is much faster than using the line of numbers at the top of your keyboard. (Note: You can assign other frequently used hotkeys near the number pad or assign them to your gaming mouse).

 

Bookmark view tips: You can assign a total of 4 map views with the four “Set Bookmark” hotkeys. You can quickly move the map view to center around those four areas with the four“View Bookmark” hotkeys. These hotkeys are important, they let you quickly view different preset areas on the map. These hotkeys allow you to attack and defend at the same time by quickly toggling between map views to different areas. Set your bookmarks early in the game when you have time. Since the “H” hotkey views your base. You can set the other four hotkeys to view different enemy bases in a team game. In a 1v1 you could set one bookmark on the enemy base and the rest in important areas like your first or second base expansion or on the Tiberium fields you expect to use a lot.

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Select One Less Unit tips: The "Select One Less Unit" hotkey can be used to scout the fog of war faster. Instead of sending one infantry to locations on a map, highlight a group of several Infantry, send them all to a location, press the "Select One Less Unit" hotkey and then send the group to another location. The one less unit will still go to the first location and all other units in the group will go to the next location. Repeat this process several times to send individual scouts to different locations much faster. The "Select One Less Unit" hotkey can also be used to send a group of units to attack different locations much faster. An example of these two tactics are shown in the video at the top of this page.

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MOUSE HOTKEYS

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Left mouse click building buildings: Left mouse click on the build options on the right side of the screen to start building new buildings. Once the building is done, left mouse click on the building in the side bar options that says “ready” and then left mouse click on the map to place the buidling.

 

Mouse scrolling: Move the mouse to the edge of the screen to scroll across the map. To scroll across the map fast, click and hold the mouse button, on the right side of your mouse, while you drag the mouse cursor across the screen.

 

Mouse wheel sidebar scroll: The mouse wheel can scroll through the side bar options on the right side of your screen during a game much faster than clicking the arrows on the side bar to scroll through the build options.

 

Gaming mouse macros: A Gaming mouse can have programmable hotkeys and Macros (combinations of hotkeys)

 

 

NEW HOTKEY KEYBOARD GEAR--2024

 

Hotkey Gear: There are gaming keyboards and gaming mouses that are specifically made for real time strategy games like Tiberian Sun. They have programmable keys and macros (combinations of keys). Make sure to Google the latest options!!

 

New Gaming keyboards: The Razer Tartarus Pro, Thrustmaster eSwap Pro, Roccat Vulcan TKL Pro, and Cooler Master SK650 are all new gameboards with programmable macro keys that are available in 2023. The Azeron Cyborg is a completely different style of power glove hotkey gaming keyboard that looks pretty interesting. It has 100 key bindings and macros, and 6 action keys per finger.

 

New Gaming mouses: The top 10 best gaming mice of 2023 are: Razer DeathAdder V2 Pro, Logitech G Pro Wireless, SteelSeries Rival 5, HyperX Pulsefire Haste, Zowie EC3-C, Razer Basilisk V3, Glorious Model O Wireless, Roccat Kone Pro Air, Endgame Gear XM1r, and Cooler Master MM731.

 

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