How to do basic Civilization V operations with keyboard only in, even just moving

How to do basic Civilization V operations with keyboard only in, even just moving - Crop hacker silhouette typing on computer keyboard while hacking system

I play Civ V on my Mac in my rare free time but I'd like to reduce my mouse use. I have found numerous charts with keyboard shortcuts for exotic actions, but cannot find anything on how to do many basic actions. For example, the key for move is M. So if I press M, I can use the arrow keys to select a potential location to move to. But how do I get the unit to actually go there?? (I've tried Return, Enter, Space, pressing M again, pressing CTRL-M...)

Likewise, every few moves Civilizations wants me to make a decision on something, for example, a social policy or research direction. But I can't find any way to even bring up that screen with the keyboard, much less choose an option, even though Civ has a centralized flashing message bar just begging for a keyboard-shortcut to activate.



Best Answer

In-game Solutions

There are limited options for playing without a keyboard.

As suggested in the comments, if you want to move a unit without using the mouse at all, you can use a numpad. The 963741 keys give you access to all six directions for movement. This does require you to move the unit one tile at a time

For two issues you raise there are hotkeys.

F5 brings up Social Policies

F6 will bring up the full Technology Tree (for research)

However, you won't actually be able to make any selections at these screens without using the mouse, so that may be of limited value.

Third Party Solution

Expanding upon a previous answer I've posted, an alternative solution is to use Autohotkey.

The following autohotkey script will, when Civ 5 is running, cause z (which is unused by civ 5) to trigger a click on the "Next Move" button (or message bar, as you call it). This will allow you to click "Choose Research", "Choose Production", "Adopt a Policy", etc. The 1750, 860 values correspond to the button's position on a 1920x1080 resolution. You may have to adjust this for your own resolution.

#IfWinActive, Sid Meier's Civilization V (DX11)
z::
 {
   mousegetpos, start_x, start_y
   mouseclick, left, 1750, 860, 1, 0
   mousemove, %start_x%, %start_y%, 0
 }

From a comment it sounds like you want to set distant waypoints for your units to travel to. This is only possible by right-clicking on the tile. The script can be expanded to allow x to act as a right-click for this purpose, as shown below.

x::
{
  mouseclick, right
}



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How do I change Keybinds in Civ 5?

Currently you cannot change the keyboard shortcuts from within the game. However, you can change them by changing the CIV5Controls. xml file. The file resides under <installation folder>\\Assets\\Gameplay\\XML\\Units - notice that's actually where you installed the game, not in your My Documents\\My Games folder.

How do you play Civilization 5 effectively?

Opening Strategies
  • Start with a good civilization/leader for small maps. ...
  • Trade Caravans are great. ...
  • You can trade luxury resources, but do not expect much. ...
  • If possible, build cities on coastal tiles. ...
  • Trade your embassy to enemies, so you have a few coins from the start. ...
  • Creating wonders is important.


  • How do I run Civ 5 on a second monitor?

    Press Ctrl-Shift-Esc bring up the task manager go to the Applications Tab, Right click on Civilization 5 and select Bring to Front. When you click back on the game again it should be over the task bar. As mentioned in a comment, set task bar to auto-hide. Run the game in windowed mode at a slightly lower resolution.

    Does Civilization V work on Windows 10?

    This game runs on Windows 10 without a compat mode setting. I have heard of an issue where DirectX fails to install through steam.



    Civ V basic game setup




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