Alright, let’s talk about this Batocera thing and how you use them keys on your keyboard to make it work. I ain’t no fancy computer person, but I figured some things out, and I’m gonna tell ya in plain English, the way I see it.
First off, what’s Batocera? Well, it’s like one of them game machines, but it’s on your computer. You plug in a little stick or somethin’, and bam! Games everywhere. But you gotta know how to move around, right? That’s where the keyboard comes in.
Getting Around the Menus
So, you got all these games starin’ at ya, but how do you pick one? Well, think of it like this, the [START] button, that’s like the big “GO” button on your TV remote. On your keyboard, that’s the big long button at the bottom, the Spacebar. Press that, and you get the main menu. Think of it as the main room in your house, where you can go to different rooms.
Then there’s the [SELECT] button. That’s like your channel changer, but it does different things dependin’ on where you are. On your keyboard, that’s the Backspace button, the one with the arrow pointin’ left. If you’re in the main room, it shows you different options for the whole system. If you’re lookin’ at the games, it shows you options for that game.
- Spacebar: Opens the main menu (like the main room).
- Backspace: Shows different options (like channel changin’, but more complicated).
Those Fancy Hotkeys
Now, these “hotkeys” are like secret shortcuts. They let you do stuff real quick without goin’ through all the menus. It’s like havin’ a special button on your remote that takes you straight to your favorite channel.
They say there’s a “Hotkey” button, some kinda special button, but if you ain’t got one, just use the [SELECT] button (that’s the Backspace again) along with another button. It’s like pressin’ two buttons on your remote at the same time. They got a whole bunch of these shortcuts, like 49 or somethin’. I ain’t memorized ’em all, and I ain’t gonna try. But I’ll tell ya about a couple important ones.
Some Important Shortcuts (Hotkeys) to Remember
Okay, so there’s a bunch of shortcuts, but here are a few that are useful. They say you can find a whole list of them on some website, but I just like to know the basics. And don’t ask me how they work with controllers, because that’s a whole other mess I don’t want to get into. This is about keyboards, plain and simple.
- F1: This one takes you to some RetroArch thing. I don’t know what that is exactly, but it looks like more settings for the games. Kinda like fiddlin’ with the knobs on your old TV to get the picture just right.
- Ctrl + Alt + F3: This one’s for when things go really wrong. It takes you to a black screen with a bunch of words. They call it the “command line.” It’s like lookin’ under the hood of your car. I stay away from it unless I have to.
- Ctrl + Alt + F2: If you ended up in that scary command line place, this one brings you back to Batocera. It’s like your get-out-of-jail-free card.
If Your Keyboard Ain’t Typing Right
Sometimes, your keyboard might be speakin’ a different language than Batocera. Like tryin’ to order grits in a fancy restaurant. You gotta tell it what kinda keyboard you got. They got files and folders and all that, but it boils down to this: you gotta change some settings. It’s got somethin’ to do with “keymaps” and “kblayout” but honestly, I just get someone younger to do it for me. It’s too much like messin’ with the wires behind the TV.
Other Stuff I Heard
I heard you can change the buttons around, make ’em do different things. Like if you want the jump button to be somethin’ else. But that’s gettin’ into fancy stuff again. You gotta mess with files and type in commands, and I ain’t got time for that. I just wanna play some games.
And they say you can use this Batocera thing on a little stick you plug into any computer. Turns it into a game machine, just like that. Pretty neat, I guess.
So, there you have it. That’s the basics of usin’ your keyboard with Batocera, the way I see it. It ain’t rocket science, but it ain’t exactly simple either. But once you get the hang of it, you’ll be playin’ them games in no time.
Just remember, Spacebar for the main menu, Backspace for options, and some other buttons for shortcuts. And if things go wrong, well, you might need to find yourself a smart young’un to help you out.
Tags: [Batocera, Keyboard Controls, Hotkeys, Shortcuts, EmulationStation, Retro Gaming, Linux, Game Console]
