[Akalabeth Angel]

As someone creating missions, I have to wonder are hot keys something that people look for? Personally, I've never used them myself. The one time I did I think it highlighted the wing in question but didn't target any of 'em which seemed kind of useless. Good ole "H" works for me, or "B" for bomba!

      Anyway, basically I'm just wondering because should I bother? Or are people like me, and don't really give a damn. I know some people demand them, but to me it's really not all that important.

[StratComm]

Yes for allies, no for any hostiles not mission-critical.  Anywhere in between and it's a designer's call.  If you need to stop one wing of bombers among many, giving them a hotkey so that you can identify them easily might be a good idea.  Or hotkeying allied wings, since that seems to be convention.  But it only adds polish to a mission, and shouldn't be considered critical IMHO.

[Primus]

I don't use 'em.

[WMCoolmon]

They're extremely handy for stealth missions.

[Nuke]

i have more than enough buttons on my stick to cover all the usefull functions. in the 5 years ive had this game i dont hink ive ever used them. all in all i use about 1/4 of the commands. its kinda hard to hit hotkeys with both your hands on your stick.

[karajorma]

Originally posted by WMCoolmon
They're extremely handy for stealth missions.

Exactly what I was about to say. Hotkeys are a must in any stealth mission.

[Galemp]

Also useful in certain situations where you have wings of ships, like transports or freighters. It's easier to use F7, F8, and F9 to cycle through them and check up on their position and status than trying to fit twelve ships on your escort list.

[Slanker_MT]

Also if you have to scan/destroy some containers, for example, it´s easier to do that using hotkeys.

[TopAce]

I always use hotkeys. I have a personal hotkey system that I use in almost every mission I make. They make targeting ships easier if you know what group your target belongs to.

[Slanker_MT]

Oh, btw. Telling the player about the hotkeys is useful, too.
For example via directives:
Destroy Cargo [F9] [12]

[Mongoose]

I'd say definitely yes for stealth missions, or for missions where you have to destroy a certain wing out of many. I'll also use them once in a while to find out where my wingmates are.  I usually don't bother to assign my own, though.

[TopAce]

Originally posted by Slanker_MT
Oh, btw. Telling the player about the hotkeys is useful, too.
For example via directives:
Destroy Cargo [F9] [12]

I had this in my mind, but never did it. I don't exactly remember the reason.

[Hippo]

I only use them for escort missions, to evenly split up the fighter cover (the Rosetta mission for FS1 for example), without having to do it individually... That way, every freighter/transport will get cover, and if one goes down, i can immediately re-direct its fighter cover to another one...

[Night Hammer]

Never really used em