I've been doing this, creating "shift" keys, in flightsims for years.

When you use the shift button, the normal assigned functions will not happen in the sim. Instead new functions happen instead. Normal functions still happen when you don't use the shift key.

My shift button in the Alpha is this one.

 

 

 

It used to be Avionics Bus 2. What I did was assign both Avionics Busses to the left white rocker. Now when I move the left white rocker it turns on/off both busses, instead of just bus 1.

I lost separate control of the avionics bus 2. But I gained 35 more buttons on the Alpha. (It comes with 35, now there's 70).

New assignments, both busses now on the left rocker switch (button 17).

 

Nobody probably wants to do this, like I do, it's just a teaching example.

The magneto rotary switch are just 5 DX buttons: off right left both start (buttons 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)

I want to keep those, but add 4 view mode assignments to that same dial: cockpit, external, drone, slew

Now, I can rotate the switch back and forth through all the 4 view modes. The only caveat is that if I'm in the 4th position mode (slew) I need to rotate the switch right to the 5th blank position first before turning the knob back left through the other view modes. This is because of a bug in the Asobo mode switches (too long to explain).

In my case, I decided that since I seldom turn the ignition key off in flight, so I use the shift button (white rocker up) + the mag knob to rotate the ignition key and change the magneto settings. Unshifted (white rocker down) changes through the views neatly, without issues and no surprises, no oddities, no bugs.

In other words, I changed magnetos switches to require the white rocker being up, or these commands don't work. (The right white rocker is button 19)

Before the changes, the default Honeycomb mapping is identical to mine below, except that button 19 is not there in these commands in their version.

 

Added the 4 view modes like this (its the same as the above but without the 19 button (i.e. the right white rocker button is down = off).

 

There's nothing assigned to button 35 when in the non shifted (view mode) assignments. This was explained above that you need to keep button 35 blank when using the switch to change view modes (an Asobo bug in how their coding changes view modes).

Anyone can set up a "shift" key like this on most any controller in order to double the number of buttons, hats, rockers, etc.

 

 

 

Edited August 13, 20241 yr by Fielder

when you play around with profiles in MSFS, be sure to use their profile manager to save copies of the originals, and trial versions, etc.