The problem:
I spend too much time finding items, ether in the crafting menu or in my Inventory.Proposed solution
We can have a mnemonic shortcut for each item which would allow finding it instantaneously.For example, insertes can be mapped to :ins, :insb, :insl, :insf, :insx, :inss, :inssx for "inserter", "burning inserter", "long inserter", "fast inserter", "filter inserter", "stack inserter" and "filter stack inserter" respectively.
For another example, guns could get :gun, :gunp, :guns, :gunsc, :gunf, :gunr mappings for "Submachine gun", "pistol", "shotgun", "combat shotgun", "flamethrower" and "rocket launcher" respectively.
Mnemonic shortcuts are different from usual shortcuts because they use multiple keys and have structural logic.
They are also different from a regular search on items because mnemonic shortcuts are constructed on semantics rather than naming (see my example with guns).
Mnemonic shortcuts have to be activated by a key, so I put `:` in front of them, but that could be some other easy-to-reach symbol.
Where I've seen it work
You could easily recognize this idea as being copied from the Vim text editor. Vim became quite famous (and popular in some crowds) because of its use of mnemonics. Every action in it has a 2-to-4 letter mnemonic shortcut, which makes remembering them relatively easy. The command mode is activated with typing `:`, after which you type the mnemonic or, in case you forgot it, keywords for fuzzy search.Problems
The biggest ergonomic problem is that long shortcuts are best used with both hands, which means a player will have to move their right hand between the mouse and the keyboard.Also, integrating that with mods and keeping all mnemonics unique will be a PITA.
