Supposedly they are the brackets, but it doesnt work. Have tried numerous other keys, but nothing. Is there somewhere to change the hotkeys, or could there be another reason why it doesnt work?

Thanks

It's [ and ]. The keys cannot be reassigned, so if they're not working, either your keyboard is set to a different language or you are using a laptop which requires use of the Fn key to activate the [ and ] keys.

If neither of that works, you can use the Speed Settings in the Options dropdown, but this is obviously a longer way.

Which language should I set it to then? Mine is now dutch (belgian). Not using a laptop.

Also, will changing it have a noticeabl effect on other things?

Changing the keyboard language setting may result in some keys changing position (the position of keys is different per language. For example, the @ sign on a US keyboard is where the " is located on a UK keyboard), so it may help in finding out exactly which key is which on your keyboard if it's not exactly the same as a UK standard keyboard layout.

If it's default on the Dutch (Belgium) setting, try switching it to English (United Kingdom) or English (United States). :)

Unfortunatly changing it also means my azerty goes to a qwerty, and it would be too much hassle to change it everytime I want to play, and remebering to change it back. So I'll leave this open a few more days, maybe somone else knows something.

Sidequestion: What determines if a block of 4 houses clit together or not?

For the keys, try searching for an image of an US keyboard and press whatever is in that spot on yours. No guarantee at all, I'm still looking for one of the advisor's keys myself ;-)

Houses merging: Assuming we're talking about low level houses, from a certain level upwards they make 2x2 or won't upgrade at all. When you start playing a map the game randomly determines which tiles are going to merge and which wont for the whole map. Save and reload won't change this, but starting a new game on this map gives you a new set of merge spots. All you can do in practical play is observing, and relocate things accordingly if it really matters where tents merge. Most of the time it won't, as the 1x1 stage is temporary. While you can't force merges, you can prevent them by placing a small statue instead of the 4th house.

Damn, after typing all that I'm becoming unsure if thats not the answer for caesar instead... could someone confirm/deny wether I got the games mixed up?

Maybe that's C3, but the merge spots are defined in the map, and won't change with a new game.

The northernmost tile is the one that determines merging. If you place the north tile, the south tile, and whatever tile is next to your road, you can add the 4th tile to expand in a controlled manner, or improve it to residence and get the expansion you want for free. Not that debens are typically short by the time you want residences...

Thanks for catching it, was hoping for an old cbh hand like you to double check :)

Regarding the keyboard layout: You can assign a hotkey to switch between the layouts. I use alt+shift to switch between english and my native layout.

Also you can make hotkeys to change two of your buttons to [ and ]. I used a software called AutoHotKey (https://autohotkey.com/), which I use frequently in similiar problems. One time I even made it a crude bot to grind levels in Disgaea PC :P.

I paste here the code I wrote, maybe that'll make this advice more accessible. Note: å and ¨ are the buttons right to button P in finnish keyboard. You can use any button you want for a hotkey, and you can even make it Ctrl-A if you wish (instructions in the help file of the program).

1. Make a new hotkey file (right click in the desktop, new - autohotkey file)
2. Open the file in text editor, notepad works fine.
3. Paste this after the config-lines:

SetKeyDelay, 0, 0

å::
Send [
Sleep 100
Return


¨::
Send ]
Sleep 100
Return

Maybe this will help people in the future, who are wrestling with these games.

For Dutch or Belgian QWERTZ Layout I found this: kbdlayout.info. Did you try AltGr + ^ or AltGr + $ (or whatever the keys right to P are on your keyboard)?

I use german QWERTZ and AltGr + 8 and AltGr + 9 works for me for square brackets.

its like 7 years later. but yall its alt gr. the alt to the right of the space bar and 8 and 9.