How to bind several weapons to one key (toggle between weapons) in Quake?

Question

The options menu doesn't support rebinding weapons (beyond "next"/"previous", 1-9 keys by default), but console can be used for remapping, following the syntax:

bind <key> "impulse <#>"

1 - axe
2 - shotgun
3 - super shotgun
4 - nailgun
5 - super nailgun
6 - grenade launcher
7 - rocket launcher
8 - thunderbolt

For instance, bind e "impulse 7" to map the rocket launcher to the E key, and bind MOUSE4 "impulse 3" to bind the super shotgun to one of the mouse side buttons.

I assume that alias has to be used, as with the Quake-derived Source engine. Personally I'd for example find having access to both shotguns with one key as convenient.

Answer 1

As an example, this set of commands toggles between the two shotguns with the Q key:

alias select-shotgun "impulse 3; bind q select-super-shotgun"
alias select-super-shotgun "impulse 2; bind q select-shotgun"
bind q select-shotgun

select-shotgun and select-super-shotgun are arbitrary aliases — feel free to rename each to anything you desire, but avoid spaces and special characters (?). Input the lines one-by-one to the in-game console (may not be saved) or add to autoexec.cfg in your Quake folder.

You can use any other weapons by editing the impulse <number> part (see the question for syntax) and rebind by replacing the q keys in the example.

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Should be compatible with the original game and more "vanilla-like" source ports such as Quakespasm and the reworked fork Quakespasm-Spiked.

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