diff --git a/Resources/Config/keyconfig.plist b/Resources/Config/keyconfig.plist
index fbb766f3..1310aec4 100644
--- a/Resources/Config/keyconfig.plist
+++ b/Resources/Config/keyconfig.plist
@@ -71,6 +71,6 @@
 	<key>key_previous_target</key>
 	<integer>43</integer>
 	<key>key_custom_view</key>
-	<integer>118</integer>
+	<string>v</string>
 </dict>
 </plist>
diff --git a/src/Core/PlayerEntity.m b/src/Core/PlayerEntity.m
index 223d013f..5dedd796 100644
--- a/src/Core/PlayerEntity.m
+++ b/src/Core/PlayerEntity.m
@@ -74,7 +74,27 @@ static Quaternion quaternion_identity = { (GLfloat)1.0, (GLfloat)0.0, (GLfloat)0
 
 - (void) init_keys
 {
-	NSDictionary	*kdic = [ResourceManager dictionaryFromFilesNamed:@"keyconfig.plist" inFolder:@"Config" andMerge:YES];
+	NSMutableDictionary	*kdic = [NSMutableDictionary dictionaryWithDictionary:[ResourceManager dictionaryFromFilesNamed:@"keyconfig.plist" inFolder:@"Config" andMerge:YES]];
+	//
+	// pre-process kdic - replace any strings with an integer representing the ASCII value of the first character
+	//
+	int i;
+	NSArray* keys = [kdic allKeys];
+	for (i = 0; i < [keys count]; i++)
+	{
+		id key = [keys objectAtIndex:i];
+		id value = [kdic objectForKey: key];
+		if ([value isKindOfClass:[NSString class]])
+		{
+			char keychar = 0;
+			NSString* keystring = (NSString*)value;
+			if ([keystring length])
+				keychar = [keystring characterAtIndex: 0] & 0x00ff; // uses lower byte of unichar
+			[kdic setObject:[NSNumber numberWithInt:(int)keychar] forKey:key];
+		}
+	}
+	//
+	// set default keys...
 	//
 	key_roll_left = gvArrowKeyLeft;
 	key_roll_right = gvArrowKeyRight;