Hi, I'm trying to make a simple clone of robotron (arcade game with two directional inputs, you move with one and shoot in any direction with the other);

This means I need to be able to use W,A,S,D and the Arrow keys at the same time, often holding down one key in each group. I know keyboards have blocking issues, ie only so many keys in a certain area can be held down and sent at once but I'm sure that my laptop keyboard is capable of what I want.

I'm familliar with using keyPressed() and running an if(key=='x') type of statement inside of it, but this only will return one key at a time. I get weird issues where no key is seen for short periods of time when i'm switching directions very quickly (obviously necessary for an action game)

Basically, what I'm looking for is a simple check to see if a specific key is currently down; I'm fine with checking every frame to see what the states are.  I don't need anything to be run on the actual press event, meaning I don't need information about key repeat rate.

You'll want to look at keyCode (http://processing.org/reference/keyCode.html) for your arrows and such.  Select Case statement may be easier.

Oh duh, I should have checked the hacks section.

Thanks a lot!