Hi, does anyone know why the below function causes my player movement code to run slow once I added:

Code:
key_shoot_on=0;
...
if(key_pressed(key_for_str(key_shoot)))
key_shoot_on=1;
to
Code:
STRING* key_forward = "w";
STRING* key_backward = "s";
STRING* key_left = "a";
STRING* key_right = "d";
STRING* key_jump = "space";
STRING* key_run = "shiftl";
STRING* key_action = "e";
STRING* key_shoot = "mouse_left";

void handle_keyboard_input()
	{
		while(player.skill1>0){
		key_forward_on=0;
		key_backward_on=0;
		key_left_on=0;
		key_right_on=0;
		key_jump_on=0;
		key_run_on=0;
		key_shoot_on=0;
		
		if(key_pressed(key_for_str(key_forward)))
			key_forward_on=1;
		if(key_pressed(key_for_str(key_backward)))
			key_backward_on=1;
		if(key_pressed(key_for_str(key_left)))
			key_left_on=1;
		if(key_pressed(key_for_str(key_right)))
			key_right_on=1;
		if(key_pressed(key_for_str(key_jump)))
			key_jump_on=1;
		if(key_pressed(key_for_str(key_run)))
			key_run_on=1;
		if(key_pressed(key_for_str(key_shoot)))
			key_shoot_on=1;
		wait(1);
		}
	}

When I added the last check for the key pressed it caused my player movement code to move very slowly. Also, it prevented me from pressing F11 to open up the debug panel. My guess is that I've reached some sort of limit. Can anyone suggest a work around method of capturing keyboard input? I would like to have the keys set in a STRING* at the top of my code so that they can be remapped later.

Thank,
82RJZAE