I'm providing this information for users who are not familiar with the G-Hotkey program - to help get you started I am providing a detailed description for using it with Thief - Deadly Shadows. Each section is broken out based on the Notes feature of G-Hotkey so you can easily see how this is setup.
Note: I originally provided a very brief description of Thief when I released one of the first versions of G-Hotkey. I decided to load up Thief again and see how it works now with the latest version of G-Hotkey 3.33. G-Hotkey now works perfectly with Thief and is much more functional. If you get a chance and play Thief again be sure to download Jon P.'s texture pack for the game at: www.graphics-by-john-p.co...ndex.shtml
First I created a new profile titled: Thief - Deadly Shadows and clicked on the Add Name to add it to the Current game list:. Next select Thief - Deadly Shadows with your mouse and click on the Edit button.
For this first screen you will need to set a key for the Deactivate Hotkeys Key:. For this example I have chosen the key F12.
Next a Location needs to be specified where the .lnk file is located for Thief - Deadly Shadows. If you click on the icon of the little document you can select this file. Usually you can find the .lnk file on your desktop. In the Select File dialog that is now open select the Desktop icon in the Look in: pull down box and select Play Thief - Deadly Shadows link file.
Next I am going to change the Load Time (secs): interval to 25 seconds since it takes about this much time for the game to load and initialize the game engine.
I don't like the dialog that displays: G-Hotkey is no longer active so I am going to check the Surpress Hotkeys Deactivation check box. In addition I'm going to check the Global Hotkeys check box as this game is unusual in that it uses different game window ID's instead of the same ID, so you need to enable Global Hotkeys otherwise G-Hotkey will exit while in the game.
To enable and disable the functions of G-Hotkey while I'm in the game I'm going to set the On/Off Hotkeys Key: to Scroll Lock.
I'm going to set the Priority: level to High. I had set it earlier to Normal, but noticed a problem with macros I had setup being sent to the screen at an inconsistent rate, sometimes keys would be sent to the screen faster and sometimes slower. Setting the Priority: to High resolved this problem. What is interesting is I'm noticing no performance loss in the game even though G-Hotkey is running at a high priority level.
Finally I'm going to set the Key Release Key: to Esc. I will explain later why this is set to the Escape key and when you should use it.
Here is the section of the Notes for this game profile based on my notes above:
I would also like to have my game saved approximately every 8 minutes so I am going to fill out the Quick Save section.
For the Save Game File Location: click on the disk icon to the right and select the quick save file that the game uses. I found this out earlier by performing a quick save in the game and making a note at the time I made this quick save. I then exited the game and performed a search for all files modified that day and sorted by time modified - that way you can easily find this file. On my computer this file is located in the \Documents and Settings\Jesse\My Documents\Thief - Deadly Shadows\SaveGames\Current Save folder and the file name is metadata.ion.
For the Save Every (minutes): I have put in a value of 8 and set the Retry Interval (secs): to 30 to retry quick saving in the event I'm in a screen of the game that does not allow quick saving. I have also set a sound file by clicking on the icon to the right of Play Sound:. There are two reasons for doing so - one is to know a quick save is just about to occur and the other reason is for me to be able to disable quick saving immediately when I hear the sound file by pressing the key assigned to the On/Off QS Key:.
The Hotkey: is set to F10 as this is the key that is set in Thief for quick saving. I have set the On/Off QS Key: to Caps Lock so I can enable/disable quick saving without disabling all of the other functions in G-Hotkey.
Here is the section of the Notes for this game profile based on my notes above:
Let's now move to the next tab at the top labeled Remap.
For Remap 1 I have set the Remap Key: to Enter and the To: key to Z/z. I also have checked the box Key Should Remain Depressed. In the Thief game I have set the Z key so it is binded to the creep movement. Now when I press the Enter key in the game the Z key will remain held down until I press the Enter key again. Also I have set the Key Delay (ms): to 1 for the remap so it executes fast and holds/releases the Z key properly. This is really nice so you can easily switch between creeping and the normal run/walk mode without having to hold down manually the key for creeping.
If you recall earlier the Key Release Key: was set to Esc. The reason for doing this is if you are holding down a key (you pressed the Enter key in the game to creep) and then you click on a book in the game to read its contents or if you are transitioning to a different level in the game - the game loses the information regarding the state of the key being held down. The only way to reset this status of any keys being held down then is to press the Esc key. As an example after you are done reading a book in the game press the Esc key so you reset the state of any keys being held down. Always do this instead of clicking on the Close button in the game for the book. If you don't do this then you may have to press the Enter key twice in the game to switch to a creep mode (since the game does not know if the Z key is being held down or not).
Here is the section of the Notes for this game profile based on my notes above:
Finally move to the next tab at the top labeled Macros.
For the Macro 1 I have set the Keys: to:
@key(F1)@key(Add)
This presses the following keys in the game: F1+. For special keys like the + (this is the + key on the numeric keypad) you will need to look these up in the virtualkeycodes.ini file. An icon for this file is located in the G-Hotkey program group. The Hotkey: for this macro is set to Divide (this is the / key on the numeric keypad). The reason for setting up this macro is so I can easily throw a flash bomb in the game by pressing just one key instead of two. In the Thief game I have set the F1 key so it is binded to the flash bomb and the + key to the use function. Also I have set the Key Delay (ms): to 1 so it executes fast.
For the Macro 2 I have set the Keys: to:
@key(F6)@key(Add)
This presses the following keys in the game: F6+. For special keys like the + (this is the + key on the numeric keypad) you will need to look these up in the virtualkeycodes.ini file. An icon for this file is located in the G-Hotkey program group. The Hotkey: for this macro is set to Multiply (this is the * key on the numeric keypad). The reason for setting up this macro is so I can easily throw a gas bomb in the game by pressing just one key instead of two. In the Thief game I have set the F6 key so it is binded to the gas bomb and the + key to the use function. Also I have set the Key Delay (ms): to 1 so it executes fast.
For the Macro 3 I have set the Keys: to:
@key(F5)@key(Add)
This presses the following keys in the game: F5+. For special keys like the + (this is the + key on the numeric keypad) you will need to look these up in the virtualkeycodes.ini file. An icon for this file is located in the G-Hotkey program group. The Hotkey: for this macro is set to Subtract (this is the - key on the numeric keypad). The reason for setting up this macro is so I can easily throw an oil flash in the game by pressing just one key instead of two. In the Thief game I have set the F5 key so it is binded to the oil flask and the + key to the use function. Also I have set the Key Delay (ms): to 1 so it executes fast.
Here is the section of the Notes for this game profile based on my notes above:
Now exit the G-Hotkey Editor and save your changes. This will bring you back to the main G-Hotkey screen. Select Thief - Deadly Shadows and click on the Run button to load the Thief - Deadly Shadows game.
You should now see before the game loads in your taskbar a green keyboard icon. This indicates that G-Hotkey is running (although G-Hotkey functions will not operate until 25 seconds). If you move your mouse pointer over this icon you will see the following pop-up: To deactivate G-Hotkey make sure the Scroll Lock key is on and press the F12 key.
I hope this helps get you started with using G-Hotkey in the game and the different ways in which it can be used.
Note: I originally provided a very brief description of Thief when I released one of the first versions of G-Hotkey. I decided to load up Thief again and see how it works now with the latest version of G-Hotkey 3.33. G-Hotkey now works perfectly with Thief and is much more functional. If you get a chance and play Thief again be sure to download Jon P.'s texture pack for the game at: www.graphics-by-john-p.co...ndex.shtml
First I created a new profile titled: Thief - Deadly Shadows and clicked on the Add Name to add it to the Current game list:. Next select Thief - Deadly Shadows with your mouse and click on the Edit button.
For this first screen you will need to set a key for the Deactivate Hotkeys Key:. For this example I have chosen the key F12.
Next a Location needs to be specified where the .lnk file is located for Thief - Deadly Shadows. If you click on the icon of the little document you can select this file. Usually you can find the .lnk file on your desktop. In the Select File dialog that is now open select the Desktop icon in the Look in: pull down box and select Play Thief - Deadly Shadows link file.
Next I am going to change the Load Time (secs): interval to 25 seconds since it takes about this much time for the game to load and initialize the game engine.
I don't like the dialog that displays: G-Hotkey is no longer active so I am going to check the Surpress Hotkeys Deactivation check box. In addition I'm going to check the Global Hotkeys check box as this game is unusual in that it uses different game window ID's instead of the same ID, so you need to enable Global Hotkeys otherwise G-Hotkey will exit while in the game.
To enable and disable the functions of G-Hotkey while I'm in the game I'm going to set the On/Off Hotkeys Key: to Scroll Lock.
I'm going to set the Priority: level to High. I had set it earlier to Normal, but noticed a problem with macros I had setup being sent to the screen at an inconsistent rate, sometimes keys would be sent to the screen faster and sometimes slower. Setting the Priority: to High resolved this problem. What is interesting is I'm noticing no performance loss in the game even though G-Hotkey is running at a high priority level.
Finally I'm going to set the Key Release Key: to Esc. I will explain later why this is set to the Escape key and when you should use it.
Here is the section of the Notes for this game profile based on my notes above:
Quote:
Title: Thief - Deadly Shadows; Load Time (secs): 25;
Deactivate Hotkeys Key: F12;
Location: CDocuments and Settings\All Users\Desktop\Play Thief - Deadly Shadows.lnk;
Surpress Hotkeys Deactivation: 1; Global Hotkeys: 1;
On/Off Hotkeys Key: Scroll Lock; Priority: High;
Key Release Key: Esc;
I would also like to have my game saved approximately every 8 minutes so I am going to fill out the Quick Save section.
For the Save Game File Location: click on the disk icon to the right and select the quick save file that the game uses. I found this out earlier by performing a quick save in the game and making a note at the time I made this quick save. I then exited the game and performed a search for all files modified that day and sorted by time modified - that way you can easily find this file. On my computer this file is located in the \Documents and Settings\Jesse\My Documents\Thief - Deadly Shadows\SaveGames\Current Save folder and the file name is metadata.ion.
For the Save Every (minutes): I have put in a value of 8 and set the Retry Interval (secs): to 30 to retry quick saving in the event I'm in a screen of the game that does not allow quick saving. I have also set a sound file by clicking on the icon to the right of Play Sound:. There are two reasons for doing so - one is to know a quick save is just about to occur and the other reason is for me to be able to disable quick saving immediately when I hear the sound file by pressing the key assigned to the On/Off QS Key:.
The Hotkey: is set to F10 as this is the key that is set in Thief for quick saving. I have set the On/Off QS Key: to Caps Lock so I can enable/disable quick saving without disabling all of the other functions in G-Hotkey.
Here is the section of the Notes for this game profile based on my notes above:
Quote:
Save Game File Location: C
Save Every (minutes): 8; Retry Interval (secs): 30; Play Sound: C
Hotkey: F10; On/Off QS Key: Caps Lock; Key Delay (ms): 120;
Let's now move to the next tab at the top labeled Remap.
For Remap 1 I have set the Remap Key: to Enter and the To: key to Z/z. I also have checked the box Key Should Remain Depressed. In the Thief game I have set the Z key so it is binded to the creep movement. Now when I press the Enter key in the game the Z key will remain held down until I press the Enter key again. Also I have set the Key Delay (ms): to 1 for the remap so it executes fast and holds/releases the Z key properly. This is really nice so you can easily switch between creeping and the normal run/walk mode without having to hold down manually the key for creeping.
If you recall earlier the Key Release Key: was set to Esc. The reason for doing this is if you are holding down a key (you pressed the Enter key in the game to creep) and then you click on a book in the game to read its contents or if you are transitioning to a different level in the game - the game loses the information regarding the state of the key being held down. The only way to reset this status of any keys being held down then is to press the Esc key. As an example after you are done reading a book in the game press the Esc key so you reset the state of any keys being held down. Always do this instead of clicking on the Close button in the game for the book. If you don't do this then you may have to press the Enter key twice in the game to switch to a creep mode (since the game does not know if the Z key is being held down or not).
Here is the section of the Notes for this game profile based on my notes above:
Quote:
Remap Key: Enter; To: Z/z;
Key Should Remain Depressed: 1; Rapid Fire: ; Key Delay (ms): 1;
Finally move to the next tab at the top labeled Macros.
For the Macro 1 I have set the Keys: to:
@key(F1)@key(Add)
This presses the following keys in the game: F1+. For special keys like the + (this is the + key on the numeric keypad) you will need to look these up in the virtualkeycodes.ini file. An icon for this file is located in the G-Hotkey program group. The Hotkey: for this macro is set to Divide (this is the / key on the numeric keypad). The reason for setting up this macro is so I can easily throw a flash bomb in the game by pressing just one key instead of two. In the Thief game I have set the F1 key so it is binded to the flash bomb and the + key to the use function. Also I have set the Key Delay (ms): to 1 so it executes fast.
For the Macro 2 I have set the Keys: to:
@key(F6)@key(Add)
This presses the following keys in the game: F6+. For special keys like the + (this is the + key on the numeric keypad) you will need to look these up in the virtualkeycodes.ini file. An icon for this file is located in the G-Hotkey program group. The Hotkey: for this macro is set to Multiply (this is the * key on the numeric keypad). The reason for setting up this macro is so I can easily throw a gas bomb in the game by pressing just one key instead of two. In the Thief game I have set the F6 key so it is binded to the gas bomb and the + key to the use function. Also I have set the Key Delay (ms): to 1 so it executes fast.
For the Macro 3 I have set the Keys: to:
@key(F5)@key(Add)
This presses the following keys in the game: F5+. For special keys like the + (this is the + key on the numeric keypad) you will need to look these up in the virtualkeycodes.ini file. An icon for this file is located in the G-Hotkey program group. The Hotkey: for this macro is set to Subtract (this is the - key on the numeric keypad). The reason for setting up this macro is so I can easily throw an oil flash in the game by pressing just one key instead of two. In the Thief game I have set the F5 key so it is binded to the oil flask and the + key to the use function. Also I have set the Key Delay (ms): to 1 so it executes fast.
Here is the section of the Notes for this game profile based on my notes above:
Quote:
Hotkey: Divide; Macro Keys: @key(F1)@key(Add);
Modifier: None; Key Delay (ms): 1;
Hotkey: Multiply; Macro Keys: @key(F6)@key(Add);
Modifier: None; Key Delay (ms): 1;
Hotkey: Subtract; Macro Keys: @key(F5)@key(Add);
Modifier: None; Key Delay (ms): 1;
Now exit the G-Hotkey Editor and save your changes. This will bring you back to the main G-Hotkey screen. Select Thief - Deadly Shadows and click on the Run button to load the Thief - Deadly Shadows game.
You should now see before the game loads in your taskbar a green keyboard icon. This indicates that G-Hotkey is running (although G-Hotkey functions will not operate until 25 seconds). If you move your mouse pointer over this icon you will see the following pop-up: To deactivate G-Hotkey make sure the Scroll Lock key is on and press the F12 key.
I hope this helps get you started with using G-Hotkey in the game and the different ways in which it can be used.
