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 Vampire Bloodlines. Each section is broken out based on the Notes feature of G-Hotkey so you can easily see how this is setup:
First I created a new profile titled: Vampire and clicked on the Add Name to add it to the Current game list:. Next select Vampire 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 Z.
Next a Location needs to be specified where the .lnk file is located for Vampire Bloodlines. 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 Vampire - The Masquerade Bloodlines link file.
Next I am going to change the Load Time (secs): interval to 40 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I don't like the dialog that displays: G-Hotkey is no longer active so I am going to check the Surpress Hotkeys Deactivation check box.
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.
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 \Games\Vampire - Bloodlines\Vampire\SAVE\ folder and the file name is quick.sav.
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 F9 as this is the key that is set in Vampire 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 Num Key 9 and the To: key to Left Mouse Btn. I also have checked the box Rapid Fire. In the Vampire game I have binded the left mouse button to the attack action. Now when I press and hold down the Num Key 9 in the game this simulates rapidly clicking the left mouse button and makes combat easier.
Now one of the side effects of mapping a key to a mouse button is that in some of the game menus the mouse button will automatically be held down. This is not a bug in G-Hotkey, but rather how DirectInput interprets mouse button activity. To fix this problem in some of the game menus just disable G-Hotkey temporarily by pressing the Scroll Lock key. When you are back in the active game window re-enable G-Hotkey by pressing the Scroll Lock key again.
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(til)draw@Shift(-)hud@key(spa)0@CR()@key(til)
This presses the following keys in the game: ~draw_hud 0<Enter>~. For special keys like the ~ and <space bar> 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 F4. The reason for setting up this macro is so I can disable the HUD in the game. Now I could have just as easily binded this macro in the configuration file for the game, but I'm just showing this as an example of what you can do from a console window.
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 Vampire and click on the Run button to load the Vampire - The Masquerade Bloodlines 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 40 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 Z/z 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.
First I created a new profile titled: Vampire and clicked on the Add Name to add it to the Current game list:. Next select Vampire 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 Z.
Next a Location needs to be specified where the .lnk file is located for Vampire Bloodlines. 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 Vampire - The Masquerade Bloodlines link file.
Next I am going to change the Load Time (secs): interval to 40 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.
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.
Here is the section of the Notes for this game profile based on my notes above:
Quote:
Title: Vampire; Load Time (secs): 40;
Deactivate Hotkeys Key: Z/z;
Location: CDocuments and Settings\All Users\Desktop\Vampire - The Masquerade Bloodlines.lnk;
Surpress Hotkeys Deactivation: 1; Global Hotkeys: ;
On/Off Hotkeys Key: Scroll Lock; Priority: High;
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 \Games\Vampire - Bloodlines\Vampire\SAVE\ folder and the file name is quick.sav.
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 F9 as this is the key that is set in Vampire 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: F9; 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 Num Key 9 and the To: key to Left Mouse Btn. I also have checked the box Rapid Fire. In the Vampire game I have binded the left mouse button to the attack action. Now when I press and hold down the Num Key 9 in the game this simulates rapidly clicking the left mouse button and makes combat easier.
Now one of the side effects of mapping a key to a mouse button is that in some of the game menus the mouse button will automatically be held down. This is not a bug in G-Hotkey, but rather how DirectInput interprets mouse button activity. To fix this problem in some of the game menus just disable G-Hotkey temporarily by pressing the Scroll Lock key. When you are back in the active game window re-enable G-Hotkey by pressing the Scroll Lock key again.
Here is the section of the Notes for this game profile based on my notes above:
Quote:
Remap Key: Num Key 9; To: Left Mouse Btn;
Key Should Remain Depressed: ; Rapid Fire: 1; Key Delay (ms): 20;
Finally move to the next tab at the top labeled Macros.
For the Macro 1 I have set the Keys: to:
@key(til)draw@Shift(-)hud@key(spa)0@CR()@key(til)
This presses the following keys in the game: ~draw_hud 0<Enter>~. For special keys like the ~ and <space bar> 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 F4. The reason for setting up this macro is so I can disable the HUD in the game. Now I could have just as easily binded this macro in the configuration file for the game, but I'm just showing this as an example of what you can do from a console window.
Here is the section of the Notes for this game profile based on my notes above:
Quote:
Hotkey: F4; Macro Keys: @key(til)draw@Shift(-)hud@key(spa)0@CR()@key(til);
Modifier: None; Key Delay (ms): 20;
Now exit the G-Hotkey Editor and save your changes. This will bring you back to the main G-Hotkey screen. Select Vampire and click on the Run button to load the Vampire - The Masquerade Bloodlines 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 40 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 Z/z 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.
