Thu Feb 16, 2012 8:42 pm
LOTRO Setup part Deaux - Fun with Variable Keystrokes
It has been some time since my post about how to setup and configure Virtual mapped keys (aka VKeys or VMK) to allow for handling the select and assist functions in LOTRO. Since that time, ISBoxer has gained many new features, one of which is Variable Keystrokes (aka VKS). When Lax first mentioned the feature to me as something I might be interested in I must say I certainly was intrigued. However, my configuration worked as it was and when I first looked into VKS I had a hard time wrapping my head around what it was going to take to make this work given the peculiarities of how fellowships in LOTRO are presented from the perspective of each of the members of the fellowship. That being said however, once I actually sat down and did spend time thinking it through and then finally implementing it, I have to say it is much simpler than the VMK setup, particularly for the new ISBoxer user. I still believe the VMK setup offers a greater flexibility for many things beyond just the ability to select / assist what ever toon you happen to be controlling at the time, but for a new user starting out and perhaps for even the advanced user that prefers something easier to maintain and extend VKS is the way to go.
I will not go into detail on what VKS is since Lax has already done that for us in his post "HOWTO: Easily set up follow/assist any window in any game" found here http://isboxer.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=1941&p=7873&hilit=variable+keystrokes#p7873. Instead, I will attempt to describe the steps needed to use it for a LOTRO setup to allow the 2 functions; select and assist. One thing I will note before starting is my recommendation for naming convention along with my rational for why it matters. When I first started playing with VKS the temptation was to create a set of VKS named F1-F6. Doing this however, leads you down a path of potential confusion and for me at least made things harder to reconcile as to what is needed for this to work. The point is that for me at least, it helps to use names that are abstracted from anything directly related to a game function and keep things more related to your ISBoxer setup. So, as you will note in my setup described below I start with a set of basic VKS named SelectSlot1 through SelectSlot6 since the slots are character set related and not game or fellowship order related. I also assume slot1 will be the fellowship leader and that in game, the toons will be invited into the fellowship in slot order. It should also be noted that this config only is intended for a character set running on a single computer. While it would be possible to create a character set that could be included in the "Also launch" and made to work in a similar manner, the also launched character set would not be able to run stand alone and still function (as far as the select and assist functions are concerned that is).
So lets get to the setup:
1) The initial step is to go to the top level "Variable Keystrokes" tab as found in the upper left portion of the ISBoxer UI (where the Character sets and Key Maps are found as well).
2) After selecting "Variable Keystrokes" in the upper left, right click on the "Variable Keystrokes" in the lower left and choose "New Variable Keystroke". Name it SelectSlot1 and assign the Default Key Combination of F1.
3) Repeat step 2 five more times for SelectSlot2 through SelectSlot6 where they are assign F2 through F6.
4) Now on your character set of choice (selected from the upper left after opening the Character Sets node), open up your Slots in the lower left portion of the UI for your character set and select slot 2 (we do not have to make any changes for our slot 1 from the defaults already set) and then go to the Variable Keystrokes tab in the lower right portion of the UI. You are going to need 2 VKS for this slot, one that maps SelectSlot1 to an F2 key (this VKS is going to be needed on every slot in your team) and a second that maps SelectSlot2 to an F1 (since for slot 2 to select himself he will need to be sent an F1).
5) Now, select your slot 3 (if you have one) from the lower left portion of the UI for the character set. For this slot we will need 3 VKS. One to map SelectSlot1 to F2 (as indicated in step 4), a second that maps SelectSlot2 to an F3 and the third will map SelectSlot3 to F1 (slot 3 selects self with F1).
6) Now, select your slot 4 (if you have one) from the lower left portion of the UI for the character set. For this slot we will need 3 VKS. One to map SelectSlot1 to F2 (as indicated in step 4), a second that maps SelectSlot2 to an F4 and the third will map SelectSlot4 to F1 (slot 4 selects self with F1).
7) Now, select your slot 5 (if you have one) from the lower left portion of the UI for the character set. For this slot we will need 4 VKS. One to map SelectSlot1 to F2 (as indicated in step 4), a second that maps SelectSlot2 to an F4, the third will map SelectSlot4 to F5 and a fourth that will map SelectSlot5 to F1 (slot 5 selects self with F1).
8) Now, select your slot 6 (if you have one) from the lower left portion of the UI for the character set. For this slot we will need 5 VKS. One to map SelectSlot1 to F2 (as indicated in step 4), a second that maps SelectSlot2 to an F4, the third will map SelectSlot4 to F5, the fourth that will map SelectSlot5 to F6 and the fifth to map SelectSlot6 to F1 (slot 6 selects self with F1).
Ok, that's it for the major portion of the setup. Now you just need mapped key that will take advantage of this. I am going to assume that you are familiar with the steps needed to created a new mapped key and that you can select some hotkey to assign to your mapped key. I use a mouse 5 for my select hotkey, but this is going to be up to user preference. Once you have create a mapped key, the magic sauce is the action that you put on your step 1 (assumes only a 1 step mapped key, but you can use a 2 step "press OR release" mapped key if you want to put the select on step 1 and the follow on step 2, but that is not required)
9) After selecting your Key Map from the upper left portion of the UI and then creating your mapped key in the lower left portion of the UI. Select your step 1 under steps (lower left) and then add an action found under "Keystroke Actions" -> "New Variable Keystroke Action". What you want here is to set your target to "Window: All w/o current" and set your variable keystroke to "SelectSlot{SLOT}" (without the quotes). You will not find that in the options from the pulldown, so you can choose any of the SelectSlot options and then edit it to look like what I show above.
And that is all there is to the basic setup for select. The portion in the {SLOT} is the variable piece that will get set based on which slot you are controlling at the time. What this does is it will send the appropriate SelectSlot to all the other members of your team. Based on the configuration we did on our character set at the slot level, each team member will then know how to translate this into the appropriate F key to select the fellow. You could change your target to "All with current" which would cause the toon you are controlling to select himself, but I personally do not want the one I control to change target so I use what I show above. You can adjust your configuration as needed / desired. You could even create 2 mapped keys where one is All w/o current and the other is All with current.
Now, if you have followed this far and tested it and it is working as expected for your team, you have the basis for also creating the Assist function. Just repeat all the above steps and substitute AssistSlot for everywhere you see SelectSlot and then substitute Shift+F keys for all the F keys (assuming your assist in-game mappings are default). Once you are done, you will need another mapped key to fire the assist.
For the select function keep in mind that in LOTRO there are a few caveats you will want to avoid. If a team member has a pet and or you are in a skirmish where everyone has pets, you can select a team member using an F key, but once selected if you hit that same F key again, you will then select the member's pet. So, in a more advanced setup you may want to first clear any selection by selecting self (F1) before then performing the actual select your desire... There are ways to work around this, but the main point is just be aware that this "feature" exists so you can predict how your setup is going to work...
NOTE: Do not forget to go to the file menu and "Export all to InnerSpace" so that your hard work gets saved and made available to InnerSpace. This is an easy step to overlook and you will be wondering why your new setup is not working...
So, that's it for now... Simple enough to get going and works very well.
Enjoy, and happy questing in Middle Earth...
Cheers,
creo
I will not go into detail on what VKS is since Lax has already done that for us in his post "HOWTO: Easily set up follow/assist any window in any game" found here http://isboxer.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=1941&p=7873&hilit=variable+keystrokes#p7873. Instead, I will attempt to describe the steps needed to use it for a LOTRO setup to allow the 2 functions; select and assist. One thing I will note before starting is my recommendation for naming convention along with my rational for why it matters. When I first started playing with VKS the temptation was to create a set of VKS named F1-F6. Doing this however, leads you down a path of potential confusion and for me at least made things harder to reconcile as to what is needed for this to work. The point is that for me at least, it helps to use names that are abstracted from anything directly related to a game function and keep things more related to your ISBoxer setup. So, as you will note in my setup described below I start with a set of basic VKS named SelectSlot1 through SelectSlot6 since the slots are character set related and not game or fellowship order related. I also assume slot1 will be the fellowship leader and that in game, the toons will be invited into the fellowship in slot order. It should also be noted that this config only is intended for a character set running on a single computer. While it would be possible to create a character set that could be included in the "Also launch" and made to work in a similar manner, the also launched character set would not be able to run stand alone and still function (as far as the select and assist functions are concerned that is).
So lets get to the setup:
1) The initial step is to go to the top level "Variable Keystrokes" tab as found in the upper left portion of the ISBoxer UI (where the Character sets and Key Maps are found as well).
2) After selecting "Variable Keystrokes" in the upper left, right click on the "Variable Keystrokes" in the lower left and choose "New Variable Keystroke". Name it SelectSlot1 and assign the Default Key Combination of F1.
3) Repeat step 2 five more times for SelectSlot2 through SelectSlot6 where they are assign F2 through F6.
4) Now on your character set of choice (selected from the upper left after opening the Character Sets node), open up your Slots in the lower left portion of the UI for your character set and select slot 2 (we do not have to make any changes for our slot 1 from the defaults already set) and then go to the Variable Keystrokes tab in the lower right portion of the UI. You are going to need 2 VKS for this slot, one that maps SelectSlot1 to an F2 key (this VKS is going to be needed on every slot in your team) and a second that maps SelectSlot2 to an F1 (since for slot 2 to select himself he will need to be sent an F1).
5) Now, select your slot 3 (if you have one) from the lower left portion of the UI for the character set. For this slot we will need 3 VKS. One to map SelectSlot1 to F2 (as indicated in step 4), a second that maps SelectSlot2 to an F3 and the third will map SelectSlot3 to F1 (slot 3 selects self with F1).
6) Now, select your slot 4 (if you have one) from the lower left portion of the UI for the character set. For this slot we will need 3 VKS. One to map SelectSlot1 to F2 (as indicated in step 4), a second that maps SelectSlot2 to an F4 and the third will map SelectSlot4 to F1 (slot 4 selects self with F1).
7) Now, select your slot 5 (if you have one) from the lower left portion of the UI for the character set. For this slot we will need 4 VKS. One to map SelectSlot1 to F2 (as indicated in step 4), a second that maps SelectSlot2 to an F4, the third will map SelectSlot4 to F5 and a fourth that will map SelectSlot5 to F1 (slot 5 selects self with F1).
8) Now, select your slot 6 (if you have one) from the lower left portion of the UI for the character set. For this slot we will need 5 VKS. One to map SelectSlot1 to F2 (as indicated in step 4), a second that maps SelectSlot2 to an F4, the third will map SelectSlot4 to F5, the fourth that will map SelectSlot5 to F6 and the fifth to map SelectSlot6 to F1 (slot 6 selects self with F1).
Ok, that's it for the major portion of the setup. Now you just need mapped key that will take advantage of this. I am going to assume that you are familiar with the steps needed to created a new mapped key and that you can select some hotkey to assign to your mapped key. I use a mouse 5 for my select hotkey, but this is going to be up to user preference. Once you have create a mapped key, the magic sauce is the action that you put on your step 1 (assumes only a 1 step mapped key, but you can use a 2 step "press OR release" mapped key if you want to put the select on step 1 and the follow on step 2, but that is not required)
9) After selecting your Key Map from the upper left portion of the UI and then creating your mapped key in the lower left portion of the UI. Select your step 1 under steps (lower left) and then add an action found under "Keystroke Actions" -> "New Variable Keystroke Action". What you want here is to set your target to "Window: All w/o current" and set your variable keystroke to "SelectSlot{SLOT}" (without the quotes). You will not find that in the options from the pulldown, so you can choose any of the SelectSlot options and then edit it to look like what I show above.
And that is all there is to the basic setup for select. The portion in the {SLOT} is the variable piece that will get set based on which slot you are controlling at the time. What this does is it will send the appropriate SelectSlot to all the other members of your team. Based on the configuration we did on our character set at the slot level, each team member will then know how to translate this into the appropriate F key to select the fellow. You could change your target to "All with current" which would cause the toon you are controlling to select himself, but I personally do not want the one I control to change target so I use what I show above. You can adjust your configuration as needed / desired. You could even create 2 mapped keys where one is All w/o current and the other is All with current.
Now, if you have followed this far and tested it and it is working as expected for your team, you have the basis for also creating the Assist function. Just repeat all the above steps and substitute AssistSlot for everywhere you see SelectSlot and then substitute Shift+F keys for all the F keys (assuming your assist in-game mappings are default). Once you are done, you will need another mapped key to fire the assist.
For the select function keep in mind that in LOTRO there are a few caveats you will want to avoid. If a team member has a pet and or you are in a skirmish where everyone has pets, you can select a team member using an F key, but once selected if you hit that same F key again, you will then select the member's pet. So, in a more advanced setup you may want to first clear any selection by selecting self (F1) before then performing the actual select your desire... There are ways to work around this, but the main point is just be aware that this "feature" exists so you can predict how your setup is going to work...
NOTE: Do not forget to go to the file menu and "Export all to InnerSpace" so that your hard work gets saved and made available to InnerSpace. This is an easy step to overlook and you will be wondering why your new setup is not working...
So, that's it for now... Simple enough to get going and works very well.
Enjoy, and happy questing in Middle Earth...
Cheers,
creo
Last edited by creo on Thu Jan 03, 2013 2:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
