Rotating Text File Help...

[BjorJlen]

Hi all...

   Recently, I have been attempting to create a rotating text bind, so at a push of a button, I can say things with my character(s). And while I know it cannot be random, I know there's a way to make one that reads off stuff in order. The guide I looked at also, I listed below. Unfortunately, after working on this for two days, I STILL haven't been able to get it to work. 😞 So in the hopes of figuring it out, and correcting it maybe even, I am here to show you what I have been working on (if you don't mind) and also look at it, and try it out yourself.

 

   Basically, I just wanted to create rotating text files that would say a joke in whatever chat I am in at the time with the press of the Z key (atm anyways). And then when I hit it again, it would move onto the next joke in the list. Unfortunately, as written, pressing the Z key only makes it read joke5, and then doesn't load up joke1 (or say any of the other jokes either). And yes, I have put all 5 text files in a folder called d&djokes, as shown below.

 

I also use this command line in game to load up the 1st joke file:
   /bindloadfile "C:\CoHRotatingBinds\d&djokes\joke1.txt"

 

   And so far, everything I have tried, doesn't work at all...  I used to be able to write up this kind of thing way back when, but apparently it kicks my butt now lol. So if you can, please have a look at my work, and if you can, also correct it for me so it does finally work please. That way I have at least the right stuff in the beginning to work off of. I am sorry to bother you with this, but I haven't had any luck with it so far...

Thanks...

 

   Here is one of the websites I have used to research this:

The Incomplete And Unofficial Guide To Binds

 

   And here are the text files I have been using...

    joke1
Z "say Wait. The Paladin who believes in the 'Sky Cow' doesn't believe in ghosts?!"$$bindloadfile "C:\CoHRotatingBinds\d&djokes\joke2.txt"

    joke2
Z "say What is a good D&D joke? THAC0!"$$bindloadfile "C:\CoHRotatingBinds\d&djokes\joke3.txt"

    joke3
Z "say Why do the elves have pointy ears? There’s got to be some point to elves."$$bindloadfile "C:\CoHRotatingBinds\d&djokes\joke4.txt"

    joke4
Z "say What forest animal helps the druid get that nice green color for their robe? A dyer wolf."$$bindloadfile "C:\CoHRotatingBinds\d&djokes\joke5.txt"

    joke5
Z "say What material is the magic skillet made of. It’s made of cast iron."$$bindloadfile "C:\CoHRotatingBinds\d&djokes\joke1.txt"

 

 

[Luminara]

Too many quotation marks.

 

29 minutes ago, BjorJlen said:

Z "say Wait. The Paladin who believes in the 'Sky Cow' doesn't believe in ghosts?!"$$bindloadfile "C:\CoHRotatingBinds\d&djokes\joke2.txt"

Remove the quotation marks here-------------------------------------------------------^ and here-----^

 

Z "say Wait. The Paladin who believes in the 'Sky Cow' doesn't believe in ghosts?!$$bindloadfile C:\CoHRotatingBinds\d&djokes\joke2.txt"

 

bindloadfilesilent would be more fluid, too.

 

Z "say Wait. The Paladin who believes in the 'Sky Cow' doesn't believe in ghosts?!$$bindloadfilesilent C:\CoHRotatingBinds\d&djokes\joke2.txt"

Z "say What is a good D&D joke? THAC0!$$bindloadfilesilent C:\CoHRotatingBinds\d&djokes\joke3.txt"
Z "say Why do the elves have pointy ears? There’s got to be some point to elves.$$bindloadfilesilent C:\CoHRotatingBinds\d&djokes\joke4.txt"
Z "say What forest animal helps the druid get that nice green color for their robe? A dyer wolf.$$bindloadfilesilent C:\CoHRotatingBinds\d&djokes\joke5.txt"
Z "say What material is the magic skillet made of. It’s made of cast iron.$$bindloadfilesilent C:\CoHRotatingBinds\d&djokes\joke1.txt"

[TheZag]

With the binds in CoH > settings > live > binds

 

I just use $$bindloadfilesilent binds\filename

 

It saves a bunch of characters over having to use the entire file path.  I think using something other than the homecoming launcher might look for the binds in a different location but the path above works for me on the homecoming launcher.

 

[BlackSpectre]

1 hour ago, TheZag said:

With the binds in CoH > settings > live > binds

 

I just use $$bindloadfilesilent binds\filename

 

It saves a bunch of characters over having to use the entire file path.  I think using something other than the homecoming launcher might look for the binds in a different location but the path above works for me on the homecoming launcher.

 

 

More info... https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Default_Folder

[Greycat]

Yeah, I specify mine, because I always put them in a c:\binds directory (sometimes, like with lyrics, in a subdirectory.)

[BjorJlen]

14 hours ago, Luminara said:

Too many quotation marks.

 

Remove the quotation marks here-------------------------------------------------------^ and here-----^

 

Z "say Wait. The Paladin who believes in the 'Sky Cow' doesn't believe in ghosts?!$$bindloadfile C:\CoHRotatingBinds\d&djokes\joke2.txt"

 

bindloadfilesilent would be more fluid, too.

 

Z "say Wait. The Paladin who believes in the 'Sky Cow' doesn't believe in ghosts?!$$bindloadfilesilent C:\CoHRotatingBinds\d&djokes\joke2.txt"

Z "say What is a good D&D joke? THAC0!$$bindloadfilesilent C:\CoHRotatingBinds\d&djokes\joke3.txt"
Z "say Why do the elves have pointy ears? There’s got to be some point to elves.$$bindloadfilesilent C:\CoHRotatingBinds\d&djokes\joke4.txt"
Z "say What forest animal helps the druid get that nice green color for their robe? A dyer wolf.$$bindloadfilesilent C:\CoHRotatingBinds\d&djokes\joke5.txt"
Z "say What material is the magic skillet made of. It’s made of cast iron.$$bindloadfilesilent C:\CoHRotatingBinds\d&djokes\joke1.txt"

 

   Ok, doing as you wrote, and using the binds you listed, trying them out they still do not work. Yes, it reads one bind find, but then when I hit the "Z" key again, it does not move to the next bind; it only still activates the first bind it read. Oh, and what exactly does the "silent" in "bindloadfilesilent" do exactly? I have never heard of that before. Oh and also, with these binds, do I need to place each one in their own separate folder, or can I store them all in one folder instead? Would that be why it is not working as written? And di you try these out yourself, and if so, did they work for you?

[srmalloy]

16 hours ago, BjorJlen said:

Recently, I have been attempting to create a rotating text bind, so at a push of a button, I can say things with my character(s). And while I know it cannot be random, I know there's a way to make one that reads off stuff in order.

Actually, you can do random; you just can't do it entirely inside the game. Back on Live, I had a Tanker with a bind file that loaded a bind that voiced an insult and fired Taunt. Where this became random was that there was a Perl script (I'd use PowerShell to recreate it today) that loaded a text file with a hundred or so insults and would loop, every couple of seconds overwriting that bind file with one that had a randomly-selected insult in the bind, so that each time the character used the bind, it would reload the bind with a different insult.

[TheZag]

Bindloadfilesilent will load the bind without spamming your chat that a bind was loaded.

 

Each bind needs to be its own file.  They can all be in the same folder but they need to be individual files.

 

[BjorJlen]

Thanks for the info @TheZag (and you too as well @srmalloy). Each bind is in its own file, but it still won't work. It keeps repeating the same bind repeatedly, and not move to the next one on the list. 😞 Its a bit frustrating, as I have no idea what is wrong with it, which is why I'd love for someone else to try it out too and see if they get the same results. Or just figure out what is wrong with it and/or rewrite them of course. 🙂

[AboveTheChemist]

59 minutes ago, BjorJlen said:

Oh, and what exactly does the "silent" in "bindloadfilesilent" do exactly? I have never heard of that before. Oh and also, with these binds, do I need to place each one in their own separate folder, or can I store them all in one folder instead?

 

The 'silent' part of the command executes the bind load without reporting confirmation/errors to the chat window. It reduces chat window clutter once you have the binds working as you want them. Along those lines, I'd get the binds working like you want them first, then add the 'silent'.

 

The binds do not need to go in individual folders. Grouping them with regard to the nature of the jokes, as you have done, is a reasonable approach.

 

I haven't tried the binds myself but comparing the edited ones that Luminara posted to some of my own rotating binds, I don't see any obvious issues. If you could post a screenshot of what you see in the chat window (preferably cropped to show just the chat window) when you try to execute the binds, that might help diagnose the problems you are seeing.

[BjorJlen]

Ok, I will give that a shot, thank you @AboveTheChemist... 🙂

[TheZag]

Does it need the plus +  to execute as a press/release bind?  Im not at home to check.

 

[BjorJlen]

I have no idea 😞

[AboveTheChemist]

9 minutes ago, TheZag said:

Does it need the plus +  to execute as a press/release bind?  Im not at home to check.

 

In this particular case I don't think it is needed, but there may be rotating bind setups that could use that functionality.

 

BjorJlen, you might also try using a forward slash ( / ) as the folder separator in your file paths. According to the wiki, some operating systems are sensitive to this. I use Windows and forward slashes and it works fine, but I think other Windows users use backward slashes with success as well, so Windows may not care. If you are on Mac or Linux, then the forward slash might be necessary.

 

Edited July 18, 2023 by AboveTheChemist
typo

[TheZag]

Wouldnt hurt to try then.  Stick a + between the open quote and the word say.

 

Z "+say

 

Or try    Z "+$$say

 

Edited July 18, 2023 by TheZag

[Luminara]

1 hour ago, BjorJlen said:

   Ok, doing as you wrote, and using the binds you listed, trying them out they still do not work. Yes, it reads one bind find, but then when I hit the "Z" key again, it does not move to the next bind; it only still activates the first bind it read. Oh, and what exactly does the "silent" in "bindloadfilesilent" do exactly? I have never heard of that before. Oh and also, with these binds, do I need to place each one in their own separate folder, or can I store them all in one folder instead? Would that be why it is not working as written? And di you try these out yourself, and if so, did they work for you?

 

I don't use separate folders for my binds, I dump everything in E:\Games\Homecoming\settings\live , and I used the H key instead of Z.  Other than removing the obstructive quotation marks, those were the only changes I made, and they work perfectly for me.  Either your path is wrong, or you're saving the text files with the wrong names or file type.  Those are the only things I can think of that would cause the text files to fail to load.

 

joke1.txtjoke2.txtjoke3.txtjoke4.txtjoke5.txt

 

As you can see from the attached files, I didn't even bother to change bindloadfile to bindloadfilesilent when I was isolating the problem with making them load properly.  And I can log in on any character and type /bindloadfile joke1.txt and everything works.

[BjorJlen]

   Ok, good news everyone. With all your help, especially @Luminara's, I FINALLY got it working. Besides changing where the folder was stored, I also changed the name of the "d&djokes" to "CoHJokes01" one instead. So I am wondering if the "&" actually had something to do with the difficulties, or if it was because I had too long of a file path, or even both. Ohhh we,, in either case it works perfectly now, so thank you one and all for your help in this endeavor. You all rock, thank you... 🙂

[AboveTheChemist]

10 hours ago, BjorJlen said:

So I am wondering if the "&" actually had something to do with the difficulties

 

I can confirm that folder names containing ampersands will cause the binds to fail. I tried the above files in a folder called 'test&test', and the binds failed to load. I changed the folder name to 'test_test' (and edited the bind files accordingly) and the binds loaded and rotated through the jokes as expected. I then repeated the test and saw the same results.

 

I doubt there were any issues with your file path length, but I did not test that aspect.

 

Edited July 19, 2023 by AboveTheChemist
clarification

[BjorJlen]

Awesome! 🙂

   Thank you so very much for confirming that @AboveTheChemist. At least now I'll know better than to use that symbol in any way in any binds I create in the future. 🙂 Thanks again...