Previously Undiscovered Key Names for Binds

[BlackSpectre]

Just a heads up, after looking through the data files of the game, I have found about 15 additional key names not previously documented that can be used with binds. I've added them to the Homecoming Wiki.

 

Off the top of my head, some of the new key names are:

F13, F14, F15

ENTER, RETURN

RWIN

LWIN

WHEELPLUS

WHEELMINUS

3 JAPANESE KEYS (KANA, CONVERT, & KANJI)

and a bunch of secondary key names. 

 

When I was updating the wiki page, I was surprised to find out that the original ParagonWiki page was taken from a post of mine from way back on the Live forums.  I didn't realize it at first, and then slowly it dawned on me, "Wait -- a -- minute...." LOL

 

 Anyway, with the addition of the new key names, the list of key names is now officially complete.  I thought it was complete before, but actually having the game code to look at helps to know it for certain. 🙂

 

 

[Greycat]

*Can* RWIN and LWIN - much less enter/return - be rebound? I could see those being problematic.  The wheelplus and wheelminus may be pre-set to zoom in and out.

 

F13, 14 and 15, I think we'd need someone with a Mac keyboard to check on (otherwise there *are* ways of rebinding other keys... unless someone has an ancient 24 F-key keyboard to check on...)

 

Edit: Did a quick test with LWIN on ... well, test. (Just a /bind lwin l Hello There.) It does put out the text, but also brings up the WIndows menu, so if you want to use these, you'll have to disable that... I don't know if the keyboard switches some KBs have - usually for "game mode" - physically disable the switch or just remove its "Bring up the Windows menu" programming. On my Corsair KB, it renders the switch completely non functional.)

 

(Edit 2: Works on a Mac keyboard, as expected, with no impact at all that I can find on a PC kb without something previously mapped to call itself "F13" or the like.)

 

Edited July 19, 2023 by Greycat

[BlackSpectre]

On 7/19/2023 at 9:53 AM, Greycat said:

*Can* RWIN and LWIN - much less enter/return - be rebound? I could see those being problematic.  The wheelplus and wheelminus may be pre-set to zoom in and out.

Yep! They can be rebound. WHEELPLUS and WHEELMINUS are not preset to do anything. MOUSEWHEEL is bound by default to the +camdistadjust command, but that can be rebound as well if desired. All 3 commands deal with rotating the mouse wheel. WHEELPLUS is rotating it forward, WHEELMINUS is rotating it backward, and MOUSEWHEEL is rotating it either forward or backward. The interesting thing is that you can actually bind a different command on each mouse wheel key and each command will not only work, but 2 of the commands will be executed at the same time (either MOUSEWHEEL & WHEELPLUS or MOUSEWHEEL & WHEELMINUS).  Check out the wiki page, I have little notes next to most of the confusing or potentially problematic keys. 

 

And yes, I prefer ENTER/RETURN as it's bound by default, but not everyone does. Many add an AFK bind to the key, but they still keep the "show chat$$startchat" commands on it. Others might prefer some other way to doing things... meh. All good.

 

 

On 7/19/2023 at 9:53 AM, Greycat said:

F13, 14 and 15, I think we'd need someone with a Mac keyboard to check on (otherwise there *are* ways of rebinding other keys... unless someone has an ancient 24 F-key keyboard to check on...)

Already did. I was lucky enough to be visiting a friend for vacation, and he had 4 other Mac keyboards (I already had 2), and he allowed me to use them to test. Was pretty cool. What I did notice is that one Mac keyboard needed to hold down SHIFT and press the F13 and F14 keys for the game to register them. The F keys on other Mac keyboards worked as expected. 

 

On 7/19/2023 at 9:53 AM, Greycat said:

Edit: Did a quick test with LWIN on ... well, test. (Just a /bind lwin l Hello There.) It does put out the text, but also brings up the WIndows menu, so if you want to use these, you'll have to disable that... I don't know if the keyboard switches some KBs have - usually for "game mode" - physically disable the switch or just remove its "Bring up the Windows menu" programming. On my Corsair KB, it renders the switch completely non functional.)

 

Yep, the Windows key is a pain. But it's a known pain. PC gamers all over the world disable the Windows key to prevent them from accidentally pressing that key and activating the start menu in the middle of playing games, blocking the screen while simultaneously changing the focus from the game and booting them out into Windows. Some go looking for a gaming keyboard that has a switch that disables the Windows key, or a keyboard that is so old that it doesn't have the Windows key. Others disable it by editing the Windows registry, but I've found the easiest and quickest solution is to use a little free app called Winkill.  You put it where ever you want on your hard drive, and create a shortcut to the .exe file. When you run it, it pops up in the system tray (the little rectangle that pops up when you click on the arrow in the lower right corner, next to the time). You just click it in there to toggle the Windows key off, click it again to toggle it back on. To be clear, it's actually not disabling the key, it's disabling the shortcut assigned to the key that pops up the Start menu. This way you can decide if you want it on or not. It stays off until you toggle it back on or you restart your computer. I've added it to my start items so that it starts up automatically when I boot up my computer.  Great little app.

 

 

On 7/19/2023 at 9:53 AM, Greycat said:

(Edit 2: Works on a Mac keyboard, as expected, with no impact at all that I can find on a PC kb without something previously mapped to call itself "F13" or the like.)

 

 

Thanks for checking out the key names. I try to be thorough and empirical, but it always helps to have someone else check things too. 🙂

 

 

P.S. The only key names I did not test were the 3 Japanese keyboard keys because, well, I don't have a Japanese keyboard.

 

 

 

Edited July 24, 2023 by BlackSpectre

[BlackSpectre]

Speaking of WHEELPLUS AND WHEELMINUS...

 

Taxing my brain for what we could use these two key names for, I came up with the idea to add tilt to the mouse wheel's camera zoom. I left the standard bind on the mouse wheel. So the binds look like this:

 

MOUSEWHEEL "+camdistadjust"

WHEELPLUS "+lookup"

WHEELMINUS "+lookdown"

 

There are times when I want to zoom in and look up, and zoom out and look down. What actually happens when you spin the mouse wheel changes depending on how fast you spin it. It's interesting. I'm going to play around with this for a few days and see if it annoys or helps.