Aurora 4x

New Players => VB Tutorials => Topic started by: Reverie on February 05, 2014, 07:49:23 PM

Title: Efficient Numpad Workaround
Post by: Reverie on February 05, 2014, 07:49:23 PM
For those of us who play on keyboards lacking a numeric keypad, there are nice third-party alternatives that should work with all systems--including those which do not have a numpad handily embedded elsewhere.  For this tutorial, we will be using AutoHotKey (www.autohotkey.com), one of several good key remappers which will allow for map moving and zooming controls for users sorely lacking in the full-keyboard department! (Yay!)
I'll outline the few basic steps I've taken to making this game as enjoyable for me as it would have been if I had proper typing equipment:

1: Download the above program and install it.  There are no sneaky Bing toolbars though, which is nice
2: Once that is done, right click on empty space (like the desktop or in a handy folder) and select New>>AutoHotkey Script
3: A new ahk file should appear where you right-clicked (rename it to something like 'Numpad Alt')
4: Right click on our shiny new file and select Edit Script
5: There should be stuff already in here, but it's not necessary for us to worry about that.   Copy and paste the following in a new line:

+Up::Numpad8
+Left::Numpad4
+Right::Numpad6
+Down::Numpad2
+=::NumpadAdd
+-::NumpadSub

Essentially, '+' denotes a 'Shift' press, so 'Shift' + 'Arrow Key' will replace the orthogonal 2-4-6-8 directions on the numpad.  'Shift' + '=' and 'Shift' + '-' will zoom you in and out in the map view, respectively.  If you would like to tweak this better to suit you, the help files of the program are usually adequate to get you started.            

6: Save the file
7: Important: Do not double-click the program to run it--right click and run as administrator.  (Note: The ahk file will appear on your hotbar, and can be terminated there when you are finished with your game session)
9: The game map should now respond to these new keys as it would for its numpad equivalents, with minimal interference to other shortcuts and with the cushy convenience of a fat shift key!
Title: Re: Efficient Numpad Workaround
Post by: madgabz on April 23, 2016, 03:56:30 AM
As a note, this is true for users using English Keyboard.  I'm on Danish Keyboard layout, the '-'-key (minus) doesn't work with ALT (! in AutoHotKey) so when tampering with alternative keys in autohotkey, please beware! :)