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About this mod
*32 quick-use slots organized in a virtual 4x8 table *** *Access by the usual 8 keys and one additional key *** *No modifier keys *** *Assign items and spells with standard game mechanisms - no added in-game menus
- Permissions and credits
Name: Yet Another Hotkey Mod
Version: 1.10b
Date: 2009-01-31
Category: User Interface
Requirements: Oblivion Patch 1.2.0.214, Oblivion Script Extender v16
Author(s): Ieldra
For upgrading users: Please note the changed compatibility section!
Highlights:
===========
-32 quick-use slots organized in a virtual table of 4 rows by 8 columns
-hotkey cycling of single slots OR a whole row of 8
-no modifier keys, no additional in-game menus
-uses the standard Oblivion selection wheel to set quick-use keys
-uses only one additional key
-configurable feedback
Why Yet Another Hotkey Mod?
===========================
Yes, there are a dozen or two hotkey mods avaiable to players. But they all don't do what I wanted. For one, as applied to spells, most of them focus on giving you additional *casting* keys, not selection keys. I'm comfortable with the standard Oblivion mechanism of select and use. Second, most hotkey mods work through liberal application of modifier keys, making you wish for a set of 3 tentacles coming out of your nose. Where both go together, you need to hit something like RIGHT-CTRL + RIGHT-ALT + NUM4 to cast a spell. Imagine doing that with attack spells! Third, there are one or two "cycler" mods which almost do what I wanted to have, but they are either awkward to set up, use additional inventory items (unnecessary with OBSE 15 and up), have issues with stability, or any combination of these. And finally, I found cycling through a set of 30 or so quick-use slots linearly not very useful, even if you use the mouse wheel, because that way the items and spells are even more far away than if you use modifier keys.
So here comes Yet Another Hotkey Mod, a hotkey cycling mod which attempts to avoid these issues:
Description
===========
Basic functionality - hotkey cycling:
This mod adds 24 additional quick-use slots, for a total of 32. They are organized in 4 sets of 8. You can think of them as a table with 4 rows and 8 columns. At any time, one of the rows is mapped to the standard Oblivion quick-use keys, from where the 8 slots in this row can be changed and used as usual.
You can cycle a single quick-use key slot through its table column by pressing the key itself. This functions like this: if you press a quick-use key, and the item on it is *not* already selected or equipped, it will be selected or equipped as usual. If you press the key when it is already selected, then the keyed item will cycle and the one in the next row will be selected or equipped. This type of cycling skips empty spaces in the table, so if you have only one slot of a column filled, nothing will happen.
You can cycle the whole table down one row by using the additional cycle key (default "v"). This will change all 8 quick-use slots at the same time, not skip empty rows and functions in inventory mode as well, so you can use this type of cycling to set your quick-use table up. For a very easy browse through the whole table, go into the inventory, keep a quick-use key pressed and hit the cycle key. The wheel will immediately be filled with the contents of the next row.
The default setting for the cycle key is "v" (scancode 47).
AutoEquip for table cycling:
If you use the cycle key to cycle whole rows of the hotkey table, *all* out-cycled slots will be checked for selected or equipped items. For every slot with an equipped/selected item, the item from the next row will automatically be equipped or selected. This is called AutoEquip. You can switch this off by setting the AutoEquip parameters in the .ini file to 0. If set to 0, the set of 8 hotkeys will change when you hit the cycle key, but nothing will be equipped or selected unless the quick-use keys themselves are used.
The default setting for AutoEquip is "on" for all 8 columns.
Configurable feedback:
You can tell the mod to give you a message every time a keyed item is selected or equipped by using a quick-use key. There are three settings:
(1) Off. You will get no additional messages, and if you cycle the whole table, standard equip/unequip messages will be suppressed.
(2) On for everything. Whenever a spell is selected or an item equipped, you will get a message.
(3) On for spells, off for gear. You will get a message every time your spell selection changes. You get the same type of message when cycling resulted in no change because of empty slots.
The default setting for cycling feedback is "on for spells, off for gear".
Change configuration parameters in the .ini file:
YetAnotherHotkeyMod.ini contains all configurable parameters. Use a text editor to change them. They are documented in the .ini file itself. The archive contains a list of keycodes.
Required tools and mods
=======================
Oblivion Script Extender v16
Get the latest version at http://obse.silverlock.org/
Install/Upgrade
===============
(1) Extract the files in the archive to your Oblivion\Data folder.
(2) Make any desired changes in YetAnotherHotkeyMod.ini
(3) Activate as usual by checking the mod in the "Data Files" Tab of the Oblivion launcher,
or in Wrye Bash or OBMM.
There should be no problem with upgrading. Just overwrite the files.
The archive should contain these files:
YetAnotherHotKeyMod.esp
YetAnotherHotKeyMod.ini
YetAnotherHotKeyMod_Readme.txt (this file)
KeycodeList.txt (for your convenience - the mod doesn't need this)
Uninstall
=========
Deactivate as usual by unchecking the mod in the "Data Files" Windows of the Oblivion launcher, or in Wrye Bash or OBMM.
Delete the following files from your Oblivion\Data folder
YetAnotherHotKeyMod.esp
YetAnotherHotKeyMod.ini
YetAnotherHotKeyMod_readme.txt
KeycodeList.txt
Using the mod
=============
Setting up your quick-use keys:
Load your game and enter the inventory or spell menu. When you hit a quick-use key here, you'll see the wheel with your assigned quick-use slots as usual. This is now the first row of the virtual hotkey table. When you hit the cycle key, the mod will store this row and cycle down one row, leaving you with an empty wheel to assign 8 more quick-use keys. Repeat this until you have filled all four rows. Hitting the cycle key again in row 4 will show your original quick-use slots again.
Using your quick-use keys:
Use any quick-use key to cycle down a column of the table, leaving the other quick-use slots untouched. Use the cycle key to cycle away a row of 8 keyed items and replace them with the items from next row of the table.
Notes:
(1) Using different types of equipment in one table column may have confusing results, as the items might be equipped in different slots or in different ways. This is unavoidable, since I don't want to prevent players from putting what they want into the table. Even so I consider it best only to put items that are equipped in the same gear slot into one column, i.e. only weapons, only amulets etc..
(2) Certain item types have a standard "equipping" behaviour that might not be what you want, for instance books you "equip" are opened to read, potions you "equip" are used. This mod doesn't prevent such behaviour.
(3) Items that have a standard "equipping" behaviour, but don't stay equipped (i.e. books), break the chain when you cycle them in. Keep such items out of your quick-use key table!!
(In)compatibility
=================
(1) This mod conflicts with Supreme Magicka 0.86 and later in the following way: due to SM's summoning-spell redirection system, any active summoning spells can't be cycled away. All other spells work.
(2) This mod is incompatible with any other mod that changes the behavior of the standard quick-use function.
This version is, unfortunately, not out-of-the-box-compatible any more with mods that change the standard quick-use keys. If you have such a mod or have used an .ini tweak to change your quick-use keys, then change the quick-use key section of YetAnotherHotkeyMod.ini to reflect those changes.
(3) This mod should be compatible with mods that add other quick-use keys, as long as they don't change the behaviour of the standard ones.
Things to do / Known Issues
===========================
-I'm looking for a way to make this auto-compatible with changed quick-use keys (Grrr.. why did Bethesda use hex encoding for the keys)
-I'm also looking for a way to make the equip / unequip-message optional for everything. Since for single-slot cycling, my mod doesn't actually equip anything but only sets the stage for the game to equip the desired item, I have no way to suppress standard equip messages, making for inconsistent behaviour between the two types of cycling. No luck so far looking for a solution.
-The restriction on AutoEquip to weapons, armor, clothing, books and spells is still active when you cycle the whole table, but not for cycling single slots since AutoEquip can't be disabled there. Should not be a problem for now. I'll clean this up in the next version.
-There are some items with usage limited by script. In my games, these scripts do not always kick in if the item in question is equipped using a quick-use key instead of in the inventory. A strange side effect is that standard equip messages sometimes do not appear for these items. My mod is not responsible for this, but it makes it more noticeable.
History
=======
1.10b, 2009-01-31 - added single-key cycling
1.02b, 2009-01-25 - added cycling feedback and the ability to cycle in inventory mode
1.01b, 2009-01-24 - added the keycode list to the archive
1.00b, 2009-01-24 - Initial release.
Contact
=======
Release thread on the official Elder Scrolls forums, forum "Oblivion Mods":
http://www.bethsoft.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=946396
Or send me a message through the Elder Scrolls forums:
http://www.bethsoft.com/bgsforums/index.php?showuser=47979
Credits
=======
Thanks to the creators of the Oblivion Script Extender, without which this would have been impossible.
(http://obse.silverlock.org/)
Thanks to the creators the Elder Scrolls Construction Set Wiki, without which I would never
have learned what I needed to finish this.
(http://cs.elderscrolls.com/constwiki/index.php/Main_Page)
Version: 1.10b
Date: 2009-01-31
Category: User Interface
Requirements: Oblivion Patch 1.2.0.214, Oblivion Script Extender v16
Author(s): Ieldra
For upgrading users: Please note the changed compatibility section!
Highlights:
===========
-32 quick-use slots organized in a virtual table of 4 rows by 8 columns
-hotkey cycling of single slots OR a whole row of 8
-no modifier keys, no additional in-game menus
-uses the standard Oblivion selection wheel to set quick-use keys
-uses only one additional key
-configurable feedback
Why Yet Another Hotkey Mod?
===========================
Yes, there are a dozen or two hotkey mods avaiable to players. But they all don't do what I wanted. For one, as applied to spells, most of them focus on giving you additional *casting* keys, not selection keys. I'm comfortable with the standard Oblivion mechanism of select and use. Second, most hotkey mods work through liberal application of modifier keys, making you wish for a set of 3 tentacles coming out of your nose. Where both go together, you need to hit something like RIGHT-CTRL + RIGHT-ALT + NUM4 to cast a spell. Imagine doing that with attack spells! Third, there are one or two "cycler" mods which almost do what I wanted to have, but they are either awkward to set up, use additional inventory items (unnecessary with OBSE 15 and up), have issues with stability, or any combination of these. And finally, I found cycling through a set of 30 or so quick-use slots linearly not very useful, even if you use the mouse wheel, because that way the items and spells are even more far away than if you use modifier keys.
So here comes Yet Another Hotkey Mod, a hotkey cycling mod which attempts to avoid these issues:
Description
===========
Basic functionality - hotkey cycling:
This mod adds 24 additional quick-use slots, for a total of 32. They are organized in 4 sets of 8. You can think of them as a table with 4 rows and 8 columns. At any time, one of the rows is mapped to the standard Oblivion quick-use keys, from where the 8 slots in this row can be changed and used as usual.
You can cycle a single quick-use key slot through its table column by pressing the key itself. This functions like this: if you press a quick-use key, and the item on it is *not* already selected or equipped, it will be selected or equipped as usual. If you press the key when it is already selected, then the keyed item will cycle and the one in the next row will be selected or equipped. This type of cycling skips empty spaces in the table, so if you have only one slot of a column filled, nothing will happen.
You can cycle the whole table down one row by using the additional cycle key (default "v"). This will change all 8 quick-use slots at the same time, not skip empty rows and functions in inventory mode as well, so you can use this type of cycling to set your quick-use table up. For a very easy browse through the whole table, go into the inventory, keep a quick-use key pressed and hit the cycle key. The wheel will immediately be filled with the contents of the next row.
The default setting for the cycle key is "v" (scancode 47).
AutoEquip for table cycling:
If you use the cycle key to cycle whole rows of the hotkey table, *all* out-cycled slots will be checked for selected or equipped items. For every slot with an equipped/selected item, the item from the next row will automatically be equipped or selected. This is called AutoEquip. You can switch this off by setting the AutoEquip parameters in the .ini file to 0. If set to 0, the set of 8 hotkeys will change when you hit the cycle key, but nothing will be equipped or selected unless the quick-use keys themselves are used.
The default setting for AutoEquip is "on" for all 8 columns.
Configurable feedback:
You can tell the mod to give you a message every time a keyed item is selected or equipped by using a quick-use key. There are three settings:
(1) Off. You will get no additional messages, and if you cycle the whole table, standard equip/unequip messages will be suppressed.
(2) On for everything. Whenever a spell is selected or an item equipped, you will get a message.
(3) On for spells, off for gear. You will get a message every time your spell selection changes. You get the same type of message when cycling resulted in no change because of empty slots.
The default setting for cycling feedback is "on for spells, off for gear".
Change configuration parameters in the .ini file:
YetAnotherHotkeyMod.ini contains all configurable parameters. Use a text editor to change them. They are documented in the .ini file itself. The archive contains a list of keycodes.
Required tools and mods
=======================
Oblivion Script Extender v16
Get the latest version at http://obse.silverlock.org/
Install/Upgrade
===============
(1) Extract the files in the archive to your Oblivion\Data folder.
(2) Make any desired changes in YetAnotherHotkeyMod.ini
(3) Activate as usual by checking the mod in the "Data Files" Tab of the Oblivion launcher,
or in Wrye Bash or OBMM.
There should be no problem with upgrading. Just overwrite the files.
The archive should contain these files:
YetAnotherHotKeyMod.esp
YetAnotherHotKeyMod.ini
YetAnotherHotKeyMod_Readme.txt (this file)
KeycodeList.txt (for your convenience - the mod doesn't need this)
Uninstall
=========
Deactivate as usual by unchecking the mod in the "Data Files" Windows of the Oblivion launcher, or in Wrye Bash or OBMM.
Delete the following files from your Oblivion\Data folder
YetAnotherHotKeyMod.esp
YetAnotherHotKeyMod.ini
YetAnotherHotKeyMod_readme.txt
KeycodeList.txt
Using the mod
=============
Setting up your quick-use keys:
Load your game and enter the inventory or spell menu. When you hit a quick-use key here, you'll see the wheel with your assigned quick-use slots as usual. This is now the first row of the virtual hotkey table. When you hit the cycle key, the mod will store this row and cycle down one row, leaving you with an empty wheel to assign 8 more quick-use keys. Repeat this until you have filled all four rows. Hitting the cycle key again in row 4 will show your original quick-use slots again.
Using your quick-use keys:
Use any quick-use key to cycle down a column of the table, leaving the other quick-use slots untouched. Use the cycle key to cycle away a row of 8 keyed items and replace them with the items from next row of the table.
Notes:
(1) Using different types of equipment in one table column may have confusing results, as the items might be equipped in different slots or in different ways. This is unavoidable, since I don't want to prevent players from putting what they want into the table. Even so I consider it best only to put items that are equipped in the same gear slot into one column, i.e. only weapons, only amulets etc..
(2) Certain item types have a standard "equipping" behaviour that might not be what you want, for instance books you "equip" are opened to read, potions you "equip" are used. This mod doesn't prevent such behaviour.
(3) Items that have a standard "equipping" behaviour, but don't stay equipped (i.e. books), break the chain when you cycle them in. Keep such items out of your quick-use key table!!
(In)compatibility
=================
(1) This mod conflicts with Supreme Magicka 0.86 and later in the following way: due to SM's summoning-spell redirection system, any active summoning spells can't be cycled away. All other spells work.
(2) This mod is incompatible with any other mod that changes the behavior of the standard quick-use function.
This version is, unfortunately, not out-of-the-box-compatible any more with mods that change the standard quick-use keys. If you have such a mod or have used an .ini tweak to change your quick-use keys, then change the quick-use key section of YetAnotherHotkeyMod.ini to reflect those changes.
(3) This mod should be compatible with mods that add other quick-use keys, as long as they don't change the behaviour of the standard ones.
Things to do / Known Issues
===========================
-I'm looking for a way to make this auto-compatible with changed quick-use keys (Grrr.. why did Bethesda use hex encoding for the keys)
-I'm also looking for a way to make the equip / unequip-message optional for everything. Since for single-slot cycling, my mod doesn't actually equip anything but only sets the stage for the game to equip the desired item, I have no way to suppress standard equip messages, making for inconsistent behaviour between the two types of cycling. No luck so far looking for a solution.
-The restriction on AutoEquip to weapons, armor, clothing, books and spells is still active when you cycle the whole table, but not for cycling single slots since AutoEquip can't be disabled there. Should not be a problem for now. I'll clean this up in the next version.
-There are some items with usage limited by script. In my games, these scripts do not always kick in if the item in question is equipped using a quick-use key instead of in the inventory. A strange side effect is that standard equip messages sometimes do not appear for these items. My mod is not responsible for this, but it makes it more noticeable.
History
=======
1.10b, 2009-01-31 - added single-key cycling
1.02b, 2009-01-25 - added cycling feedback and the ability to cycle in inventory mode
1.01b, 2009-01-24 - added the keycode list to the archive
1.00b, 2009-01-24 - Initial release.
Contact
=======
Release thread on the official Elder Scrolls forums, forum "Oblivion Mods":
http://www.bethsoft.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=946396
Or send me a message through the Elder Scrolls forums:
http://www.bethsoft.com/bgsforums/index.php?showuser=47979
Credits
=======
Thanks to the creators of the Oblivion Script Extender, without which this would have been impossible.
(http://obse.silverlock.org/)
Thanks to the creators the Elder Scrolls Construction Set Wiki, without which I would never
have learned what I needed to finish this.
(http://cs.elderscrolls.com/constwiki/index.php/Main_Page)