Edit 3: I am now using an entirely different option, which I have detailed in a reply to this comment. I could have worked around the issues with using Alt by binding that to another key in game and changing the script as appropriate, the option to have it just toggle using the in-game binding is simpler for me and I don't have to remember to run the script, either.
Original post: I was talking to a friend who mentioned this mod/script to me. They don't like having to run as admin, which was odd to me since my own that I made doesn't need that. Due to some physical limits on my hands, I usually have something such as this for games where holding a key won't work well for me. Anyhow, since mine doesn't need to be run as admin, I figured I'd post it here and maybe you can update the script with it.
This is just a little finicky for me. I have to tap Alt fairly quickly or it doesn't seem to stick. Not sure if this is universal or not.
Pay attention to whether you're running the game with Vulkan or Dx11 and modify the script as stated in the scripts. This prevents this particular AHK script from operating in any window other than the game itself.
#NoEnv SendMode Input DetectHiddenWindows, On
; The lines below will restrict the script only to the game itself. ; If running Vulkan, uncomment the first of the 2 lines by removing the semicolon (;). ; Put one at the start of the dx11 line below it to block that one out.
; This next section prevents the Alt toggle from sending Alt+Tab in game. ; If you don't want this, comment them out with a semicolon (;) before each ; line or you can also simply delete the lines. !Tab:: Send {Tab} Return
If you want it for Tab, use this one. I haven't tested this but see no reason why it won't work. For me, Tab just pops up the full party inventory screen but that might just be because I played with the keybinds so I included it here as well since it's part of the main set of files.
#NoEnv SendMode Input DetectHiddenWindows, On
; The lines below will restrict the script only to the game itself. ; If running Vulkan, uncomment the first of the 2 lines by removing the semicolon (;). ; Put one at the start of the dx11 line below it to block that one out.
Edited to add: I should note that having Alt toggled on prevents me from using Right Click on things in the game so you need to toggle it off for that to function properly. There's likely a way to work around this but I haven't found it worth investigating.
Edit 2: Ha, was talking to my friend and they said the right click thing was due to the bind for Ping being Alt+RightClick. Sure enough, rebinding that to Ctrl+Alt+RightClick made that issue go away. Handy, that!
You bet, @rukiss. Hardly a genius, though. I've just been using AHK for quite a while now and know what tends to work is all. The genius is all due to others whose knowledge I benefited from over the years. As an aside, there's also a UI mod that says it can do the same thing.
Since this script still has some minor issues when I have Alt toggled to be held, mostly surrounding Alt+Escape, I'm going to be trying that and hoping it does the trick. It's possible to have AHK not cause this issue but it gets a lot trickier since that's a hard coded thing in Windows and I prefer not to bother with that sort of thing if I can avoid it.
Turns out the UI mod doesn't currently consistently make work for toggling tooltips so I'm now using this manual process below, cobbled together from the comments on the mod Toggle Tooltips mod by shalzuth. The description of the mod is confusing, however, since it says you have to use a manual process but they have actually uploaded a .pak version.
I've tested both and they each work flawlessly for me. Which you prefer is just a matter of personal choice. I installed the .pak version using the Baldur's Gate Mod Manager and that was fine, though slightly confusing since I didn't need to add it to the load order on the left of the application. If you want to use the .pak version and care about still getting Achievements, use the Achievement Enabler mod as well.
Manual version that I am now using:
Go to the game's install path. (Not the folder in %localappdata%!) This path will vary somewhat but since I am using the default Steam install it is here for me: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Baldurs Gate 3\
Create this folder in that install path: "\Data\Public\Game\GUI\Widgets\" in the game install path. Some of these won't exist. Just make new folders anywhere that is the case.
Right click this link and save it to the new folder you just made. Choose the option to "Save Page As" or "Save Link As". This varies depending on your browser of choice.
Save the file as WorldTooltips.xaml in the folder created in Step 1.
For anyone that has found this thread in hopes for an AHK (AutoHotKey) solution, look no further! I took great inspiration from Showcase10 in this mod and found a previous users whyHESITATE's formula in Toggle Tooltips. I fixed it up, as there was some syntax errors, and made it work with the Left Alt key, as there was functionally no difference when binding it to a different key, so I removed that step. This code block is for AHK v2.0: #HotIf WinActive("Baldur's Gate 3") LAlt::{ send "{f14 up}" send "{f14 down}" return } +LAlt::{ send "{f14 up}" return } #HotIf
Thank you, I'm using the Highlight Everything mod but I seem to have issues rebinding the ALT key when using it. My thumb was getting cramped using WASD and holding ALT all the time. Thank again.
Hey @Showcase10 - great job for working to address this! Although this sadly seems to have similar functionality in the ImprovedUI release this is still a great option for people who don't wanna play with mods but get tired of punishing their ALT key.
Here's some suggestions though for future iterations if you're interested, hope they help and thanks again for putting it out there!
Spoiler:
Show
so to have the AHK script automatically launch BG3 (Steam - not GOG) - No idea how GoG launches stuff.... add: run, steam://rungameid/1086940If you wish to have a script like this kill itself you could use something like this (Scraped from my Path of Exiles Script for flask pianos): ; PROCESS MONITORS process_watcher: { Process, Exist,PathOfExileSteam.exe if ErrorLevel = 0 { sleep 100 byemsg=WITCHKEYS by Nokturnihs`nExiting....`n`nBYE BYE!!! Notifier(byemsg,12) Sleep, 3000 ; wait 4 seconds progress, off Exitapp } SetTimer process_watcher, 500 Return } TheWaiter(name) { Process, Exist,%name% if ErrorLevel = 0 { process,wait,PathOfExileSteam.exe ;_x64Steam ;tooltip % "Process Running" (ErrorLevel ?) ;settimer,tooltipoff,1000 ;set a timer for 1 second to clear the tooltip SetTimer process_watcher, 500 } Return ErrorLevel } runchecker: { if POErunning=0 { Thewaiter("PathOfExileSteam.exe") POErunning=Thewaiter("PathOfExileSteam.exe") } if Thewaiter("PathOfExile.exe") !=0 { POErunning=Thewaiter("PathOfExileSteam.exe") SetTimer process_watcher, 500 } else { SetTimer process_watcher, 500 } } return
NOTE: You'd need to change PathOfExileSteam.exe to bg3.exe or bg3_dx11.exe to make it monitor Baldur's Gate. Alternatively you could edit the runchecker function to read just the "bg3" prefix and cover both but that's gonna take editing I'm just not willing to do for a comment.
You'd call these functions before your hotkey implementation with something like: POErunning=0 gosub runchecker
Just for funzies this is the notifier function: Notifier(MESSAGE,FSZ) { progress, b1 zh0 fm%FSZ% ctFFFFFF WM100 cw000000 x5 y20,,%MESSAGE%,Notifier,Arial WinSet, AlwaysOnTop,,Notifier WinSet, Redraw,,Notifier return } And I like to use a visible toggle to show when somethings off or on (Doesn't seem to work in anything fullscreen mode but windowed or borderless typically works well most the time) ]:: suspend { if (MasterToggle=0) { MasterToggle=1 PauseMSG=WITCHKEYS PAUSED Notifier(PauseMSG,9) } else { gosub Readfiles MasterToggle=0 Unpausemsg=UNPAUSED - %Configname% Notifier(Unpausemsg,9) sleep 1500 progress,off } } return
I also use the Notify function to show a splash screen with keybinds and stuff then say goodbye when I leave - something like this: Mainmsg=`nWITCHKEYS`nBy Nokturnihs`n`nVersion 2.0`n`n____________________________________`nHOTKEYS`n`n%HotMode1%: %Hot1%`n%HotMode2%: %Hot2%`n%HotMode3%: %Hot3%`n%HotMode4%: %Hot4%`n____________________________________`nTOOLS`n`nENTER: Suspend`nNumpad *: LabCompass`n`n____________________________________`n%Configname%`n run, %Spotify% run, %POE_Runtime% Notifier(Mainmsg,11)
So I realize this is a long and nerdy post but either way - Thanks bud! You ROCK and thank you for helping out the community with your contributions!
This does not seem to work "in game." It definitely applies a hold affect to thealt key (tested in browser) but when I'm in game and press the alt key, the items just flash for a second. It still acts like a hold key, regardless of the autokey effect.
Can't figure out how to run the script as an administrator, there is no option in the right-click menu, or in the properties (Win 10). And when I run it without admin, it doesn't do anything in game.
29 comments
Original post:
I was talking to a friend who mentioned this mod/script to me. They don't like having to run as admin, which was odd to me since my own that I made doesn't need that. Due to some physical limits on my hands, I usually have something such as this for games where holding a key won't work well for me. Anyhow, since mine doesn't need to be run as admin, I figured I'd post it here and maybe you can update the script with it.
This is just a little finicky for me. I have to tap Alt fairly quickly or it doesn't seem to stick. Not sure if this is universal or not.
Pay attention to whether you're running the game with Vulkan or Dx11 and modify the script as stated in the scripts. This prevents this particular AHK script from operating in any window other than the game itself.
#NoEnv
SendMode Input
DetectHiddenWindows, On
; The lines below will restrict the script only to the game itself.
; If running Vulkan, uncomment the first of the 2 lines by removing the semicolon (;).
; Put one at the start of the dx11 line below it to block that one out.
;#IfWinActive, ahk_exe bg3.exe
#IfWinActive, ahk_exe bg3_dx11.exe
$Alt::
If (AltState := !AltState)
Send {Alt Down}
Else
Send {Alt up}
Return
; This next section prevents the Alt toggle from sending Alt+Tab in game.
; If you don't want this, comment them out with a semicolon (;) before each
; line or you can also simply delete the lines.
!Tab::
Send {Tab}
Return
If you want it for Tab, use this one. I haven't tested this but see no reason why it won't work. For me, Tab just pops up the full party inventory screen but that might just be because I played with the keybinds so I included it here as well since it's part of the main set of files.
#NoEnv
SendMode Input
DetectHiddenWindows, On
; The lines below will restrict the script only to the game itself.
; If running Vulkan, uncomment the first of the 2 lines by removing the semicolon (;).
; Put one at the start of the dx11 line below it to block that one out.
;#IfWinActive, ahk_exe bg3.exe
#IfWinActive, ahk_exe bg3_dx11.exe
$Tab::
If (TabState := !TabState)
Send {Tab Down}
Else
Send {Tab up}
Return
Edited to add: I should note that having Alt toggled on prevents me from using Right Click on things in the game so you need to toggle it off for that to function properly. There's likely a way to work around this but I haven't found it worth investigating.
Edit 2: Ha, was talking to my friend and they said the right click thing was due to the bind for Ping being Alt+RightClick. Sure enough, rebinding that to Ctrl+Alt+RightClick made that issue go away. Handy, that!
Since this script still has some minor issues when I have Alt toggled to be held, mostly surrounding Alt+Escape, I'm going to be trying that and hoping it does the trick. It's possible to have AHK not cause this issue but it gets a lot trickier since that's a hard coded thing in Windows and I prefer not to bother with that sort of thing if I can avoid it.
There's another mod that allows Achievements to continue to function is using mods, so that'll still be functional, too.
I've tested both and they each work flawlessly for me. Which you prefer is just a matter of personal choice. I installed the .pak version using the Baldur's Gate Mod Manager and that was fine, though slightly confusing since I didn't need to add it to the load order on the left of the application. If you want to use the .pak version and care about still getting Achievements, use the Achievement Enabler mod as well.
Manual version that I am now using:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Baldurs Gate 3\
Choose the option to "Save Page As" or "Save Link As". This varies depending on your browser of choice.
Edited for a typo.
This code block is for AHK v2.0:
#HotIf WinActive("Baldur's Gate 3")
LAlt::{
send "{f14 up}"
send "{f14 down}"
return
}
+LAlt::{
send "{f14 up}"
return
}
#HotIf
and AHK v1.1(deprecated):
#IfWinActive, Baldur's Gate
LAlt::{
send "{f14 up}"
send "{f14 down}"
return
}
+LAlt::{
send "{f14 up}"
return
}
#IfWinActive
Enjoy!
Error: This line does not contain a recognized action.
Text: #HotIf WinActive("Baldur's Gate 3")
Line: 1
i already enlight things with alt (i moved to Q but ok..)
and "you're" is "your"?
Here's some suggestions though for future iterations if you're interested, hope they help and thanks again for putting it out there!
so to have the AHK script automatically launch BG3 (Steam - not GOG) - No idea how GoG launches stuff....
add:
run, steam://rungameid/1086940If you wish to have a script like this kill itself you could use something like this (Scraped from my Path of Exiles Script for flask pianos):; PROCESS MONITORS
NOTE: You'd need to change PathOfExileSteam.exe to bg3.exe or bg3_dx11.exe to make it monitor Baldur's Gate. Alternatively you could edit the runchecker function to read just the "bg3" prefix and cover both but that's gonna take editing I'm just not willing to do for a comment.process_watcher:
{
Process, Exist,PathOfExileSteam.exe
if ErrorLevel = 0
{
sleep 100
byemsg=WITCHKEYS by Nokturnihs`nExiting....`n`nBYE BYE!!!
Notifier(byemsg,12)
Sleep, 3000 ; wait 4 seconds
progress, off
Exitapp
}
SetTimer process_watcher, 500
Return
}
TheWaiter(name)
{
Process, Exist,%name%
if ErrorLevel = 0
{
process,wait,PathOfExileSteam.exe ;_x64Steam
;tooltip % "Process Running" (ErrorLevel ?)
;settimer,tooltipoff,1000 ;set a timer for 1 second to clear the tooltip
SetTimer process_watcher, 500
}
Return ErrorLevel
}
runchecker:
{
if POErunning=0
{
Thewaiter("PathOfExileSteam.exe")
POErunning=Thewaiter("PathOfExileSteam.exe")
}
if Thewaiter("PathOfExile.exe") !=0
{
POErunning=Thewaiter("PathOfExileSteam.exe")
SetTimer process_watcher, 500
}
else
{
SetTimer process_watcher, 500
}
}
return
You'd call these functions before your hotkey implementation with something like:
POErunning=0
gosub runchecker
Just for funzies this is the notifier function:
Notifier(MESSAGE,FSZ)
And I like to use a visible toggle to show when somethings off or on (Doesn't seem to work in anything fullscreen mode but windowed or borderless typically works well most the time){
progress, b1 zh0 fm%FSZ% ctFFFFFF WM100 cw000000 x5 y20,,%MESSAGE%,Notifier,Arial
WinSet, AlwaysOnTop,,Notifier
WinSet, Redraw,,Notifier
return
}
]::
suspend
{
if (MasterToggle=0)
{
MasterToggle=1
PauseMSG=WITCHKEYS PAUSED
Notifier(PauseMSG,9)
}
else
{
gosub Readfiles
MasterToggle=0
Unpausemsg=UNPAUSED - %Configname%
Notifier(Unpausemsg,9)
sleep 1500
progress,off
}
}
return
I also use the Notify function to show a splash screen with keybinds and stuff then say goodbye when I leave - something like this:
Mainmsg=`nWITCHKEYS`nBy Nokturnihs`n`nVersion 2.0`n`n____________________________________`nHOTKEYS`n`n%HotMode1%: %Hot1%`n%HotMode2%: %Hot2%`n%HotMode3%: %Hot3%`n%HotMode4%: %Hot4%`n____________________________________`nTOOLS`n`nENTER: Suspend`nNumpad *: LabCompass`n`n____________________________________`n%Configname%`n
run, %Spotify%
run, %POE_Runtime%
Notifier(Mainmsg,11)
So I realize this is a long and nerdy post but either way - Thanks bud! You ROCK and thank you for helping out the community with your contributions!
It definitely applies a hold affect to thealt key (tested in browser) but when I'm in game and press the alt key, the items just flash for a second.
It still acts like a hold key, regardless of the autokey effect.
This "fixed" it.
Thanks!
Followed instructions and it worked as described.