the WINDOWS key :)

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VooDoo-(DOG)-
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the WINDOWS key :)

Post by VooDoo-(DOG)- »

As my keyboard controls are rather unusual (compared to most who use WASD or something very similar), I often accidentally catch the WINDOWS key in-game, which sends me back to the desktop and is obviously not ideal!

So.............I wondered if anyone knows a way to natively disable the WINDOWS key within Unreal?
I know there is a registry hack to achieve this, but I want my WINDOWS key to be functional after I have closed the game.

Anyone :?:

There will be a reward of 1000 Nali coins if anyone can help!

PS. Nali coins are worth about 0.00001 euros, so this is a pretty substantial reward! :D
 
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Re: the WINDOWS key :)

Post by -(bob)- »

pop the key out of your keyboard with a spoon and snap the key back in after your done playing unreal. :cheesygrin:
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Re: the WINDOWS key :)

Post by VooDoo-(DOG)- »

-(bob)- wrote:pop the key out of your keyboard with a spoon...........
Hehe! Well that made me smile Bob :) Certainly brute-force (see what I did there!) would work, although I think this more aggressive option would bring the reward down to 500 Nali coins.....

Oh wait! There is no spoon!
 
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Re: the WINDOWS key :)

Post by Hyper »

Advanced:
You could try to create a new keyboard layout for Windows using MSKLC and then use a batch file to change the keyboard layout before launching Unreal and set it back afterwards.
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Re: the WINDOWS key :)

Post by VooDoo-(DOG)- »

Thanks Hyper, but you're answering a question I didn't ask.
VooDoo-(DOG)- wrote:I wondered if anyone knows a way to natively disable the WINDOWS key within Unreal?
I reckon the answer is looking like a big fat "No". Oh well, thanks anyway!
 
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Re: the WINDOWS key :)

Post by Leo(T.C.K.) »

A big fat no is what Delacroix would give you. I have no idea honestly if there's a way but given that the key specifically is not used by Unreal, I'd say messing with the config won't help any. Unless setting one of these unknown keys would magically do the trick.
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Re: the WINDOWS key :)

Post by Leo(T.C.K.) »

Okay it's Unknown5B but that won't help any right now....
Unless that's somehow blocked within Unreal.
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Re: the WINDOWS key :)

Post by VooDoo-(DOG)- »

Well Leo! I basically use all the keys in the bottom right of the main keyboard (UK/US) except the Windows key.

CTRL - Primary fire
SHIFT - Secondary fire
/ (?) - Strafe right
. (>) - Strafe left
# (~) - Crouch (This is to the left of ENTER, not pictured in the image below, because the image below is of a US keyboard)
Spacebar - Activate/deactivate

Now the key I use for Jump is what Unreal calls Unknown5D and is highlighted in the image below.
As you can see, the possibility of me accidentally catching the the Windows key just to the left of Unknown5D is high.
So I am kind of intrigued now as to what keys ALL the other Unreal "Unknown" ones are referring to.
I am a pianist and I like all my keys very close together, similar to the chromatic scale on a piano ( C C# D D# E F F# G etc...)
I have played with this layout for 18/19 years now, so switching to the WASD convention is not an option.

Image

Disabling the windows key with the registry change is straightforward admittedly, see here :-

Enabling or disabling the Windows key

So I could just create two REG files, one for disabling and one for re-enabling the key. Basically it's not a huge deal, I was just intrigued to know if it was possible to do it natively within the game. I am now definitely interested in discovering what all the other "Unknowns" are. :)

Thanks for replying!

štěk štěk!

EDIT:
The irony is that if I could actually use the Windows key as a control key for Unreal, I would. :mrgreen:
 
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Re: the WINDOWS key :)

Post by Leo(T.C.K.) »

Yes, that's a good one. Well, disabling a windows function key in Unreal would be sometimes useful feature, after all many games did that by default or used to at least.
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Re: the WINDOWS key :)

Post by x21 »

For anyone else who wishes to disable the windows keys here are the registry entries needed

Code: Select all

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout]
"Scancode Map"=hex:00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,03,00,00,00,00,00,5B,E0,00,00,5C,E0,00,00,00,00
and to re-enable

Code: Select all

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout]
"Scancode Map"=-
And a batch file to turn the key off

Code: Select all

@Echo off
net session
if %errorlevel% neq 0 goto elevate
goto admintasks

:ELEVATE
CD %~dp0
mshta "javascript: var shell = new ActiveXObject('shell.application'); shell.ShellExecute('%~nx0', '', '', 'runas', 1);close();"
exit

:ADMINTASKS
echo [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout] >tmp.reg
echo "Scancode Map"=hex:00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,03,00,00,00,00,00,5B,E0,00,00,5C,E0,00,00,00,00 >>tmp.reg
regedit /S  tmp.reg
del tmp.reg
cls
echo The Windows Key has been disabled. Please restart for the changes to take effect.
pause
And a batch file to turn the key on

Code: Select all

@Echo off
net session
if %errorlevel% neq 0 goto elevate
goto admintasks

:ELEVATE
CD %~dp0
mshta "javascript: var shell = new ActiveXObject('shell.application'); shell.ShellExecute('%~nx0', '', '', 'runas', 1);close();"
exit

:ADMINTASKS
echo [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout] >tmp.reg
echo "Scancode Map"=- >>tmp.reg
regedit /S  tmp.reg
del tmp.reg
cls
echo The Windows Key has been enabled. Please restart for the changes to take effect.
pause
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Re: the WINDOWS key :)

Post by VooDoo-(DOG)- »

Masterkent wrote:It's never too late to learn better settings. WASD is lame, ESDF is the most natural setting for touch typists and it has more surrounding buttons available.
Absolutely agree with the "never too late" part and in the case of ESDF, more surrounding buttons, but my brain doesn't like accepting the fact that 3 of those movement keys are all on the same row, be it ASD, or in your case SDF. My brain wants the S (D in your case) lower down and not level with the left and right keys. Also, the S is not directly below the W (in your case the D below the E), it is slightly offset and hurts the part of my brain that handles coordination.

   W
A     D     (great!)
    S


    W
A   S    D     (not so great)

To me, W= North, D=East, S=South and A=West. So to have "south" on the same linearity as "east" and "west" seems illogical and contradictory (to my mind anyway).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

@ x21-(DOG)-

Yes the registry "hack" has already been mentioned twice, but it's just way easier to merge a REG file to apply it then merge the appropiate REG file to "unapply" it.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Well I guess that when Unreal was in development, the Windows key wasn't even an issue or thought about, because by the time keyboards manufactured with the Windows key were mainstream (by Windows 98 I would say), the development process had already taken place and to them, it was a non-issue.
 
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Re: the WINDOWS key :)

Post by VooDoo-(DOG)- »

Masterkent wrote:
VooDoo-(DOG)- wrote:
 
 W
A D      (great!)
 S
That's not great, because you'd have to move your middle finger between "move forward" and "move backward" on much longer distance. The shorter your move is, the less effort it needs and the faster you can press what you want.
Yes it's not ideal for Unreal gameplay, just saying that that layout "sits better" in my brain, that's the part I find "great".
Masterkent wrote:..... I presume, there would be no difficulties with learning something like

W = move backward
S = move forward
A = strafe right
D = strafe left
Haha, wow that is seriously masochistic!
Unless of course you turn the keyboard upside down. :Drogar-BigGrin:
But yes, eventually a person would become inured to it so... I agree!

Wouldn't be so bad (for me) if the S was directly below the W (E and D in your case).

You see, I am so used to oldskool 2D games where controls were usually like this :-

Q = Up
A = Down
N = Left
M = Right
Spacebar = Jump

Crazy layouts like above take a lot of "unlearning", so to speak.

However, I totally agree that ESDF is superior to WASD, due to the adjaceny of more keys for immediate use.
So I am going to have a practice with ESDF.
Will be nice to finally have a key for backwards movement - hehe.
Now you can come and laugh even more at my lack of movement and aiming skills. :P

I have a few more questions for you, so I will try and find you online over the weekend, or failing that I will PM you, because this topic is going off-topic.
VooDoo-(DOG)- wrote:So.............I wondered if anyone knows a way to natively disable the WINDOWS key within Unreal?
Answer = NO
 
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