FTL-like setup for HKN

[Fuzzyboy]

I've been stealthing the FTL macro posts and found them to be a little complicated, so I thought I'd share my own FTL-type setup.

I use HotkeyNet, which is a great app (and free). It's a bit complicated to get started with, but once you get the hang of it, it's an amazing tool for multiboxing. Anyway, my little guide assumes basic knowledge of HKN, so it's just the FTL-type part I'm writing:

I have my basic maillabels as such:


<Label pal Local SendWinM P1>
<Label shm1 Local SendWinM P2>
<Label shm2 Local SendWinM P3>
<Label shm3 Local SendWinM P4>
<Label shm4 Local SendWinM P5>

On top of that I have an "assist" template:


<Template Assist>
<If ActiveWinIs P1>
<Sendlabel shm1,shm2,shm3,shm4>
<Key Ctrl Alt F6>

<Else If ActiveWinIs P2>
<Sendlabel pal,shm2,shm3,shm4>
<Key Ctrl Alt F7>

<Else If ActiveWinIs P3>
<Sendlabel pal,shm1,shm3,shm4>
<Key Ctrl Alt F8>

<Else If ActiveWinIs P4>
<Sendlabel pal,shm1,shm2,shm4>
<Key Ctrl Alt F9>

<Else If ActiveWinIs P5>
<Sendlabel pal,shm1,shm2,shm3>
<Key Ctrl Alt F10>
<EndIf>
<EndTemplate>

As you can see, it sends a different key to each client, depending on, which window is active.

On each toon I have keys mapped to assist the slaves (in this case Ctrl Alt F6-F10, but it could be anything). I use bindpad to make the assist macros, but you can use the default interface too, just keep in mind that it takes up 4-5 macro slots.

My ingame assist macro is as basic as it gets i.e.:


/assist Cottuy

Let's say the active window is P1 (my paladin). In this case it will send Ctrl Alt F6 to my four shaman, which is bound to my macro which does the following:


/assist <paladin>

Now, when I create a DPS button, I'll simply do the following:


<Hotkey Q>
<ApplyTemplate Assist>
<Sendlabel shm1,shm2,shm3,shm4>
<Key %trigger%>

This will work with pretty much all multiboxable games that support assist. However, it presses two keys with the same keypress (i.e. Ctrl Alt F6 followed by Q), so to make it WoW-legal it has to be a roundrobin/toggle (which is odd since /click macros which also hits several buttons is perfectly legal):


<Hotkey Q>
<Toggle>
<ApplyTemplate Assist>
<Toggle>
<Sendlabel shm1,shm2,shm3,shm4>
<Key %trigger%>

Another option is to have Ctrl Alt F6 in game mapped to a macro which does:


/assist <paladin>
/click <dpsbutton>

That would mean one macro for each type of spell/sequence, so that's not really desirable.

The great thing about this type of this setup is that if you for some reason need to play the char solo, you don't have to reconfigure at all, since the assist-macro is seperate from the casting macro, so there's no targetting being done in the casting macro at all.

You can, of course, apply the same principle to follow, target etc etc.

[Bettysue]

//modify IP address as necessary
//you must launch ad rename windows accordingly, this can be done manually or with a script

<Label w1 192.168.0.10 SendWinM WoW1>
<Label w2 192.168.0.10 SendWinM WoW2>
<Label w3 192.168.0.10 SendWinM WoW3>
<Label w4 192.168.0.10 SendWinM WoW4>
<Label w5 192.168.0.10 SendWinM WoW5>

//Define all keys to have FTL applied in the list below, this should be the only line you have to modify below this point
<KeyList FTLList 0-9, Numpad0-Numpad9, minus, plus>

//Added FTL Templates
// %1% : Master Key
// %2% : Slave Key
// %3% : Modifier
// %4% : SlavesToSend
<Template SendMasterAndSlave>
<Sendlabel %4%>
<Key %3% %2%>
<EndTemplate>

// %1% : master key
// %2% : slave key
// %3% : modifier
// %4% : Active window
// %5% : Slave Windows
<Template SendLeaderless>
<If ActiveWinIs %4%>
<ApplyTemplate SendMasterAndSlave "%1%" "%2%" "%3%" "%5%">
<EndTemplate>

// %1% : master-key
// %2% : slave-key
<Template FTL>
<Hotkey %1%>
<PassThrough>
<ApplyTemplate SendLeaderless "%Trigger%" "%2%" "rctrl rshift" WoW1 "w2,w3,w4,w5">
<ApplyTemplate SendLeaderless "%Trigger%" "%2%" "rctrl ralt" WoW2 "w1,w3,w4,w5">
<ApplyTemplate SendLeaderless "%Trigger%" "%2%" "ralt rshift" WoW3 "w1,w2,w4,w5">
<ApplyTemplate SendLeaderless "%Trigger%" "%2%" "rctrl ralt rshift" WoW4 "w1,w2,w3,w5">
<ApplyTemplate SendLeaderless "%Trigger%" "%2%" "rctrl" WoW5 "w1,w2,w3,w4">
<EndTemplate>

//----------------------------------------------------------------
//Definition of FTL keys
//----------------------------------------------------------------
<ApplyTemplate FTL FTLList %Trigger%>The above script will allow you to press 1 on WoW and send ctrl+shift+1 to all the other windows, you will of course need to make a macro for every spell you wish to use.
If you setup the FTL in Jamba-FTL your spell macros will look like this:


#showtooltip
/click [mod] JambaFTLTarget
/cast [harm][target=targettarget] Fiery Spell of Doom
/targetlasttaget [mod]I hope that helps, it will keep you legal since now only one action is happening in game per key pressed.

[Fuzzyboy]

I think you misunderstood me :-) The idea is to have a way to:

1) Not configure using lalt, ralt, lctrl etc.
2) Not have to create a macro for each spell cast but simply to drop it on the action bar and at the same time
3) Not needing to modify for solo play

The drawbacks are obvious - the need to use toggle for compliance and the use of assist (since targettarget isn't used), but well worth it for my setup :-)

[Funnyshane]

Hmmm that is kinda interesting. Hotkeynet I thought was a paid program though. Perhaps Ill have to look into it if not - using autohotkey at the moment which while it is working fine, you do get a lot of spam when wanting to play chars solo.

Cheers for sharing!

[Ualaa]

HKN is free.

[Bettysue]

I think you misunderstood me :-) The idea is to have a way to:

1) Not configure using lalt, ralt, lctrl etc.
2) Not have to create a macro for each spell cast but simply to drop it on the action bar and at the same time
3) Not needing to modify for solo play

The drawbacks are obvious - the need to use toggle for compliance and the use of assist (since targettarget isn't used), but well worth it for my setup :-)

Ahhh I see what you're getting at I was toying with this for a while, the best thing i came up for drag and drop playability used /click like you mentioned at the end of your post. I have all the modifiers descision making reduced to being used in only 1 macro, everything else /clicks that macro for getting the leader. This means changing only one thing on each character to add a 5th or remove 2 anytime I want to play a different setup. JambaFTL can also make this macro quickly for you when you login, making it quite painless.

But then anytime you want to switch to solo play you have to change key bindings around and whatnot, or use toggle in HKN. Since you can't change macros in combat, I can't really think of a way to do this without toggle or using the modifiers.

Using macros like the one I provided above, I can play solo or with the group because solo toons will not get modifiers from HKN. Is there a reason you are trying to get away from the use of the modifiers other than the initial setup headache?
I know for 5 toons I can use just the right side mods for FTL and the left side mods for actual use in descision making in the game. For example lctrl+2 heal self, 2 all heal master target OR lctrl+2 dps focus, 2 dps leader target.

I'm pretty sure a module for jamba could be put together to quickly make the macros, just pick a spell and it creates the macro type thing... this should work for simple 1 spell type things.

[Freddie]

If you folks can think of an easier more flexible way to do this, I'll put it in the new program.

[Flekkie]

..stupid round robin/toggle. I should learn to read better.

*mutters*

:rolleyes:

How does that play out in WoW? Not a problem in-game?

[Bettysue]

Round robin works out quite well in WoW, I've never had a problem with it.

[Bettysue]

Hey fuzzy have you tried setting the F# keys as a modifier in HKN. That may work since WoW only intreprets ctrl alt and shift as modifiers.

Then you could use
<Key Ctrl Alt F6 %trigger>

I think that's still technically pressing 2 keys at once though.

[olipcs]

Hi Fuzzy,

jeah, I know the FTL-Macros can be a little anoying, and that was the original reason, why I tried to 'simplfy' things as much as I could by:

1. Creating templates for HKN, which could be (if adapted once' simply be copy and pasted, so that setup in HKN is quite simple
2. Created the Jamba-FTL-Module, to create the correct FTL-Macros for Assist/Followbuttons, and to react to teamchanges. So that setup in WoW is quite simple.

I see the beauty in your system, and it was also one thing which came into my mind, but since its 1 keypress -> 2 keys, it was a no-go for me.

but to achieve what you want:



1) Not configure using lalt, ralt, lctrl etc.
2) Not have to create a macro for each spell cast but simply to drop it on the action bar and at the same time
3) Not needing to modify for solo play

Lets see where the problem for a normal FTL is:

1) Is not doable in an FTL, but with HKN-Templates and FTL-Jamba-Module you realy only need to configure it once, and since HKN can use ralt,rctrl,rshift, you can use lshift,lalt,lctrl for modifiers.

2) At the moment you need to create a macro for each spell, the only way to change this, that I can see, is to wirte an 'Actionbar-Addon' specific for an an FTL with an 'assist' bar, where you can drop spells on. This might be doable as a Jamba-Module, and if i find some time, I might have a look into it.

3) The normal FTL is designed to use it for soloplay and multiboxing, so no need to do something here.

I think the only way to do it with your style is, as you said with round robin and to spam the keys, but somehow for me this is not something I like.
Hm, maybe its time to get my coding-gloves on and look into a jamba-action bar mod for this...

[Fuzzyboy]

I think the only way to do it with your style is, as you said with round robin and to spam the keys, but somehow for me this is not something I like.
Hm, maybe its time to get my coding-gloves on and look into a jamba-action bar mod for this...

I don't like it either to be honest, but I still prefer it to the "real" FTL way. One way to make it a bit more convenient is to build in a functionality in HKN (/wave Freddie) which would allow a WoW-type reset for toggle, i.e:


<Toggle>
<Key A>
<Toggle 100>
<Key B>

Where the toggle would only reach the second statement if it was pressed within 100ms (or whatever specified) of the first keypress (i.e. button spam). Since there is no GCD to worry about with assist, this should work pretty much perfectly :-)

[Bettysue]

<hotkey F1>
<Toggle>
<SendLabel Stuff>
<Key A>
<Wait 500>
<SetToggle 1 Hotkey F1>
<Toggle>
<SendLabel Stuff>
<Key B>
<Cancel>That little bit of code will make the toggle reset after 500 milliseconds, but pressing it twice in the short amount of time will result in both being pressed and it going back to the first. Obviously you would have to adjust the time and super fast spamming may lead to overlaps. ---Overlap fixed with cancel

[Fuzzyboy]

<hotkey F1>
<SendLabel Stuff>
<Toggle>
<Key A>
<Wait 500>
<SetToggle 1 Hotkey F1>
<Toggle>
<Key B>That little bit of code will make the toggle reset after 500 milliseconds, but pressing it twice in the short amount of time will result in both being pressed and it going back to the first. Obviously you would have to adjust the time and super fast spamming may lead to overlaps.

Yes, and more importantly it'll pause HKN while waiting, meaning I can't press other buttons (like movement keys) while the wait command is in progress, so unfortunately that isn't an option.

[Bettysue]

Yes, and more importantly it'll pause HKN while waiting, meaning I can't press other buttons (like movement keys) while the wait command is in progress, so unfortunately that isn't an option.


Bah movement didn't think about that...then again I play ele shaman and everyone knows turrets can't run :P The cancel sorta helped but you would still have to spam the movement key I think...there has to be a way.

[Freddie]

The new program will allow two hotkeys to execute simultaneously, but that doesn't help right now. :(

Cancel and DoToggles (new in a recent build) are the closest that HKN1 comes to concurrent hotkeys.

[Bettysue]

<Label Joe local SendWin WoW1>

<KeyList TTL 1-9>

<Template PFTL>
<hotkey %1%>
<Toggle>
<SendFocusWin>
<Key %2%>
<Wait 500>
<SetToggle 1 Hotkey %Trigger%>
<Toggle>
<SendFocusWin>
<Key %Trigger%>
<Cancel>
<EndTemplate>

<ApplyTemplate PFTL TTL B>

<MovementHotKey Left, Right, Up, Down>
<SendLabel Joe>
<Key %Trigger%>

Using the above code i am able to get the rapid alternating b1b1b1b2b2b2b2b3 etc, while moving without issue. It has a 500ms timeout and will always start with the assist key first after the timeout.
This should get you closer, if it doesn't work for you let me know what's happening, I'll try to work something out.
I just wrote the template to quickly make the number row work that way...

[Fuzzyboy]

<Label Joe local SendWin WoW1>

<KeyList TTL 1-9>

<Template PFTL>
<hotkey %1%>
<Toggle>
<SendFocusWin>
<Key %2%>
<Wait 500>
<SetToggle 1 Hotkey %Trigger%>
<Toggle>
<SendFocusWin>
<Key %Trigger%>
<Cancel>
<EndTemplate>

<ApplyTemplate PFTL TTL B>

<MovementHotKey Left, Right, Up, Down>
<SendLabel Joe>
<Key %Trigger%>Using the above code i am able to get the rapid alternating b1b1b1b2b2b2b2b3 etc, while moving without issue. It has a 500ms timeout and will always start with the assist key first after the timeout.
This should get you closer, if it doesn't work for you let me know what's happening, I'll try to work something out.
I just wrote the template to quickly make the number row work that way...

I have my movement keys set up differently, so that wouldn't work. Also, I'm a bit averse to <wait> commands because of the lock-up and eula-stuff. It's not just the movement keys, it's also stuff like my /stopcasting macro etc. When spamming a <wait> command, nasty things will happen - believe me :-) I tend to keyspam really hard and I don't like my stuff to lock up.

Also, it's probably not a problem in practice, but I wan't to stay on the safe side of the EULA. Basically I see the "<wait>" method as a work-around with more disadvantages than advantages. If I'm going to play in the grey-area of the EULA, I might as well just have two keypresses in one hotkey (which is what /click macros do anyway), but I'm staying away from that for now :-)

[Bettysue]

Ya true probably a lot safer I'm kinda thinking the waits are a bad idea considering they are choosing for you which button to press rather than a predetermined order.

I agree with you though...really fast mashing of keys would cause some problems, just got my guy to stick while running forward, so it has flaws. Oh well was fun trying something new :D

I've always thought of /click in WoW as being more like templates in HKN than pressing 2 keys at once. Or am i failing to realize you can't have 2 castsequence lines in the same macro???

for example does the following work in 1 macro:

/castsequence reset=target Flame Shock,,,,,,,,,,,,,
/castsequence reset=target Lava Burst,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
/cast Lightning Bolt

I thought the only reason for the /click was to get around the 255 char limitation...

[Fuzzyboy]

Yeah, for sure - and I appreciate the effort to help :-D