HotkeyNet and Age of Conan

[Freddie]

I just tested HotkeyNet with Age of Conan. They work fine together except the current version of HKN can't send to AoC while AoC is in the background. If AoC is in the background, HKN will bring it forward before sending. Here are some examples that show how to set up HKN for two copies of AOC.

//----------------------------------------
// SAMPLE LABELS
//----------------------------------------
<Label aoc1 Local SendWin "Age of Conan">
<Label aoc2 192.168.1.102 SendWin "Age of Conan">

//----------------------------------------
// SAMPLE MOVEMENT KEYS
//----------------------------------------
<HoldDownKey up, down, left, right>
<SendLabel aoc1, aoc2>

//----------------------------------------
// SAMPLE BROADCAST KEYS
//----------------------------------------
<BroadcastKey 1, 2, 3>
<SendLabel aoc1, aoc2>

//----------------------------------------
// SAMPLE CHAT COMMAND
//----------------------------------------
<Hotkey F1>
<SendWin "Age of Conan">
<Key Enter><Text /say hi><Key Enter>

[Allokra]

Cool - right now I have to play on two different computers to run two characters but I am trying to set up a second one on my main computer. I am having issues starting two instances of AoC up though. I installed them into different directories (Funcom and Funcom 2) from scratch (no copying of folders etc.) The first one starts fine...if I start the second one..it just keeps rerunning the patcher over and over...I even got the error "you can only run two instances from different installations) even though both came from different installations...any idea what I can do?

[Freddie]

I don't know because when I started to install a second copy I got a warning message, "A previous installation of Age of Conan has been detected. It is strongly recommended that you uninstall the old version before you proceed." This made me think that a second install might screw things up and I would have to uninstall and start from scratch. Since the first install took over three and a half hours, I just couldn't face the thought of having to do it over.

[Allokra]

Thanks, I just figured it out. Like I said, I installed the second copy from scratch into another directory. I can run the first one without problems...however, the only way I got the second copy to work was by loading the "Patcher Setup" file in the second AoC directory. I managed to run both instances on one comp in windowed mode. At medium settings it is actually decent FPS (30-45). Thanks for your software - I was hesitant to use it (oh noes - learning something new to use) but it was pretty easy. You had a warning in your sample that stated that it can't send the keystrokes to a background window...the noob that I am...I thought that meant that you can't really utilize the program the way I did with AHK...but it works the same way...just that once I activate the script in AoC1 - it permanently jumps to AoC2 as the active window.

[Freddie]

Great, those instructions will help. I put that warning there because normally (with other games) HKN can send keystrokes to windows while they remain in the background, without activating them, but that doesn't work with AoC. As for bringing the second window to the foreground and leaving it there, HKN has a <Restore> command that automatically puts the first window back. But unfortunately <Restore> can only be used with HKN's "old" method of defining hotkeys, not the new method I used in the sample. (The new method requires a lot less typing.) I haven't finished adding the new method to the program yet, that's why it's limited in that way.

[Allokra]

My next project was trying to run a third instance of the game on my main computer...I can pull all three up in windowed mode and I would like to play my main on my main monitor and then split the other two on my second monitor...I used to do it with WOWmaximizer in WOW but how can I do it with Age of COnan. I was searching for some file in the AoC directory where I could force it to a smaller setting but didnt find anything. Any idea how I can do the same splitting as in WOW?

[Freddie]

I can't find AoC's stored screen resolution info either. Maybe somebody on the AoC forums knows where AoC puts it.

[Freddie]

Turns out you can resize AoC's window with an ordinary resize command. For example, with HotkeyNet, you can do it like this:

<Hotkey F1>
<TargetWindow "Age of Conan">
<SetWinSize 960 800>

That automatically adjusts the resolution of the 3D part of the screen (the landscape and characters). However it doesn't adjust the size or position of the interface doodads (hotbar, map, etc.). I can't find a way to adjust the size and position of the doodads. But the results aren't too bad if you set AoC's default resolution to the smallest possible size with AoC itself before you change anything with a third-party program.

I tried removing the window frame and caption with HotkeyNet's RemoveWinFrame command:

<Hotkey F1>
<TargetWindow "Age of Conan">
<RemoveWinFrame>

This works but unfortunately it causes AoC to position interface doodads incorrectly so some get cut off and others float inside the window. It's sort of workable but imperfect.

[Mosg2]

Any chance of getting a "from-scratch" guide to running multiple instances of AoC? I'm *really* interested in running 6 ToS

[Kopitar]

6 ToS? ouch