Anyone here know how to write scripts for Auto Hotkey?

[mikarddo]

FWIW what's the politically correct stance on Voice commands?

For what I have above, it's even easier and quicker using VRCommander and doing the following:

Say Heal One - Heal Six : Sends Heal to the member
Say Cure One - Cure Six : Send a Cure to the member
Say Free One - Free Six : Send Break Free over
Say Rez One - Rez Siz : Send a Rez over

And anything of the like.

Nice idea. However, it would make voice chatting while playing cumbersome to say the least.

[FZTopaz]

I wouldn't do it, simply because it CAN be used for purposes that are not legit. Playing a monk, for example, can be difficult, what with all the button mashing. However, a simple hotkey assignement and boom, I hit one key and do all my attacks in order. Or, the cleric heal shortcut that was just mentioned. I click on persons name, and automatically heal them.

This is from the EULA:

23. You will not use, develop or distribute “auto” software programs, “macro” software programs or other “cheat utility” software program or applications in violation of the Agreement or any other terms, conditions, notices, licenses or agreements included in or otherwise applicable to the Game.

That being said, most games have some form of macroing inside the game itself. DDO has the Alias system, which does quite a bit when you figure it out, but not to the extent you are looking at. Me, personally, I wouldn't chance it.

Besides, shouldn't need THAT many buffs in EVERY quest that you are spending that much time on. I have around four buffs that are used every quest, every time, and the rest are used dependent on the quests.

[Horrorscope]

Nice idea. However, it would make voice chatting while playing cumbersome to say the least.

I use Teamspeak with the group I play with.

You can go a few ways with it:

1. Hold down button to speak to group, mute commands. (Reverse when button not held down)

or

2. Hold down button to speak commands, mute the group. (Reverse when button not held down)

or

3. A toggle button. On speak to party, mute commands. Off mute party, speak commands.

It works fine, you get the choice how to do it. I use Option 3. I go radio silent to the group when in deep heat, I can still hear them.

Yes you don't want speaking to the group and commands open at the same time.

[Horrorscope]

I wouldn't do it, simply because it CAN be used for purposes that are not legit. Playing a monk, for example, can be difficult, what with all the button mashing. However, a simple hotkey assignement and boom, I hit one key and do all my attacks in order. Or, the cleric heal shortcut that was just mentioned. I click on persons name, and automatically heal them.

The first example you share, it sounds great being able to macro one button to fire off this amazing sequence. It really doesn't work for real, in pretty much any game. There are just things that happen that screw up sequences. Even your own motions can mess up a macro chain, pressing forward for example, can and will mess up any type of action macro sequence. So you would have to be totally static on your end until done and that isn't good in most games, totally negating any benefit that could be realized. Then put in the enemies actions, when they move, your half way through your chain fighting air now . I really haven't had any success with macro's in a manner like that. Maybe Tekken it works that way.

Then you look at all these new keyboard and gaming mmo's and they all are programmable.

What I've displayed here is additional functionality to the UI or a way to make your mouth part of the action instead of everything being a mouse click. Not so much macro strings. For example they allow Keyboard/mice and gamepads. They never thought of someone using Voice Commands. It's simply another input device imo.

What about 2 button mouse vs 13 button mouse?
What about a P4 with Intel Video vs a Quad Intel with a 680?

We don't own consoles, we own PC's. It's not going to be 100% equal, this is like the good ole days of hobbies, where you can make yourself better then another a variety of ways, machines being one.

[HunterjWizzard]

After some fenangling I got it to work!!

#IfWinActive ahk_class Turbine Device Class
^`::
Send !1
Sleep 3000
Send !2
Sleep 3000
Send !3
Sleep 3000
Send !4
Sleep 3000
Send !5
Sleep 3000
Send !6
Sleep 3000
Send !7
Sleep 3000
Send !8
Sleep 3000
Send !9
Sleep 3000
Send !0
#IfWinActive

Basically jsut activates the spaces on the hotbar one at a time. I could probably fine-tune it according to individual timeouts, but this does the job I was looking for just fine.

Then, since I was on a role, I wrote this one:

#IfWinActive ahk_class Turbine Device Class
^x::
Send +9
Sleep 3500
Send +9
Sleep 3500
Send +9
Sleep 3500
Send +9
Sleep 3500
Send +9
Sleep 3500
Send +9
Sleep 3500
Send +9
#IfWinActive

Which has been shortened a bit but you get the gist. I have the summon flaming bolts spell keyed to shift+9, hitting that key conjures a bunch of them. In the full script I have it set to conjur 2000, which is enough for most dungeons. I had basically stopped using the spell because it was such an enormous hastle to conjure enough.

Now, on a more serious note:

DEVs: If you have a problem with either of these scripts, say something. Either by PM or forum post.

There, now if you are not a dev, you do not have a reason to post whether or not you think using macros is ok. Please stop derailing my thread with ethical debates that go nowhere. I don't give the furry crack of a rats behind what your opinion on the subject is, and I get angry when people derail my threads so they can have an unrelated discussion. You wanna argue about using macros: go start your own freaking thread.

[FZTopaz]

There, now if you are not a dev, you do not have a reason to post whether or not you think using macros is ok. Please stop derailing my thread with ethical debates that go nowhere. I don't give the furry crack of a rats behind what your opinion on the subject is, and I get angry when people derail my threads so they can have an unrelated discussion. You wanna argue about using macros: go start your own freaking thread.

Ummm...I wasn't arguing. I was just saying that, maybe be careful because I don't want to see anyone get banned over something like this. I agree with you, actually, that it would be hard to use a macro to cheat, but that doesn't mean it isn't possible (look at Asheron's Call) nor that the devs wouldn't frown upon it.

I actually hope it IS ok, because with macro keyboards 9as you have pointed out) it isn't much different. That, and I would love to use some of these as well!

[AestorTheKnight]

Buy a Logitech G15 or a Corsair K90 Gaming Keyboard.

Both these keyboards contain functionality for programming complex and long string Macros.

So with either of these keyboards for example you could cast all your buffs with just 1 key Press.

Only small problem, either 1 of these keyboards will probably set you back $100 or more. Shop around, finds whats best for you.

Or... a cheaper alternative buy a "Command Pad" such as the:

http://www.cyborggaming.com/blog/pos...mand-Unit.aspx

Which has the most advanced and awsome Macro Software bundled with it, that once again would allow you to cast all your buffs, or change multiple gear sets with a single key press.

Have fun!

[Fanatic_Guru]

After some fenangling I got it to work!!

#IfWinActive ahk_class Turbine Device Class
^`::
Send !1
Sleep 3000
Send !2
Sleep 3000
Send !3
Sleep 3000
Send !4
Sleep 3000
Send !5
Sleep 3000
Send !6
Sleep 3000
Send !7
Sleep 3000
Send !8
Sleep 3000
Send !9
Sleep 3000
Send !0
#IfWinActive

Basically jsut activates the spaces on the hotbar one at a time. I could probably fine-tune it according to individual timeouts, but this does the job I was looking for just fine.

Then, since I was on a role, I wrote this one:

#IfWinActive ahk_class Turbine Device Class
^x::
Send +9
Sleep 3500
Send +9
Sleep 3500
Send +9
Sleep 3500
Send +9
Sleep 3500
Send +9
Sleep 3500
Send +9
Sleep 3500
Send +9
#IfWinActive

You did not use a "Return" at the end of your macro and then somehow got it to work through the unusual use of #IfWinActive

^x::
Send +9
Sleep 3500
Send +9
Sleep 3500
Send +9
Sleep 3500
Send +9
Sleep 3500
Send +9
Sleep 3500
Send +9
Sleep 3500
Send +9
return

Should do the same thing in a cleaner and more expected way.

I don't believe a Dev will either confirm or deny the use of macros. It seems to be kind of a gray area that they turn a blind eye toward. A don't ask, don't tell policy. But we ain't suppose to be telling which this thread is somewhat. They don't seem to mind it in simple forms but don't want to weaken their User Agreement by condoning it in any way. The Autohotkey forums has a support section that is generally helpful.

I imagine you have definitely crossed the line though once you have a macro that can respond on its own with no user intervention. The simplest form being something like when your health bar gets to half and a macro auto fires and cast a heal upon yourself. Start down that road and before long you can have a full fledged bot that can play upon its own.

Luckily DDO does not seem to have a botting problem just due to the nature of the game. DDO is not very repetitive. There is little point in making a bot that can autorun a quest when after about 10 times the quest gets you nothing. No experience and no chest. In a lot of games doing the same relatively simple task over and over 10,000 times can be very beneficial whether it be killing the same monster, picking the same chest, or fishing in the same spot. DDO is not like that.

I use Autohotkey quite a bit at work but for DDO I just use some of the simply macroing my keyboard can do for buffing. To fully buff my artificer and his dog requires me to cast about 15 spells.

The macros earlier in thread for healing a party or raid based on clicking on names and mouse location are nifty and I would probably do something like that if I didn't hate being a healer.

[Siro]

The geeky/dev reason why most games have a provision against autohotkey-like programs (beyond the obvious botting/financial implications) mostly revolves around the way the game hooks into the operating system's inputs. If the third party software isn't doing it right (by emulating hardware that then passing input to the OS and then on to the game) it can cause problems that the developers of the game had not anticipated when they wrote the game (which can then become a support problem in trying to track down a bug that doesn't necessarily exist within the game code). This is very likely why DDO has no issues with hardware-based macros. They go through their own drivers to the OS and then onto the game.

Personally, I have yet to have had a reason to do any macro-type stuff with DDO. It's not like this one game I played where there was an entire class based around single shot rifles that needed individual clicks to fire at all and monsters could take hundreds of hits each. First and last time I'll ever do the same thing with enough frequency and speed that it breaks the mouse button.

[bigolbear]

good thread, I like many others would realy appreciate a dev responce on whether this is allowed or not - and if theres a grey area, whats allowed and whats not.

[HunterjWizzard]

You did not use a "Return" at the end of your macro and then somehow got it to work through the unusual use of #IfWinActive

I was definitely getting some odd behavior: the first macro would execute flawlessly, casting all 10 buff spells, but then without any prompting, the second macro would also go off, and since that one included about 20 steps with a 3.5 second delay, well I was basically stuck unable to do much of anything for a good minute. I finally just deleted the second macro when I decided flaming bolts(which only stack up to 100, will not go in quivers, and have to be summoned 50 at a time inside a dundgeon) were not worth the effort required.

I am however immensely enjoying being able to pop in the dungeon, hit one keyboard command, then go take a leak/grab a drink/whatever while my normally tedious buffing process happens.

I like this solution over some of the others that have been suggested(logitec keyboards and thirty-party peripherals), first off I have a nice mechanical keyboard already, and second my system goes through a KVM, the actual box is about 20 feet away following cables.

[Jingwei]

The
#IfWinActive ahk_class Turbine Device Class
[...]
#IfWinActive

Seems to be needed for DDO to read keyboard hotkeys while in full screen mode. It has no problem with mouse hotkeys without it.

Also, you only one set of 'IfWinActive ...'

So your script file should look like:

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

#IfWinActive ahk_class Turbine Device Class
^`::
Send !1
Sleep 3000
Send !2
Sleep 3000
Send !3
Sleep 3000
Send !4
Sleep 3000
Send !5
Sleep 3000
Send !6
Sleep 3000
Send !7
Sleep 3000
Send !8
Sleep 3000
Send !9
Sleep 3000
Send !0
Return

^x::
Send +9
Sleep 3500
Send +9
Sleep 3500
Send +9
Sleep 3500
Send +9
Sleep 3500
Send +9
Sleep 3500
Send +9
Sleep 3500
Send +9
Return
#IfWinActive

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

Also, if using 'named' keys, like the function keys, numpad0 etc, you need to put the name of the key in {}.

So, for example, if you want to mess with automatic party selection scripts, they you'll do something like:

[...]
Send {F1}
[...]

And not,

[...]
Send F1
;this acts like pressing the 'F' letter key, and then the '1' number key, not the 'F1' function key.
[...]

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

It's also possible to 'nest' multiple hotkeys with just one return command, if you want to have a choice about how much or how many times something is done.

Example:

^5:: ;make me 5000 bolts
Send +9
Sleep 3500
^4:: ;make me 4000 bolts
Send +9
Sleep 3500
^3:: ;make me 3000 bolts
Send +9
Sleep 3500
^2:: ;make me 2000 bolts
Send +9
Sleep 3500
^1:: ;make me 1000 bolts
Send +9
Return

[mikarddo]

I may regret posting this but here is the script I am using. I definitely dont consider this cheating as it does nothing without me at the keys nor does it do anything I could not do manually. It simply cuts down on the keypressing and annoyance.

#NoEnv  ; Recommended for performance and compatibility with future AutoHotkey releases.
SendMode Input  ; Recommended for new scripts due to its superior speed and reliability.
SetWorkingDir %A_ScriptDir%  ; Ensures a consistent starting directory.

; start DDO for me
#IfWinNotExist Dungeons and Dragons Online
  Run C:\ddo

; the hotkeys are only active within DDO not when I tab out.
#IfWinActive ahk_class Turbine Device Class

; I use this to suspend Autohotkey when entering text in chat, search fields etc.
$½::Suspend

; **** Description ***
; This macro will swap weaponsets based on which spell I am casting
; I have spells setup on the keys 1 through 0
; and the corresponding weaponsets set up on alt-1 through alt-0 (this is setup in game)
; One weaponset is with a devotion 1h + shield, another with heal scroll + devotion main hander, another with force spell power + arcane lore etc
; The variable weaponset tracks which weaponset I am currently wearing
; If I press say key 1 = Heal and I am already wearing the devotion set already it will simply cast the spell. If I am wearing something else it will first equip the weaponset then wait a short while and the cast the spell
; Also, the Heal macro will cast Cure Serious Wounds instead while Heal is on cooldown (no automatic detection is used - instead a timer is set when Heal is cast so the macro roughly knows when Heal isnt ready
; The code could definitely be trimmed alot but I am too lazy to do so
; *** Hopefully there isnt an issue with the bug concerning spellpower not working too well after an item swap. That would really mess things up
; **** End description ***

weaponset:="unknown"
healontimer:=0

; Heal / Cure Serious Wounds
1::					
 if (weaponset <> "devotion")
 {
   Send !1 	
   Sleep 200
   weaponset:="devotion"
 }
 if (healontimer = 1)
   Send ^1     					; Cure Crit 
 else 
 {
   Send 1      					; Heal
   Settimer, resetheal, -4300			; timer for cooldown on Heal
   healontimer:=1
 }
 return

resetheal:
   healontimer:=0
   return

; CLW SLA
2::						
 if (weaponset != "devotion")
 {
   Send !2
   Sleep 200
   weaponset:="devotion"
 }
 Send 2
 return

; BB
3::
 if (weaponset!="kinetic")
 {
   Send !3
   Sleep 200
   weaponset:="kinetic"
 }
 Send 3
 return

; Destruction
4::
 if (weaponset != "kinetic")
 {
   Send !4
   Sleep 200
   weaponset := "kinetic"
 }
 Send 4
 return

; DP
5::
 if (weaponset != "light")
 {
   Send !5
   Sleep 200
   weaponset := "light"
 }
 Send 5
 return

; Implosion
6::
 if (weaponset != "kinetic")
 {
   Send !6
   Sleep 200
   weaponset := "kinetic"
 }
 Send 6
 return

; MM from Wiz PL
7::
 if (weaponset != "kinetic")
 {
   Send !7
   Sleep 200
   weaponset := "kinetic"
 }
 Send 7
 return

; Avenging Light SLA
8::
 if (weaponset != "light")
 {
   Send !8
   Sleep 200
   weaponset := "light"
 }
 Send 8
 return

; Renewal SLA
9::
 if (weaponset != "devotion")
 {
   Send !9
   Sleep 200
   weaponset := "devotion"
 }
 Send 9
 return

; Heal scrolls
0::
 if (weaponset != "healscroll")
 {
   Send !0
   Sleep 200
   weaponset := "healscroll"
 }
 Send 0
 return

; Shield mode
<::
 Send !1
 weaponset:="devotion"
 return

[Jingwei]

Here's another handy minor script, which is for getting crewmember ship buffs, it automatically choose the 1st conversation options, so you don't have to click on them.

(whatever key combination you want)::
send {e}
sleep 400
send ^{f1}
sleep 400
send ^{f1}
return

[Feather_of_Sun]

The original game came with an advertisement in box for the Logitech G15 keyboard.

The dev responses in the long long ago were basically, don't build a bot or a complex enough macro that it plays the game for you, but macroing simple functions is OK.

Here's an official stance:

As long as -you-, a living, breathing person, are at the keyboard, it's alright.

No bannings for automation/macro use will happen without a Game Master first trying to communicate with the player in question. That's a fairly rigorous process that includes opening a window on your screen saying to check your tells because a GM has been trying to contact you, and they also wait at least a minute for a response.

[DaSawks]

Here's an official stance:

As long as -you-, a living, breathing person, are at the keyboard, it's alright.

No bannings for automation/macro use will happen without a Game Master first trying to communicate with the player in question. That's a fairly rigorous process that includes opening a window on your screen saying to check your tells because a GM has been trying to contact you, and they also wait at least a minute for a response.

Several questions come to mind.

1. Are there any offical/supported scripts/macros that we can use/download?
2. 1 minute wait before a ban? Some intense fights last longer that that. So if I get a /tell and do not respond I am S.O.L.?
3. Will DDO ever allow item sets? Such as DPS gear > trap/lock gear?
4. How about addons like other games allow? Friend of mine plays #@# and claims there are great addons like, Threat meters, DPS meters, spell chains, cooldown clocks.

[7-day_Trial_Monkey]

Several questions come to mind.

1. Are there any offical/supported scripts/macros that we can use/download?
2. 1 minute wait before a ban? Some intense fights last longer that that. So if I get a /tell and do not respond I am S.O.L.?
3. Will DDO ever allow item sets? Such as DPS gear > trap/lock gear?
4. How about addons like other games allow? Friend of mine plays #@# and claims there are great addons like, Threat meters, DPS meters, spell chains, cooldown clocks.

I would expect the 1 minute wait to be for a response to the window they can cause to popup in the middle of your screen telling you that you have failed to respond to the /tell from a GM.

[Ebondevil]

Here's an official stance:

As long as -you-, a living, breathing person, are at the keyboard, it's alright.

No bannings for automation/macro use will happen without a Game Master first trying to communicate with the player in question. That's a fairly rigorous process that includes opening a window on your screen saying to check your tells because a GM has been trying to contact you, and they also wait at least a minute for a response.

Last time a GM tried to contact me I saw no screen opening, no notification, no sound indicator, and 1 minute isn't very long at all, probably why I missed them.

[Glenalth]

Here's an official stance:

As long as -you-, a living, breathing person, are at the keyboard, it's alright.

No bannings for automation/macro use will happen without a Game Master first trying to communicate with the player in question. That's a fairly rigorous process that includes opening a window on your screen saying to check your tells because a GM has been trying to contact you, and they also wait at least a minute for a response.

Thanks for the info.

Back to sundering essences while I watch my shows on the other monitor.

Please, please, please include a multiple essence sundering recipe in the future. This one at a time thing is just stupid.

[danotmano1998]

Here's an official stance:

As long as -you-, a living, breathing person, are at the keyboard, it's alright.

No bannings for automation/macro use will happen without a Game Master first trying to communicate with the player in question. That's a fairly rigorous process that includes opening a window on your screen saying to check your tells because a GM has been trying to contact you, and they also wait at least a minute for a response.

Just FYI, One minute is not enough time to get a diaper changed. Or to take care of biological needs in most cases.

So the process is to send tells, and if they are not answered, a window will pop up from a GM. Does the minute start from the tells or the pop up of the window?
How many tells?


Glad you posted, Feather, I appreciate the official reply, thanks.