Stylish Combat Interface

[theGryphon]

Hi all!

maximS posted a new combat interface mod in our mod page. I've seen a similar one posted by Razeriel and authored by Azard at Elrath.com, so I guess (at least) some credit should go to Azard as well. His was shiny gold, maximS's version has colors close to the original.

Yet, both maximS's and Azard's versions did not allow panning with mouse which is enabled after patch 1.2 (if you know what I mean). So, I took maximS's mod, corrected this and several other glitches like Russian text. I also edited some combat log (e.g. waiting->waits) and interface text. Overall, I think this mod is very sleek and good looking.

It does the following:
- gets rid of the bulky jog-dial.
- introduces new lean graphics for ATB bar and button frames.
- moves combat log window to top.
- some buttons are located at top-right.
- color, number and elements put in another panel above icons on ATB bar
- tweaks colors of battle arena squares, text, etc
- works perfectly with patch 1.2
- corrects tooltip and combat log texts
- enables load and save during via hotkeys
- mouse motion works in combat arena and under the minimap in adventure screen

To enable hotkeys, put these lines under "combat - fight mode" and "combat - tactic mode" in your input.cfg:

bind input_combat_save 'F2'
bind input_combat_load 'F3'


Credits go to Azard and maximS, and leave some for me too

Ha, it's here! I did not change the name but the version to 1.3.

This one looks like:



**************

OK, here's yet another version (1.4). I combined Azard's and maximS's work with mine to get a very nice (IMHO) combat interface. Still using same placement bar and jogdial/button graphics, but the ATB bar looks like the original game, except that I got rid of the large icon to the left. Well, one picture is worth more than one thousand words:



Other features stated above carry on.

Download it here!

[Doxas]

Screenshot of improvements (of combat?) would be great to decide to wheather install it or not.

[theGryphon]

Well, it looks just like this (courtesy maximS):

Edit: image moved up.

Btw, is it that hard to try once and then decide

[theGryphon]

Updated with a small bugfix and additional game fix: mouse motion now works under the minimap.

[Sir_Toejam]

nicely done. much slicker interface.

bravo.

[theGryphon]

Just updated with another version, with more of my contributions

[Sir_Toejam]

You already put it in the mod folder?

[theGryphon]

Yeah, why? The link works for me, doesn't it?

[Sir_Toejam]

It linked to version 1.3, but I noticed there is a 1.4 in the directory.

Just checking.

Edit:

ahh, i get it. didn't check out the screenies close enough.

yeah, just add a link to your modified 1.4 version (which is the one i decided to use, btw).

cheers

[ChinaBlue]

For me the hotkeys F2 and F3 work during fight but not tactics mode.
I paste these 2 lines
bind input_combat_save 'F2'
bind input_combat_load 'F3'
under the line "combat - fight mode" and under the line "combat - tactic mode"
What's wrong?

[theGryphon]

You should put them under the "bindsection ..." statements

[ChinaBlue]

You should put them under the "bindsection ..." statements

So that would be under the line" //end combat debug"
and under the line "bind chat_to_race 'CTRL' + 'R'" ?

I've done this and the situation remains the same. Able to use the hotkeys during combat but not tactics mode..

[theGryphon]

No. Put those two lines right after "bindsection combat_screen" AND right after "bindsection combat_screen_tactic". Let me know if it works. It should

[ChinaBlue]

Ok hope I did it right this time, it looks like this:
// combat - fight mode
bindsection combat_screen
bind input_combat_save 'F2'
bind input_combat_load 'F3'
(etc..)

// combat - tactic mode
bindsection combat_screen_tactic
bind input_combat_save 'F2'
bind input_combat_load 'F3'
(etc..)

But I still can't use the hotkeys during tactics

[theGryphon]

Then I say there has to be a conflict with another mod. Both versions work, I just checked again. Check with the Mod Manager for conflicts. Noone else reported any problems yet.

[Sir_Toejam]

this is gonna sound like a dumb question, but are you sure you are editing the right cfg file? I noticed after a reinstallation that the config file i was using was overwritten. the one you want is the input.cfg in the savegame profile folder, not in your Homm directory.

just a guess, and probably a bad one.

[ChinaBlue]

are you sure you are editing the right cfg file? the one you want is the input.cfg in the savegame profile folder, not in your Homm directory.

Actually, I had both files changed. After your comment I changed the one in homm directory back to original but as to be expected that makes no difference. According to the modmanager there are no conflicting mods.
Is there a way to enable the save game option under combat options? Why is the option written there but not active?

[theGryphon]

Well, the menu just uses the same interface graphics but the savegame option is disabled through the executable I suppose. So, I don't think it's enableable (wtf) by a mod, sorry...

I don't understand why the hotkeys don't work for you. Both don't work in tactics? Check whether F2 and F3 is not used by some other function, which could be a case if yourself had added them, so not that possible. I don't know, try disabling all other mods.

[Sir_Toejam]

the input.cfg file in your Homm directory isn't used, unelss there is no profile.

you only need to change the one in the profile directory, (in the mydocuments\mygames folder by default). as an example, here is where the correct input.cfg file is located on my puter:

C:\Documents and Settings\Tom\My Documents\My Games\Heroes of Might and Magic V\Profiles\Toejammer

I hope that is clearer, as you really shouldn't be having any problems enabling the save function keymappings if you are using the right config.

if you are sure you are editing the right file, try any or all of the following:

delete the input config file in your profile, do a reinstall and repatch of the game to get a fresh copy of the file, and then edit that using NOTEPAD only. I have seen some suggest using wordpad, but i wouldn't recommend that as it might save hidden code along with the file. use a text only editor.

if that doesn't work, make sure you remove all mods from the game except this one, and then see if it works. if so, start adding mods back in one at a time until you figure out where the conflict lies.

I still suspect you are either editing the wrong input.cfg file, or it has somehow been corrupted.

-wait, there is one other possibility; there is a trainer out there that gives you hot key access to unlimited movement, resources, etc. if you have that installed, it WILL conflict as it also uses F2 as a keybinding (and modifies the exe file as well). if you do have it installed, check the readme file to see which keys it already has bound, and bind a different set to your in-combat save function.

good luck.

[ChinaBlue]

Yep, now it works like a charm
I edited the right file (with wordpad) but apparently managed to mess it up somehow anyway (which doesn't surprise me).
So did the delete file/reinstall story and can at last fully enjoy this very nice combat interface (version 1.4 of course )
Thanks a lot for your help and patience guys, much appreciated!