Keyboard shortcuts on menus

[Terring 6,473]

Every Maxis-made infrastructure has its keyboard shortcut or hotkey and I use many of them, such as R for road and V for dezone. However I can't remember all of them so I have to either check the manual (yeap, I still have it) or just click the menus and scroll to whatever I want, wasting time. So here is an idea. How about a mod that shows the keyboard shortcuts at the menus as a quick reminder? Something like this:

Is this possible?

[CorinaMarie 29,605]

2 hours ago, Terring said:

Is this possible?

Yep. Just export a copy of every corresponding LTEXT entry and add the Shortcut information text you'd like it to have.

[Cyclone Boom 16,875]

As Cori posted while I was typing...

I believe this certainly would be doable, and it'd involve editing the language file entry for each of the menu queries. Then to specify what the shortcut is as corresponding to how they're defined. The keyboard commands are assigned inside KEYCFG entries which are within the SimCity_1.dat file.

(See here for a Wiki article on the format if curious.)

Here's a sample for the network tools and Maxis ploppables:

Q                  =0x6a935cf7   "Zone Low D. Res"
W                  =0x6a935d0b   "Zone Med D. Res"
E                  =0x6a935d0e   "Zone Heavy D. Res"
A                  =0x6a935d11   "Zone Low D. Com"
S                  =0x6a935d17   "Zone Med D. Com"
D                  =0x6a935d1a   "Zone Heavy D. Com"
Z                  =0x6a935d1d   "Zone Agro"
X                  =0x6a935d25   "Zone Med. D. Ind."
C                  =0x6a935d2b   "Zone Heavy D. Ind"
Y                  =0x6a935d28   "Zone Landfill"
V                  =0x6a935d2e   "De-Zone"
B                  =0x6a935d36   "Demolish"
Control F          =0x6a935d39   "Dispatch Fire"
Control P          =0xca935dbd   "Dispatch Police"
R                  =0x6a935dc0   "Road Tool"
Alt R              =0x6a935dc2   "Street Tool"
Shift R            =0x6a935dc5   "Highway Tool"
Control Shift R    =0x6a935dc9   "Build Bus Stop"
Control R          =0x6b730f78   "Avenue Tool"
T                  =0x6a935dda   "Rail Tool"
Control Shift T    =0x6a935ddd   "Passenger Depot"
Control Alt T      =0x6a935ddf   "Freight Depot"
Control T          =0x2b79e72b   "Light Rail Tool"
Alt T              =0x2bfe11c9   "Light Rail Station"
Shift T            =0x6a935de3   "Subway Tool"
Shift Alt T        =0x6a935de6   "Subway Station"
L                  =0x6a935deb   "Power Lines Tool"
I                  =0x6a935dee   "Pipes Tool"
P                  =0x6a935df1   "Build Small Police Stn"
Alt P              =0x6a935df4   "Build Large Police Stn"
Shift P            =0x6a935df7   "Build Jail"
Control Shift P    =0x2bfe0bea   "Build Police Kiosk"
F                  =0x6a935dfa   "Build Small Fire Stn"
Alt F              =0x6a935dfd   "Build Large Fire Stn"
H                  =0x6a935e0a   "Build Clinic"
Alt H              =0x6a935e0d   "Build Hospital"
K                  =0x6a935e14   "Build Elementary School"
Alt K              =0x6a935e11   "Build High School"
Shift K            =0x6a935e17   "Build College"
M                  =0x2bfe1095   "Build Ferry Terminal"

 

I'll look into this tomorrow when I have some spare time and see what can be done.

[Tyberius06 12,189]

Hi there!

This is a great idea! And I copy this linky here again. If I recall correctly @CasperVg did some researches about shortcuts/hotkeys while he was working on that mod.

https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=18501.0 - AutoSave & AutoHistorical

Actually he found traces of dirt-road and monorail (at least I remember he found the hex-code for them), but somehow he was not able to activate them and get hotkeys. Sh... Most of those conversations happened via discord on the SC4Devotion/NAM channel half a year ago, but it might be worth to make contact with Casper and ask what he was working on. Maybe more eyes see more things and somebody would be able to come up with new hotkeys (or at least enable-ing some new ones) for dirt-road/RHW, monorail, OWR etc... These would be more useful than police station or bus stop etc... these are mostly unused anyway in the world of custom contents

- Tyberius

[Cyclone Boom 16,875]

@Terring

Good news. I've made some progress and can confirm it works!
 

   

   

 

Then for the Dezone tool:

(This applies for RCI also since it shares the same LText.)

And I know you use our mod, so...

 

----------

I count there'll be 70 of them in total.

All the shortcuts I'm adding are those defined within the KEYCFG file (IID 6A9362EF). So there are a few like one-way roads which don't have a keyboard command assigned, and this would depend on knowing the MsgID hex code for them so they can be called up. Maybe those were ones which Maxis didn't get around to implementing if they were new menu items added in the Rush Hour expansion.

Something I'm wondering is whether you'd prefer the separators using a hyphen or a plus sign.

For example:

Streets (Alt + R)

OR

Streets (Alt - R)

I can make two versions with one and the other if that might be preferable to pick and choose either way? Another thing to mention is how I've noticed with the zones and some items, how they include the shortcut label when querying.

Such as they appear like this:

(Underlined in orange to highlight the (D) there.)

There are duplicate named entries in the language files, and so I can see how this is happening for some.

However, my initial conclusion for other ploppables like Civics is this entry name makes those buildings still appear with the shortcut command upon hovering. As such it might not be fixable for those unless creating and defining a new User Visible Name Key for each of them. This may potentially cause other complications also for compatibility with content which overrides the Maxis defaults, so I'm unsure if that's worth pursuing. It'd be a lot of work also.

So in summary, my questions are:

1)  Would you prefer the separator with a + or a - sign?

2)  Should I try and remove as many of the labels from when querying, or is this something which may actually be preferable?
 

Another thing which just came to mind while typing...

3)  What about adding the word "key" or "keys" to the ends to specify that's what the letters are?
E.g.
Roads  (R key)
Streets  (Alt + R keys)

I'm not so sure about that though, since to install this mod and it'd be known what the letters represent as the keyboard commands. On the other hand, it might make more sense to clarify exactly what it means. Say if playing the game after a while and wondering why they're shown for what they mean.

Anyhow, it's not quite ready yet for beta testing, but let me know and I'll arrange the finer details however you'd like.

[Terring 6,473]

Dude, that's great! You did an excellent job. As separator I highly recommend the hyphen sign because this is how the manual has the shortcuts, as CTRL-R instead of CTRL+R for example. I don't believe having the keys appearing when querying will be a big problem but you never know, so let it as it is for now. And yes, adding the word "key" will be a little helpful especially for the newer players. Thank you very much for your work and I can't wait to see it finished

[Naomi57 2,985]

My personal dream is to have hotkeys for:

Alt+B          RHW Disconnector
Ctrl+Alt+R     SAM Starters
Ctrl+Alt+E     NWM Starters
Ctrl+Alt+W     RHW Starters
Shift+W        RHW-2
Shift+E        One-way Road (OWR-2)
Ctrl+Y         Monorail

Dare I hope that dream might come true one day?

I have carpal tunnel syndrome, which is THE biggest reason I've got two mice, one for each hand ... well, one mouse and one trackball.  

On 04/02/2020 at 10:35 AM, Tyberius06 said:

If I recall correctly @CasperVg did some researches about shortcuts/hotkeys while he was working on that mod.

https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=18501.0 - AutoSave & AutoHistorical

Actually he found traces of dirt-road and monorail (at least I remember he found the hex-code for them), but somehow he was not able to activate them and get hotkeys. Sh... Most of those conversations happened via discord on the SC4Devotion/NAM channel half a year ago, but it might be worth to make contact with Casper and ask what he was working on. Maybe more eyes see more things and somebody would be able to come up with new hotkeys (or at least enable-ing some new ones) for dirt-road/RHW, monorail, OWR etc...

Fascinating conversation there on SC4D, @Tyberius06, thanks for the link ... and a short conversation for once!  If they ever get the "hotkey in that switches to the zone data view and then back to the normal view" working, then there might be hope that my dream might soon materialise?

[Naomi57 2,985]

On 04/02/2020 at 9:49 AM, Cyclone Boom said:

M =0x2bfe1095 "Build Ferry Terminal"

That's for the Car Ferry, there's also Ctrl+M for the Passenger Ferry.  

On 04/02/2020 at 7:20 AM, Terring said:

However I can't remember all of them

Here's a REALLY NEAT cheat sheet ... maybe that will help you, too, @Terring?

https://www.reddit.com/r/SimCity/comments/snslu/i_made_a_simcity_4_shortcut_sheet/

Also on: https://i.imgur.com/Fjimz.jpg

[Naomi57 2,985]

12 hours ago, Naomi57 said:

Here's a REALLY NEAT cheat sheet ... maybe that will help you, too, @Terring?

https://www.reddit.com/r/SimCity/comments/snslu/i_made_a_simcity_4_shortcut_sheet/

That cheat sheet doesn't miss much, aside from missing the ferries (M and Ctrl+M ... how could he do that! ).

• Ctrl+Arrow moves the camera with controlled precision.
• 6 is extra zoom-in (same as Ctrl+X  sizeof 2  ... I think the maximum zoom is Ctrl+X  sizeof 64 )
• Ctrl+Shift+Alt+R is the import thingy, I think.  I decided to use SC4 Mapper 2013 instead.
• Ctrl+Shift+S to take a snapshot .... but I just use my PrintScreen key.

Are there any other secret hotkeys?  

[Cyclone Boom 16,875]

12 hours ago, Naomi57 said:

Here's a REALLY NEAT cheat sheet ...

That's cool, and I've not seen the sheet before. Thanks for sharing it.

 

11 hours ago, Naomi57 said:

Are there any other secret hotkeys?  

I'll post the keyboard config (KEYCFG) files here for reference which contain those defined in the game:

SC4 KeyCfg - All 4 Files.zip

These are all the hotkeys which are known to be available.

[Cyclone Boom 16,875]

The question for the sum of SC4 Menu Shortcut Labels is... 
*** Suspenseful music plays ***
 

 

SC4 Menu Shortcut Labels (Style A) - v1.0.dat	SC4 Menu Shortcut Labels (Style B) - v1.0.dat
SC4 Menu Shortcut Labels (Style C) - v1.0.dat	SC4 Menu Shortcut Labels (Style D) - v1.0.dat

(Thanks @CorinaMarie for initially taking it for a test drive!)

 

I'm a big supporter of choice in software or anything, and so I felt it'd be worth spending the little extra time in creating 4 slightly varied versions, while prioritising the A as the main option (as you suggested Terring). The above previews show how there's the difference between each of them. They all contain the same number of LText overrides (98 total, including duplicates), and it's just for the preference of having hyphens or plus signs, and then the words "key" and "keys" to be added or not.

Only one .dat file can be used at a time.

Of course, unlike WWTBAM there's no wrong answer here, so pick whichever one(s) you'd like to give a go. It's not a trick question either.

There might potentially be mistakes, and it did involve going through adding each by hand from the list. Let me know if I got anything mixed up, and I'll gladly correct it.

Hopefully this comes in useful, and I might consider tossing this onto the STEX at some stage.

[Naomi57 2,985]

6 hours ago, Cyclone Boom said:

The question for the sum of SC4 Menu Shortcut Labels is... 

So pleased to see the Ferry featured ... yay!  

 

22 hours ago, Cyclone Boom said:

I'll post the keyboard config (KEYCFG) files here for reference which contain those defined in the game:

SC4 KeyCfg - All 4 Files.zip

The neat one I didn't know about is

Control Alt S           = 0x6a935e37   "Save City, Quick"

I read somewhere else that this saves the city without updating the city preview on Region view, thus saving a little time.

[Terring 6,473]

I picked the C style and the answer was a simple but brilliant and very useful mod. Seeing the hotkeys on the menus filled me with joy. Thank you very much 

BTW, I found something funny in the query tool

[c4bl3fl4m3 405]

Okay, so is the mod up on the STEX yet? Because this is AWESOME.

ALSO! Is there a way it can detect if you're on a Mac & give the proper keys for the Mac if so? Because this would be WONDERFUL. (I'd be happy to edit a text file or let you know what the Mac keys are, if you give me the full list of all hotkeys.)