Change Menu controls?

[GrimpaJ]

Is there any way (config files, mods...) to change the Menu controls of this game?

I mean, why the ♥♥♥♥ can I rebind ingame stuff (e.g. f -> NP0) when I still have to use the button in the menu again. It is really not that hard to add options for menu controls as well and kind of silly that the "greatest game of all time" still is incapable of reaching the quality level that games like Assassins Creed, Battlefield & Co have for over a decade in this regard.

I can't rebind open Menu (Esc), Forward (E), Back (Q), F (what ever that does exactly), R, G ...

And they still didn't fix the problem when playing with Arrows, that you continue walking while in the menu because I can't change menu navigation away from arrow keys... so I can just walk off a cliff while changing my graphics settings - great.

[GrimpaJ]

Another acceptable workaround for me would be to change the button that is displayed ingame.

I would then use the default keys for everything in game (W, A, S, D, F, E, Q...) and use my keyboard's software to emulate these buttons. So when I press ArrowUp, it actually triggers W, when I press F, it actually triggers NP0, So in the end, I can press my buttons and the game gets it ♥♥♥♥♥♥ unchangeable keystrokes - all are happy. Except, that I would need to change to how the buttons are displayed in game. For example: When the game wants the input E to do something, it shows me another "button symbol" (in my case the one I mapped to E in my keyboard's software).

So the "only" thing I would need to change in the game files in this case would be the mapping of the "keystroke actions" and the "key symbols". The result would be a completely remappable keymapping (just with more effort).

I just dont know if changing the keys in the gamefiles is easier than that or changing the link between what buttons are displayed by which icon ingame. And since the gamefiles are compiled (is that the right term? - I'm not a tech guy) - so far, I can't do either.

[dark-breed]

Originally posted by GrimpaJ:

Another acceptable workaround for me would be to change the button that is displayed ingame.

I would then use the default keys for everything in game (W, A, S, D, F, E, Q...) and use my keyboard's software to emulate these buttons. So when I press ArrowUp, it actually triggers W, when I press F, it actually triggers NP0, So in the end, I can press my buttons and the game gets it ♥♥♥♥♥♥ unchangeable keystrokes - all are happy. Except, that I would need to change to how the buttons are displayed in game. For example: When the game wants the input E to do something, it shows me another "button symbol" (in my case the one I mapped to E in my keyboard's software).

So the "only" thing I would need to change in the game files in this case would be the mapping of the "keystroke actions" and the "key symbols". The result would be a completely remappable keymapping (just with more effort).

I just dont know if changing the keys in the gamefiles is easier than that or changing the link between what buttons are displayed by which icon ingame. And since the gamefiles are compiled (is that the right term? - I'm not a tech guy) - so far, I can't do either.

changing the gamefiles is not possible without get banned

[GrimpaJ]

Even with EAC disabled / in offline mode?

I will play like this anyway, since I'm using mods to unlock my framerate.

[GrimpaJ]

I have managed to do this - by modding the game on my own.

Result: Changing the icons for the keyboard buttons in the gamefiles does work. The hardest part was actually finding the correct files. I can't give a detailed instruction on how to do every single step, but since I know I'm not the only one annoyed by such lazy and ♥♥♥♥♥♥ PC ports, I'll share the main steps here.

Keep in mind that I completely new to modding and game development - meaning there might be amateur mistakes or unnecessarily complicated stuff but also that you can do it too when you're similar inexperienced.

1. Software

You will need several programs to make all steps work. Here are the ones I used:

• UXM Selective Unpack 2.2 [www.nexusmods.com]
  for extracting the separate gamefiles from the compiled archives
  
• WitchyBND-v2.6.2.1 [github.com]
  for extracting (again) the previously extracted gamefiles
  
• Photoshop (or similar editing software)
  to edit the texture files according to your preference
  I was also able to open the files with IrfanView (freeware), but I have not tested if editing was as easy as in Photoshop there. Furthermore, I needed to manually add a Photoshop plugin ( NVIDIA_Texture_Tools_for_Adobe_Photoshop_2024.1.0 [developer.nvidia.com]) to actually work with the texture file format. It can be downloaded for free at Nvidias website, but an account and a registration for Nvidias developer program is necessary.
  
• some kind of Easy AntiCheat disabler.
  I'm not sure that this is actually needed, but I use it anyways for the FPS unlock mod, so it doesn't hurt. I used this mod [www.nexusmods.com].

2. Steps

2.1. Extract files (1)

Extract the relevant files with UXM Selective Unpack 2.2 from the game. There is a readme file with the programm and it is fairly intuitive to use. The most important part is probably where to find the right files. The keyboard icons are located under menu > hi > 01_common-tpf.dcx and menu > lo > 01_common-tpf.dcx. Extract these 2 files (I don't actually know whats the difference between them since filesize and resolution seems identical - and in the end, I just editied one of the files and just copied it into the other directory as well).

2.2. Extract files (2)

Unpack the extracted files with WitchyBND-v2.6.2.1. This will create a folder with some texture files (.dds) in it. Look for SB_KeyTop.dds and SB_KeyTop_02.dds. These two files contain all icons for the keyboard buttons.

2.3. Edit textures

Just open the files in Photoshop and edit as usual. I made sure that I don't change the size of buttons: there are 2 main button sizes, e.g. letters & numbers are small while Tab, Shift, Space... are a little wider. I replaced F (jumping) with Ctrl but formated Ctrl as a smaller button. I've not tested if this is necessary, but I guess there could be problems when the button is bigger than expected. In the end, just make all the changes you want. I will add screenshot [imgur.com] how my edited file looked.
When finished, export the file as .dds file again (under Save copy.

2.4. Replace files

Replace the original file in the extracted gamefiles with the edited one.

2.5. Compile files

Compile the files back together (so that you get the 01_common-tpf.dcx file - but with your chages - again) by using WitchyBND-v2.6.2.1 again.

2.6. Patch game

Patch the game .exe file to load your modified files by using UXM Selective Unpack. (I don't know if I made a mistake or if this is how it's supposed to be, but it was necessary for me to extract all game files and patch the game to actually start the game - otherwise the game would get a infinite black screen right on startup).

2.7. actually changing keybinds

For this workaround to change the buttons in game, it is off course necessary to have a software that allow you to remap your keyboard buttons. By using this method, you just change how keys are displayed ingame and what key icon belongs to which key. You DON'T change the actual keybinds itself. For me, just because my game now displays Ctrl for jumping, the action is still bound to F. The game just displays all F-actions with Ctrl now. So therefore, use your software to bind the necessary keys. I configured my Ctrl key in a way, that it actually triggers F. So when I know tap Ctrl, I trigger F and since the game still has default keybinds (F) I can jump like that while still having the game display Ctrl as button. (I used Steelseries Engine by my keyboard, but even if your keyboard developer doesn't have such software, you can use AutoHotkey [www.autohotkey.com] to rebind the keys on the keyboard to different actions. Another advice regarding AutoHotkey: ChatGPT & Co. can write pretty solid AutoHotkey scripts - just describe what buttons you want to change and you'll have your script for it).

2.8. Disable EAC

Last thing to do is disabling EAC to play with a modified game and then you can play with consistent keybinds to your liking.


In the end, it is actually a ♥♥♥♥♥♥ and really complicated workaround for a problem, that should never have existed in the first place... It is really not that hard to make ALL keybinds costumizable and display them correctly ingame. Maybe it's just me, but I find it hard to enjoy a game when always having to reach over my entire keyboard to close a ingame menu or to remember what key F, Q, E, R, G, X, Z... actually is with my layout since it's not displayed ingame. I hope this might help someone who feels similar :)