Deprecated: This mod has been implemented (better) as a vanilla Besiege feature in newer game versions. As such, it is only useful in old versions of Besiege currently, along with the old mod loader.
Key Manager is a mod for Besiege that allows bulk key remapping and easier discoverability of machine controls. It is purely an additional feature for machines: If a user of the machine has the mod installed, they will get all the benefits but if they don't, the machine will still work just fine. The Key Manager also supports adding multiple keybinds to a single block control.
Many thanks to Redstoneman for his immense help in creating this mod! He helped design how it should work, find any bugs and supplied the explanation GIFs and his F-22 for inclusion as example machine.
- Install spaar's Mod Loader if you haven't already.
- Download KeyManager.zip.
- Out of it, extract KeyManager.dll to Besiege_Data/Mods/. The .zip file also includes a copy of this README and the mod's license but these files are not required to run the mod.
If you load a machine that contains Key Manager data while having the mod installed, a Key Manager window will appear. It shows the machine controls as assigned by the machine creator. You can use it to figure out how to control the machine. Additionally, you can hover over the assigned keys and press another key to remap any controls you want.
The Key Manager window can be manually openend and closed using its button in the Settings drop-down (where you toggle the god tools). And lastly, you can of course modify the machine's Key Manager data as described in section 2.
Note: Currently the key manager is mostly intended to be used on finished machines to make them more player-friendly. Different ways to assign controls are being considered to maybe make it more useful while building in the future.
Key Manager organizes machine controls in so-called Key Groups: A group has a name that is displayed to users as well as block controls assigned to it. The Key Manager will then allow you and users of the machine to assign a new key to all of the assigned controls at once. It also supports multiple keys for a single control.
A simple car might have two groups for example, "Forward" and "Reverse", each having the corresponding controls of the wheels assigned to it.
To configure Key Manager support, open the Key Manager window using its button in the Settings drop-down (where you toggle the god tools).
Start editing the Key Manager data by pressing the "Edit" button in the top right of the window. You exit edit mode with the same button. Create a group by pressing the "Add" button. Edit a group by pressing the "..." button next to its name. A window will open that allows you to change the group's name as well as assign controls to it.
To quickly edit the names of multiple groups, you can cycle through them with Tab while focusing the name text field. In edit mode, you can also manage groups by re-ordering or deleting them.
Before assigning controls, you need to assign one or multiple keys to the group. To do so, exit edit mode, hover over the "Add new" field and press a key. To assign controls go back into edit mode, open the detail dialog for the group and press the "(Un-)Assign blocks" button. All currently assigned blocks will be highlighted. A button will appear that lets you assign all controls that currently have one or more of the keys of the group assigned to them. For details on how controls are assigned to groups, see How controls are assigned. To unassign a previously assigned control, click the highlighted block. It will be removed from the group and the highlight will disappear.
There is also an auto-add feature. It will automatically attempt to group all controls of the same block type that currently are assigned to the same key. It is mostly intended to serve as a quick starting point for configuring an existing machine for use with the Key Manager. You can then edit the groups as normal from there.
Want to see an example of how the key manager can be used to enhance a machine? Take a look at Redstoneman's F-22 Raptor, the first machine to support it. The machine is also included in the mod, just open the interface and you will be asked whether you want to try it out. (If you dismissed the pop-up but would like to see it again, open the console by pressing Ctrl+K and execute the "resetExampleMachine" command.)
A group has one or multiple keys assigned to it. When you use the button to assign controls, all controls that have at least one of the group's keys assigned are added to the group. Assigning controls follows the following rules:
- Any keys assigned to the group but not the control are added to the control.
- Any keys assigned to the control but not the group are left unmodified on the control.
- When later remapping keys in the Key Manager interface, keys that were left unmodified according to the previous rule, are always left untouched.
Lastly, if you edit the keybindings on the control manually, the key manager will behave as follows whenever keys are remapped in its interface:
- The key manager stores at what "index", so at what position, the keys it was told to add to the group are in the case of multikeybinds.
- If you change a key at a position that was added to the group, it will be changed again by the key manager when mapping keys through it.
- If you change a key that was not added to the group, such as in the case of the second rule above, the key manager will leave it alone.
- If you add a new key to a control after assigning the control to a group, the key manager will also leave it alone.
The mod is licensed under the MIT license, see the LICENSE file for details. All source code is available on GitHub.