So I've come to the realization that I(and probably many others) am running out of keys due to different callout packs/plugins and the menus within them each taking up a different key.  I use most of the available callouts and a good amount of other plugins, and most of the keys are already assigned. My concern is with lspdfr still being in a very early stage, and the certainty that more callouts and plugins will be developed, that we are going to run out of available keys. It can already be a guessing game trying to remember which key is with a specific callout (although some devs have pop up reminder when necessary which has been helpful.)

 

My question to you devs is is it possible to fix? Can some sort of system be created where one key is assigned specifically to callout menus, for example, and the game checks to see which callout is running and only pulls up that specific callout menu?

 

Again, I think I have 4-5 keys just for callouts, another for skin control, another for albos court system, another for barries and cones, etc.  I'm just worried that as time progresses and more plugins are developed things are going to get "messier" for lack of a better word (and sleep.) It is mainly the different callout menus that I can foresee becoming an issue.

 

Thank you for reading. I appreciate he work all of you do to improve our experience!

I was planning to bring this up. Unfortunately, at this point, there is no way to tell which "pack" is the owner of the current callout. In fact, there is no information you can get about a callout that is running. The only function that we have is called "IsCalloutRunning", which only tells you if there is a callout running, period. And that function returns "true" even if Dispatch has just displayed the callout, without the player accepting it.

This is something that is probably best left to @LMS, @Sam, and/or @Cyan to address in a future LSPDFR update.

Even if us devs could come up with a way to standardize plugin menus, it would involve one more support library for people to install and babysit, which we don't want.

However, in the meantime, all these "keys" should be customizeable, and the user should be given the option to use a modifier key. For example, in my most recent updates, I set the default key to something (say, F8 for ALPR+), and left the modifier key set to None. But the user can always change the key, and add a modifier if they wish.

It doesn't solve the issue of having too many keys to remember (maybe printing off a cheatsheet would help), but it at least would eliminate conflicts, if every plugin allowed customization in that sense.

Ok. Hopefully in the future there is something made available if possible.  Your point about an extra library is extremely valid.

Obviously those guys are extremely busy and in the meantime you guys have done a stellar job of making the keys customizeable and providing the pop up box reminder of which key(s) to press to access the menu. Again it is an issue that probably won't arise for quite some time until more plugins that utilize menus are created.  It is also not a bad problem to have.

45 minutes ago, Stealth22 said:

I was planning to bring this up. Unfortunately, at this point, there is no way to tell which "pack" is the owner of the current callout. In fact, there is no information you can get about a callout that is running. The only function that we have is called "IsCalloutRunning", which only tells you if there is a callout running, period. And that function returns "true" even if Dispatch has just displayed the callout, without the player accepting it.

This is something that is probably best left to @LMS, @Sam, and/or @Cyan to address in a future LSPDFR update.

Even if us devs could come up with a way to standardize plugin menus, it would involve one more support library for people to install and babysit, which we don't want.

However, in the meantime, all these "keys" should be customizeable, and the user should be given the option to use a modifier key. For example, in my most recent updates, I set the default key to something (say, F8 for ALPR+), and left the modifier key set to None. But the user can always change the key, and add a modifier if they wish.

It doesn't solve the issue of having too many keys to remember (maybe printing off a cheatsheet would help), but it at least would eliminate conflicts, if every plugin allowed customization in that sense.

Stealth22 I have to ask do you mind sharing your modifier check code as I tried crafting one using ragehook's built in method iskeydownrightnow() but it doesn't seem to take into account the modifier key.

 

First of all, I want to say thank you to all the developers spending their time and effort on creating wonderful plugins for this game! Your work is really appreciated!

Back on topic, I believe this subject is very imporant, and it has been bothering me for a long time already. I really don't like how every developer uses his own function-keys AND his own type of design in terms of menues and display of information. I would really like to see a standardized way in terms of design and usage of menues. I am pretty sure developers could put their heads together and come up with an API that allows different plugins to inject custom actions (e.g.: 'Arrest', 'Check', 'End Call', etc) into a standardized menue, instead of creating their own every time. Even worse is the fact that by default, many of the 'major' plugins already have overlapping function keys, which requires the user to go through the configuration files of all their installed plugins, look up the possible function key-codes and change them to their liking. I believe this is not what developers what for the players using their plugins.

LSPDFR uses a standardized menue via the "B" (Backup) and "N" (Interaction) function keys. Is it possible for developers of plugins to add custom actions to those menues? If not, this should be a feature-request for the official developers of LSPDFR. 

I believe a standardized way of displaying information and [interaction]-menues would be a huge benefit to our community and vastly improve the experience of players both playing with keyboard and controllers. I know there's a lot more work needed behind the scenes to implement a feature like this, but I am pretty sure it's not impossible and would help create a uniform experience for all players.

 

Greetings,

Andy

What I would ideally like to see is an API function that detects all menus used by plugins and provides a 'master menu' which, when activated with one keypress, shows a list of all the menus that are generated by plugins, add-ons and such, allowing the user to seamlessly progress to that menu without having to worry about keybindings (seriously, at this point my LSPDFR install has more plugin hotkeys than MS flight simulator). My idea is that this master menu would function similarly to the slow-mo 'action menu' from LCPDFR, allowing developers to use this much simpler one-key press and hold method of usage rather than making additional keybinds that a casual user wouldn't remember. I can't be the only one here who's spawned a pedestrian barrier, brought up two menus and called an ambulance all in succession when all i wanted to do was search a car.

Would macro keys work with mods? I'm thinking of getting a keyboard with extra customisable keys for this reason. I was just wondering if macro keys would be recognized by the plugins if I set them in the INI.

1 hour ago, SkillfulCorpse said:

Would macro keys work with mods? I'm thinking of getting a keyboard with extra customisable keys for this reason. I was just wondering if macro keys would be recognized by the plugins if I set them in the INI.

Unless those macro keys are bound to a single keystroke (i.e. F8 or Scroll Lock, but not Shift+F8 or Ctrl+Scroll Lock), the chance of it being recognisable as a valid key is slim to none.

Edited July 5, 20169 yr by EvilJackCarver

Totally agree with this, we definitely need a way to improve that key function mess :)

There's a "workaround" (which is not ideal, but can still help a bit) until this gets adressed: using Key Conflict Manager together with The Menu

It doesn't solve everything, but it definitely helps interacting with stuff if you think about a proper layout for the menu.

Edited July 5, 20169 yr by liberto

20 hours ago, AndyKrause said:

I am pretty sure developers could put their heads together and come up with an API that allows different plugins to inject custom actions (e.g.: 'Arrest', 'Check', 'End Call', etc) into a standardized menue, instead of creating their own every time.

 

16 hours ago, wilfordbrimleysmoustache said:

What I would ideally like to see is an API function that detects all menus used by plugins and provides a 'master menu' which, when activated with one keypress, shows a list of all the menus that are generated by plugins, add-ons and such, allowing the user to seamlessly progress to that menu without having to worry about keybindings

As I mentioned before, even if this was possible, it creates one extra DLL that someone has to babysit, when we already have far too many.

In the future, I could imagine building a function into RAGENativeUI that would babysit all of the menus. But again, there's no way to tell which should be the "active" menu, because there is no way to tell which plugin owns the active callout. And that doesn't even account for all of the non callout-related menus.

44 minutes ago, Stealth22 said:

 

As I mentioned before, even if this was possible, it creates one extra DLL that someone has to babysit, when we already have far too many.

In the future, I could imagine building a function into RAGENativeUI that would babysit all of the menus. But again, there's no way to tell which should be the "active" menu, because there is no way to tell which plugin owns the active callout. And that doesn't even account for all of the non callout-related menus.

That's the main problem with a community-driven effort for more content and plugins; there's no cohesion in terms of feedback and ease of use information which could go towards making the plugin development sphere a more coherent whole. As a possible solution to this keybinding conundrum, the simplest idea would be to make a thread in the plugin development forum area that lists the keybindings used by the most popular plugins (as a guide for plugin developers so that their plugin controls don't clash with others) and acts as a discussion area for control schemes.

I understand the problems you are trying to describe.

I have no experience with scripting in GTA, but I know that ArmA ACE-mod has a system, where developers can simply add actions to one standardized menue and also remove them. They are able to extend the menue by adding/removing custom actions simply with one command. 

For our issue at GTA I imagine something like AddActionToMenue("MenueBackup", "Name", executeAction) and RemoveActionFromMenue("MenueInteraction", "Name"), where plugins can simply add and remove actions in a standardized menue. The plugins themselves handle their own callouts and actions, so they are responsible for creating the actions at the start of a callout, and removing them after a callout is finisished. I am not entirely sure why the menue-API (RageUI, LSPDFR, etc) itself has to know 'who owns' the actions, since they are supposed to be managed by the plugins themselves.

I hope you understand what I am trying to say. I also like the idea of having a list where developers can collect the keybindings used for their plugins, to avoid overlaps in the future.

 

Greetings,

Andy

 

There is no solution to this problem, the best bet is expansion of the LSPDFR API itself, but that probably opens a new set of floodgates.

I would like to kindly remind you all that we have it much better now. Go back to LCPDFR those of you who remember. LCPDFR + 3 plugins and your entire keyboard was accounted for. At least now we can bundle multiple keybinds into a menu which is what most of us do.

Myself and other developers have discussed this, there is no GOOD and easy solution to this. No amount of saying "what about this idea?" from non-developers will help. Sorry.

The only thing you can do is as follows:
• Stop using too many plugins
• Create a cheatsheet of all keybinds you need

• DEVS: Make sure there is a customisation option for all keys you use.
• Try to reduce potential for overlap. Do your research.

 

I'm closing this for now, nothing much else can be discussed, simply because there is no good solution. Yes, we have thought of everything.

 

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