Steam help

[muffinmaddness]

Hi, new user and im almost fully set up with Gmeex, but some of my steam games are going to the config screen so i have to use my mouse to select "play" then it launches the game, i know there is "wrappers" that get around this problem, so im wondering how to make them myself, and what i need to do so it works with all my games,

also one of my games "Aliens Vs Predator" the 2010 one, i need to run in direct x 9 mode is there a way so the wrapper selects this on start up from the steam pop up using a macro or something like it?

the aim is so i dont have to touch my mouse / keyboard when running Gameex, and im so close.

All my emulators are set up with artwork and such its just this little bit in the steam part i cant figure out.

also on an unrelated note is there a program so i can use custom controls on PC games when i launch them with gameex automatically

so

launch game ex ( using current controller profile)
launch steam game "mass effect" ( loads mass effect controller profile)
exit mass effect ( returns to Gameex current controller profile)

so i dont have to alter any options at all,

sorry i know this my not be the best explanation but thought you guys may be able to help. thank you!

[nullPointer]

Hi, new user and im almost fully set up with Gmeex, but some of my steam games are going to the config screen so i have to use my mouse to select "play" then it launches the game, i know there is "wrappers" that get around this problem, so im wondering how to make them myself, and what i need to do so it works with all my games,

Hi muffinmaddness and welcome to the GameEx forums!

I believe that all of the wrappers currently available for Steam games were written in AutoHotKey. Being that GameEx actually runs compiled executables generated from the wrapper scripts you could actually use whatever automation language you like so long as the resultant script can be compiled as an executable. Generally the scripts themselves aren't terribly complicated being that they primarily automate timed mouse clicks and key presses. In a nutshell you would need create a compiled executable named the same as the numeric Steam ID for the game you're running. You would then add that executable to the GameEx\MEDIA\STEAM\WRAPPERS directory, at which point GameEx would auto-magically start running that wrapper along side the associated game. All of the wrappers are also included in their uncompliled "script form" so you can look at those for examples and inspiration if you like.

also one of my games "Aliens Vs Predator" the 2010 one, i need to run in direct x 9 mode is there a way so the wrapper selects this on start up from the steam pop up using a macro or something like it?

Yep one of the wrappers described above would probably be just the trick for something like this.

also on an unrelated note is there a program so i can use custom controls on PC games when i launch them with gameex automatically

so

launch game ex ( using current controller profile)

launch steam game "mass effect" ( loads mass effect controller profile)

exit mass effect ( returns to Gameex current controller profile)

so i dont have to alter any options at all,

Have you ever tried using Controller mapping software for this purpose? Several of us here use and recommend Xpadder. One of the beauties of using Xpadder in conjunction with GameEx is that plug-in developer extraordinaire Adultery has written a very useful and robust plug-in for Xpadder. The plug-in allows you to configure the launching and closing of controller profiles in the way you describe above.

[muffinmaddness]

WOW, thanks for the warm welcome windbag,
and thank you for the information your such a great help!

ok, i got AHK and wow yea thats as far as i got before my brain melted,

i am unsure as what to do now, iv tried recording a macro and converting it to AHK, and it kinda loaded but then would not load a second time

and i looked at one of the files already created by your other users, and im not sure where im going wrong =(

all i want to do is record what im pressing and then when i launch AVP from gameex it auto do the macro and BANG im in the game,
same with trials second edition and final fantasy 7 on steam, it all seems so complicated! you guys are geniuses,

is there a tutorial anywhere on how to make the AHK do what i want specifically for gameex steam launching?

im so sorry i know im a pain =(

thank you so much for your time in replying to me

[Tempest]

Post your wrapper if you want us to look at it.

[Stu1983]

I have Alien Versus Predator so I created a wrapper for you in the Wrappers thread

It a pretty easy one that hopefully you can modify to work with the other 2 games that I don't have.

It just looks for the window title 'Alien vs. Predator - Steam' and sends the 'Enter' key

The other 2 included wrappers will send the 'Down' arrow once or twice to select either directx modes before sending the 'Enter' key

[Stu1983]

Actually I just realized I do have Trials 2 but that's a slightly trickier cookie. It requires a mouse click to click start, you can't use the keyboard.. which is doable but I'm wondering what the the point is as once you get in the game you still require the mouse to click through the menu to start playing. The game doesn't support keyboard or joysticks to control the interface. So if you are going to have to reach for your mouse anyway then your might as well just click start as well.

[Stu1983]

I created a Trials 2 wrapper for you anyway at least it will let you see how to click incase you need it for Final Fantasy

[muffinmaddness]

OMG, you sir are a gentleman, thank you so much

you really didnt have to go to the trouble thank you so much

and for trials iv used xpadder to use my right analog stick as the mouse

and the X button to use as mouse click and the rest of the controls are mapped to the left analog and the trigger buttons =)

once again thank you

[muffinmaddness]

ok i tried the wrapper you made,

it works outside of gameex , if i load the game then click the AHK file its fine,

but launching within game ex it loads the game but in a small window that i cant see anything in,

if i hit ALT+ENTER it comes fullscreen but with the windows bar so its running in a big window,

theres nothing to make it "fullscreen" in the options and it seems to load the directx 11 version when loading from gameex

but not when i use the AHK outside game ex,

i know im a pain im sorry but its really bugging me and once again im stumped =(

it did the same thing with the recorded wrapper i made.

=(

[Stu1983]

I take it you are talking about the aliens versus predator wrapper?

It'll be tomorrow before I'm neat my computer again but I'll take a look then

[Stu1983]

I tested Aliens vs Predator and it is working on mine fine through GameEx. There was an issue with the dx9 and 11 versions in that it was sometimes only sending 1 down arrow instead of 2 so I have added a slight pause between keypresses.

Trials though is being a real brute... when I made it yesterday I was lazy and didn't test through GameEx and sure enough it doesn't work.

Basically what is happening is, there is no window title to look for so I am checking the window class. This works fine outside of GameEx when you run the exe while the Trials launcher is on screen but when GameEx starts the wrapper before starting Trials it must be finding another window with the same class.

Other than sticking in a long sleep to make sure the Trials launcher has appeared before clicking, which is rather crappy. I'm not sure what else to do.

I was thinking it could check for the yellow background in the center of the screen but this is a pain in the ass as we have to check screen resolutions first to find the center... all doable but more effort when you already have the mouse mapped to the analogue stick anyway

[muffinmaddness]

I figured it out!

Yup your wrapper works but in my case I had to delete the config file for aliens then use the auto sign out of steam option in gameex .then reload gameex and it works. If anyone's having this problem here's how I got round it. Thank you so much for your help guys really your fantastic. I'm still figuring out how to write wrappers but soon as I do I think I'm gonna do a tutorial on it as there may be someone else as dumb as me in the world. Thank you again sit, you've been amazing

[muffinmaddness]

Sorry auto correct ..* stu thank you you've been amazing