Darkstone How to Fix the Default Keybinds

Darkstone How to Fix the Default Keybinds 1 - steamsplay.com
Darkstone How to Fix the Default Keybinds 1 - steamsplay.com
Since the default binds are essentially unusable for your modern gamer, this short guide will walk you through the steps needed to correct that.

 
 

The Issue

 
Simply put, if you go Right-Click the Properties tab of Darkstone in your Steam Library>Local Files>Browse, you will find the folder where your game is installed. From there, open the “config” folder and then the “keyboard.txt” file. Use notepad if it doesn’t open by default. 
 
From here you can see some obvious issues: 
 
– Camera controls are arrow keys 
– Quicksave on Q 
– “Terrain Mapping,” whatever that is, on E 
– Generally confusing binds all around 
 
You might be tempted to think, “Oh, I’ll just go in and edit these to what I want and be on my merry way!” 
 
You would be wrong. So, so wrong. 
 
As it turns out, the game will not allow you to map a key that is not already in use thanks to the ancient coding of the game. You could use something like AutoHotKey or a third party program to customize your binds around this issue, but there is actually an easier way (thankfully). 
 
 

The Solution

 
There are two steps from this point. 
 
1. Delete the “keyboard.txt” file, then launch Darkstone, then close it. 
This produces a new “keyboard.txt” file. Only this time, when you open it, you will find a whole bunch of new values that weren’t present before: VirtualKey 
 
What this does is tell the game that these keys are, in fact, in use. Now it is merely a matter of rebinding them. I didn’t test if the game would take issue with not assigning some of these, so I rebound superfluous keys/functions to unimportant ones. 
 
2. Rebind your keys to your own tastes, but make sure you understand the logic behind it. For example, let’s say you want to rebind the camera controls to ASDW (like any moral human being). 
 
You need to find the “ROTATECAMERALEFT” and “ROTATECAMERARIGHT” values and assign them the “KEY_A” and “KEY_D” values, respectively. Do the same with the Zoom controls. From here, just to be on the safe side, I rebound the functions that were originally on these keys to the Arrow keys. This step may not be necessary, but again, I haven’t tested if it creates any issues. I sort of doubt it. 
 
Just repeat this process until you find the keybinds that work for you. 
 
 

Optionally…

 
I will provide my own control schema, so you can merely replace my file in your folder. These keybinds are as follows: 
 
Camera Left/Right: A/D 
Zoom In/Out: S/W 
Map: Tab 
Run: R 
Rest: T 
Spell: Z 
Inventory: C 
Talent: V 
Close All Panels: Space 
 
Select Spell 1-6: 1-6 
Select Spell 7 & 8: Q / E 
 
Quicksave: P 
Combat Mode: F 
Locations: L 
History: H 
Map Fade is still on -/+ 
Camera Modes still on F9-12, but you may wish to change this if you use F12 for Steam screenshots. 
 
I reversed the item hotkeys, but they are still F1-F8 
This is because the game seems to have players 1 and 2 backward when playing solo without an AI buddy. 
 
— 
 
I think that’s all the relevant information. 
 
Simply delete the contents of your “keyboard.txt” file and Copy/Paste the next section into it. 
 
 

keyboard.txt

 
VIRTUALKEY_A KEY_LEFT 
VIRTUALKEY_B KEY_B 
VIRTUALKEY_C KEY_I 
VIRTUALKEY_D KEY_RIGHT 
ENVMAPPINGMODE KEY_8 
COMBATMODE KEY_F 
VIRTUALKEY_G KEY_G 
HISTORY KEY_H 
INVENTORY KEY_C 
VIRTUALKEY_J KEY_J 
VIRTUALKEY_K KEY_K 
LOCATIONLIST KEY_L 
VIRTUALKEY_M KEY_M 
VIRTUALKEY_N KEY_N 
SHADOWMODE KEY_O 
VIRTUALKEY_P KEY_7 
QUICKSAVE KEY_P 
REST KEY_T 
SPELL KEY_Z 
TALENT KEY_V 
VIRTUALKEY_U KEY_U 
VIRTUALKEY_V KEY_BACK 
VIRTUALKEY_W KEY_DOWN 
VIRTUALKEY_X KEY_X 
VIRTUALKEY_Y KEY_Y 
VIRTUALKEY_Z KEY_UP 
VIRTUALKEY_0 KEY_0 
SELECTSPELL1 KEY_1 
SELECTSPELL2 KEY_2 
SELECTSPELL3 KEY_3 
SELECTSPELL4 KEY_4 
SELECTSPELL5 KEY_5 
SELECTSPELL6 KEY_6 
SELECTSPELL7 KEY_Q 
SELECTSPELL8 KEY_E 
VIRTUALKEY_9 KEY_9 
PLAYER1USEITEM1 KEY_F5 
PLAYER1USEITEM2 KEY_F6 
PLAYER1USEITEM3 KEY_F7 
PLAYER1USEITEM4 KEY_F8 
PLAYER2USEITEM1 KEY_F1 
PLAYER2USEITEM2 KEY_F2 
PLAYER2USEITEM3 KEY_F3 
PLAYER2USEITEM4 KEY_F4 
CAMERAMODE1 KEY_F9 
CAMERAMODE2 KEY_F10 
CAMERAMODE3 KEY_F11 
CAMERAMODE4 KEY_F12 
VIRTUALKEY_ESCAPE KEY_ESCAPE 
VIRTUALKEY_RETURN KEY_RETURN 
MAPTRANSP_PLUS KEY_ADD 
MAPTRANSP_MINUS KEY_SUBTRACT 
RUNMODE KEY_R 
NEXTPLAYER KEY_NEXT 
PRIORPLAYER KEY_PRIOR 
ROTATECAMERALEFT KEY_A 
ROTATECAMERARIGHT KEY_D 
ZOOMIN KEY_S 
ZOOMOUT KEY_W 
CLOSEALLPANEL KEY_SPACE 
MAP KEY_TAB 
VIRTUALKEY_SHIFT KEY_SHIFT 
VIRTUALKEY_CONTROL KEY_CONTROL 
 
 

That’s It. Enjoy the game!

 
If this was helpful to you, please rate the guide and share it with anyone else struggling with this problem. 
 
I used to play this back in the PS1 days and loved the game. I hope you come to know the joy I did with this game. Be safe, stay healthy, have one hell of a GG. 
 

Written by Albinosaurus

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