[Solution] Keyboard Jamming (Ghosting)

[TheMask321 159]

Ahh there!
Hello Tankers, Probably you have been tired of asking support for keyboard ghosting. Maybe this post will change your tanki career!

Many a times, tankers cannot go forward, turn their turrets and shoot at the same time. Those who own firebirds and freeze will have gone through a hard time playing with it. So whats exactly Ghosting Of a Keyboard?

---->"Ghosting" is the problem that some keyboard keys don't work when multiple keys are pressed simultaneously. The key presses that don't show up on the computer or seem to have disappeared are said to have been "ghosted". On most keyboards, even some that are explicitly marketed as "Anti-Ghosting," this happens with many three key combinations. Imagine playing your favorite video game and not being able to, say, run diagonally and fire your weapon at the same time (say pressing up, down, and spacebar simultaneously). This is a result of the internal design of most existing keyboards....read more at https://www.microsoft.com/appliedsciences/antighostingexplained.mspx

So now, many of the tankers might be upset of this problem and with a heavy heart set out to buy a new Anti-Ghost keyboard, but WAIT!
I have a nice solution which is working on Windows XP, 7, 8, 10.
You might have heard about this software- AutoHotkey (https://autohotkey.com/)
This software makes temporary re-mapping of your keyboard so that you can assign a single function to any of the keys or a combination to a single key.

To solve your Ghosting Problem, Follow These steps- (This isnt a permanent solution for the keys which ghost. this a alternative way to play Tanki Online with different controls)

STEP-1

Now many of the times, the Up, Down, Left, Right keys are those which cause trouble. You need to identify which keys are ghosting and which work perfectly fine. Use this application https://www.microsoft.com/appliedsciences/antighostingexplained.mspx
The page has a keyboard layout which shows which buttons your PC is accepting. Click and Start by pressing those key combination which you suspect are ghosting.
Eg: for me, the Left, Up and spacebar keys ghost so i get this result from the application when i press those 3 keys at a time.

So see which of your keys, like W, A, S, D or Up, Down.. ghost.

STEP-2

As per your method of pressing keys, press those key combinations which you would like to use while playing tanki. As you press those, keep an eye on the application and see that those keys which you are pressing do not ghost. As for me, i tried many key combinations whose position was like Up, Down keys
I found out these keys- U, H, J, K which do not ghost while pressing spacebar and Z, X, C keys. so i can press 4 buttons at a time.

So in this way, you can determine which key combinations work for you without ghosting while playing tanki.

STEP-3

Now download the application AutoHotkey https://autohotkey.com/
Install it. Follow these steps next.
-->After installation, a help file may open. Read it carefully, the remapping of keys topic is what we need. Hop onto it and read it.
-->If you didn't understand what to do exactly, follow me (STEP-4)

STEP-4

Close any opened applications and be on the desktop screen. Right click on the desktop and click 'New' and click on 'AutoHotkey Script'

After clicking, give it a suitable name, like for example- tanki.
*Please do not give it an extension*
*Right click on the file created on the desktop, Go to its properties and see whether it is ".ahk" file or not.

Next, open the file. It should be opened automatically by notepad. If not, open it with notepad.
If anything is pre-written on the notepad, delete it and make sure that the notepad is blank.

Now, the format of re-mapping the keys is-
Old Key::New Key
New Key::Old Key
As i said earlier, the keys U, H, J, K worked for me, so here is what i typed in that '.ahk' file.

*Please note that Up,Down,Left,Right, the starting letter is a capital letter, and not a lowercase letter.
**If you typed-
Up::u
Down::j
then it means Up key is remapped to 'u' key but 'u' key is sending its function as 'u' only. so type as i have done.
type the alternate code too. i.e.
u::Up
j::Down **

Now save the file and close it. You must not change the way how the file opens. You should keep the "Opens With: AutoHotkey Unicode...." As it is.

Now double click on that file. head over to the notification panel and you must see this.
Note that no dialog box will open. You must see the script running as i have shown below

Thats it Tankers!
Enjoy playing Tanki with your new controls!
**Note that if you want to type or chat in battle or home screen or type anything on your PC, its recommended that you right click on the notification of AutoHotkey in notification panel and click on exit because the keys you have remapped will not function as alphabets till you close the script. Otherwise you can press the Up, Down...Keys because they are acting as U, J..keys. **

**List of Codes for Keys: https://autohotkey.com/docs/KeyList.htm

Happy Tanking!
PM me or better post it here for any Problems Occuring.

**U, G, H, K are working for me, It might or might not work for you. Try finding new Combinations

 

Tip:1

Try finding combination including the Number keys. They ghost absolutely very less

 

Tip:2

Your Anti-virus may delete the autohotkey.exe because it thinks it is a key logger. Please add it to your exclusion list for the script to work

 

**Okay so many people have told me that this topic is actually against the rules. Ask why?

Because the Rules state that use of 3rd party applications are not allowed.

So is Tanki gonna buy Anti-ghost keyboard for us? Let us use this solution as it is free of cost. There is nothing to hack via this software.

And one more thing, If you insist that this is against the rules, let me tell you that according to rules, using bots to play is not allowed for anyone, then the tutorial of the game should be banned, shouldn't it?  :P **

Thanks,
TheMask321

Edited June 17, 2016 by TheMask321

[TheMask321 159]

Before Buying a new anti-ghost keyboard, Please try this out.

Its free of cost :)

[Cyborg 3,189]

I always wanted this to happen. let me see if your fix works. Thanks for creating such an article though.

 

So yea it does work. Now finally i can play a bit better :D All thanks to you. Keep it up.

Edited March 19, 2016 by Cyborg

[TheMask321 159]

Welcome!

Happy to help!

[Cyborg 3,189]

And to Those who are having Problems downloading it. I suggest disabling your anti-virus program. (Make sure you turn it back on later)

[TheMask321 159]

AutoHotkey isn't a virus, Its a Professional Class software used by many People all over the globe. Anti-virus shouldnt make a problem though

[Cyborg 3,189]

For me i had to disable my anti virus in order to install Autohotkey.

[Fruit 6,570]

I am experiencing ghosting problems, and I did stuff in AHK before, but I never thought of somethink like this. Nice idea and nice guide!

[TheMask321 159]

Oh, It might not have trusted installer certificate then; But did it work for you perfectly?

[TheMask321 159]

I am experiencing ghosting problems, and I did stuff in AHK before, but I never thought of somethink like this. Nice idea and nice guide!

Did it work for you?

[Cyborg 3,189]

I used the p ... ;...l...' keys instead of ujhk but it seems that the semicolon is not working for me. I mean i assigned it as ; but the down button and the ; button do same thing and do not let me reverse 

Edited March 19, 2016 by Cyborg

[Cyborg 3,189]

I am experiencing ghosting problems, and I did stuff in AHK before, but I never thought of something like this. Nice idea and nice guide!

Edit.

[TheMask321 159]

I used the p ... ;...l...' keys instead of ujhk but it seems that the semicolon is not working for me. I mean i assigned it as ; but the down button and the ; button do same thing and do not let me reverse 

Can you post here the code what you typed in notepad?

[Cyborg 3,189]

Ok im sending a Screen wait a sec

[Cyborg 3,189]

Here it is http://imgur.com/9XYUZxP

[TheMask321 159]

Here it is http://imgur.com/9XYUZxP

Did you try out the application that i gave the link in the main post?

Try pressing all 4 keys which you or many people use for playing, like up + left + spacebar + turret rotation. (like for you, ;+l+spacebar+z/x/c)

As you said, it means that the keys you selected might be ghosting like your earlier keys. Try finding a new combination,

Edited March 19, 2016 by TheMask321

[Cyborg 3,189]

No actually its not ghosting as i already checked it. Its like the semi colon is not doing anything but typing a semi colon and the down arrow key is doing the same.

 

I was wondering is there anyway i could interchange the 5 and 2 keys from the 'Num Pad' as the arrow keys from the num pad are not ghosting for me but the down arrow and number 5 are creating a problem.

[Cyborg 3,189]

Ok i Found my fix. I just used SC027 Instead of the semi colon button like this

 

Down::SC027

SC027::Down

[TheMask321 159]

Okay, it means the key name of semicolon is SC027?

Yeah, i Have edited my main post. You were right. Check the last portion of the main post for other keys

Edited March 19, 2016 by TheMask321

[Taco 2,820]

Beautiful guide! +1 to you m8 :)

[TheMask321 159]

Thanks a lot!

[Jwimmer 2,835]

Nice! Now time to see if it works. Ive used firebird for a while (over 100k exp), and ghosting is a problem.

[TheMask321 159]

Yep, Do post whether it worked for you or not. I will modify the fix as per the result :lol:

[TheMask321 159]

Tip:1

Try finding combination including the Number keys. They ghost absolutely very less

Edited March 21, 2016 by TheMask321

[Jwimmer 2,835]

It is fixed. I ended up switching to I, J, K, L instead of the arrow keys, and 0 is PgUp and o is PgDn.

 

2 Problems:

1. A little awkward, because I have used the arrow keys for over a year (just need to re-acclimate and build muscle memory)

2. Using chat is hard. Since I, J, K, and L are switched with the arrow keys, you press the key to chat and nothing shows up. Can produce some accidental profanity (flag but without the L).

 

Solutions:

1. Just build up muscle memory

2. Either don't chat or get used to moving where they keys you switch go to.

 

Its worth working through the problems (atleast when using fire), because there is absolutely no ghosting.

 

Also keep in mind that hotkey can easy be toggled by right clicking the icon that shows up on the bottom right and then selecting or unselecting "suspend hotkeys"