Mutliple Character G15 Macro Setup, by Duck

The intent of this guide is to provide the Logitech G15 user with a few methods to use the Programmable 'G' keys with multiple characters. It assumes the reader owns and is at least partly familiar with the operation of their G15 and the associated Keyboard Profiler.

There are effectively 3 methods of doing this:

Method 1 : Multiple Profiles in G-Series Keyboard Profiler

Technically, the G-Series Keyboard Profiler (hereafter known as Profiler) only allows one Profile per game. There is an easy workaround, however.

<ul type="square">[*]Load the Profiler, and select Profile -&gt; New from the Menu.[*]Give it a name which identifies what character the Profile will be used with, for example CoH - Duck L'Orange.[*]Browse for the EXE file (normally C:\Program Files\City of Heroes\CityOfHeroes.exe) or if you are presently playing CoH, you can Select Using the LCD (onscreen instructions provided). Hit OK to add this Profile.[/list]
Repeat as necessary for each Character - ensure you have created at least two profiles for the purposes of this Guide. If the Profiler originally created a default City of Heroes profile, that will also work for the purposes of this guide.

In the Profiler, switch from your Currently selected Profile to another City of Heroes profile you've created. Select Edit -&gt; Profile Properties from the Menu, and you will notice this previous profile is no longer associated with CityOfHeroes.exe - the Profiler only allows one Profile at a time to be attached to a given EXE. We will use this to our advantage to switch Profiles per Character.

Go ahead and create as many profiles for your characters as you'd like. Again, to follow along you'll need at least two Profiles matching two characters.

If City of Heroes is not yet running, load it now, and leave your Profiler window open. You'll notice whenever you load City of Heroes, or return to it after Alt-Tabbing out to another window, your LCD will tell you what Profile it is activating. This is the easiest way to tell if the Profile loaded matches your Character. For the sake of demonstration, load a character you have created a Profile for but who's profile is not active.

Alt-Tab out to your Profiler, and from the Current Profile dropdown select the Profile which matches your loaded character. If you cannot Alt-Tab, use the Windows Key and launch it from your System Tray. Select Edit -&gt; Profile Properties from the Menu. Choose Select using the LCD and then Alt-Tab back to City of Heroes. Once in City of Heroes, press the button below your LCD that corresponds to the Check Mark on screen. This profile will now be associated with CityOfHeroes.exe rather than your previous one. Your loaded Profile now matches your loaded character.

In Summary:
<ul type="square">[*]Create a Profile for each character.[*]Load your selected Character in City of Heroes[*]Switch to the G-Series Keyboard Profiler[*]Select the Profile matching your character from the Dropdown[*]Edit the Profile Properties and associate it with CityOfHeroes.exe[*]Go Play City of Heroes![/list]
This does take some effort to set up, but once the profiles are created switching back and forth is fairly simple. This is the most robust method as well, as it allows all G keys available to every Character, and the Profiler Macros have more functionality than CoH Keybinds.


Method 2 : One Profile, 3 Characters

Assuming you only plan to use the G-keys with a select few characters, an easy option is to use the M1, M2, and M3 keys to seperate out Macros for up to 3 characters. You could for example build a set of Macros for your Mastermind on M1, a second set for a Defender on M2, and a third set for a Controller on M3.

This does impose limitations - a 3 Character/Powerset maximum, and 18 keys per character rather than the full 54. However, it does allow for faster switching and doesn't require you to Alt-Tab out of CoH.


Method 3 : One Profile using CoH Binds

In the previous two methods, all Macros are created using the Profiler. In this method, we actually assign the G-keys some very odd key combinations we would never actually use, and then assign keybinds to these combinations in City of Heroes.

<ul type="square">[*]Load the Profiler. Start assigning odd key-combinations to your G-keys. G1 as Ctrl+Shift+Q, G2 as Ctrl+Shift+W, G3 as Ctrl+Shift+E, etc. Carry on until you've filled all the keys you plan on using - I'd suggest at least 18 Keys under M1. Fill M2 and M3 if you use them, up to you.[*]Grab a sheet of paper and write out your what G keys are assigned what keystrokes (unless you assigned them sequentially and know exactly what they'll be).[*]Load City of Heroes and log into a character you'd like to set up keys with.[*]Start creating Keybinds assigned to the keystrokes that match your G-Keys. For example, you may want to enter /bind CTRL+SHIFT+Q "powexecname Heal Other".[*]Repeat this for every power/action/command you'd like assigned to a G-key for this Character, altering the Bind statement accordingly.[*]Repeat entire process for each character.[/list]
You can also create these binds in a text file and import it, speeding up editing for multiple toons - there's some good Keybind guides posted that will help with that.

This method really takes just as long as Method 1 to set up, and limits some functionality - the Profiler can chain together many more commands than a Keybind can. However, the benefit of this method is that the switching of G-key functions per character is done automatically by CoH - no need to alt-tab out and swap a profile.


There you have it - take your pick. I personally use Method 1, but everyone will find a different method suited to their playstyle.

Awesome Guide Duck...but why did you remove the link from you're sig?

Does this work for the G11 I guess?

Yes, this will also work for the G11 (the G11 didn't exist when I originally wrote this, so it wasn't mentioned at the time)

i like reading your posts duck. very informative.
i have a g15, but i havent found a use for all of the G keys yet.
I have your LCD display and i couldn't imagine CoH without it.
thanks!

I know what you mean... I picked up a pair of Z - 10 Speakers for my second PC, because it was weird not having CoHLCD *somewhere*

I have been running into issues with the lcd lately. When I start it up, I get this splash:

[image]http://wuyausu.com/coh/cohlcd17.jpg[/image]

After a second, it changes to this:

[image]http://wuyausu.com/coh/cohlcd18.jpg[/image]

From there, it never changes. Any suggestions/ideas?

Hey Weijyan,

I'm replying in a PM - I don't really want to turn this thread into a CoHLCD discussion

The g keys are awesome - after I figured out you had to hunt in the settings somewhere and click - "record pauses" it was driving me nuts. Now when my toggles are dropped on key press fires em off in sequence (Sup invis, acro, sj, ss - GO!). I use it for team binds as well - to do a select team member and follow macro running move/look and jump off my mouse. the rest I bound to my powerset for empathy (I trow heals yo) - so I am right handed mouse movement and left handed g keys only.

having problems with the new hero stats and version 1.8 of the LCD.
the g15 forums are tedius to navigate.
is there a home for CoHLCD, a stable version of herostats, and anything ELSE you have created or use.
I am a big fan, and would love to see more from you as well as your binds, mods, so on.

HeroStats isn't my creation, so I can't take credit for it.

I'm having trouble with both CoHLCD and HeroStats as of today's patch as well - once HeroStats has corrected their system for the patch, I'll do so with CoHLCD as well.

CoHLCD's home page isn't online right now for various reasons, but I hope to have it back up in the next few weeks.

in the mean, have a home for 1.7/1.8?

Again, CoHLCD's home page isn't online right now.

Hello!

I have the G11, and for some reason, the G keys don't work on macros with multiple keys. Like, I can program SPACE to G1, but not SHIFT+1.

Ah, I figured it out thanks to Sharrow on another thread.

[ QUOTE ]
Is the keyboard application running as an administrator as well? I had to change the compatibility options of C:\Program Files\Common Files\Logitech\G-series Software\LGDCore.exe to run with administrative privileges, or it wasn't allowed to send the keystrokes to CoH even though it detected it fine.

[/ QUOTE ]

Fixed!

[ QUOTE ]
Again, CoHLCD's home page isn't online right now.

[/ QUOTE ]Well... technically it's up, just not user friendly. 2.0 looks awesome, and so does Pong. please don't hurt me

I'm just barely getting the hang of using the macro keys in the first place. Someday I'll use this guide properly. Thanks Mr. Duck.

Extremely Sorry to bring back this old htread but does anyone know why COHlcd displays my HP/End both as 0/0? ive been trying this whole week to get it to show to no avail.