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Unreal Console Command/Key Binding

Contents:



Introduction to Console Commands and Raw Key Bindings

One of the reasons Unreal is such a cool game is because the creators, Epic MegaGames and Digital Extremes, gave the end user, us, so much control over the how the game is played and how we play the game.  We can finely tune various aspects of the game, such as picture kind and quality, sound quality, and controls (to a great extent). We can use maps and gaming modifications made by other end users, or even create our own (if we have the means to do so).  We can even change the game by cheating so much its not even funny.  Most of these things (not all, mind you) rely on a.) the preferences, b.) the advanced options, and c.) console commands.

Now, what are all of these things?  Well, the preferences are pretty obvious.  Those are the options that you set in the various Unreal menus during gameplay.  If you need help with these, please consult your manual or Epic MegaGames technical support.  The advanced options are were you do all the "fine tuning" I mentioned earlier.  While it is good to know what everyting does in the advanced options, I'm only going to focus on one of the submenus, which is labeled "Raw Key Bindings."  This is where you can fine tune all of the controls, which include assigning character controls, cheats, various other commands, and combinations thereof.  The third thing, console commands, are where the heart of our control over the game lies.  These are commands that you give Unreal during gameplay that have a direct effect on what is happening are how the game works.  This mainly means cheats for the average user, but it can also be a shortcut to setting key bindings and other preferences.

To help you better understand the relationship, think of it this way:

Like I mentioned before, this is for character control, cheats, preferences, loading maps, and the like.
There are some exceptions to this, but we'll get to those later.  (See The Difference Between Console Commands and Raw Key Bindings)


Typing Commands into the Console

Typing Commands into the Console is actually a fairly simple task.  Just hit the tab button during gameplay, or at the startup screen, and a liitle green arrow will appear in the lower left hand corner, like this:

>
If it doesn't appear, you've probably assigned Tab to a different action in Unreal preferences.  (See FAQ and Misc. Info if you have) Now your ready to type your command. Try typing the following and hit enter:
> summon automag
Depending on how fast your computer is, you might have a pause, and then an AutoMag appears. (If you did this during the castle flyby, you should be able to see the AutoMag on your next pass.)  Notice that you don't type the arrow, as it is already there. So when typing an example, don't type the arrow.  Also, when typing in commands, caps don't affect the outcome. The following commands all do the same thing:
> summon automag
> Summon Automag
> SUMMON AUTOMAG
Spaces, however, do affect the outcome. Of the following commands, only the first is correct
> summon automag
> summonautomag
>  summon  auto  mag
But how do you know where the spaces are?  Refer to my command list, and take note of the spaces.
 

When you type some commands that don't have an immediate affect on the screen, sometimes Unreal will give you a response. For example, type "God" in the console (without the quotes) and hit return.

> god
Now, in the top center of your screen you should see "God Mode On".  If you enter the same command again, you should see "God Mode Off".  These are just to let you know that Unreal did your command. But be warned:  not all commands have a response, in fact, most do not.  Some other responses you might see are "Bad or Missing Property" if you typed in a bad command or "You Feel Ethereal" if you typed in "Ghost".

But they're called console commands, so where's the console?  Well , the console is what drops down from your screen when you hit the tilde key (It looks like this: ~) during gameplay.  It does (or will, depending on how long you've been typing) contain a list of all the responses Unreal has made.  At the bottom of the list is that familiar green arrow where you can type commands.  I personally don't  use the console very much because it takes up too much screen space.  I only use it when I can't see what I'm typing, like when the text is against a light-colored background.  Other than that, the console is really only of good use to programmers and editors, to debug their map and do other things.  So unless you like watching the console drop from the top of the screen, you can pretty much forget about it.


Using Raw Key Bindings in Advanced Options

Key bindings have the exact same affect on the game as customizing controls in the options menu.  The difference is that you have more options and better control.

First, you need to find the Raw Key Bindings list.  Go to the main menu in Unreal, select options, then select Advanced Options.  Your screen should fade away, and then a window will appear.  On the list on the left, select Raw Key Bindings.  Now, on the right side of the window there is a complete listing keys of the keys on your keyboard plus many extra ones you probably don't recognize.  Here are some quick rules of thumb when assigning actions to keys:

Now, on with key binding.
Like I said in the inroduction, this is basically assigning keys to actions and commands.  Go to my key binding list and pick something from it, something in the Character Controls would be good. Let's use the Primary Fire command.  While in the Raw Key Binding window, select a key, like "space", and click on the long light-grey square next to it.  Now, just type Fire exactly the way it appears on the list. Now, when you go back to your game by clicking on the Done button, whenever you hit the space bar, your gun will shoot. Yes, it's that simple.  Just make sure you type in the word in green (second column) on the list, not the description (first column).

The same rules that apply to typing in Console Commands apply here.  Capitals don't matter, but spacing does.


The Difference Between Console Commands and Raw Key Bindings

Essesntially, there is no difference.  The commands for both are the same.  It's just that one, Key Bindings, is assigning a key to a command, and the other, Console Commands, is telling Unreal the command directly during gameplay.  But, since the commands are the same, you can use them in either the console or as a key assignment.

However, there are a few exceptions to this rule.  Some commands can only be used in the console, and likewise some are only used in raw key bindings.  For example,  most of the character controls can only be used as raw key bindings.  This makes sense because who would want to turn left everytime by typing it into the console?  Likewise, there are some commands that are really of no use as raw key bindings, like the set input command (see Combining Commands in Raw Key Bindings). The only thing is you could use these types of commands as key bindings if you really wanted to.

If your a little confused, try this:

  • All commands can be used for raw key bindings
  • But, only most of the commands can be used in the console.
  • Those that can't are the character controls

Combining Commands in Raw Key Bindings

Combining commands in Raw Key Bindings allows you to more easily perform multiple actions at once (hence the title "Raw Key Bindings").  For example, if your having trouble defeating a partcular monster, you might want to combine the Fire and Jump commands to jump up and shoot him from behind a crate.  This way, you hit one key, and your character does both of those actions.  But that's not the only thing you can do; there are tons more uses for this little trick.

There are two main way to combine keys in Unreal:  in the console, and in Raw Key Bindings.  If you are stuck somewhere in the game and want to combine keys on the fly, use the console.  On the other hand, if you know you will use a certain combination many times during your next multiplayer game, you should probably set it up in Raw Key bindings.

Combining keys is actually pretty simple, especially in  Raw Key Bindings.  All you have to do is type one command where you normally would type it (see Using Raw Key Bindings) followed by a single space, a vertical bar (the "|" character, located above the return key), another single space, and the other command. For example, if you did want to combine Jump and Fire

Jump | Fire

And that's it.  Now whenever you hit that key, your character would jump and fire.  But let's say you're in the middle of a multiplayer game, and want to combine keys on the fly.  Well, there's a console command (not console-only, but really only useful in the console) that allows yet to assign commands to keys in key binding. It is the Set Input command.  Again, let's say you want to combing Jump and Fire to the space bar, but this time in the console. Simply hit the tab key and type:

> Set Input Space Jump | Fire

And your set.  However, there is a little trick you can use to further control how you key bind.  It is the OnRelease command. This is very useful for doing things for a short period of time, like using the behindview command.  Type the following:

> Set Input Space Behindview 1 | OnRelease Behindview 0    if you're using the console, or

Behindview 1 | OnRelease Behindveiw 0   if you're using advanced options

Now, when you press and hold the key, you will switch to the behind view, and when you release the key you're view will restore to normal.  This really comes in handy for various reasons, including how quickly it can be used during gameplay.  For a few examples, check out the tips & tricks page.

But there are a few things you should know about combining keys before you use it extensively.  First of all, you don't only have to use the Set Input command for combining keys, you can also use it for just normal key assignment (like Set Input Space Fire for example).  Second of all, you can combine more than two commands. Like Set Input Space Jump | Fire | AltFire.  Theoretically, you could combine an unlimited amount, although I doubt excessive commands for a single key would actually work.  Thirdly, if you want to do multiple OnRelease commands for one key, be sure you type the words "OnRelease" for each one (ex:  Jump | OnRelease Fire | OnRelease AltFire). Lastly, a word on multiple command combining: order is important.  If you type Jump | Fire, your character will jump first, then fire. Conversely, if you type Fire | Jump, your character will fire first, then jump. Keeping these few things in mind, you should have no problem combining keys.


FAQ and other Misc. Info

My tab key doesn't bring up the little arrow in the corner of the screen so I can type commands.  How do I fix this?

First go to the raw key binding window (if you don't know where that is check here).  Scroll down the list of keys until you find the "tab" key.  Then type the word "Type" exactly as it appears here, excluding the quotes, of course.  That should do it.  If not I can only suggest using the drop-down console (the tilde (~) key) for commands instead, or trashing your "Unreal.ini" file, located in the same folder as Unreal.  If you do trash that file, however, you will lose all of your preferences.
Are there any other ways to assign key commands other than "Customize Controls" and "Key Bindings"?
Yes, but they're not necessarily any easier.  One way is to use the Set Input command in the console, as mentioned in this section.  The other way is to open up your Unreal.ini file, which is located in the same folder as the Unreal application.  Scroll down the list of various things until you get to a section with a first line that says "[Engine.Input]".  Scroll down pass the Alias lines, and you should come across a list that looks similar to the one found in Raw Key Bindings. Use this list in the same way as you would the Raw Key Binding list.
The CDTrack command listed in your command list doesn't seem to work.  What's wrong?
I got this particular command from a list made for the PC.  Right now it doesn't seem to work, but that could be because of many things, including the way Unreal was created for the mac.  For now, I will leave it on the list, hoping to get word from somebody that it can work.  The strange thing is that Unreal says it is playing a CD track after you type the command, although it doesn't.  It is possible there is just a minor glitch somewhere in the program that could get fixed with an update (again, I'm hoping...)  So, until I know for sure that it doesn't work, I will leave it on my list.
In your Command list, you listed every possible "Summon" command.  Why didn't you just tell us how to use the summon command and leave it at that?
I did it this way because sometimes whatever you are trying to summon isn't called exactly the same thing inside the game.  For example, let's say you wanted to summon a Skaarj. Well, if you type in Summon Skaarj, it won't work. Yes, this is what the manual called it, but the game refers to it as a Skaarj Warrior.  So you would have to type in Summon Skaarjwarrior in order for it to work.  There are many commands that are like this, and to keep track of what they are, I listed all of them.

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