This is my first time working with HKI and HKP files so there might be mistakes in my assumptions.
That being said, the file format shown below definitely is correct.
Please place a comment below if you find any issues regarding these notes.
For information about the exact hotkey distribution, see my other gist.
This document explains the 'new' .hkp format introduced in update 83607.
To explain the differences in the format I'll cover the 'old' structure (.hki files) here too.
You're here just for the changes, makes sense. There's only a couple:
There's two files now, for specifics see: HKP file paths.
The tag <profile> in <profile>/Base.hkp or <profile>.hkp refer to the name of the hotkey profile.
These paths are relative from the profile folder where the .hki files reside too.
This file is the same as the 'old' hki format.
For the <profile>/Base.hkp or <profile>/Pompeii.hkp (RoR DLC) the following changes apply:
In the main struct of the file:
Between the fields version (uint32) and number_of_menus (uint32) add the following:
base_menus (HkiMenu)hardcoded torepeat=3
For a quick overview of the new HKP structure, see Struct: HkpFile (Base.hkp).
The hki format contained a single file, which was stored in the following location:
C:\Users\<user>\Games\Age of Empires 2 DE\<steam-id>\profile\<hotkey-profile-name>.hki
There's three structs in this file, they're documented below:
Main struct, covering the entirety of the hki file.
| Name | Type | Repeat | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| version | uint32 |
1x | The version of the file. Latest: 0x40400000 |
| number_of_menus | uint32 |
1x | The amount of menus in this file (see HkiMenu struct) |
| menus | HkiMenu |
number_of_menus |
The hotkey menus |
A single menu in the file containing a set of hotkeys.
A single menu corresponds to a single tab in the hotkey menu in the game.
| Name | Type | Repeat | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| number_of_hotkeys | uint32 |
1x | The amount of hotkeys in this menu (see HkiHotkey struct) |
| hotkeys | HkiHotkey |
number_of_hotkeys |
The hotkeys in this menu |
A single hotkey for a singular action.
| Name | Type | Repeat | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| key | int32 |
1x | The keycode of the hotkey (mostly the same as ASCII, except for mouse (wheel) hotkeys) |
| string_id | int32 |
1x | The string ID of the name of the hotkey field from the key-value-strings-utf8.txt file |
| ctrl | int8 |
1x | If the ctrl modifier is set for this hotkey |
| alt | int8 |
1x | If the alt modifier is set for this hotkey |
| shift | int8 |
1x | If the shift modifier is set for this hotkey |
| 'mouse' | int8 |
1x | -Unsure- |
The latest <profile>.hki file contains 409 hotkeys over 24 menus.
With the hkp format, there are now two files instead of one, these are stored in the following locations:
C:\Users\<user>\Games\Age of Empires 2 DE\<steam-id>\profile\<hotkey-profile-name>.hkp
C:\Users\<user>\Games\Age of Empires 2 DE\<steam-id>\profile\<hotkey-profile-name>\Base.hkp
If you own the RoR DLC you'll have a third hkp file located next to the Base.hkp at:
C:\Users\<user>\Games\Age of Empires 2 DE\<steam-id>\profile\<hotkey-profile-name>\Pompeii.hkp
Main struct, covering the entirety of the <profile>/Base.hkp & <profile>/Pompeii.hkp file.
| Name | Type | Repeat | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| version | uint32 |
1x | The version of the file. Latest: 0x86406666 |
| base_menus | HkpMenu |
3x | Base hotkey menus |
| number_of_menus | uint32 |
1x | The amount of menus in this file (see HkpMenu struct) |
| menus | HkpMenu |
number_of_menus |
The hotkey menus |
This struct has not changed since the hki file format
See: HkiMenu
This struct has not changed since the hki file format
See: HkiHotkey
The new hkp files contain:
-
<profile>/Base.hkp:212hotkeys over18menus -
<profile>.hkp:188hotkeys over9menus -
<profile>/Pompeii.hkp:146hotkeys over16menus -
Combined for the base game:
400hotkeys over27menus -
Combined for the RoR game:
334hotkeys over25menus
These changes I happened to stumble upon, there's probably more.
- With
HKIthe flare hotkey used to use the19289 "Flare"string ID - With
HKPthe flare hotkey uses the19235 "Flare"string ID
In both the hki and the hkp file are duplicates (hotkeys you can set on two keys at once):
19023: Go to Next Idle Villager19024: Go to Last Notification19068: Go to Next Idle Military Unit19026: Go to Town Center19153: Toggle Idle Pointers *
*: On the HKI format, the "Toggle Idle Pointers" hotkey also appeared twice even though it doesn't appear twice in the menus in game.
This has been 'fixed' with the HKP format.
How to view and edit .hkp files？