Where is the general.cfg file?

MacOS support forum for Eschalon: Book III
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sjaffe
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Where is the general.cfg file?

Post by sjaffe »

I recently downloaded the demo and I've been playing it. I am considering purchasing the full game.

But, I was reading in the Manual that came with the demo that:
Advanced Users: Many of the game's keyboard commands can be
re-configured by altering the general.cfg file in the game's installation
folder. Use a standard text editor to change the values.
I've hunted around and cannot find it. It would be nice to be able to reconfigure the keys since most of the keys are set up to assume the person is right-handed, and I'm left-handed. So, for example, holding the left-shift key to hit an object is uncomfortable - I'd like to be able to reconfigure the keys so that it uses right-shift or some other key on the right side of the keyboard.

So, does anyone know where the general.cfg file is located on the Mac?

Thanks.
Randomizer
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Re: Where is the general.cfg file?

Post by Randomizer »

The general.cfg file is inside the Saved Games folder. The path to the folder is usually shown on the main screen when you click on the text at the bottom. The line you want to click on has the copyright notice and version number.
sjaffe
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Re: Where is the general.cfg file?

Post by sjaffe »

No. It's not in the directory with the saved files. I've looked there.
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IJBall
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Re: Where is the general.cfg file?

Post by IJBall »

sjaffe wrote:No. It's not in the directory with the saved files. I've looked there.
In my Book III save games folder, there's a file called eb3.cfg. But there's no "general.cfg" file, and eb3.cfg seems to have nothing to do with keyboard configurations. (When I search for general.cfg, I only find the Book II file...)

I would try PM'ing BW and ask him about this. I too would be curious to know if the Manual is wrong about this, and if it's not where you're supposed to find this config file.

If you get an answer from BW, please come back and let us know here...
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SpottedShroom
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Re: Where is the general.cfg file?

Post by SpottedShroom »

On Linux, general.cfg lives in the game directory, along with datapak, the manual, etc. On OS X, though, it's possible all of that is hidden inside the .app directory.
Randomizer
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Re: Where is the general.cfg file?

Post by Randomizer »

I looked inside the game contents and it wasn't inside the app. No .cfg files there.
marco27
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Re: Where is the general.cfg file?

Post by marco27 »

The EB3 app seems to look for general.cfg in the same folder that the app resides in.

If you installed from basilisk then you should have a folder in your Applications (Applications/Eschalon Book III). If you create the general.cfg file in this folder it will work. The folder does not come with general.cfg - you have to create it. I copied a version of general.cfg I modified for EB2 and it's working fine (made some mods to the keyboard layout).
sjaffe
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Re: Where is the general.cfg file?

Post by sjaffe »

Ok, I found the EB2 version of the file as per the previous poster. Thank you.

However, it's not very helpful. It doesn't list all of the keys and the key assignments so that I have no way to know what to put in the EB3 version in order to move things from a right-handed person's perspective to a left-handed person's perspective. For example, how do I change the left_shift key to right_shift key? What's the magic that needs to go into the general.cfg file?

Presumably the key assignment is something like:

<magic_phrase_known_only_to_developers>=left_shift

I need to know what that magic phrase is. It'd be nice if there were a guide, or if all the keys were listed in the general.cfg file so that we can easily change what we want. It's implied in the EB3 manual that we can change any of the keys but, apparently, the manual is wrong both as to the existence of the file and the ability to change keys assignments.
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SpottedShroom
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Re: Where is the general.cfg file?

Post by SpottedShroom »

Here's what my (default) general.cfg file looks like in Linux.

Code: Select all

// Any line preceeded by two forward slashes is a comment and is ignored by the system.

// OpenAL is an audio interface that can cause some systems to freeze up when it is initialized. This option will allow you to
// completely bypass the OpenAL initialization if you are having problems with it.
// 0=disabled, 1=enabled

openal=1

// Language ... English is always default. When new "language packs" are made available, you can changes this

language=english

// Keyboard configuration
// NOTE: Tab, Esc, F1-F12, and Shift keys are reserved for the system and cannot be mapped.

inventory=i
charsheet=s
equip=e
spellbook=m
questjournal=q
torch=t
walklock=w
openall=x
screencap=p
walk_n=keypad8
walk_e=keypad6
walk_s=keypad2
walk_w=keypad4
walk_ne=keypad9
walk_se=keypad3
walk_sw=keypad1
walk_nw=keypad7
alchemy=a
combatmode=enter
camp=c
getall=g
passturn=space
selectlayout1=k
selectlayout2=l
gamestats=z

// Alternate Saved Game path: If the default Saved Games path that the system creates doesn't work for you,
// enter an alternate saved game path for the system to use. An example of a using this configuration statement 
// might look like this:  savedgamepath=d:/games/book3saves/
// YOU WILL NEED TO MANUALLY CREATE the new Saved Games folder before the system can use it.
// Leave this at "default" to force the system to use the default Saved Games directory. Look in
// the User's Manual to see the defaut saved game paths for your operating system.

// WARNING: Incorrect use of this command may have serious negative effects on your system! FOR ADVANCED USERS ONLY!
sjaffe
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Re: Where is the general.cfg file?

Post by sjaffe »

Well, SpottedShroom thanks for that. It tells me what I needed to know: that the 3 keys that I need to map to adjust for handedness - ESC, Tab and Shift, cannot be mapped.

When will software companies learn that NOT EVERYONE IS RIGHT-HANDED????????????
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IJBall
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Re: Where is the general.cfg file?

Post by IJBall »

marco27 wrote:The EB3 app seems to look for general.cfg in the same folder that the app resides in.

If you installed from basilisk then you should have a folder in your Applications (Applications/Eschalon Book III). If you create the general.cfg file in this folder it will work. The folder does not come with general.cfg - you have to create it. I copied a version of general.cfg I modified for EB2 and it's working fine (made some mods to the keyboard layout).
OK, can we say this is sort of a "bug" then?

It seems to me that all Mac users should have a file similar to the one Spotted Shroom describes. If Mac users don't have one of these (and actually have to create their own!!), that seems like some kind of bug - I'd definitely like to see a general.cfg file added in to the Mac OS Installer pack for Book III v1.01...
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