Keycodes

Key code table

In AGS script you have a eKeyCode enumeration that defines key codes. These key codes can be passed to on_key_press, as well as used in calls to IsKeyPressed.

Historically AGS has Ctrl+X key combinations have their own distinct keycodes. At the same time, keycodes corresponding to the modifier keys (Shift, Ctrl and Alt) were never passed to the on_key_press alone and were only allowed with IsKeyPressed.

Starting from version 3.6.0 AGS supports two "key handling modes". The old mode works as described above, according to the historical behavior. The new mode actually allows modifier keycodes in on_key_press, and disables combined keycodes like Ctrl+X: instead these are passed as two separate keycodes.

Following section lists the members of this enum, and which keys they represent.

AGS keycode	Key	Numeric value
eKeyNone	none	0
eKeyCtrlA	Ctrl+A	1
eKeyCtrlB	Ctrl+B	2
eKeyCtrlC	Ctrl+C	3
eKeyCtrlD	Ctrl+D	4
eKeyCtrlE	Ctrl+E	5
eKeyCtrlF	Ctrl+F	6
eKeyCtrlG	Ctrl+G	7
eKeyCtrlH	Ctrl+H	8
eKeyCtrlI	Ctrl+I	9
eKeyCtrlJ	Ctrl+J	10
eKeyCtrlK	Ctrl+K	11
eKeyCtrlL	Ctrl+L	12
eKeyCtrlM	Ctrl+M	13
eKeyCtrlN	Ctrl+N	14
eKeyCtrlO	Ctrl+O	15
eKeyCtrlP	Ctrl+P	16
eKeyCtrlQ	Ctrl+Q	17
eKeyCtrlR	Ctrl+R	18
eKeyCtrlS	Ctrl+S	19
eKeyCtrlT	Ctrl+T	20
eKeyCtrlU	Ctrl+U	21
eKeyCtrlV	Ctrl+V	22
eKeyCtrlW	Ctrl+W	23
eKeyCtrlX	Ctrl+X	24
eKeyCtrlY	Ctrl+Y	25
eKeyCtrlZ	Ctrl+Z	26
eKey0	0	48
eKey1	1	49
eKey2	2	50
eKey3	3	51
eKey4	4	52
eKey5	5	53
eKey6	6	54
eKey7	7	55
eKey8	8	56
eKey9	9	57
eKeyA	A	65
eKeyB	B	66
eKeyC	C	67
eKeyD	D	68
eKeyE	E	69
eKeyF	F	70
eKeyG	G	71
eKeyH	H	72
eKeyI	I	73
eKeyJ	J	74
eKeyK	K	75
eKeyL	L	76
eKeyM	M	77
eKeyN	N	78
eKeyO	O	79
eKeyP	P	80
eKeyQ	Q	81
eKeyR	R	82
eKeyS	S	83
eKeyT	T	84
eKeyU	U	85
eKeyV	V	86
eKeyW	W	87
eKeyX	X	88
eKeyY	Y	89
eKeyZ	Z	90
eKeyAmpersand	&	38
eKeyAsterisk	*	42
eKeyAt	@	64
eKeyBackSlash	\	92
eKeyBackspace	Backspace	8
eKeyCloseBracket	]	93
eKeyCloseParenthesis	)	41
eKeyColon	:	58
eKeyComma	,	44
eKeyDelete	Delete	383
eKeyDollar	$	36
eKeyDoubleQuote	"	34
eKeyEquals	=	61
eKeyEscape	Escape	27
eKeyExclamationMark	!	33
eKeyForwardSlash	/	47
eKeyGreaterThan	>	62
eKeyHash	#	35
eKeyHyphen	-	45
eKeyInsert	Insert	382
eKeyLessThan	<	60
eKeyOpenBracket	[	91
eKeyOpenParenthesis	(	40
eKeyPercent	%	37
eKeyPeriod	.	46
eKeyPlus	+	43
eKeyQuestionMark	?	63
eKeyReturn	Return	13
eKeySemiColon	;	59
eKeySingleQuote	'	39
eKeySpace	Space	32
eKeyTab	Tab	9
eKeyUnderscore	_	95
eKeyF1	F1	359
eKeyF2	F2	360
eKeyF3	F3	361
eKeyF4	F4	362
eKeyF5	F5	363
eKeyF6	F6	364
eKeyF7	F7	365
eKeyF8	F8	366
eKeyF9	F9	367
eKeyF10	F10	368
eKeyF11	F11	433
eKeyF12	F12	434
eKeyHome	Home	371
eKeyUpArrow	Up arrow	372
eKeyPageUp	Page up	373
eKeyLeftArrow	Left arrow	375
eKeyNumPad5	Numeric keypad 5	376
eKeyRightArrow	Right arrow	377
eKeyEnd	End	379
eKeyDownArrow	Down arrow	380
eKeyPageDown	Page down	381
eKeyShiftLeft	Left Shift	403
eKeyShiftRight	Right Shift	404
eKeyCtrlLeft	Left Ctrl	405
eKeyCtrlRight	Right Ctrl	406
eKeyAltLeft	Left Alt	407
eKeyAltRight	Right Alt	420

Use these keycodes in your on_key_press function to process player input. For example:

if (keycode == eKeyA) Display("You pressed A");
if (keycode == eKeyPlus) Display("You pressed the Plus key");

Compatibility: the mod key constants (eKeyShiftLeft to eKeyAltRight) are only supported since AGS 3.6.0. In previous versions you'd have to use corresponding numeric values.

Key modifiers

In addition, there's separate eKeyMod enumeration with modifier "flags". These values are special so that they may be combined in one variable to make a list of modifiers (like, Shift + Ctrl). This enumeration is supported since AGS 3.6.0. Following is the list of possible values:

AGS modifier	Mod
eKeyModShiftLeft	Left Shift
eKeyModShiftRight	Right Shift
eKeyModShift	any Shift
eKeyModCtrlLeft	Left Ctrl
eKeyModCtrlRight	Right Ctrl
eKeyModCtrl	any Ctrl
eKeyModAltLeft	Left Alt
eKeyModAltRight	Right Alt
eKeyModAlt	any Alt
eKeyModNum	Num Lock
eKeyModCaps	Caps Lock

You may use these mod codes in the extended variant of on_key_press function to check which mod keys were pressed along with the primary key. Remember that since these mods are "flags", they should be tested using not the regular "comparison" operator ==, but bitwise operators. For example:

if (keycode == eKeyA) {
    if (mod & eKeyModCtrl) {
        Display("Pressed Ctrl+A");
    }
}

if (mod & eKeyModAlt == 0) {
    Display("NO Alt was pressed this time");
}

In addition, there are two constants defining bitwise masks, one for key codes, and another for key modifiers:

Constant	Meaning
eKeyCodeMask	all key codes
eKeyModMask	all key mods

If both key code and mods are combined in one integer variable, using bitwise operations, these masks may then be used to extract code and mods:

int combokey = eKeyA | eKeyModCtrlLeft;

int keycode = combokey & eKeyCodeMask; // keycode now contains only eKeyA
int keymod = combokey & eKeyModMask; // keymod now contains only eKeyModCtrlLeft

Compatibility: eKeyMod enumeration is only supported since AGS 3.6.0.