The Aliases

In most cases you have the choice : either you write an alias and bind its name to a key, or you just bind a more complex string of instructions to a key.
For example, these two solutions work the same :

choice 1 : just a key
Space= Say I'm jumping ! | Jump¶

choice 2 : an alias and a key
Aliases[26]=(Command="Say I'm jumping ! | Jump",Alias=SillyJump)¶
Space=SillyJump¶

So what's better ?
Just think about the use of your alias. Using an alias plus a key takes one of the alias 'slots'. They may become rare one day :p
But using an alias slot allows you to call it from within another alias. For example, with above choice #2, you could create another (stupid) alias that would call the alias SillyJump.
So before creating an alias, just ask yourself : will I use it inside other aliases ? If yes, use an alias slot. If no, write everything in a simple key.

Selecting the best weapon available is a built-in feature in UT, and has the self-explanatory name SwitchToBestWeapon.

I just wanted to mention that you can modify the priority of each weapon : in User.ini, scroll down to [Engine.PlayerPawn], and modify from WeaponPriority[0] to WeaponPriority[13].

Purpose : for example, select the best "Finish Him!" / melee weapon available, ideally the MiniGun (kind of a Quake2 chaingun), if not the PulseGun (gimme the Hyperblaster / Lightning gun), or the Enforcer (small gun).

The Alias :

Space= getweapon enforcer | getweapon pulsegun | getweapon minigun2¶

Explanation : it works exactly as in Quake2, if you have ammo you select the weapon, if you don't the command has no effect. Hit once to select the best non-explosive weapon available, hit again to grab the second best weapon.

In my config, instead of using the built-in alias SwitchToBestWeapon, I created a Bestweap alias, similar to the previous one (not only 3 melee weapons, but all the weapons, sorted according to what I prefer).
You may ask, why ?
Simply because I like that I can switch between my two available favorite weapons. With the built-in alias, if you repeatedly press the key you keep the same best weapon. With my alias, you switch back and forth between your two favorite weapons. I just find this useful :)

The Alias :

Aliases[26]=(Command="getweapon ImpactHammer | getweapon enforcer | getweapon shockrifle | getweapon minigun2 | getweapon pulsegun | getweapon ut_eightball",Alias=BestWeap)¶
Space=BestWeap¶

Explanation : same as above. Be sure to sort weapons, starting with the ones you don't use, ending with the ones you'd kill for.

Purpose : displays the scoreboad as long as you press on the key, and clears when you release the key (a la QuakeWorld)

The Alias :

Space=ShowScores | OnRelease ShowScores¶

Explanation : one command, and then the same called by the event OnRelease.

Purpose : same as above. But as long as the score is displayed, switch to a third person view with a large FOV, so you can have a look at everything around.

The Alias :

Space=BehindView 1 | fov 150 | ShowScores | OnRelease ShowScores | OnRelease fov 100 | OnRelease BehindView 0¶

Purpose : Zoom on your poor target, release the key to switch back to a normal view

The Alias :

Aliases[15]=(Command="fov 30 | OnRelease fov 100",Alias=SniperView)¶
Space=SniperView¶

Explanation : same trick as in the ScoreBoard, but this time I used the Aliases definition, simply to show another way.

Purpose : use one key to cycle between two commands. For example, hit space to switch between a normal fov (90) and a wider view (120)

The Alias :

Aliases[27]=(Command="fov 120 | set input Space FovNorm",Alias=FovBig)¶
Aliases[28]=(Command="fov 90 | set input Space FovGros",Alias=FovNorm)¶
Space=FovBig¶

Explanation : Space is first bound to the Alias FovBig, which binds it to FovNorm, and so on.

NB : if you plan on using another key, be sure to modify the 3 lines. "bind space somestuff" in Quake is, in UT, "set input space somestuff"

Purpose : use one key to cycle through several commands. For example, bind different congratulation messages to the Space key.

The Alias :

Space=exec message1.txt

Then, go in the UT System directory and create the following text files :

message1.txt :

say Nice one !
set input Space exec message2.txt

message2.txt :

say What a shot dude !
set input Space exec message3.txt

message3.txt :

say omg ! Ya already found a zbot for UT ?!
set input Space exec message1.txt

Explanation : Space first executes an external file that modifies its binding, and so on. Same trick as above, but without using 3 aliases.

NB : if you want to use another key, you'll have to modify all the text files. Also, I didn't find another example to explain this feature, but please be aware that floodchatting can be really annoying =)

Purpose : for example bind a command to the K key, and another one to Control + K.

The Alias :

K=Say Leave me alone or I kill myself !¶
Ctrl=set input K suicide | OnRelease set input K say Leave me alone or I kill myself !¶

Explanation : pressing Ctrl modifies the binding of K, releasing it restores the previous binding.

NB : the command to commit suicide is "suicide". It can be useful, for example, to respawn faster when you start falling away in outer space :)

Another example of the trick above, but maybe more useful : exit the game by pressing Alt + F4, but do nothing when hitting just F4.

The Alias :

F4=¶
Alt=set input F4 QuickQuit | OnRelease set input F4¶
Aliases[29]=(Command="Set input F4 | Quit",Alias=QuickQuit)¶

Explanation : same as above, except that OnReleasing Alt binds F4 to nothing at all.
But there is also here a smart trick : instead of using an alias definition, it could have worked simply with :

F4=¶
Alt=set input F4 quit | OnRelease set input F4¶

BUT! in this case, when you quit, F4 remains bound to "quit", so when you start a new game, if you hit F4 by accident, it shuts the game down immediately. With my alias above, before exiting the game, F4 is bound back to an empty command :)

Another one I've been a lot asked for : how to have always the same button (say, LeftMouse) bound to Fire or AltFire, depending on the best firing mode for a given weapon. For example, if you only use the PulseGun on AltFire (kind of a shaft), but always use the ShockRifle in its standard Fire type, you may like to have them both bound automatically on the same button. Possible? Hmm, kind of...
Here is the trick which I wrote for 3 weapons, you'll understand for the rest of them.

The Alias :

E=getweapon pulsegun | set input LeftMouse AltFire | set input RightMouse Fire¶
R=getweapon UT_eightball | set input LeftMouse Fire | set input RightMouse AltFire¶
T=getweapon shockrifle | set input LeftMouse Fire | set input RightMouse AltFire¶

Explanation : Each key you use to select weapons simply binds the Fire and AltFire commands as you like, so your favorite firing mode is always on the same button.

Bug warning : I don't like, nor do I use this one, and here is the explanation : it won't work if you don't select the weapon with the correct key, meaning that it won't work if :
- you run out of ammo and autoswitch to another weapon
- select a weapon with an Best weapon alias
- autoswitch to a weapon because you dropped the previous one
- select a weapon with the Enter key

Some of you have asked this one : is it possible to create your own MyConfig.ini and load it from UT ?
The answer is yes, but it may be too complicated to be really useful. If you still want to do it, ( for example, if you're the kind that experiments with new aliases all the time), it is quite easy and fast to have UT and Notepad running together, to modify your config in Notepad, then switch back to UT (faster than going through the Advanced Options menus several times)

The trick :
Create a copy of your User.ini file. Rename it MyConfig.txt (or anything else of course), and modify it as follows : (as usual, ¶ ends each line to avoid line breaks misunderstanding)

User.ini	MyConfig.txt
key=action¶ For example : Space=Jump A=Fire	set input key action¶ For example : set input Space Jump¶ set input A Fire¶
[SectionType.SectionName]¶ Variable=Value¶ For example : [Engine.PlayerPawn]¶ MouseSensitivity=5.000¶ FOV=90¶	set input SectionType.SectionName variable value¶ For example : set input Engine.PlayerPawn MouseSensitivity 5.0¶ set input Engine.PlayerPawn FOV 90¶

Reload by typing in the console : exec MyConfig.txt. Even better, bind an empty key to "exec MyConfig.txt", so you can reload your config in one single keypress.

As you can see, this is quite a pain to do, probably not worth it...

Daniel Sato has got this one, which is quite useful for a quick escape : press a key to fire the Translocator, release it to get translocated ! Pfffit, you're gone !

The Alias :

T=TransJump¶
Aliases[29]=(Command="GetWeapon BotPack.Translocator | Fire | OnRelease AltFire",Alias=TransJump)¶

Explanation : Hold the key down to fire the TL, don't release till it's not far away, and then release the key to let yourself go.