BTD Rangefinder

* Important bug-fix update:  v3.2.6.3, May 20 2012 *

Okay, so I'm addicted to NinjaKiwi's Bloons Tower Defense 4 and Bloons Tower Defense 5 -- but so are you, or you wouldn't be here ;)

In my quest for all-time highscores, I wrote an AutoHotKey_L script to help:
  1. crowd lots of towers into tight spaces
  2. position towers to get optimal coverage
  3. automate a few tedious tasks
I kept playing and the script kept growing!  The BTD4 Expansion required more changes.  A couple friends wanted a copy, so I made it portable.  Built-in help was added so we could keep track of the current hotkeys...  you get the idea.  Anyway, we finally decided it was time to share the script, so here it is:

Download NEW version:  BTD-Rangefinder_3.2.6.3.zip for Windows XP/Vista/7

Here's a copy of the Help screen, to give you an idea of the features: Main Help
and the BTD4 hotkey reference screen: BTD4 Hotkey List
and the BTD5 hotkeys: BTD5 Hotkey List  (the rangefinders are still for BTD4)

Here are the source files, in case you're interested.  Yeah, it's a mess; I'm still learning AutoHotKey.
BTD-Rangefinder_3.2.6.3_source.zip

Suggestions/fixes/improvements are welcome! I plan to add a place for Comments and Uploads to this page, but in the meantime, click here to send feedback or email me at:
 
If you've got a nice set of rangefinder templates to share, I'll upload it!

BTD-Rangefinder screenshot

Recent version history:
3.2.6.3 fixed bug (introduced in v3.2.5.3) where new installs had some wrong/missing rangefinder templates
3.2.6.2 beta a few minor (and untested) bugfixes -- mainly in game-window detection, no time for Bloons lately :(
3.2.6.1 added rangefinders for Tribal Turtle (BTD5 special agent)
3.2.6.0 using a new & improved Autohotkey_L engine, also fixed Ctrl+E (collect bank balance) hotkey
3.2.5.3 added/updated rangefinders for BTD5 Boomerang/Mortar/Village, fixed Ctrl+Shift+U hotkey
3.2.5.2 fixed bug where you can't go to location zero if it's the only saved location, fixed glitch where [,] and [.] spawned bloons in BTD5 sandbox, added rangefinders for BTD5 Spike Factory and changed Meerkat menu key to O
3.2.5.1 fixed autofollow bug when placing rangefinders
3.2.5.0 added [,] and [.] upgrade-tower hotkeys for BTD4 (to match BTD5 built-in keys) and removed [+], changed [Ctrl][U] and [Ctrl][Shift][U] hotkeys to [Ctrl][,] and [Ctrl][Shift][.], added rangefinders for BTD5 Ace, fixed [spacebar] hotkey in BTD4, updated Help
3.2.4.2 fixed and improved Ability-spam, re-fixed save-prompt bug
3.2.4.1 updated Temple ranges and merged with Super Monkey list, changed menu-keys for special agents, ".sav" is now appended to saved-layout files automatically (fix for "missing save-file" bug)
3.2.4.0 UpgradeTower hotkeys now work in BTD5, Help now works from mapped network drives, re-aligning after scrolling game window now updates finders/locations properly, buttons on the automatic "game closed / save layout?" prompt work properly now, rangefinders can no longer hide BTD5 Delete button, added rangefinders for Special Agents
3.2.3.0 added BTD5 rangefinders for mortar (blast radius) ice and wizard, fixed blank Help screens when script is run from a network path, right-clicking outside the game screen no longer brings up the rangefinder menu, ClearAllMarkers now properly clears location zero
3.2.2.0 added spam-ability hotkeys (Ctrl+Shift+1, etc.) to click an ability until it turns red, ESC cancels bloon-spawn and spam-ability, fixed sandbox detection not adjusting for alignment, fixed 1-pixel auto-alignment error on BTD5 menu screen, mouse actions are now VERY fast, you can now use the number-pad for any hotkeys requiring a number
3.2.1.1 fixed rangefinder for "0/2+sb" Temple
3.2.1.0 fixed rangefinder-menu keys for BTD5 towers, added SPACEBAR hotkey for BTD4, added menu options to disable DELETE and SPACEBAR hotkeys in both versions, updated Help
3.2.0.0 first public release of BTD5 rangefinders, fixed layout-loading bug, updated Help, added "gametitle" command-line option, added hotkey tips to main menu
3.2 beta 2 fixed auto-alignment for BTD5 menu screens, addded finder_padding to saved layouts, fixed problem with game window hiding script windows, fixed phantom "location 0" window, corrected BTD5 Juggernaut range, tray hover-tip now updates bloons version properly
3.2 beta 1 internal release; testing BTD5 rangefinders and new rangefinder menu,
3.1.0.1 fixed layout-loading bug
3.1.0.0 Game Mode (BTD4/BTD5/Sandbox) can now be set and locked via menu or command-line, improved Game Mode auto-detection, added menu-screen detection, improved window-tracking, replaced old Help screens with compiled HTML, added "clear saved positions" to menu, fixed manual alignment and improved alignment routines, fixed MouseHUD location bug, added a 10th saved-location slot (zero) and fixed several saved-location bugs, cleaned up old code and fixed numerous minor bugs and typos, updated Help, corrected and finally completed BTD5 range table
3.0.2.1 improvements to sandbox detection and bloon-spawning
3.0.2.0 various alignment fixes & improvements, fixed sandbox-detection in low-quality mode, fixed sandbox-bloon-spawning glitch where first use would spawn too few bloons, re-added hotkey to spawn ZOMGs, fixed prompt-to-save-and-exit when game closed, removed delay from UseAbility, CollectBalance, and DeleteTower BTD5 hotkeys
3.0.1.5 auto-alignment now works with cash over $99999 in BTD5, updated Help, added hotkeys to spawn 10 bloons in BTD5 Sandbox (change number via Options menu)
3.0.1.4 fixed BTD5 sandbox detection
3.0.1.3 added alignment images for users running Flash in low-quality mode
3.0.1.2 added 'collect balance' hotkey for BTD5, added mouse-position HUD (Ctrl+Y), startup auto-alignment now shows "error" instead of "success" on failure
[BTD5 rangefinder templates are on hold while NinjaKiwi fixes range bugs]
3.0.1.1 BTD5 updates: disabled SelectNewTower hotkeys, updated Help, added Ability hotkeys
3.0.1.0 first 3.0 BETA stable enough for public release; no BTD5 rangefinders yet, just bugfixes
3.0.0.* internal testing of new BTD5 features: sell-tower hotkey, auto & manual alignment, sandbox mode detection, command-line and menu options for BTD4/5 modes
2.2.0.3 internal release; using Ctrl+L/C no longer disables follow_mode, fixed bug where moving game window would screw up NewTower/Upgrade button locations
2.2.0.2 fixed problem where certain hotkeys would unexpectedly restore minimized rangefinders
2.2.0.1 fixed menu commands to hide/show rangefinders and saved-position markers
2.2.0.0 improved performance and reliability of all align/hide/minimize routines, tower hotkeys O&L can no longer be blocked by a selected tower's range overlay
2.1.4.* internal releases; lots of bugfixes, major improvements to save/restore routines
2.1.3.0 fixed version ID, fixed upgrade-cheat traytips, fixed command-line help, fixed numerous alignment and save/restore bugs
2.1.2.0 improved window-status detection before AutoAlign, added upgrade-once hotkey, fixed upgrade-cheat timeout, added 'delete tower here' to right-click-game menu,
2.1.1.0 made upgrade-cheat more reliable on fast computers, added boss/mom key Ctrl+Shift+H, MouseMode should now be disabled by ANY left-click, fixed cheat-prompt buttons, closing game window now triggers a prompt to save-and-exit
2.1.0.0 added hotkey-only functions to menu, enabled number-pad, added "upgrade cheat", added grid/alignment markers, minor improvements to alignment code, MouseMode should now be disabled by ANY left-click, updated help, removed pre-delay on Ctrl+U hotkey, removed unnecessary taskbar icons
2.0.2.1 fixed 2.0.2.0 bug which could make current_template "blank"
2.0.2.0 script windows now "come along" more reliability when game window is moved, RE-aligning the screen now updates rangefinders & positions, improved reliability of Zoom and Save/Load features, fixed Ctrl+L level-change
2.0.1.2 fixed minor WM_MOVE bug, added 'Check for Update'
2.0.1.1 fixed gatling/factory hotkeys
2.0.1.0 changed Ctrl+U to be a triple upgrade-click, added save/restore-layout feature, fixed phantom windows and other bugs related to location-markers, updated help, improved manual alignment and increased color-tolerance of both alignment procedures
2.0 beta 3 fixed incorrect ranges on Glue and Boomerang towers, corrected help, fixed Ctrl+X
2.0 beta 2 fixed some (not all) "unclickable rangefinder" situations caused by Windows Vista/7 transparency, fixed multiple-clicks-to-place-rangefinder problem, added several command-line options, rangefinders and saved-locations now "come along" if you move the browser window, fixed Ctrl+Q not hiding flags, fixed duplicates in level-selection menu, updated help
2.0 beta 1 MAJOR UPDATE! lots of new hotkeys and a new (more logical) hotkey system, auto-align now tries to run at startup, removed 'Ctrl' from new-tower hotkeys, rangefinders now follow the mouse until "placed" on the map, added rangefinder right-click menu, updated help and added full hotkey list, streamlined and standardized lots of code, turned the huge Rangefinder list into a menu-tree with key-codes, added 9 saved-location slots
1.4.3.2 added Ctrl+Shift+C reverse color-change, fixed rangefinder-placement delay, updated help
1.4.3.1 cursor now returns to center after placing new rangefinder, fixed auto-align glitch, added pixel-count to AutoMouseMode
1.4.3.0 added auto-alignment and HideScriptWindows, fixed mouse-return bug in SelectNewTower routine
1.4.2.0 replaced most RegEx and 'parse' statements with faster code, updated Help, made Close-Rangefinder menu dynamic, added AutoMouseMode to help with finger-strain
1.4.1.* internal releases; changed most ALT hotkeys to SHIFT for better IE9 compatibility, numerous bugfixes, removed dead code and made other small speed & readability improvements, added visible saved-location marker, rangefinders now appear at in-game cursor location, added some palette-swapped rangefinder templates and on-the-fly color/range switching, added "template" command-line option, added range templates for premium-upgrade towers
1.4.0.0 first public release


- page last updated May 20, 2012 -