Auto-kill mobile Screenshots

The utility automatically takes a series of screenshots during killcam. Three methods of taking screenshots are available: classic print screen, ENB hotkeys, and Steam overlay. Since this is my first mod of this level of complexity, I consider the current version an Alpha.

introduce

I used a similar mod when playing Skyrim LE, but the mod was never ported to Skyrim SE. Then others made similar mods for SE, but it was never updated to game v1.5.97. So I decided to try making my own.

The tool activates on a kill move event and takes a series of (hopefully cool) screenshots. It contains an ESP plugin with ESL flag, some scripts and SKSE DLL plugin. There are three ways to take screenshots. The default one only requires SKSE (but can be a bit slow), the other two require my DLL plugin (but is much faster). More about them below. Mods can be configured through the MCM.

warn

When I started making this mod, I had almost no idea how to make a small esp plugin with the same small Papyrus script. Soon my super simple idea was useless and I had to learn a lot of new things to implement it. When I finished, I compiled my first SKSE DLL plugin and knew how to load the Steam library at runtime to use its API (wtf). It was an adventure and I learned as I went. I have tested this mod as thoroughly as possible before releasing it, but I still consider it an Alpha release. Mainly because I lack experience with this kind of programming. Back up your save if you want to try it.

Available modes

print screen mode

It's very simple. With the SKSE function Input.TapKey, it basically presses the Print Screen key for you. It has no dependencies except SKSE, but its main drawback is speed. There's noticeable lag with every screenshot, and depending on other settings, it can turn your kill cam into a slideshow. Although it still works, there is no problem with the screenshot saving. So if you can tolerate the stutter, feel free to use it. The image will be saved to the game's installation directory (filename ScreenShot <index>.png). This is the default mode.

ENB hotkey mode

This works like PrintScreen mode but requires my DLL to work. ENB does not register the hotkey when calling it with the SKSE function. Therefore, I had to create lower level key events in C++. The minimum value for the time interval between screenshots in this mode is 1 second because ENB creates image files with names accurate to the second based on the current date and time. It is much faster than the PrintScreen method and does not cause any lag. You need to provide ENB screenshot hotkey in MCM (Insert by default). The image will be saved to the game's installation directory (filename enb <date> <time>.bmp). Of course, it requires ENB. Otherwise, pressing the hotkey will trigger no action.

steam overlay mode

This is arguably the most interesting since it doesn't simulate any key presses. Instead, the DLL plugin loads steam_api64.dll at runtime and triggers screenshots directly using the Steam API. This method is very fast and your screenshots appear instantly in Steam, making them easy to share. However, this took me the longest to get working, and the implementation is quite experimental for me. It has never failed to work on my machine, but I can't guarantee anything. I've built a lot of checking and validation into the mod, so if a library doesn't load successfully (or some other problem occurs) you should be notified immediately. Of course, this method requires Steam overlay to be enabled. It doesn't matter what screenshot hotkey you set in Steam.

Additional configuration

Additional settings available in MCM:

Toggle entire mod - Allows turning mod off and on. If you plan to uninstall the mod, uncheck it and save. If you turn it off and then on again, it will reset all MCM settings to default.

Pause Mods - Allows temporarily pausing mods. Settings will not be reset after unpausing.

Test Current Settings - Test current settings without triggering the kill cam. After checking …