OK, so I know this was a console game and designed to be played with a controller, but as an old-skool PC gamer, I prefer the good ol' fashioned mouse and keyboard when I play games on a PC, and so put together this little guide explaining how to remap keyboard controls in case there are any like-minded souls out there who could also benefit from it!

In a nutshell, this guide explains how to use a free program called AutoHotKey (simply referred to as "AHK" from now on) to run the little script I have put together which essentially remaps the default game controls to other keys on the keyboard.

How does it do this?
Good question! While the script is running and you are playing Yooka-Laylee and the Impossibly Long Title, whenever you press a key on the keyboard, AHK intercepts that command and tells the game that you actually pressed something else.
So, while Team 17 were too lazy to build in functionality to remap controls within the game itself, AHK can come to the rescue and include whatever keyboard rebindings we want. Hoorah!

How do I get this AHK thing?
Couldn't be simpler!

• Go to the official AHK website here[www.autohotkey.com].
  
• Click the Download button, then select the Current Version.
  
• Once downloaded (only 3MB, so shouldn't take long!), find and double-click the file, then follow the on-screen instructions to install the application.

There is no need to actually run the application once installed, so if it auto-opens, just close it down.

Next up you need to create a script file that AHK can run, but don't worry, I've already done the most difficult bit for you; all you need to do is the following:

• If you don't already have it open, open up Windows Explorer and navigate to a folder where you want to save the script we are about to create. (I just bung mine in the AHK install folder, but feel free to put it in 'My Documents' or just on your Desktop.)
  
• Right-click in your chosen folder and select 'New >', then you should have an entry for 'AutoHotKey script', so go ahead and select that.
  
• Rename the file to something a little more appropriate - say, 'BetterControls'.
  
• Right-click on this new file and select 'Edit Script'. This should just open up Notepad or your default text editor - if you see a few lines of code, then all is good!
  
• Delete everything that is already in the file, copy the code below and paste it into your file, then click save and close it.

So what does this code actually do?
It's actually quite basic as there are only a handful of commands here.

• Any line that starts with a semicolon is just a comment, so generally describes what the next bit of code does.
  
• The line near the beginning that starts with the '#' tells the script that it should only take effect if the game is running and active in the foreground - this means that the remapping has no effect outside the game.
  
• Finally, all the lines which contain <key1>::<key2> perform all the various key remappings, with <key1> being the physical key on the keyboard that you press, but <key2> being how the game will receive that input.

Congratulations, you have now completed your beginner's guide to coding! ^_^

OK, so far so exciting, but having the script isn't quite where it ends... the final thing to do is to actually run the script.

This can be done by either right-clicking the file and choosing 'Run Script', or just double-clicking the file to execute it. At this point, unless you created the file on your Desktop directly, you may want to create a shortcut there so you can activate the script via that each time you want to play rather than hunting out the file itself. :)

Once the file is running, you should notice you have a little AHK icon in lower-right of your task bar (it's the little green square with a white 'H' on it) - this is a good sign and shows that the code is active, so when you switch to / launch Yooka-Laylee and the Passable Controls, you will find that while the default buttons still perform their original functions, you can now also use the following as slightly more convenient alternatives:

Enter = start game (instead of 'p')
Ctrl = buddy slam after jumping (instead of 'h')
Z / X / C = attack / roll (instead of 'k' - I figured more options here were better in case your hand wanders over the keyboard!)
Shift = grab / throw (instead of 'o')
NumPad 1 = interact with characters / enter chapters (instead of 'i')

Probably worth mentioning I used the arrow keys for movement rather than WASD, so decided to position all the remapped keys under my left hand, and more-specifically, grouped in the lower-left corner (apart from NumPad 1 which is close to my right little finger :))

This said, based on this description and a look at the code, it should be fairly straightforward to see how the remapping works, so if you're more of a WASD movement player, feel free to alter the code to remap to buttons on the other side of the keyboard to make it more comfortable for you!

One final word in this section - once you've finished your gaming session / no longer want the AHK script running in the background, right-click on the little AHK icon in your taskbar and choose 'Exit'.

Well, that's it - I know for a fact it helped me as I was struggling in chapter 1 with the default hand gymnastics, but AHK made it so much easier for my fingers to be over the relevant (and more familiar) controls.

I hope this also proves useful for others - even if my replacements don't suit you, feel free to remap to keys of your choice using this script as guide and let me know in the comments how you got on!

GLHF!