Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2005) on PC asks you to type your alias. This script brings back the console version's on-screen keyboard instead, so you can name your profile with a controller, no keyboard needed.
The keyboard was never removed from the PC game: its screen (Keyboard.fng)
and code are still in speed.exe, just never opened. This mod opens it whenever
the game starts text entry, then hands the name you picked back to the game as
if you had typed it.
Handy for couch/Big Picture setups, Steam Deck, and anything else without a keyboard.
- NFS Most Wanted v1.3
speed.exe(6,029,312 bytes) - An ASI loader (e.g. Ultimate ASI Loader as
dinput8.dll, which the Widescreen Fix and most mod packs already include) - A controller the game can use for menus (e.g. via NFS-XtendedInput)
Copy scripts/NFSMWConsoleKeyboard.asi into the game's scripts folder.
When the game asks for a name, the on-screen keyboard appears. Pick letters with the d-pad/stick and the accept button, then confirm with Start (or the keyboard's "done" key). Back cancels, as typing Esc would.
Each run writes scripts/NFSMWConsoleKeyboard.log, a short record of what the
mod did; attach it if you report a problem.
Tested with the Xbox 360 Stuff Pack 4.2, Widescreen Fix, XtendedInput, HUD Adapter, HD Reflections, Front-End Shadows and HD Content Support, on Windows through Wine and on PS5 (prospero-win).
Tested: naming the alias at first boot, and creating a profile from the profile manager. Other text prompts (the online ones) go through the same path but haven't been tried yet. If the mod finds unexpected code at any of the addresses it hooks (a different exe, or another mod hooking the same place) it hooks nothing and says so in the log.
| Address | What | Mod's use |
|---|---|---|
0x5865e0 |
MenuScreen::StartTextEntry |
hooked: opens Keyboard.fng instead of the PC field |
0x5257f0 |
push FE package | called to open the keyboard |
0x91cf90 |
FEDatabase (+0x318..+0x32c) |
keyboard's accept/cancel messages, max length, buffer |
0x516c50 |
FE message queue | hooked: catches the keyboard's accept/cancel |
0x59b2c0 |
MenuScreen notification (screen tick) | hooked: restarts the PC field with the name, posts Enter |
0x599100 / 0x5991b0 |
text entry commit / cancel | hooked: shows the PC text box again as the game takes over |
0x514c70 / 0x514cc0 |
FE object invisible / visible | hides the PC text box while the keyboard is up |
You need the 32-bit MinGW-w64 GCC:
- Debian/Ubuntu:
sudo apt install gcc-mingw-w64-i686 zip - macOS:
brew install mingw-w64 - Windows: MSYS2,
pacman -S mingw-w64-i686-gcc make zip
Then:
git clone https://github.com/lavavex/NFSMW-ConsoleKeyboard
cd NFSMW-ConsoleKeyboard
make # NFSMWConsoleKeyboard.asi
make dist # NFSMWConsoleKeyboard.zip (scripts/ and README.txt)
The build repeats: the same compiler gives the same bytes wherever you build. Releases
are built by GitHub Actions (.github/workflows/build.yml), and each release's notes name
the image and compiler with the SHA-256 of its files, so you can rebuild and compare.
Another GCC version gives different bytes that do the same thing.
MIT