Tips on taking screenshots

Screenshot or screen capture is is an image taken by the computer to record the visible items on the monitor (source: Wikipedia article).

You may assign a button for taking screenshots in Deus Ex-> Settings -> Keyboard/Mouse. However the button doesn't work when the game ends, therefore if you want to take a screenshot of a scoreboard when the match ended, type a console command "shot" or "sshot" (in other words: press "T", erase "Say" and type either "shot" or "sshot").

If you want to assign it to another button which is not available in Settings -> Keyboard/Mouse window, you may bind it in User.ini (as already mentioned, the command is "shot" or "sshot"). 

The screenshot will appear in /System/ directory of your Deus Ex folder and the file name will look like Shot0001.bmp (Windows bitmap format). Note that Deus Ex has a limit of 255 screenshots. When you reach the limit, Deus Ex won't be making any more screenshots until you move the existing 255 screenshots to another place. You may put them to .zip or .rar archive to reduce disk space they use.

If you're willing to post a screenshot to the Internet, convert it to JPG or GIF format to reduce size (usually .bmp files are 10x times bigger than their .jpg analogues). There are hundreds of programs that could do that (e.g. Adobe Photoshop, Photopaint or even ACDSee) including a newer version of MS Paint which is included to every Windows version. In case with MS Paint, just open a screenshot and "save it as" .jpg file. Renaming the file in Windows won't change the format, but just a file name.

If you want to make a screenshot without a HUD (user interface),  type a console command:

showhud false

When you want to restore HUD, just go to the main menu and return back. Or instead you may type

showhud true

You may also experiment with FOV (angle of view). Type a console command fov [value], e.g. fov 95. Default FOV is 85 (or 75 in older Deus Ex versions).

If you're willing to make something peculiar, try setting game speed to a lower value (if you're in multiplayer, you will need to be an admin + that will affect all the players on the server), e.g.: slomo 0.5 (or if your server uses DXMTL, admin slomo 0.5). You will move slower and it will be easier to find a suitable location. Default game speed (slomo) value is 1.

Making a screenshot from a different resolution is also very easy. Use a console command setres, e.g. setres 1024x768 (1024 is desired width, 768 is desired height). If your desired resolution is smaller than your normal resolution, your Deus Ex will have to expand to the new resolution. This will not affect the resolution of screenshots, but may be a bit unsuitable to play. If so, switch to the windowed mode (Alt + Enter or togglefullscreen command). For some unknown reason Deus Ex in windowed mode in some resolutions doesn't make screenshots properly (the image is distorted). 

You may also try a special program for making screenshots, instead of using a built in function. Pick a free program from this list.

Print screen button on your keyboard would also do that job, but after you press it you need to launch an image editor (e.g. MS Paint), paste it there and save somewhere.

© dxalpha.com, 2003—2007.