Dxwnd Manual

DxWnd rel. 2.02.82 unfinished Manual

 What is DxWnd? DxWnd is a Win32 hooker that intercepts and alter the behaviour of window messages messages and and !"s b# means of event interception interception and code in$ection directed to the configured tasks in order to get a proper behaviour of fullscreen programs% but in a windowed environment..... environment..... too complicated& Well% actuall# DxWnd is a tool that does its best to let #ou run fullscreen applications in a window. "s that all& Well% no% not reall#..... 'aking advantage advantage of the hooked logic in$ected in the application% DxWnd does some more little tricks% that fall in two general cathegories( making #our program more compatible to different environments and altering its time flow. )o% that makes some old programs able to run on modern platforms *well% at least sometimes...+ and to increase or decrease the game speed at #our will. ,ave #ou alwa#s been a complete nerd with -!)& ,ere comes #our revenge( bullet time wherever #ou need it

 Why DxWnd? 'his is not a sill# /uestion. ctuall#% #ou ma# think to two different /uestions( + Wh# should should " use DxWnd& DxWnd& 2+ Wh# someone should should spend his his time to develop develop it& Why should I use DxWnd? 

1ets start with the first one. nce upon a time *in the "' clock% that means a few #ears ago+ people used to have clums# !4s that in a slow and single5threaded environment tried to do their best to impress their owner with strength demonstrations% demonstrations% usuall# tr#ing to move colored pixels on the screen in the fastest possible wa#. 'hat custom was named videogaming% and implied using all trick# wa#s to improve the s#stem performances. ne common wa# to do that% was to high$ack all hardware resources and dedicate them for this single purpose% of course disabling an# attempt to run parallel tasks in other portions of the screen( the classic example being an# videogame developed for Win67 and further. ow% #ou gu#s ma# ask #ourselves wh# should all this time be passed awa# and !4 increased their power b# a 00x times more% to keep pla#ing the ver# same game in the ver# same environment. )omeone is calling #ou on a chat&  new email message is arrived& 9ou want to browse the net meanwhile& )omething )omething is happening on #our favourite social network or MM!:!;& -orget about it 9oure currentl# dealing with a task that wants 00< of #our attention% even if it uses < of #our !4 power. )o% wh# not attempting to push this old and invasive application within a window of its own & 'hats what DxWnd is mainl# for( let fullscreen applications run pretending the#re still in a fullscreen context% but actuall# within their own separate window. nd% taking advantage of the code hooking needed to do so% in some case it ma# even happen that things are further improved% but well see this later.  second undoubtful fact is the technological evolution that has turned games from different windows operating s#stems *through Windows 67 to current Windows 8+% 4!= architectures *>% 32% >? bits+ and from old and trick# directdraw support to recent 3D libraries like direct3d 8@6@0@% and pen;1. 'his evolution has left some victims behind( a lot of wonderful games are no longer supported in the current environment% even despite the efforts Microsoft is making to support legac#. "n some cases% DxWnd is crucial to recover these old glories of the past. Why someone should spend his time to develop it? 

ow the second /uestion( wh# someone should ever bother to develop a thing like this& 'his is different stor#. " started looking for a window5iAer for a specific purpose( not having a dual monitor !4 at home% " was looking for a wa# to debug fullscreen videogames. videogames.

 Why DxWnd? 'his is not a sill# /uestion. ctuall#% #ou ma# think to two different /uestions( + Wh# should should " use DxWnd& DxWnd& 2+ Wh# someone should should spend his his time to develop develop it& Why should I use DxWnd? 

1ets start with the first one. nce upon a time *in the "' clock% that means a few #ears ago+ people used to have clums# !4s that in a slow and single5threaded environment tried to do their best to impress their owner with strength demonstrations% demonstrations% usuall# tr#ing to move colored pixels on the screen in the fastest possible wa#. 'hat custom was named videogaming% and implied using all trick# wa#s to improve the s#stem performances. ne common wa# to do that% was to high$ack all hardware resources and dedicate them for this single purpose% of course disabling an# attempt to run parallel tasks in other portions of the screen( the classic example being an# videogame developed for Win67 and further. ow% #ou gu#s ma# ask #ourselves wh# should all this time be passed awa# and !4 increased their power b# a 00x times more% to keep pla#ing the ver# same game in the ver# same environment. )omeone is calling #ou on a chat&  new email message is arrived& 9ou want to browse the net meanwhile& )omething )omething is happening on #our favourite social network or MM!:!;& -orget about it 9oure currentl# dealing with a task that wants 00< of #our attention% even if it uses < of #our !4 power. )o% wh# not attempting to push this old and invasive application within a window of its own & 'hats what DxWnd is mainl# for( let fullscreen applications run pretending the#re still in a fullscreen context% but actuall# within their own separate window. nd% taking advantage of the code hooking needed to do so% in some case it ma# even happen that things are further improved% but well see this later.  second undoubtful fact is the technological evolution that has turned games from different windows operating s#stems *through Windows 67 to current Windows 8+% 4!= architectures *>% 32% >? bits+ and from old and trick# directdraw support to recent 3D libraries like direct3d 8@6@0@% and pen;1. 'his evolution has left some victims behind( a lot of wonderful games are no longer supported in the current environment% even despite the efforts Microsoft is making to support legac#. "n some cases% DxWnd is crucial to recover these old glories of the past. Why someone should spend his time to develop it? 

ow the second /uestion( wh# someone should ever bother to develop a thing like this& 'his is different stor#. " started looking for a window5iAer for a specific purpose( not having a dual monitor !4 at home% " was looking for a wa# to debug fullscreen videogames. videogames.

1ooking in the net resources% " got references to an asian *$apanese&+ DxWnd pro$ect that seemed discontinued% but left an old cop# of the 4BB sources *unfortunatel#% *unfortunatel#% not the most recent release+ to be downloaded. fter that% there were several attempts to translate and improve the program% but none shared the sources again. When " opened the pro$ect tr#ing to understand the basic principle% " found that it was incredibl# simple and #et sophisticated% acting " think in a ver# close wa# as virus or anti5virus programs do. )o " $ust thought it was such a pit# that this incredible piece of artwork of 4BB programming could be left discontinued% and then " decided to Cadopt the pro$ect and continue it% even if in the meanwhile " bought a second monitor for m# domestic !4. nd for the same reason% " published the source code on sourceforge% a proper location for an# open source piece of coding% and " encourage an#one to $oin the pro$ect and extend it further on. nd let me thank again the m#sterious coder whose onl# trail left to make a reference is )-EF( whoever #ou are% )-EF *if this was #our nick+% thank #ou. -rom the time " published the first DxWnd releases% then% a lot of improvements have been made% made% most of them involving involving sophisticated techni/ues that " learnt from several great teachers% coming from )ource-orge% 4ode!ro$ect 4ode!ro$ect and an#where else in the net. 'hank #ou all% open source supporters

How does DxWnd work? Well% actuall# there are several different wa#s #ou ma# write a fullscreen application% and thats wh# there are corresponding different wa#s to handle it hence some anno#ing configuration to do before. !lease% bear in mind that DxWnd is still an experimental program% and then its configuration is still a little clums#. 'his aspect will be improved and simplified at proper time% later on. n#wa#% these are the basic principles of the DxWnd behaviour( . DxWnd DG) ' alterate in an# wa# the behaviour of #our software *either s#stem or applications+ when not active. When turned off% ever#thing behaves as if DxWnd never run on #our machine% or never existed at all. 2. DxWnd DG) alterate the behaviour of #our application software when running( it hooks custom code that changes the applications behaviour% hopefull# in a positive wa#% but #ou never know. "ts possible that because of hacks to the directdraw or other s#stem code there might be anno#ing effects such as froAen screen% unresponsive ke#board and so on. Ee patient and ma#be #oull find a good game setting to pla# without side effects. 3. 'his is trick#( unless #ou need code in$ection support *this will be explained later+ when running% DxWnd affects 11 games in the shown list% no matter whether the cursor is highlighting a particular one% or if #ou started #our game outside the DxWnd interface. 'hats wh# #ou need not activate the game from the DxWnd menu% but #ou could keep managing it as usual *clicking on desktop icons% shortcuts or whatsoever+. )o% remember this( whenever DxWnd is running% it impacts on 9 game it is configured on its game list% no matter if #ou didnt strt it from DxWnd interface. ?. gain% DxWnd is currentl# coded to make G )";1G game working at a time% even if it could be possible to start and intercept more than one in parallel. "n some cases% the games work together% but unpredictable things happen for instance when #ou tr# to control more than one game at a time. Ma#be one da# it will make it possible to pla# more games in parallel% but so far that feature is unsupported% so DxWnd is operating on one game *the fist started up+ while the others will not be effected and should start normall# in their original fullscreen mode. DxWnd stores 11 its settings on a couple of configuration files *dxwnd.ini for almost ever#thing% and dxwnd.reg for altered registr# ke#s configuration+ in the ver# same folder where dxwnd.exe and the hooker dxwnd.dll are located. o info is written in the registr# or an#where else in the s#stem. o installation procedure is re/uired% $ust cop# the files where #ou like better%

create #our own shortcut entries wherever #ou like and% whenever #oure satisfied with some DxWnd setting% $ust back5up the configuration b# simpl# cop#ing the dxwnd.ini file somewhere else. lso% keep in mind that 11 changes are written on disk $ust when DxWnd exits safel#% so whenever it crashes #our configuration changes are certain to be lost. -rom release 2.02.22% then% its also possible to export and import single pieces of configuration to separate files% so that people are encouraged to share working game configurations b# sharing these files onl#.

The command line arguments DxWnd accepts a few command line arguments% that can all be combined together to alter his behaviour(

@'

)tarts DxWnd iconiAed in the )#stem 'ra# *see DxWnd in the )#stem 'ra#+

@"

)tarts DxWnd initiall# in the "D1G state% so that it doesnt effect the programs until #ou manuall# issue a ,ook H )tart command

@4(IfilenameJ

=ses the IfilenameJ configuration file instead of the default config.ini file. "n an# case% the configuration file must be located in the same DxWnd execution folder.

@langKIxx> 

"f #ou need a localiAed version of DxWnd% this argument causes DxWnd to load all resources text from the external dlls% :esourcesLIxx>  .dll

@debug

Gnables debug features. ot recommended

The Application GUI DxWnd comes with a nice and simple ;raphic =ser "nterface( when started% it shows a form prett# muck like the one in the following picture(

"n the main window there is the list of hooked programs( DxWnd can currentl# handle up to 27>. 'r#ing to add more than that will give an error message. eep in mind that DxWnd bundles contain a export subfolder where all supported games have their own default configuration read# to be imported% but because of the program absolute path value% these entries will actuall# work onl# after updating the path with the proper local value. s shown in the picture% each configuration line includes an icon which color tells the general status of the program% as follows( blank icon( the configuration refers to a not existent programs path% so that the entr# wont work unless the path is corrected. gre# icon( the hook is not enabled( this program can be activated b# the DxWnd menu% but wont be windowed. green icon( the hook is enabled and the program will be windowed when run either from the DxWnd interface or however else. red icon( the program re/uires code in$ection% then it will need to be activated from the DxWnd interface onl#. 9ou can activate command either via the top menu% or b# right clicking on a row in the application list. 'hese are the commands(

DxWnd is also able to operate iconiAed in the )#stem 'ra#% from where it shows its state *either "D1G% :GD9 or :=";+ and run a few useful commands. DxWnd detects the video settings when is started% and compares it to the current value after killing a task or terminating itself( in case it finds differences% it prompts #ou asking whether #ou want the previous screen setting to be restored. 'his is /uite useful to handle all the games that terminates without restoring the previous setting% as it ma# happen when the# die abnormall#.

-ile N )ave

)aves the current configuration to disk.

-ile N )ort program list

rranges the program list in ascending alphabetical order *sort+.

-ile N "mport ...

"mports one program configuration from an external .dxw exported file

-ile N 4lear all logs

'urns all tracing options off for all games in the list and deletes an# dxwnd.log file.

-ile N ,ook N )tart @ )top ,ook )top is a hand# wa# to prevent DxWnd to do its $ob% prett# much the same to stop the program% but leaving it running *in the "D1G state+. ,ook )tart restores the default behaviour *the :GD9 state% or :="; when operating on a task+. -ile N

!rocess N !ause

'ries to pause the program b# lowering each thread priorit# to the minimum.

-ile N

!rocess N :esume

:estore threads priorities.

-ile N

!rocess N ill

ills the last process activated b# the DxWnd interface. Oer# useful to get rid of games gone craA# because of DxWnd that refuse to terminate themselves.

-ile N Desktop color depth N 8 @ > @ 2? @ 32 E!!

n recent platforms% low color depths are no longer supported for the desktop% though still working. 'his menu let #ou ask the s#stem to set the current color depth to 8% >% 2? or 32 bits per pixel. f course% it is possible that some color @ resolution compinations are not supported.

-ile N Move to 'ra#

Move DxWnd in the )#stem 'ra#% where a dedicated icon will show its state and allow a few commands% including the possibilit# to show the application window again. ote that once DxWnd goes in the )#stem 'ra#% it alwa#s sta#s there also when it is made visible again.

-ile N ePit

Gxits DxWnd. Eeware that if a game was activated while DxWnd was active% it will ver# likel# crash

after the DxWnd termination% so a check is made and #oud be prompted to confirm the operation.

Gdit N :un

)tarts the currentl# selected application

Gdit N Modif#

pens the configuration panel to set@change the selected program settings

Gdit N Delete

Deletes the selected application entr# *asking a 9es@o confirmation+

Gdit N dd

"nserts a new application entr# in the list. 'he configuration panel is opened to let #ou define the initial settings.

Gdit N Gxplore

pens Microsoft Gxplorer to the folder where the application is located. 'his is a shortcut to something usuall# useful.

Gdit N

1og N Oiew

pens the dxwnd.log logfile of the selected application% if existing. Eeware that in order to do so% #ou should Cassociate the log file extension to #our preferred text editor before.

Gdit N

1og N Delete

Deletes the logfile of the selected application% if existing.

,elp N bout

)hows the program version and references the development team and pro$ect supporters( currentl# )-EF whoever he@she might be% ;, *that is m#self+% ll# for having developed both ll#DE; and the disassembl# librar# "m using and /rit for so man# hints% informations and pieces of code.

Oiew N )tatus

'his command shows a status window with informations about DxWnd and the hooked program.

Oiew N 'ime )lider

)hows a time slider window that can be used to know and d#namicall# alter the time flow speed

When right5clicking on the programs list% instead% the following menu will be shown(

:un

ctivates *run+ the selected task. )ame as double5 clicking on the list entr#.

Modif#

)hows and let #ou change the programs configuration.

Delete

Deletes *after a confirmation command+ the selected

entr#. dd

!rompts for all data needed to dfine a new task in the list.

Gxplore

pen a window explore session pointing to the programs configurated install path.

1og N Oiew

)ame as Gdit N

1og N Oiew

1og N Delete

)ame as Gdit N

1og N Delete

Gxport ...

Gxports the highlighted program configuration to a file

ill

ills the corresponding program. Differentl# from the -ile 5J !rocess 5J ill command% this command would not kill the currentl# active program% but the selected one% no matter whether it was managed b# dxWnd or not. 'his is the reason wh# sometimes the first ill command ma# fail and this one is in general more reliable% at the cost of selecting the proper entr#.

DxWnd in the System Tray nce #ou move DxWnd in the s#stem tra# and until the program is terminated% an icon will be visible in the s#stem tra#. :ight5 clicking on the icon% #ou get a subset of the DxWnd commands% plus the )how command that shows the DxWnd window again. 'he )how command is the menu default% so #ou can activate it also b# double5clicking on the DxWnd tra# icon.

:GD9 state( DxWnd is read# to hook a program

"D1G state( DxWnd is running% but will not affect an# program

:="; state( DxWnd is currentl# operating on a program

The coniguration panel 'hrough the dd or Modif# command% this tabbed panel will be shown(

Gach panel defines the configuration for an# given programs characteristics.

the !ain ta"#

ame(

'he user defined program name% to allow #ou to label #our application with an evocative naming% possibl# including /ualifiers% versioning etc. "f unset% DxWnd will insert here the task filename.

!ath(

'he pathname of the task to be activated @ hooked.

1aunch(

"n some cases% the program to be hooked cant be run b# launching itself directl#% but needs arguments or other envoronment elements provided b# some frontend father program. 'o simplif# the program activation% the frontend pathname can be written here( when set% the run command does not run the path in the field above% but this one.

Module(

"n some occasional cases% some dlls ma# get unnoticed to the DxWnd hooking logic. "n these fortunatel# rare cases% #ou have a chance to make the program working b# referencing here one or more modile names to be added at the DxWnd search algor#thm.

,ook enabled

"f this flag is not set% DxWnd ignores the task 5 see gra# icon

Do not notif# on task switch

"nhibits the task switch notification message that ma# hurt some games not designed to handle it properl#

o banner

Well% DxWnd celebrates itself a little b# showing a ver# short splash screen at the beginning. "f #oure not happ# with this% checking this flag will disable the show.

:un in window

4hecked b# default% tells DxWnd to tr# to run the program in windowiAed mode% that is the essential reason wh# DxWnd exists. Eut if not checked DxWnd still performs all other functions not related to the screen siAe% such as time stretching% compatibilit# options and so forth.

,ook all D11s

'he original DxWnd behaviour was limited to search Q hook calls made b# the main program directl#. 4hecking this flag cause DxWnd to recurse in all non5s#stem D11s address space to hook calls there. "ts necessar# in all cases where the graphic engine is not directl# coded in the program% but its implemented in a separated engine D11.

,ook pen;1

Gnables pen;1 !" hooking

:emap 4lient :ect

Gnabled b# default% makes DxWnd remap the window client coordinates so that the program receives the same values as if the program was running in fullscreen mode.

,ot patch *obfuscated "'+

'he original DxWnd used "' patching to redirect !" calls to the altered routines. 'his method has its advantages% but fails when not all !" are reached because the# are located in unconnected dlls% referenced b# ordinal number or referenced b# programs with obfuscated "'. "' obfuscation is a sophisticated but common enough techni/ue to make hackers life harder( for instance% the game executable of Doom """ has an obfuscated "'. 4hecking this flag cause DxWnd to use an alternate patching techni/ue% that is the Rhot patchingR that creates a detour assembl# code right at

the beginning of the !" implementation. nce done GOG:9 )";1G 411 gets intercepted no matter from where the call is made% but it isnt alwa#s possible to appl# this techni/ue. 1uckil#% in the vast ma$orit# of cases% the# both work. =se D11 in$ection

'he basic hook thecni/ue intercepts the first window creation event. t that time% the program ma# have done unwanted actions alread#% such as changing video mode or detecting bad conditions or crashing. 4hecking this flag cause the DxWnd logic to be Rin$ectedR right at the beginning of the task execution% making DxWnd able to intercepts all events. 'he drawback is that this onl# works when the task is activated from the DxWnd interface S see red icon. nother drawback is that the in$ection process resembles prett# much of an activation from a debugger% increasing the chances for game protections to intercept this situation and stop the program.

,ook child Window!roc

E# default% DxWnd intercepts the Window!roc routine of the main window% and this is enough for its purposes. "n some cases% though% this is not enough and this flag tells DxWnd to intercept and redirect the Window!roc routines of all child windows as well.

ptimiAe 4!= *DirectP 5F+

ptimiAes the 4!= load% but onl# for ddraw operations *DirectP to DirectPF+

eep aspect ratio

When the window is resiAed% the aspect ratio set b# the window initial siAe is preserved *b# default the ?(3 aspect ratio such as 800x>00+.

Window initial position Q siAe

-our values for the initial P% 9 coordinates of the upperleft window corner and the window width and height. ll values are referred to the window client area rather than the outside border. 'he values are used depending on the !osition selection

!osition

 selection of ? possible cases( P% 9 coordinates( the window is placed at the chosen coordinates Desktop center( the window is centered on the screen% and onl# the width and height fields are used. Desktop work area( the window occupies the whole screen but the bottom taskbar. Desktop( the window occupies the whole screen% as if it was fullscreen *a.k.a. -ake5fullscreen mode+ •

•

•

•

the $ideo ta"#

-ix Window -rame )t#le

"nitialiAes the game window with a title bar and resiAeable borders.

!revent Win MaximiAe

)ome modern games dont actuall# go in fullscreen mode% but $ust make the window occup# the whole screen. 'he option intercepts Windows messages and user32 calls to avoid changing the window position and siAe to make it a full5screen window.

1ock win coordinates

"ntercepts messages and calls that the program makes to himself to chenge its own window coordinates. "n this wa#% though% the game window becomes fixed in position and siAe.

1ock win st#le

"ntercepts messages and calls that the program makes to himself to chenge its own windowst#le.

:ecover screen mode

)ets the screen mode to registr# default settings. "n general% DxWnd intercepts an# attempt to change displa# settings and prevents unwanted operations% but still some programs have displa# settings instructions before DxWnd could possibl# intercept them *e.g. before the window is created and the windows hook is invoked+% so that chaanging the displa# settings right after is the onl# possible solution. 'r# this when other options dont work.

:efresh on win resiAe

n# decentl# written windows application should take care of refreshing the screen primar# surface when resiAed% and most fullscreen games do it. )ome dont *the# were not suppoed to ever be resiAed% actuall#+. 'his flag is to force a refresh *useful for C=prising+.

-ix !arent Window

'#picall#% a game is started with an invisible program window% and then created a separate and child window for handling the graphic. )ome games dont use the child window% but the# rather use the parent one. "n this case% the parent window becomes visible% then needs to be properl# resiAed. "ts experimental% for now% but seems to be able to manage successfull# several tough games( )olaris% )leepWalker% )id Meiers )im ;olf% the Worms serie....

Modal )t#le

When R-ix Window -rame )t#leR is set% a borderless and titleless modal st#le is chosen instead of the default one.

-orce win resiAe

Gxperimental *and not working ver# well so far+( should force the processing of window resiAing messages so that the window can be resiAed b# dragging borders.

,ide multi5monitor config

Makes the program ignore that there are multiple monitors in #our s#stem configuration% giving informations about the primar# monitor onl#.

Wallpaper mode

Gxperimental S forces the program T5order to the lowest level so that it runs below an# other task% like an active wallpaper.

-ix window frame in D3D

'ries to avoid D3D to render on the whole window surface including the

window border. "t activates a small trick that cause the program to render to a child modal surface within the main window borders. Dont move DUD rendering window )uppress child process creation

)uppressing the birth of child processes is necessar# whenever the task is running child processes as video pla#ers% splash screens or similar things. "n this case% hooking more than one process ma# be difficult and not worth the result.

,ide desktop background

)tarts the windowiAed program together with four black borderless windows that surround it entirel# giving a better feeling of concentration. 'he whole idea was borrowed from RMr. ,ideR( https(@@sourceforge.net@pro$ects@mrh#de@

)imulate 8E!! desktop

)ome games pretends #ou switch the video mode to 8E!! before #ou activate them% making it useless the 8E!! emulated mode. 'his flag $ust let the program believe that the desktop setting is in 8E!! mode alread#.

)imulate >E!! desktop

)ame as above% but declaring a >E!! setting. 'hese two flags should not be set together.

-orces >E!! desktop

"n some cases% the game reall# needs a >E!! desktop% but does not contain the code for activate this color depth% and on modern platforms% though supported% it is ver# difficult *WinF+ when not impossible *Win8+ to do it manuall#. 'his flag switched the desktop to >E!! before the game would complain.

)imulate EW monitor

ctivate a tweak in the palette handling that causes all colors to be replaced with the corresponding gra#scale color. "t works onl# on 8E!! palettiAed games or emulating >E!! on a 32E!! desktop.

)et >E!! :;E7>7 encoding

E# default% DxWnd emulates >E!! color with :;E777 encoding. 'he option forces :;E7>7. 'hi option% of course% impacts the video onl# in emulation mode and for >E!! color depth.

1ock )#s 4olors Disable setting gamma ramp

Disables !" tr#ing to alterate the default gamma ramp making the screen lighter or darker. )ince there !" affect the whole screen% this flag is mainl# useful to avoid the background desktop to be affected.

)creen resolution

ffects the resolutions detected b# the application. 'here is a choice of the following values( )O; modes( the classic ?(3 screen resolutions starting from 320x200 up to 280x800 ,DM" modes( the t#pical >(6 resolutions from >?0x3>0 up to 680x080 Monitor native modes( whatever returned from the video card otice that 320x200 resolution is t#picall# no longer supported% but it is not a problem to emulate it in window and this resolution is necessar# to run some older games. •

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1imit resolution

Disables an# resolution higher than the selected value. E# default% the choice is RunlimitedR% that means no resolution is disabled.

the Input ta"#

4ursor ,andling ,ide cursor

-orces hiding the hardware cursor.

)how 4ursor

-orces showing the hardware cursor.

4orrect mouse position

4ompensate for P%9 mouse coordinates when the window is moved or resiAed. "t should be t#picall# set for most games.

Window frame compensation

"n some cases% mouse P%9 coordinates appear displaced of the same amout as the window border *top and left+. 4hecking this flag causes DxWnd to subtract this value and recover the error.

-orce cursor clipping

)et hardware cursor clipping within the windows region. "t greatel# improves the game pla#abilit# in some cases *namel#% the Dungeon eeper series+

eep cursor within window

void moving the cursor outside the window area. Doing so was used as C4ursor -- directive in some games.

eep cursor fixed

"nhibits the )et4ursor!os*+ !"( in some cases% it affects the programs behaviour *e.g. Cecrodrome+.

"ntercept ;D" cursor clipping

Disables ;D" clipping% avoiding unpleasant effects such as the mouse that is not free to move within the whole window.

Message processing

Most programs get P%9 mouse coordinates from the mouse messages or from the specific !". ne trick# wa# to get the same info% though% is to listen from the windows message /ueue using !eekMessag @ ;etMessage% and retrieve the P%9 coordinates from 9 received message in the pt field. 4hecking this box make DxWnd to fix the P%9 coordinates on this uncommon situation as well *see C=prising+.

-ix WML4,"''G)' )low down mouse polling

)ome old programs have this bad habit to continuousl# loop through the mouse status polling with no dela#% using 00< of 4!= time. 'his flag introduces a minimal and unnoticeable dela# between mouse polls% saving most of 4!= time.

:elease mouse outside window

ormall#% when the mouse is placed outside the window and the window keeps receiving mouse messages% the mouse cursor is placed on the corresponding window border and the program performs video scrolling or so forth. 'he re are some cases in which #ou dont want this to happen% for instance when #ou want to use two programs alternativel#% such as a game and a ke#board simulator. 4hecking this flag causes DxWnd to detect the mouse outside window condition% and in this case it places the cursor right in the middle of the screen% where it is supposed to make no harm.

e#board ,andling Gnables hot ke#s

DxWnd can set some special ke#s *lt5-n+ to trigger special actions% storing the ke# association in the DxWnd.ini file. 'his flag enables the hot ke#s definitions. "f unchecked% all hot ke#s are disabled for this program.

"ntercept lt5-? ke#

"ntercepts the lt5-? ke# in the message processing loop to immediatel# terminate the program% avoiding an# programmed exit procedure *out5tro% savegame warnings% ads...+. f course% "- the game is doing the message processing loop

Message ,andling -ilter offending messages

"n theor#% a fullscreen message should not expect several messages that are impossible to receive% such as border siAing% taskbar events and so forth. )ome programs are not properl# coded to react to such RimpossibleR messages and ma# show falfuncions. 'his flag causes potentiall# harmful and meaningless messages to be suppressed.

!eek all messages in /ueue

Direct"nput Direct"nput ,ooking

Gnables hooking on Direct"nput methods

"nitial coord.

"nitial coordinates for the Direct"nput mouse coordinates

P% 9 range

:ange of P% 9 values *min Q max+ that is permitted for the mouse coordinates when detected b# Direct"nput methods.

the Timing ta"#

-rame per )econd -rame per )econd 5 1imit

"ntroduces a configurable dela# between that the -!) is limited accordingl#

screen refresh operations% so

-rame per second S )kip

"ntroduces no dela# in the screen operations% but skips several screen updates so that the actual -!) value is limited without the program noticing it

-rame per second S dela# *msec+

'he dela# expressed in milliseconds to be used either for 1imit or )kip operations

)how -!) on title

When checked% the -!) counter is appended to the window title

)how -!) overla#

When checked% the -!) counter is drawn as an overla# of the program client area% in a corner of the screen and periodicall# and randoml# moved to other cornes to avoid accidentall# overlap an important screen region.

'ime stretching 'ime )tretching S initial(

"f this option is checked% DxWnd tries to emulate an accelerated *x n+ or decelerated *( n+ time flow. 'he value set in the listbox is the initial value% that can be altered b# means of the time control slider in the time panel. When checked% DxWnd stretches time in timing !" such as ;et)#stem'ime*+% the /uer# performance !"s and the )leep !"s% that are the most used wa#s to control a program timing.

)how time stretch

When checked% the time stretch ratio is drawn as an overla# of the program client area% in a corner of the screen and periodicall# and randoml# moved to other cornes whenever it is updated.

-ine time ad$ust

When checked% the time stretch ratio coarse becomes finer% from a .7 *70