irish

I have a game for the pc, which takes up the full screen. I want to make a program that will minimize it to the taskbar so that i can do other things while the game is running(e.g. look at a gaming website). How would I go about this, or what code would I use?

Polyphemus_

doesn't ALT+TAB work, or pressing the start button? You can also CTRL+ALT+DEL, which will show up together with the task bar. You can pick another task from the taskbar then, and close the task manager.

irish

Yes but if there is less 'work' involved in minimizing then it will benefit the gamer(as he/she will kill more people ) <-- dont quote me on that .

Plus, this is for my own experience on what code is used for this type of program.

coldDeath

ALT+TAB is doing exactly what you described.

But if you think you can do a better job look at the win32api.

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ivan

There are some games that use alt+tab protection... How about this?

lectricpharaoh

Even a fullscreen DirectX game will have a window attached to the process. You should be able to dispatch a 'Windows message' to this window, but whether or not it honors the message and behaves in the 'appropriate' fashion depends on the app. The relevant message here is WM_SYSCOMMAND, with wParam equal to SC_MINIMIZE (or SC_ICON- it's the same thing). Of course, you'll need a handle to the window too.

If this is meaningless to you, then you should grab a tutorial on Windows programming that explains the basics, like window registration, messages, and the window's callback function.

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irish

I may be able to work with some of this, thanks for the help.

nnxion

This might help you get the handle.

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Dameon

Minimizing a fullscreen DirectX window causes the device context to be lost. Textures and models that were in video memory typically have to be reloaded (notice the delay when switching back). All in all, it works better to run the game in windowed mode.

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irish

The other programs ive seen load the game immediately. No gamers have complained about this program. I am simply asking if someone could tell me how I would go about making a program like this. I will make one no matter what criticism is posted because i know it will benefit me at the end of the day.