[GEN][ZH] Center Game App Window on startup and resolution change #541

helmutbuhler · 2025-03-29T21:07:45Z

This PR centers the window after loading on the screen (not including taskbar).
It also adds code to pump window messages during startup to avoid "(Not responding)" in the title. (That was necessary because Windows otherwise ignores the Move Call in debug builds, and maybe also on slower machines)

Also note that I needed to #define WINVER 0x0500, because the Monitor API didn't exist in Win 95 yet. This causes the compiler to emit a message when compiling dx8wrapper.cpp, but generates no error or warning. The game will also no longer run on Win95, but I think we can live with that.

Change list

fix: In windowed mode, the game now starts centered on the screen.

TODO

Replicate in Generals

…w title on slower computers and in debug build.

tintinhamans · 2025-04-03T23:48:32Z

While this is neat, how do we want to handle cases where the user does not want this functionality.

tomsons26 · 2025-04-03T23:50:13Z

I'm gonna also ruin this and say, you will likely only center the initial window, the game makes two, one to show splash other for game,
we tried this in Thyme but if the splash window doesn't match the res of the game, result was only splash window got centered

helmutbuhler · 2025-04-04T06:35:35Z

While this is neat, how do we want to handle cases where the user does not want this functionality.

The current behavior is that the window starts in the bottom right corner. The bottom right part for the window is usually not visible. Tell me who wants this behavior?
Also, Gentool changes the behavior to what this PR implements, did anyone complain about that?

I'm gonna also ruin this and say, you will likely only center the initial window, the game makes two, one to show splash other for game, we tried this in Thyme but if the splash window doesn't match the res of the game, result was only splash window got centered

Are you saying that this PR is wrong because you didn't get this feature to work in Thyme? If you look at the code or try out the build, you'll see that it works.

xezon · 2025-04-04T07:38:57Z

Also, Gentool changes the behavior to what this PR implements, did anyone complain about that?

No complaints over 15 years. Many users use the "Full" window preset in GenTool together with windowed mode.

tintinhamans · 2025-04-04T23:14:40Z

Something doesn't seem to be quite right.. there seems to be a gap present below the window despite the correct height of 1440 being set in options.ini.

tintinhamans · 2025-04-04T23:18:57Z

No complaints over 15 years. Many users use the "Full" window preset in GenTool together with windowed mode.

I can't use Full, it pulls the window to the left of my monitor 😢 :

Also, I can think of a use case for other ultrawide users that may actually want the window on the left so that they can have another full-size window (Discord, OBS, etc.) on the right.

tomsons26 · 2025-04-05T08:58:49Z

While this is neat, how do we want to handle cases where the user does not want this functionality.

The current behavior is that the window starts in the bottom right corner. The bottom right part for the window is usually not visible. Tell me who wants this behavior? Also, Gentool changes the behavior to what this PR implements, did anyone complain about that?

I'm gonna also ruin this and say, you will likely only center the initial window, the game makes two, one to show splash other for game, we tried this in Thyme but if the splash window doesn't match the res of the game, result was only splash window got centered

Are you saying that this PR is wrong because you didn't get this feature to work in Thyme? If you look at the code or try out the build, you'll see that it works.

I'm saying there may be unexpected behavior that may not always manifest due to the game making and destroying multiple windows during its startup

willherzog · 2025-04-08T21:37:18Z

The new official patch (1.05) adds window centering. I have no idea whether it's done in the same way as this PR, but certainly for me it's much appreciated after having to deal for so long with the game window starting out not only off-centered but also partially off-screen.

Technically what appeared to happen originally is that the splash screen was centered but then the actual game window used the exact same top+left coordinates as the splash screen - so any game resolution besides 800x600 (which would be the same as the splash screen) necessarily resulted in it being off-centered.

helmutbuhler · 2025-04-14T17:31:40Z

Something doesn't seem to be quite right.. there seems to be a gap present below the window despite the correct height of 1440 being set in options.ini.

This does indeed look wrong, but sadly I cannot reproduce it. But I also don't have such a wide monitor or Windows 11.

Did you disable DPI Scaling in the Compatibility Settings?
Can you please select a smaller resolution ingame and make another screenshot? Select a resolution such that the titlebar of the window is visible.

Thanks!

…nitor, move it.

…Resize_And_Position_Window(). This results in the window centering when changing resolutions.

helmutbuhler · 2025-04-14T20:40:13Z

Never mind, I found the issue. I center the window in the workarea (area not occupied by taskbar and similar), but if the resolution is bigger than the workarea, it's better to center in the whole monitorarea. I just pushed a commit to fix this.
While I was at it, I also changed the codepath that repositions the window after changing the resolution to do the same. I also added some more comments.

@tintinhamans Can you check if the behavior is now fixed?

OmniBlade

If the previous issues reported are confirmed fixed I'm happy to approve this?

helmutbuhler · 2025-05-01T11:27:13Z

Yes, please.

aliendroid1 · 2025-05-12T10:50:33Z

I think the main reason for the issue is that the position is set based on the launcher image resolution but then not updated when resolution is updated

helmutbuhler · 2025-05-12T19:20:58Z

I think the main reason for the issue is that the position is set based on the launcher image resolution but then not updated when resolution is updated

Yes, and this PR fixes it

xezon

I tested this change and the behaviour this adds is very good. It automatically centers or fullscreens the game window depending on the resolution.

It also updates the position when changing the resolution from the Options menu. The window reposition does look a bit buggy then, but that is unrelated to this change. For reference, with GenTool the window reposition after resolution change looks a bit better.

I do not understand what bug the serviceWindowsOS call fixes. I cannot reproduce it.

This change needs to be replicated in Generals.

xezon · 2025-05-12T20:35:50Z

GeneralsMD/Code/GameEngine/Source/Common/GameEngine.cpp

+		// on slower computers and in debug build.
+		// This also ensures that the window is correctly positioned, because Windows
+		// apparently ignores the SetWindowPos call when the window is not responding.
+		serviceWindowsOS();


How can this problem be reproduced? I tried this on my machine with Debug configuration and I cannot get the Window to be non responding during boot with and without this change.

Hm, are you perhaps having a debugger attached? The buggy behavior will only occur if there is no debugger attached.
You can also try to insert a Sleep(5000); call instead of serviceWindowsOS(); When I do this, even the Release build shows buggy behavior.

I cannot confirm that this avoids "(Not Responding)" in the window title. I tested this with

serviceWindowsOS(); Sleep(10000); serviceWindowsOS();

But it does fix the window positioning as you say.

Well, of course it shows the "(Not Responding)" if you put a Sleep in there :)
The original issue arises when you use Debug build without optimizations and without a debugger attached. In that case the startup is so slow that this "(Not Responding)" shenanigans arises without a Sleep call.

In case you are interested. MS has a little bit of documentation about this feature:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/api/winuser/nf-winuser-ishungappwindow?redirectedfrom=MSDN
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/api/winuser/nf-winuser-disableprocesswindowsghosting
This undocumented function might also be of interest: HungWindowFromGhostWindow

xezon · 2025-05-12T20:36:27Z

GeneralsMD/Code/GameEngine/Source/Common/GameEngine.cpp

+		// Pump messages during startup to avoid "(Not responding)" in the window title
+		// on slower computers and in debug build.
+		// This also ensures that the window is correctly positioned, because Windows
+		// apparently ignores the SetWindowPos call when the window is not responding.


This comment says "apparently". What does that mean? Does it ignore the SetWindowPos or not? If it factually ignores the SetWindowPos, then there should be no word of doubt in the comment.

Well, Windows behaves as if it ignores the call. Does it actually ignore it, or does the GhostWindow implementation have bugs that ignore that call, or is it some other bug? I don't know, I don't have the code. All I know is that Windows appears to ignore the call, so I think the comment is accurate.

Ok if we do not know what Windows really does, then how about we just describe the observed issue? This way there will be no speculation.

Example: "Windows behaves as if the call to SetWindowPos never occurred".

Ok if we do not know what Windows really does, then how about we just describe the observed issue? This way there will be no speculation.

Example: "Windows behaves as if the call to SetWindowPos never occurred".

I think the mistake causing this issue is inside the d3d8 wrapper setRenderDevice function. Even when passed the argument to resize, inside it's using flags for no resize and no reposition

@xezon In my opinion the comment is fine as it is and means the same as your suggestion. If you feel the comment needs to be changed, can you do it?

@aliendroid1 No, the flags are correct.

GeneralsMD/Code/Libraries/Source/WWVegas/WW3D2/dx8wrapper.cpp

helmutbuhler · 2025-05-13T21:44:54Z

Thanks for the review! I believe everything is resolved now. I can also sync with Generals once approved.

xezon · 2025-05-15T20:57:32Z

Comments simplified. Two new debug logs added. Replicated in Generals. Check if good.

helmutbuhler · 2025-05-16T15:34:21Z

Thanks! Looks all good!

I left a comment above about that "Not responding" things, in case you are curious.

Slightly related to this PR is also this: #595 Maybe you can approve that, too? (I already reviewed it)

xezon · 2025-05-16T18:12:44Z

Appended a few more minor word tweaks.

helmutbuhler added 3 commits March 29, 2025 19:00

Center window in workarea on startup

befdc31

Remove extra code before SetWindowPos

6a9ae12

Pump messages during startup to avoid "(Not responding)" in the windo…

4fc326e

…w title on slower computers and in debug build.

helmutbuhler changed the title ~~Center Window on Startup~~ [ZH] Center Window on Startup Mar 29, 2025

xezon added Enhancement Is new feature or request Minor Severity: Minor < Major < Critical < Blocker labels Mar 29, 2025

DevGeniusCode added the ZH Relates to Zero Hour label Mar 29, 2025

helmutbuhler added 3 commits April 14, 2025 22:33

Window centering: In case part of the resulting client area is off mo…

966c029

…nitor, move it.

Move common code to reposition window in helper function DX8Wrapper::…

7373baa

…Resize_And_Position_Window(). This results in the window centering when changing resolutions.

Add comments for window positioning

d72405a

helmutbuhler mentioned this pull request Apr 14, 2025

[GEN][ZH] Add Windows application manifest to executables #595

Merged

OmniBlade reviewed May 1, 2025

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xezon reviewed May 12, 2025

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xezon changed the title ~~[ZH] Center Window on Startup~~ [ZH] Center Game Window on startup and resolution change May 12, 2025

xezon added this to the Important features milestone May 12, 2025

xezon added Critical Severity: Minor < Major < Critical < Blocker and removed Minor Severity: Minor < Major < Critical < Blocker labels May 12, 2025

xezon removed the ZH Relates to Zero Hour label May 12, 2025

xezon mentioned this pull request May 13, 2025

Replicate relevant GenTool fixes and improvements #850

Open

32 tasks

helmutbuhler added 4 commits May 13, 2025 23:15

Merge branch 'main' into center_window_ea

d8aaf71

Put #define WINVER 0x0500 into #if for VC6

033be37

Expand some comments and fix whitespace

1fa513b

Fix date format

6ef01fa

xezon added 5 commits May 15, 2025 18:53

Merge branch 'main' into center_window_ea

659f87b

Update comments

d798005

Add logs for window position and size

6bcd039

Replicate in Generals

dbeb66c

Minor refactor

f47c74e

xezon changed the title ~~[ZH] Center Game Window on startup and resolution change~~ [GEN][ZH] Center Game App Window on startup and resolution change May 15, 2025

xezon added Gen Relates to Generals ZH Relates to Zero Hour labels May 16, 2025

More minor word fixes

5585646

xezon approved these changes May 16, 2025

View reviewed changes

xezon merged commit d44d901 into TheSuperHackers:main May 16, 2025
18 checks passed

xezon deleted the center_window_ea branch May 16, 2025 19:51

aliendroid1 mentioned this pull request May 18, 2025

[GEN][ZH] Fix Alt-tabbing crash #846

Merged

helmutbuhler mentioned this pull request May 19, 2025

Add "-noborder" launch argument for borderless windowed mode #327

Open

[GEN][ZH] Center Game App Window on startup and resolution change #541

[GEN][ZH] Center Game App Window on startup and resolution change #541

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helmutbuhler commented Mar 29, 2025 •

edited by xezon

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