Dune 2000 - the game minimizes itself

[Avatar-Lion]

To my surprise, cnc-draw did not fix this problem, although I am absolutely sure that I ran Dune 2000 on Windows 10 in 2019 and everything was fine.

Unfortunately, I don’t remember which version of cnc-draw I used then, but now no options help - the game minimizes to the taskbar at the first mouse click. Are there ways to fix this problem?

[FunkyFr3sh]

Can you upload me a debug log? See this here for all details: #44

[Avatar-Lion]

I think it’s impossible to make a full log, because the game doesn’t crash, but simply minimizes to the taskbar...

I started the game and skipped the introductory cutscenes using the Escape key. Then I left-clicked and the game minimized (that is, minimized, not closed). To remove it from the taskbar, I right-clicked on its name in the taskbar and selected "Close window".
cnc-ddraw-1.log

[FunkyFr3sh]

Thanks! I had a similar problem reported once from another game and could never find a solution for it. Your issue might be the same, the log doesn't help unfortunately.

But I guess it shouldn't be a big deal in this case, dune 2000 supports borderless mode perfectly fine. IF you enable it via the cnc-ddraw config/Presentation setting the problem should be solved

[elishacloud]

I had a similar problem reported once from another game and could never find a solution for it.

I am not sure if it helps here. But I added the following code to fix this issue with Dune 2000. It was the only solution I could find.

[Avatar-Lion]

FunkyFr3sh
I found a workaround, but it is very awkward and inconvenient:

1. Launch the game and left-click to minimize it
2. Call Task Manager and kill Explorer.exe
3. Close task manager
4. Press Alt + Tab to switch to the game window
5. After the game, open the Task Manager using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + Escape and return the Explorer by launching it through a new task.

Then everything works fine. But this is only possible in D3D mode, while in GDI mode I always get a black screen. Of course, I can play D3D, but GDI mode is supported by the excellent xbrz-freescale shader, I would really hate to give it up.

elishacloud
I'm not a programmer, but a simple player. Maybe you can tell me how I can try your option?

[FunkyFr3sh]

I had a similar problem reported once from another game and could never find a solution for it.

I am not sure if it helps here. But I added the following code to fix this issue with Dune 2000. It was the only solution I could find.

Interesting idea... But it's kinda weird, almost every game got that flag so it should actaully be a bigger problem. Could you ever reproduce such an issue on your own or was it someone else reporting it?

FunkyFr3sh I found a workaround, but it is very awkward and inconvenient:

1. Launch the game and left-click to minimize it
2. Call Task Manager and kill Explorer.exe
3. Close task manager
4. Press Alt + Tab to switch to the game window
5. After the game, open the Task Manager using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + Escape and return the Explorer by launching it through a new task.

Then everything works fine. But this is only possible in D3D mode, while in GDI mode I always get a black screen. Of course, I can play D3D, but GDI mode is supported by the excellent xbrz-freescale shader, I would really hate to give it up.

elishacloud I'm not a programmer, but a simple player. Maybe you can tell me how I can try your option?

Here's a test build with the suggested change from elisha:

Edit: wrong file uploaded, check next post

[FunkyFr3sh]

Here's a test build with the suggested change from elisha:

test build 1 (removing WS_POPUP after window was created)
ddraw-nopopup-after.zip

test build 2 (removing WS_POPUP upfront)
ddraw.zip

[Avatar-Lion]

Thank you very, very, very much! And even the GDI mode with shaders xbrz-freescale worked! Everything is working, you guys are the best!

[elishacloud]

I had a similar problem reported once from another game and could never find a solution for it.

I am not sure if it helps here. But I added the following code to fix this issue with Dune 2000. It was the only solution I could find.

Interesting idea... But it's kinda weird, almost every game got that flag so it should actaully be a bigger problem. Could you ever reproduce such an issue on your own or was it someone else reporting it?

I only remove the flag on very specific conditions, such that it has no siblings and it has no parent. For some reason with this particular case there is an issue. I have kept this code in the project for a very long time and tested literally hundreds of ddraw/Direct3D games and never found a problem with it.

[elishacloud]

Could you ever reproduce such an issue on your own or was it someone else reporting it?

Yes. I own the game and have the same issue as @Avatar-Lion. After looking into it for a while this was the only solution I could find.

[elishacloud]

Sorry for the barrage of messages. I just tested with your builds to see if both builds worked.

test build 1 (removing WS_POPUP after window was created)
ddraw-nopopup-after.zip

This build doesn't work for me. For some reason I was also never able to get it to work by setting it after the creation. It has to be set before creation.

test build 2 (removing WS_POPUP upfront)
ddraw.zip

This build works for me.

[FunkyFr3sh]

@elishacloud What game version are you using? Not 1.06 I guess?

[elishacloud]

It says V 1.02 in game.

[elishacloud]

Here is the application: DUNE2000.zip

[FunkyFr3sh]

Cool, thanks! The main exe is actually dune2000.dat and not dune2000.exe! But it's np, I don't think it will work with my 1.06 install anyways. I'll try to set up a test install from a CD.

I actually have been working on this game for many years, made tons of game patches with over 450 individual hooks and I have never heard about this problem before, which is strange... So I guess this issue does not happen with 1.06 at all, because that what my patch is based on

[elishacloud]

Ok, here are both of the files. It might work with your version, since I think the other files may be the same: DUNE2000.zip

[FunkyFr3sh]

Ok, here are both of the files. It might work with your version, since I think the other files may be the same: DUNE2000.zip

Nice, thanks! Yeah, I can reproduce it

[elishacloud]

Very good. Let me know if you find a better solution.

[FunkyFr3sh]

The problem is that the game is passing the width/height in the CreateWindowExA call from two uninitialized variables so you end up with some very high values most of the time and it will glitch

Still have to think about a good solution, but maybe it's going to be something like this:

if (dwStyle & WS_POPUP)
{
    nWidth = min(nWidth, GetSystemMetrics(SM_CXSCREEN));
    nHeight = min(nHeight, GetSystemMetrics(SM_CXSCREEN));
}

Edit:
Actually it does work with high values such as 20000, but 25000 does not work. Not sure what's the actual limit. (tested on Win 7 and Win 10)

if (dwStyle & WS_POPUP)
{
    nWidth = min(nWidth, 20000);
    nHeight = min(nHeight, 20000);
}

[elishacloud]

Keep in mind that CW_USEDEFAULT is a valid option for that field, which is larger than 20000. I am not sure if there are other valid options that may be larger than 20000. But I know some ddraw games use CW_USEDEFAULT.

[FunkyFr3sh]

Keep in mind that CW_USEDEFAULT is a valid option for that field, which is larger than 20000. I am not sure if there are other valid options that may be larger than 20000. But I know some ddraw games use CW_USEDEFAULT.

Yeah, I've seen that. But CW_USEDEFAULT cannot be used on a popup window

CW_USEDEFAULT is valid only for overlapped windows; if CW_USEDEFAULT is specified for a pop-up or child window, nWidth and nHeight are set to zero.

[FunkyFr3sh]

Just noticed that CW_USEDEFAULT equals INT_MIN, so that's fine! All negative values are not causing any problems.

Also, just tested it on Windows XP, the bug doesn't exist there, weird...

[elishacloud]

I finally settled on this code:

// Handle popup window type (some games forget to initialize the nWidth and nHeight values)
if ((dwStyle & WS_POPUP) && !(nWidth & CW_USEDEFAULT) && (nWidth > 20000 || nHeight > 20000))
{
	Utils::GetScreenSize(hWndParent, nWidth, nHeight);
}

[elishacloud]

BTW: I noticed that you changed the value from 20000 to 16384? Did you find an issue with 20000 or did you just use 16384 because the sqrt() of it is an integer number?

[FunkyFr3sh]

I finally settled on this code:

// Handle popup window type (some games forget to initialize the nWidth and nHeight values)
if ((dwStyle & WS_POPUP) && !(nWidth & CW_USEDEFAULT) && (nWidth > 20000 || nHeight > 20000))
{
	Utils::GetScreenSize(hWndParent, nWidth, nHeight);
}

Yeah, looks good!

BTW: I noticed that you changed the value from 20000 to 16384? Did you find an issue with 20000 or did you just use 16384 because the sqrt() of it is an integer number?

It's just the max texture size of directx 12, I also set the same limit for the size of surfaces. Nothing wrong with 20000, seemed to be working fine in all my tests

[elishacloud]

It's just the max texture size of directx 12, I also set the same limit for the size of surfaces. Nothing wrong with 20000, seemed to be working fine in all my tests

Ok, thanks!