Cannot get a game to run in windowed.

[Tyler Davidson]

Hello!

I am new to the forum, but an old MMORPG called Aspereta came back up and im trying to force it into Windowed mode. However I think the issue it is having is the launcher is in windowed mode, but then the game launches in full screen. Any tips/tricks I dont know about? I've included the game file in case anyone can have a look at it.

[gho]

First thing, set DxWnd for administrative privileges, that may prevent the hooking (it depends on the hooked program's capabilities) and enable "Options -> Expert mode".
The most common case is the launcher program running another game executable, but I can't see any other exe file here, so that should not be possible. It is worth checking, anyway: here's how to:
you run the game and when it goes fullscreen press Ctrl-Alt-Del to fire the task manager without killing the game (it should go in background). Then you browse the task list and check if there's something weird and possibly related to the game.
Another possible issue is the fact that probably the game video libraries are masked by some other wrapper, a possible candidate this dx7vb.dll library. You may try to force dx7 hooking by setting the "DirectX / DirectX version hook" selector to "DirectX7". You could also add all dlls (maybe one at a time) in the "Hook / Additional modules" field: you have dx7vb.dll, DAO350.dll, msvbvm60.dll and vbDABL.dll, but maybe also the ocx files could be worth trying.
If nothing works, read the "Taking logs" tutorial in the DxWnd help pages (Help->View Help), capture some logs and post them here.
I will try to fix the game by myself too, but the files you posted bring some problem: the OCX is not registered and the fixerrors.bat tool shows errors. In addition, the client proposes your user name "Autopilott" but I don't have the password. Is the MMORPG registration free? If so I could register my own user.
Some questions for you:
1) do you have a game installer, like a Setup.exe to make a successful game install?
2) what platform is it supposed to run? I tried on Win7, but the OCX can't be registered.
3) Is the registration free?
4) Is there some website that provides some support?

p.s. I see now that there's also a md5.dll. If that dll is there for what I think (that is, checking for client integrity) be aware that hooking the program with DxWnd could be detected and cause some protection block or even an account ban.

[Tyler Davidson]

Hi Gho! Thanks for the help so far! ^_^

1)The game doesnt have a setup, it is pretty barebones so unzipping it is all that is required!
2) I run the game on windows 10, but its quite old.
3) Yea, there is no registratio, you just put a char name of your own in and any pasword and it regs you to the server for free.
4) No, this game is just a private server of an old game hosted by a friend of mine who has been equally frustrated trying to window mode this.

PS the GM is my friend and is aware of what im trying to do and will not account ban. :)

Im going to try the things you said here, but im fairly mediocre with computers so wish me luck! Any additional help is greatly appreciated!

[Tyler Davidson]

Oh also if you run the fix errors in admin mode it will complete succsessfully !

[Tyler Davidson]

I had some success!
"You may try to force dx7 hooking by setting the "DirectX / DirectX version hook" selector to "DirectX7" - I did this
Hook / Additional modules" field: you have dx7vb.dll, " -I did this as well with that DLL

It works but it gimps the resoloution a bit, is there a way to fix that, or is that just the nature of the beast?

THANKS GHO, you are awesome.

[gho]

Could you post a screenshot? What do you exactly mean by "gimp the resolution" ?
p.s. I deleted a duplicate post of yours ...

[Tyler Davidson]

Here is the screenshot. There is a black border around the game that when I move picks up "trails" for lack of a better word of whatever passes through them. Also everything is a little more "squished" then usual.

[gho]

Wow! In the meanwhile suddently the game started to work also here, stopping to complain about unregistered OCXs. So I can get my own screenshots.
The border around the game seems to be a game problem, probably in normal fullscreen mode that area is supposed to be outside the screen borders hence invisible. I'll check better, anyway.
About the poor resolution, setting the bilinear filtering flag improves the quality a little bit, but for sure you can't pretend a good quality in a very shrinked window. Anyway, setting the bordered mode you can resize the game window and make it as big as you like.
Too bad that the game (at the moment) does not work with OpenGL renderer, that one usually improves quality as well.
Here in attach an export file that I'm going to include in the DxWnd bundle. I added also a screenshot, though I'm a little ashamed to show an almost naked gho that is struggling to "control the mouse" ... ;)

[Tyler Davidson]

Hi! You've been amazing. Thanks!

How do I set a bilinear filtering flag, and how do I set bordered mode?

Thanks for everything Gho. If theres anyway I can support your program in a meaningful way let me know!

[gho]

How do I set a bilinear filtering flag, and how do I set bordered mode?

look in DxWnd panel:
Video / Lock win style + thick frame
DirectX / Full bilinear filter

Of course there's much more to play with, but you can have a look at the Help -> View Help pages before.

[Jess Roberts]

I had a similar issue with older MMORPGs like Aspereta. A few things you can try:

1. Check the game folder for a config file like .ini and look for a Fullscreen=1 setting. Change it to 0.
2. Right-click the game shortcut, go to Properties, and try adding -window or -w to the Target line.
3. Launch the game and press Alt + Enter to toggle windowed mode.

If that doesn't work, try using DxWnd to force windowed mode, it works great for older games like ovo.