Running in Window Mode

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.coh (More info?)

Does anyone know how to run City of Heroes in a standalone window,
rather than full screen?

Thanks,

P.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.coh (More info?)

oceanclub wrote:
> Does anyone know how to run City of Heroes in a standalone window,
> rather than full screen?

Isn't there an option for 'Windowed' in the Screen Resolution drop down
box?

Could be wrong, since I've not looked at it for a long time but I seem to
remember one.

--
John Parkinson

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.coh (More info?)

> Isn't there an option for 'Windowed' in the Screen Resolution drop down
> box?

Yup, you're right - many thanks.

--
-pm

http://oceanclub.blogspot.com

"Suppose conventional wisdom to be a forest. I am chainsaw. You
are squirrels."

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.coh (More info?)

"Paul Moloney" <paul_moloney@hotmail.com> looked up from reading the
entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs
say:

>> Isn't there an option for 'Windowed' in the Screen Resolution drop down
>> box?
>
>Yup, you're right - many thanks.

Be warned, it will run slightly slower, so you may have to tweak your
graphic settings to compensate.

You'll also find yourself accidently resizing the screen in mid combat
as a mouse click grabs onto the edge of the window - a major pain since
a resize will move all the gui elements to keep them on the smaller
screen size.
You can _almost_ avoid this if you move the window around and stretch it
as much as possible so that it actually overlaps the screen edge
slightly.
Unfortunately the top "bar" will still be there no matter what, so when
moving/attack "north" you'll end up clicking on it sometimes.

Xocyll
--
I don't particularly want you to FOAD, myself. You'll be more of
a cautionary example if you'll FO And Get Chronically, Incurably,
Painfully, Progressively, Expensively, Debilitatingly Ill. So
FOAGCIPPEDI. -- Mike Andrews responding to an idiot in asr

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.coh (More info?)

Xocyll <Xocyll@kingston.net> wrote:
>>> Isn't there an option for 'Windowed' in the Screen Resolution drop
>>> down box?

>> Yup, you're right - many thanks.

> Be warned, it will run slightly slower, so you may have to tweak your
> graphic settings to compensate.
> [snip]
> Unfortunately the top "bar" will still be there no matter what, so
> when moving/attack "north" you'll end up clicking on it sometimes.

All that said, I'm not sure why anyone would want to run in windowed
mode. If you want to be able to switch over to the desktop, you can Alt+Tab
to it any time. Everything else about windowed mode seems to be a PITA...

--
-= Victory Server =-
-= Shenanigunner: Level 39 Natural Tanker, Fire/SS, M
-= Sgt Glory B: Level 31 Tech Blaster, Electric/Energy, F
-= Mr Cellophane: Level 24 Natural Scrapper, MA/SR, M
-= R A Heinlein: Level 19 Science Controller, Ill/Rad, M
-= Justice Server =-
-= Jazz-Man: Level 8 Natural Blaster, AR/Devs, M
-= See you on HEROICA! - http://www.dgath.com/coh/
-= The UPDATED v1.00 Keybind & Macro Guide is now available!

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.coh (More info?)

I agree.. the only reason people seem to want to do that is so they can multitask.. but that begs the question: Why bother playing a game at all if you're going to work on other stuff and not concentrate on or enjoy the game?

Chris

"Shenanigunner" <shenanigunner@NOdgathSPAM.kom> wrote in message news:Xns96AC95E7CA826nitropressatnitrosyn@216.168.3.44...
> All that said, I'm not sure why anyone would want to run in windowed
> mode. If you want to be able to switch over to the desktop, you can Alt+Tab
> to it any time. Everything else about windowed mode seems to be a PITA...
>
> --
> -= Victory Server =-
> -= Shenanigunner: Level 39 Natural Tanker, Fire/SS, M
> -= Sgt Glory B: Level 31 Tech Blaster, Electric/Energy, F
> -= Mr Cellophane: Level 24 Natural Scrapper, MA/SR, M
> -= R A Heinlein: Level 19 Science Controller, Ill/Rad, M
> -= Justice Server =-
> -= Jazz-Man: Level 8 Natural Blaster, AR/Devs, M
> -= See you on HEROICA! - http://www.dgath.com/coh/
> -= The UPDATED v1.00 Keybind & Macro Guide is now available!

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.coh (More info?)

Shenanigunner <shenanigunner@NOdgathSPAM.kom> looked up from reading the
entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs
say:

>Xocyll <Xocyll@kingston.net> wrote:
>>>> Isn't there an option for 'Windowed' in the Screen Resolution drop
>>>> down box?
>
>>> Yup, you're right - many thanks.
>
>> Be warned, it will run slightly slower, so you may have to tweak your
>> graphic settings to compensate.
>> [snip]
>> Unfortunately the top "bar" will still be there no matter what, so
>> when moving/attack "north" you'll end up clicking on it sometimes.
>
>All that said, I'm not sure why anyone would want to run in windowed
>mode. If you want to be able to switch over to the desktop, you can Alt+Tab
>to it any time. Everything else about windowed mode seems to be a PITA...

Well speaking only for myself, it's a legacy from the first month.

When I first started playing, CoH would lose connection every 5 minutes
like clockwork. All of the tips and tweaks and solutions were useless
except one; playing in windowed mode.

Full screen: crash in 5.
Windowed, play for 10 hours straight with no crashes.

Easy choice to make.

Now, WHY playing windowed in the exact same environment with the exact
same drivers/apps/connection/etc made a difference, well who knows.

Xocyll
--
I don't particularly want you to FOAD, myself. You'll be more of
a cautionary example if you'll FO And Get Chronically, Incurably,
Painfully, Progressively, Expensively, Debilitatingly Ill. So
FOAGCIPPEDI. -- Mike Andrews responding to an idiot in asr

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.coh (More info?)

"Chris F. Willoughby" <avoozl@spamcop.net> wrote:
> I agree.. the only reason people seem to want to do that is so they
> can multitask.. but that begs the question: Why bother playing a game
> at all if you're going to work on other stuff and not concentrate on
> or enjoy the game?

Oh, I often need to keep an eye on other things while I play - that's part
of the reason I can only play for short stretches. If I'm hung up waiting
for client email, I'll play, switching over to check email status every
five minutes or so, until it arrives.

I also often have a browser up on the other monitor and use it to keep an
eye on news or game-related stuff.

--
-= Victory Server =-
-= Shenanigunner: Level 39 Natural Tanker, Fire/SS, M
-= Sgt Glory B: Level 31 Tech Blaster, Electric/Energy, F
-= Mr Cellophane: Level 24 Natural Scrapper, MA/SR, M
-= R A Heinlein: Level 19 Science Controller, Ill/Rad, M
-= Justice Server =-
-= Jazz-Man: Level 8 Natural Blaster, AR/Devs, M
-= See you on HEROICA! - http://www.dgath.com/coh/
-= The UPDATED v1.00 Keybind & Macro Guide is now available!

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.coh (More info?)

Reality folded in on itself, and somewhere the following words from
"Shenanigunner" apeared in history:

> All that said, I'm not sure why anyone would want to run in
> windowed mode. If you want to be able to switch over to the
> desktop, you can Alt+Tab to it any time. Everything else about
> windowed mode seems to be a PITA...


Quite simple... Multi monitor setups.

The default for any DirectX game is to "blank" any additional monitors
that are connected (if it can't be used). While that may seem logical
at first I for one like the idea of keeping a handy web page or two
visable during gameplay. Esspecially handy some things...

Current Video setup:
- two acer AL1715 LCDs on a 128Mb e-Geforce FX 5500 (it was cheap)
- one IBM E74 CRT on a Voodoo3 2000pci via a KVM

--
Maxx Pollare, a "small god" within this minds eye...

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.coh (More info?)

On Mon, 8 Aug 2005 15:03:20 -0700, Chris F. Willoughby
<avoozl@spamcop.net> wrote:

> I agree.. the only reason people seem to want to do that is so they can
> multitask.. but that begs the question: Why bother playing a game at all
> if you're going to work on other stuff and not concentrate on or enjoy
> the game?

I used it to keep an eye on uploads and downloads of fansubbed anime,
which I helped distribute. The programs would change a flag color when an
upload or download was finished, so I could see at a glance and then
replace them with a new during the next natural pause in the game.

With my current software I can queue them and the uploads will start
automatically when their turn comes, so I don't use this anymore. But it
was a perfectly reasonable approach at the time.

--
"When someone starts bragging about how much debt they have, it's not a
good sign." -G

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.coh (More info?)

>Why bother playing a game at all if you're going to
>work on other stuff and not concentrate on or enjoy the game?

Well, I tend to play the game in two modes - full-on mode,
where I have a bundle of missions and hook up with teams to
play them, and then casual mode where I'm running between
contacts to gather missions, manage/sell enhancements, level up,
and bash the occasional baddies. In this mode, it's sometimes
handy to have it in windowed mode so keep an eye on the news
or something.

--
-pm

http://oceanclub.blogspot.com

"I can't listen to that much Wagner. I start getting the urge to
conquer Poland."

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.coh (More info?)

Maxx Pollare <usenospam@dragonfur.ca> wrote:
> Quite simple... Multi monitor setups.
>
> The default for any DirectX game is to "blank" any additional monitors
> that are connected (if it can't be used). While that may seem logical
> at first I for one like the idea of keeping a handy web page or two
> visable during gameplay. Esspecially handy some things...
>
> Current Video setup:
> - two acer AL1715 LCDs on a 128Mb e-Geforce FX 5500 (it was cheap)
> - one IBM E74 CRT on a Voodoo3 2000pci via a KVM

Ah. Nvidia 6800 here, with a 21" CRT and a 19" LCD. I have no problems
keeping things open and visible on the secondary monitor. In fact, it was
something of a pain that the other monitor didn't blank before I solved
some mouse problems early on.

--
-= Victory Server =-
-= Shenanigunner: Level 39 Natural Tanker, Fire/SS, M
-= Sgt Glory B: Level 31 Tech Blaster, Electric/Energy, F
-= Mr Cellophane: Level 25 Natural Scrapper, MA/SR, M
-= R A Heinlein: Level 19 Science Controller, Ill/Rad, M
-= Justice Server =-
-= Jazz-Man: Level 8 Natural Blaster, AR/Devs, M
-= See you on HEROICA! - http://www.dgath.com/coh/
-= The UPDATED v1.00 Keybind & Macro Guide is now available!

 

[taltamir]

1. Alt tabbing results in significant delay, in many games it results in crashing, luckily in COH it does not, still significant delay.

2. There are many reasons to multi task, you are now about to level, you alt tab and start checking at your character design program possobile routes to take the hero, then you alt tab back in and choose.

3. Sometimes multi monitor setup works, sometimes doesnt.

4. I have never had a crash in any game in window mode (ofcourse it is possible, just much less likely then full screen). The Witcher for example crashes all the time, it never crashes in window mode. Many other games are the same. I have the occasional crash with fullscreen mode, this would help.

5. There are games out there that do things sensibly and correctly size their GAME AREA to the resolution you choose... such as EVE online... that way a tool, like EVEMON can automatically relocate that window so it PERFECTLY fits the screen, and you see NO window bars on any side of the monitor (and it is impossible to click on anything aside from the actual playable game area...

6. Sometimes you don't CHOOSE to alt tab... accidently hitting the window key, getting an IM, etc... there are many things that automatically minimize the full screen game, resulting in LOOOONG delays to get back in and possible crashes. (if you accidently hit the windows key, do you want it to pop on TOP of COH and then go away next time you click on coh, in under a second, or take a few seconds to get out of coh and load the desktop from the scratch file, then take 20 seconds to load the game back up?

7. WOW has a "borderless" window mode where they do the same automatically (or does it leave a tiny square around the entire window that covers the whole screen?). It is not perfect, but it is a huge step in the right direction.

Anyways, most companies epicly fail at something so simple. All games should be run in window mode, it allows alt tab, it allows for accidentally hitting the windows key, it eliminates alt-tab crashes and many other crashes, it is so SOOO good. And yet nobody does it right. EVE is the only game I can do it right on and that takes a 3rd party tool...

 

[BigMac]

I am sure the people active on usenet in 2005 (last post was from september 2005) will appreciate the help.