ALT-TAB function next patch/update/version

[Erock]

Yeah, it's kind of a pain recently, since MTA has been freezing frequently for no reason I have to hold down the power button and restart the computer that way, which isn't good for the computer. I would really appreciate alt+tab, but if it's not there then it won't dissuade me from the mod... Maybe a little, but not enough to not play it.

[CoZ]

even microsoft says disabling alt-tab is a no no. if the game freezes for one reason or another and alt-tab is disabled WOOPS cant get back to the desktop. when you push ctrl-shift-esc(taskman) in game and its frozen then you cant get to taskman either because it starts behind GTA is some cases. the only solution from not being ablke to end game would be to logoff, shutdown, or restart. and thats even more of a pain. just think about multi threads

one to recieve packets

one to run the game

thus the packets can still be recieved without desyncing the game

fortunatelly my game doesnt freeze that often

but this is so annoying if your running a server on the same box

- off top. last time it happened , had 2 ppl on, i pressed stand-by

and quickly went back. this didnt last more than 3 seconds orsome

result was a minimized game - yay, i could end task - and somehow the 2 people didnt talk, finish the race nor died in that time and they DIDNT get disconnected

(unfortunately the game was so badly frozen up that neither task manager nor similar program could kill it and i still had to reboot to join game again... but still )

Edited August 9, 2006 by Guest

[darkdreamingdan]

why dont yo just make MTA a seperate app with its own thread... that way if the game is paused it still recieves packets. there is probably a boolean switch or a jump command that causes the game to pause, why not find it and trick it to thinking it isnt paused

yes

why does the game have to pause when you alt tab it?

I play BF2 and it dosnt pause with the alt tab function even though it isnt supposed to support it

BF2 was designed like that. GTA was not. Rockstar made it so that if you minimise it pauses the game. Since the mta team dont have access to the source this is stuck within gta.

why dont yo just make MTA a seperate app with its own thread... that way if the game is paused it still recieves packets. there is probably a boolean switch or a jump command that causes the game to pause, why not find it and trick it to thinking it isnt paused

The efficiency and stability of the Blue core relies on MTA being run in-process with GTA. Making an external app almost makes development go backwards and less stable, because it will be similar to mta 0.x where you ran an external app

[Greg0rz]

I really dont mind exiting the server to check my instant messages, because I would lose the race even if i just alt tabbed. However, exiting the complete game is a pain because you have to go through the annoying rockstar intro and such.

One idea would be to allow alt tabbing, but alt+tab automatically disconnects you from the server and sends you to the main menu.

Would that be possible?

[Ransom]

Idling in games sucks. MTA:GTA3 and MTAVC allow this and I always saw entire servers full of idle people. Usually admins trying to fluff up the server to make it 'look' full and attract attention.

[mintsz]

two solutions ive come up with..

a) continue recieving packets? (probably not able to)

b) make it so when you alt+tab it does not acutally exit the game just shows the bottom start bar, allowing us to do our thing, such as msn/aim, internet explorer, etc.

trainers are definately not the problem, if you have ever used one you will notice most of them activate with alt + key. simple memorization or learning the alphabet and putting it on a piece of paper makes the whole clicking process obsolete.

sa-mp has this feature, I believe?

[lil Toady]

b) make it so when you alt+tab it does not acutally exit the game just shows the bottom start bar, allowing us to do our thing, such as msn/aim, internet explorer, etc.

So SA will be a back-ground program and will stop anyway, even if you see the game open. (not sure though)

[SamB]

im pretty sure u need a clean copy of SA to play MTA, thus a windowed change might mess something up,

no. ppl with modded cars to looks different and changed cfg all work fine.

[erorr404]

i hate to say it but sa-mp made it so when u press the escape key it shows the pause menu but doesnt pause the game, maybe u shud ask around about it

No, it does pause the game and you do become invulnerable.

I'm for either killing you or disconnecting you when you alt-tab.. if it's possible to instantly detect that.

[darkdreamingdan]

There may be a solution to this in the next version of MTASA, though it is not confirmed.

[Shadowsniper]

I have an idea, you were able to make the game online, so why cant you stop it from pausing at ALT-TAB, thats what i want to know

[SamB]

i hate to say it but sa-mp made it so when u press the escape key it shows the pause menu but doesnt pause the game, maybe u shud ask around about it

No, it does pause the game and you do become invulnerable.

its doesnt. even when your in a plane or sommit and u pause to look at map you see ur little arrow moving across the map. plus i tried puasing when i went brb and when i came back i was dead

its why i prefer mta cas it doesnt fool you to thinking ur invulnerable when paused

[erorr404]

You may see yourself moving (and others), but that doesn't mean others can see you moving. As for the invulnerability, I advise you to test again.

[CoZ]

with all do respect to the team .. i do know this is a really big achievment .. and i cant complement you enough .. so this simplified explanation is just to shed a light for the question of ShAdOwSnIpEr

i repeat IN NO WAY DOES THIS SIMPLIFICATION IMPLY IT _IS_ SIMPLE WHAT THE TEAM DID (ye go try it yourself for fun )

also note ..this is my own gibberish and im not related to or have seen any of the actuall work done by the actuall team

I have an idea, you were able to make the game online, so why cant you stop it from pausing at ALT-TAB, thats what i want to know

making the game online

compare it with

a 3 layered bankvault representing the game

-there is a layer with money and security = the core and other hardcoded things

-a layer with padlocks = the shell, the AI, physics

-and a pretty tough outer shell = gfx files , paths that traffic follows. some animation

the team has to decompile the bankvault

change things

recompiling it to a still working state with features added

making the game online well .. thats somewere in layer with padlocks

with a bit of the core .. altering it just a bit so it still loads , but loads a empty gameworld .. then with some magic on the outer shell and the padlock layer .. the mta menus and mta game is loaded

the online part is basically - you connect .. server sends map , client translates it to a position in the gameworld , gets the weather , the time and such..

- your client monitors your position and actions in mta

it sends info to server

server sends info to other clients that need to have the same info (if your in santos you dont need to know player x in fierro knocked over a barrel ) (this saves a huuuuge amount of data))

and your client projects the other players and other actions in your game

[side note

in a perfect online game , the game is actually played on the server, the server dictates everything and clients just send the actions you do to the game

in mta .. your still playing in your own single player game , but happen to get information injected about a car driving around - which happens to be a online player

( k i know this part wont make a lot of sense to most people - ill make it simple online games are build for online gaming - gta is tweaked to be a online game...

its subtle .. but you can see the difference very well if you know what to look for -- the mta team has to do their best to synchronise everything .. in current mta you sometimes see people driving through barrels - float in air on a break map - in a (perfect) pure online game ..everything is synced because every action is done on the server and everyone sees same result---- i just wanted to stress this part because this is basically why its relative easy for someone to create a cheat for mta opposed to 'the perfect online game' . they only have to modify your client in a way the server still accepts it -- k i know, now im going to far.. but i hope it gives some insight .. (also note the perfect online game might not exist because load and bandwith - but thats another step)))

k .. now the question part

the alt-tab = pause is buried somewhere deep in the 'security and money' layer -- so its harder to change it and put it back together in a working manner ...

just like open heart surgery (the pausing) is harder than colouring your hair (changing a billboard) .. but doing a huge part of skin transplantation is .. well thats still hard .. but appearantly the operation is a pretty good succes so far(mta)

ok if anyone still grasps my rambling .. hehe , good job

if not .. please note its 4.30am here

[Greg0rz]

Would it be possible to make it disconnect from the server when minimized, and then automatically connect to the server it disconnected itself from when the game is brought back to the front?

[Mr.hankeyeye]

nah other people will join the server while you are minimizing but maybe that you can put a time in it if you do that for like a minute you get kicked

or something like that

[erorr404]

nah other people will join the server while you are minimizing but maybe that you can put a time in it if you do that for like a minute you get kicked

or something like that

That would totally defeat the purpose. The point is they need to be disconnected so they're not paused.

[SamB]

Would it be possible to make it disconnect from the server when minimized, and then automatically connect to the server it disconnected itself from when the game is brought back to the front?

That is similar to pausing, accept people just cant see u when ur paused I'm for the die when u alt+tab

[Guest]

another idea of mine

server is not just a window that relays packets

the server actually runs the simulation and sends out the positions

(can also be made faster by only sending what is in the general area or viewable area of client

client sends commands like

"i am pushing the accelerator"

"i am pressing the fire button and my cross hair is in the dir of X:X:X"

...ect

this would solve desync and death outside of game.

another solution would be to trap the minimize command and change it to a change position command. have the game run in a full sized window instead of full screen. client trys to minimize it puts it off screen rather then actually minimizing it.

one final note. when the game is paused code is still executed. just not the simulation code. maby you should include a call in the menu code to execute your code(eg socket functions)

[RaFFi]

I really don't see a problem making it so if you alt-tab, or hit esc. the game keeps going behind it all... if you're out in the open and happen to die, too bad for you; you should've hidden somewhere before you alt-tabbed for a few seconds.

If you're minimizing the game for more than a few seconds and you're so worried about dieing, you should just exit the game.

[Mr.hankeyeye]

yeah maybe it would be ok to look at it from that side but................

i mean how would you like it if every body would pause their game i mean i wanna shoot and get shot at when some one is pausing their game they cant return fire that doesnt give me the feeling F*ck yeah how do you like that you piece of ******** and when you are preforming a driveby it would also be prettty crappy if the driver would snip away when you've got 20 ppl shooting at your car so i think its just leave the game or keep playing and no pause allowed with alt tab function or what ever

[erorr404]

I really don't see a problem making it so if you alt-tab, or hit esc. the game keeps going behind it all...

The problem is that if you pause the game, it CAN'T go on behind it all. If they could make it continue running while it was paused, they would.

[RaFFi]

Ahh, got'cha.