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Difference between revisions of "Glossary:Borderless fullscreen windowed"

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[[File:Borderless_fullscreen_windowed.jpg|thumb|350px|thumb|Play StarCraft II and World of Warcraft side by side in fullscreen]]
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#REDIRECT [[Glossary:Windowed#Borderless fullscreen windowed]]
 
 
Borderless fullscreen windowed is the display option of having a game run in a window but appear to be running in fullscreen. Also known as borderless windowed fullscreen, maximized windowed fullscreen, or fake fullscreen. On PCGamingWiki we will refer to this feature as <b>'borderless fullscreen windowed'</b>
 
 
 
Borderless fullscreen windowed is a feature well supported by certain developers, including Valve whose modern Source engine supports the -noborder -windowed launch option. Similarly, Blizzard have included this option in their games since World of Warcraft, where the feature is known as Fullscreen (Windowed). However, most other game developers have neglected to add this feature into their games. Fortunately, fullscreen windowed can be hacked into almost any game using a combination of Windows utilities.
 
 
 
==Considerations==
 
Borderless fullscreen windowed mode appears just like a fullscreen game, and usually has fewer issues with alt-tabbing and multitasking.
 
 
 
=== Benefits ===
 
*Less prone to crashing from using alt-tab.
 
*Alt-tab and multitasking is seamless and quick.
 
*Game is still immersive as window borders are obscured.
 
*Run more than one game at once.
 
*Run a browser or an FAQ alongside a game.
 
 
 
=== Disadvantages ===
 
*Performance decrease, normally around 15% slower.
 
*Potential stability decrease for certain games.
 
*Only works by running at native desktop resolution, which may result in slow performance.
 
*Not supported or implemented by most game developers.
 
*ATI cards do not support Crossfire in this mode.
 
 
 
=== Requirements ===
 
*All methods require the game to be run in windowed mode at the native desktop resolution, or maximum resolution of the Windows screen.
 
 
 
== ShiftWindow ==
 
This utility was originally developed by grismar for the EVE Online community. ShiftWindow sets the size and position of any windowed game so that the borders are forced off the screen, giving the appearance of a fullscreen window.
 
 
 
*[http://grismar.net/shiftwindow/ Download ShiftWindow on grismar's website]
 
 
 
=== Method ===
 
#Set a game to display at your display's native resolution and in windowed mode.
 
#Run ShiftWindow, and trigger it to resize the game window so that the borders overflow off the screen.
 
 
 
A step by step [http://www.shinyhacks.com/2010/08/how-to-play-any-game-in-windowed.html guide to making any game run in borderless fullscreen windowed] is available on [http://www.shinyhacks.com Shiny Hacks].
 
 
 
=== Issues ===
 
*Incompatible with a number of games that do not allow for their window title bar to be forced off the screen.
 
*May result in Windows' taskbar displaying over the game window.
 
**Tweak for this issue is available called [http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/54842-taskbar-always-top-disable-enable.html DisableTaskbarOnTop], which allows the game to display over the Taskbar.
 
 
 
== AutoHotKey ==
 
This method uses AutoHotKey and a script to set the game window size and position, and strips out the native Windows border style.
 
* [http://www.autohotkey.com/download/ AutoHotKey_L or AutoHotKey Basic] is required to use the following scripts.
 
 
 
=== AutoHotKey script by briankb ===
 
briankb's script appears to be the earliest implementation of this method from February 2011.
 
*[http://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/17306/how-to-force-maximized-fullscreen-mode-in-any-game/17307#17307 Script available at gaming.stackexchange.com]
 
 
 
=== AutoHotKey script by XunAmarox ===
 
*[http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=24 Script available on the Nexus mods website].
 
 
 
=== Another AutoHotkey Script ===
 
===== Simple AutoHotkey Script =====
 
This script will full screen the currently active window onto your primary monitor with the F12 key
 
 
 
F12::
 
WinGet, WindowID, ID, A
 
WinSet, Style, -0xC40000, ahk_id %WindowID%
 
WinMove, ahk_id %WindowID%, , 0, 0, A_ScreenWidth, A_ScreenHeight
 
return
 
 
 
===== Full Screen Toggle AutoHotkey Script =====
 
More complicated script which will toggle between full screen and windowed modes
 
 
 
F12::
 
WinGet, TempWindowID, ID, A
 
If (WindowID != TempWindowID)
 
{
 
  WindowID:=TempWindowID
 
  WindowState:=0
 
}
 
If (WindowState != 1)
 
{
 
  WinGetPos, WinPosX, WinPosY, WindowWidth, WindowHeight, ahk_id %WindowID%
 
  WinSet, Style, ^0xC40000, ahk_id %WindowID%
 
  WinMove, ahk_id %WindowID%, , 0, 0, A_ScreenWidth, A_ScreenHeight
 
}
 
Else
 
{
 
  WinSet, Style, ^0xC40000, ahk_id %WindowID%
 
  WinMove, ahk_id %WindowID%, , WinPosX, WinPosY, WindowWidth, WindowHeight
 
}
 
WindowState:=!WindowState
 
return
 
 
 
===== Multiple Monitors =====
 
The script can be altered to have the window appear anywhere instead of on your primary monitor. The key is this line:
 
WinMove, ahk_id %WindowID%, , 0, 0, A_ScreenWidth, A_ScreenHeight
 
 
 
'''0, 0''' are the coordinates of the upper left corner of the window. You can change these to the coordinates of the upper left corner of another monitor. When multiple monitors are present Windows concatenates them all into one virtual desktop. For example, if both of your monitors are 1600x1200 and they are arranged side by side, your virtual desktop is 3200x1200. In this case to have the window appear on your right (secondary) monitor you'd have to change the code to this:
 
WinMove, ahk_id %WindowID%, , 1600, 0, 1600, 1200
 
 
 
Note that the screen size should be entered manually instead of '''A_ScreenWidth, A_ScreenHeight''' in case your monitors have different resolutions. If you're not sure what the coordinates of the upper left of your screen are, Windows 7 Screen Resolution control panel will tell you when dragging the displays around.
 
 
 
===== Script File =====
 
To make this into an AutoHotkey script file:
 
*In Windows Explorer, File -> New -> AutoHotkey Script
 
*Open the newly created file in a text editing program
 
*Append the code to the end of the file
 
*Save the file and run it
 
 
 
== GameCompanion ==
 
BUDA20 developed this utility which, amongst other features, allows games to be run in 'FF mode' or 'Fake fullscreen' mode.
 
 
 
*[http://tes.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=39550 Utility available on the Nexus mods website].
 
 
 
== Borderless Windowed ==
 
Created by TeHypno in Autohotkey_L, this program offers a simple interface that can enable a borderless window state automatically, or by toggling a hotkey.
 
 
 
*[http://www.youtube.com/all_comments?v=4oYQZFLBkAg Download from creator's YouTube video] which also contains instructions on proper use.
 
 
 
[[Category:Hack]]
 
[[Category:Tip]]
 
[[Category:Intermediate]]
 

Latest revision as of 18:19, 3 October 2022