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Game mode

Changes made during the Rainmeter 4.4 beta cycle.
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2bndy5
Posts: 20
Joined: February 25th, 2015, 2:38 am

Re: Game mode

Post by 2bndy5 »

I like the game mode feature, but I have noticed other apps that have a similar feature usually implement it when a full screen app is focused, but only if the user has enabled the setting to allow automated control over this feature (ex: Wallpaper Engine).

So, what about a setting in Rainmeter.ini? Call it "DetectGameMode" (or something). If the setting is enabled by the user (via Rainmeter.ini or Rainmeter's Settings tab in the Manage dialogue), then game mode would get triggered based on if a full screen app has focus. Of course the option to manually trigger it would always be available (like with Wallpaper Engine)

The reason I ask is because I have a skin that launches Steam games & RetroArch roms, and I understand the need to keep control of this feature per user and not per skin...
pppaulie
Posts: 2
Joined: July 21st, 2020, 4:57 am

Re: Game mode

Post by pppaulie »

This may be an odd request, but is it possible to have game mode default to enabled (persist through restart)?

I use Rainmeter as a meter panel on a screen on my PC case, which I only want to be active when I game.

I don't mind activating this manually (turning game mode off, which would show meters) when I want to game. Usually this extra screen runs wallpapers/visualizers so I don't want to have to enable game mode every restart.

Is there anything I can do?
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pppaulie
Posts: 2
Joined: July 21st, 2020, 4:57 am

Re: Game mode

Post by pppaulie »

So this morning I realized that if i'm willing to do a mouseclick before gaming, I should just set rainmeter to not launch with windows, and only launch it at that time. Forgive me, it was late.
dosage1
Posts: 1
Joined: September 7th, 2020, 7:40 am

Re: Game mode

Post by dosage1 »

I know the devs dont care/want to add this feature. But. I would definitely like it if rainmeter game mode would be activated automatically based on a key command or if an exe (game) is using alot of CPU. As for now you have to start the game, minimize the game then activate game mode from the taskbar. See how this is annoying when gaming regularly?

I really dont understand the philosophical reasoning behind being against this functionality.. It would be a quality of life feature for almost every gamer that uses rainmeter.
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Jeff
Posts: 326
Joined: September 3rd, 2018, 11:18 am

Re: Game mode

Post by Jeff »

dosage1 wrote: September 7th, 2020, 8:05 am if an exe (game) is using alot of CPU
Me: *exporting access files to an excel*
Rainmeter: Oh snap, gamer time
dosage1 wrote: September 7th, 2020, 8:05 amI really dont understand the philosophical reasoning behind being against this functionality..
Yeah it's a bit dumb since you can't activate Game Mode with a bang or command line but, you know, !Quit exists, which is out of the user's reach (but just because it's an exception doesn't mean it should be the norm)
(with command line you can even send bangs through cmd to activate/deactivate game mode, which makes the reasoning even less thorough)
The implementation is fine for those who wanna do it in a more orthodox way, which is the traditional user has full control (and I respect that)
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balala
Rainmeter Sage
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Joined: October 11th, 2010, 6:27 pm
Location: Gheorgheni, Romania

Re: Game mode

Post by balala »

dosage1 wrote: September 7th, 2020, 8:05 am I really dont understand the philosophical reasoning behind being against this functionality.. It would be a quality of life feature for almost every gamer that uses rainmeter.
Yes, but in many cases, we don't want to unload the skins, some of them should run continuously. If the user decides he want to unload them, he can do this, but if you would have a settings to start the Game mode when certain action occurres (for example some game / program is running and there is an intensive CPU usage), sooner or later the skins will be automatically unloaded, although at some point the user maybe won't want to do this. Probably this is the reason why this Game mode can be activated only manually.
I understand this philosofy. Makes sense.
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Yincognito
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Joined: February 27th, 2015, 2:38 pm
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Re: Game mode

Post by Yincognito »

Well, actually switching between Game Mode and not using it has nothing to do with the CPU usage. It's all about detecting when the desktop enters or exits D3D (Direct 3D, or whatever it is called) mode. Most games run in that mode (you know, when the task bar and all windows dissapear to make room for the game's graphic screen) and when that happens ANY desktop mode visuals (not just Rainmeter) become pointless since they can't be displayed in a D3D screen. Of course, there is the small chance of an ALT+TAB from the user, which basically returns to desktop mode temporarily, but the odds of that are relatively small.

I'm not sure how difficult would be to implement such a detection programmatically, but in theory this is the thing that an auto switch to and from Game Mode should be based on.
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sinykk
Posts: 6
Joined: January 4th, 2017, 5:08 am

Re: Game mode

Post by sinykk »

I'm curious to know if there is a way to turn game mode on via command prompt or powershell?

I'd love to be able to add the command to a batch script when loading a game so it's a little more streamlined.
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jsmorley
Developer
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Joined: April 19th, 2009, 11:02 pm
Location: Fort Hunt, Virginia, USA

Re: Game mode

Post by jsmorley »

sinykk wrote: March 2nd, 2021, 10:14 pm I'm curious to know if there is a way to turn game mode on via command prompt or powershell?

I'd love to be able to add the command to a batch script when loading a game so it's a little more streamlined.
No, sorry, there is not. The only way to turn on or off Game Mode is with the context menu of the Rainmeter tray icon.
sinykk
Posts: 6
Joined: January 4th, 2017, 5:08 am

Re: Game mode

Post by sinykk »

jsmorley wrote: March 2nd, 2021, 10:17 pm No, sorry, there is not. The only way to turn on or off Game Mode is with the context menu of the Rainmeter tray icon.
Thanks, upon reading more, I came to that same answer in other threads. I play a lot of my games in gaming mode and I have a rainmeter taskbar set to topmost which was getting in the way. I figured it out though. I can use the !ZPos in cmd to change it's position while I'm gaming and set it back afterwards.

Thanks