C#•7mo ago

Receiving Game Controller Input while Minimized (WinForms C#)

Pretty general question here. How would I go about receiving input from my user while they aren't tabbed into the program or have a different window as their foreground window? I'm using the InputSimulator Nuget package (InputSimulatorStandard version), and I'd like for my program to send inputs to a game window when it receives controller input. My only issue, now, is that the controller input isn't received unless I have my application as the foreground window.

private async void T_Tick(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    if (Gamepad.Gamepads.Count > 0)
    {
        Controller = Gamepad.Gamepads.First();
        var Reading = Controller.GetCurrentReading();
        switch (Reading.Buttons) { 
            case GamepadButtons.DPadUp:
                Process[] process = Process.GetProcessesByName("RobloxPlayerBeta");

                Process robloxProcess = process.FirstOrDefault();
                if (robloxProcess != null)
                {
                    IntPtr h = robloxProcess.MainWindowHandle;
                    SetForegroundWindow(h);
                    await Log("We're tabbed in");
                    InputSimulator inputSim = new InputSimulator();
                    inputSim.Mouse.VerticalScroll(3);
                }
                break;
            // add other buttons here
        }
        return;
    }
}

private async void T_Tick(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    if (Gamepad.Gamepads.Count > 0)
    {
        Controller = Gamepad.Gamepads.First();
        var Reading = Controller.GetCurrentReading();
        switch (Reading.Buttons) { 
            case GamepadButtons.DPadUp:
                Process[] process = Process.GetProcessesByName("RobloxPlayerBeta");

                Process robloxProcess = process.FirstOrDefault();
                if (robloxProcess != null)
                {
                    IntPtr h = robloxProcess.MainWindowHandle;
                    SetForegroundWindow(h);
                    await Log("We're tabbed in");
                    InputSimulator inputSim = new InputSimulator();
                    inputSim.Mouse.VerticalScroll(3);
                }
                break;
            // add other buttons here
        }
        return;
    }
}

This timer runs when a checkbox is on, and is stopped when that checkbox is turned off. It functions fine, but I can't receive said controller input unless the app is opened, which kind of ruins the whole point of this functionality. I've experimented with the use of GetAsyncKeyState(), but as far as I know, that wouldn't work for a controller.

26 Replies

Buddy•7mo ago

Did staff approve? I remember seeing the same thread where they said to contact staff to validate that it does not break ToS

Yawnder•7mo ago

Yes they did. Here is the proof, now we can help! https://discord.com/channels/143867839282020352/1233614811523452981 @Mustafa Where is the Gamepad class from? Which package?

Buddy•7mo ago

Don't gui windows receive input messages from controllers, etc? So you can just hook into wndproc

Yawnder•7mo ago

I don't think they do when not focused, but I could be wrong.

Buddy•7mo ago

I believe they do

MustafaOP•7mo ago

yeah they did Windows.Gaming.Input

Yawnder•7mo ago

@Mustafa I'd look into https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/uwp/api/windows.gaming.input.gamepad.fromgamecontroller?view=winrt-22621 Look at the C# example. RawGameController seems to be what you're looking for.

MustafaOP•7mo ago

Alright thank you, I'll take a look

Yawnder•7mo ago

Some people talk about using P/Invoke to hook to the OS directly, but apparently that could trigger anti-virus and other stuff since it's "less official"

MustafaOP•7mo ago

yeah hooking to the OS would probably cause a lot of problems for anyone with an antivirus which I'd rather not deal with

Buddy•7mo ago

Hooking the window messages would be ideal. Significantly less trouble. Moreso window messages of the process, not your program.

MustafaOP•7mo ago

Hooking into roblox?

Buddy•7mo ago

If that is allowed by the ToS

MustafaOP•7mo ago

Nah, Roblox's anticheat doesn't allow you to hook processes to roblox It falls under their cheating policy as far as my knowledge goes

Buddy•7mo ago

I see. I assume your program is for controller support, or am I wrong?

MustafaOP•7mo ago

it's basically just a program that allows for more freedom of roblox utilities and customizations. I've had a lot of requests to add options for controller players to zoom in/out, so I thought it'd be a good idea to add it

MustafaOP•7mo ago

MustafaOP•7mo ago

Buddy•7mo ago

Ah, I see. Then messages doesn't really matter then.

MustafaOP•7mo ago

my other features are just edits to roblox files so i'm not actually attaching anything to the roblox process yeah

Buddy•7mo ago

I just assumed you wanted to "convert" the inputs. My apologies

MustafaOP•7mo ago

Nah, no need to apologize. I appreciate that you're helping The way roblox works right now, the game that my program is mainly designed for doesn't have a good zooming feature, and it doesn't map any dpad buttons to zoom So I thought it would probably be convenient to just make it so that dpad up would zoom in and dpad down would zoom out

Buddy•7mo ago

You can use Spy++ to check whether your program receives inputs in background, if it does then great! Otherwise you might have to use a wrapper Spy++ is included with the installation of VS

MustafaOP•7mo ago

Alright, thanks. I'll look into that as well as the solution provided above by Yawnder and see what I can manage to get.

Buddy•7mo ago

Should be in the Tools directory of your VS path

MustafaOP•7mo ago

@Yawnder - [▰▱▱▱▱] I implemented the method used in the article you sent me. While the input does work, it still only registers when I have my program as the foreground window, whereas I would need it to work while I'm minimized to achieve the functionality I'm aiming for. @Buddy, Citizen of Pluto My program doesn't receive input in the background The issue isn't my program as a whole but rather the method for receiving controller input the controller input is only received when i have my program as the foreground window

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Receiving Game Controller Input while Minimized (WinForms C#)