Improved launching of Steam games by keeping ES-DE running in the background.

es-app/src/FileData.cpp

@@ -954,9 +954,16 @@ void FileData::launchGame(Window* window)
 
     LOG(LogInfo) << command;
     #if defined(_WIN64)
-    returnValue = launchEmulatorWindows(Utils::String::stringToWideString(command));
+    if (mSystem->hasPlatformId(PlatformIds::VALVE_STEAM) ||
+            Settings::getInstance()->getBool("RunInBackground"))
+        returnValue = launchGameWindows(Utils::String::stringToWideString(command), true);
+    else
+        returnValue = launchGameWindows(Utils::String::stringToWideString(command), false);
     #else
-    returnValue = launchEmulatorUnix(command);
+    if (mSystem->hasPlatformId(PlatformIds::VALVE_STEAM))
+        returnValue = launchGameUnix(command, true);
+    else
+        returnValue = launchGameUnix(command, false);
     #endif
 
     // Notify the user in case of a failed game launch using a popup window.
@@ -972,16 +979,21 @@ void FileData::launchGame(Window* window)
         // Stop showing the game launch notification.
         window->stopInfoPopup();
         #if  defined(_WIN64)
-        // This code is only needed for Windows, where we may need to keep ES running while
+        // If starting a Steam game or if the "RunInBackground" setting has been enabled,
-        // the game/emulator is in use. It's basically used to pause any playing game video
+        // then keep ES-DE running while the game is launched. This pauses any video and keeps
-        // and to keep the screensaver from activating.
+        // the screensaver from getting activated.
-        if (Settings::getInstance()->getBool("RunInBackground"))
+        if (mSystem->hasPlatformId(PlatformIds::VALVE_STEAM) ||
+                Settings::getInstance()->getBool("RunInBackground"))
             window->setLaunchedGame();
         else
             // Normalize deltaTime so that the screensaver does not start immediately
             // when returning from the game.
             window->normalizeNextUpdate();
         #else
+        // If starting a Steam game, then keep ES-DE running while the game is launched.
+        // This pauses any video and keeps the screensaver from getting activated.
+        if (mSystem->hasPlatformId(PlatformIds::VALVE_STEAM))
+            window->setLaunchedGame();
         // Normalize deltaTime so that the screensaver does not start immediately
         // when returning from the game.
         window->normalizeNextUpdate();

es-app/src/views/ViewController.cpp

@@ -762,18 +762,13 @@ bool ViewController::input(InputConfig* config, Input input)
     if (mLockInput)
         return true;
 
-    #if defined(_WIN64)
+    // For Steam games or if enabling the "RunInBackground" setting on Windows, ES-DE will
-    // This code is only needed for Windows, where we may need to keep ES running while
+    // run in the background while a game is launched. If we're in this state and then
-    // the game/emulator is in use. It's basically used to pause any playing game video
+    // register some input, it means that the user is back in ES-DE. Therefore unset the game
-    // and to keep the screensaver from activating.
+    // launch flag and update all the GUI components. This will re-enable the video player
-    if (Settings::getInstance()->getBool("RunInBackground")) {
+    // and let the screensaver start on schedule again.
-        // If we have previously launched a game and there is now input registered, it means
+    if (mWindow->getGameLaunchedState())
-        // the user is back in ES, so unset the flag to indicate that a game has been launched
+        mWindow->unsetLaunchedGame();
-        // and update all the GUI components to reflect this.
-        if (mWindow->getGameLaunchedState())
-            mWindow->unsetLaunchedGame();
-    }
-    #endif
 
     // Open the main menu.
     if (!(UIModeController::getInstance()->isUIModeKid() &&
@@ -930,16 +925,12 @@ void ViewController::reloadGameListView(IGameListView* view, bool reloadTheme)
         }
     }
 
-    #if defined(_WIN64)
+    // For Steam games or if enabling the "RunInBackground" setting on Windows, ES-DE will
-    // This code is only needed for Windows, where we may need to keep ES running while
+    // run in the background while a game is launched. If this flag has been set, then update
-    // the game/emulator is in use. It's basically used to pause any playing game video
+    // all the GUI components. This will disable the video player and prevent the screensaver
-    // and to keep the screensaver from activating.
+    // from starting on schedule.
-    if (Settings::getInstance()->getBool("RunInBackground")) {
+    if (mWindow->getGameLaunchedState())
-        // If a game has been launched, then update all the GUI components to reflect this.
+        mWindow->setLaunchedGame();
-        if (mWindow->getGameLaunchedState())
-            mWindow->setLaunchedGame();
-    }
-    #endif
 
     // Redisplay the current view.
     if (mCurrentView)

es-core/src/Platform.cpp

@@ -71,10 +71,19 @@ int runSystemCommand(const std::wstring& cmd_utf16)
     #endif
 }
 
-int launchEmulatorUnix(const std::string& cmd_utf8)
+int launchGameUnix(const std::string& cmd_utf8, bool runInBackground)
 {
     #if defined(__unix__) || defined (__APPLE__)
-    std::string command = std::string(cmd_utf8) + " 2>&1";
+    std::string command = std::string(cmd_utf8) + " 2>&1 &";
+
+    // Launching games while keeping ES-DE running in the background is very crude as for
+    // instance no output from the command is captured and no real error handling is
+    // implemented. It should therefore only be used when absolutely necessary.
+    if (runInBackground) {
+        LOG(LogDebug) << "Platform::launchGameUnix(): Launching game while keeping ES-DE "
+                "running in the background, no command output will be written to the log file";
+        return system(command.c_str());
+    }
 
     FILE* commandPipe;
     std::array<char, 128> buffer;
@@ -101,15 +110,15 @@ int launchEmulatorUnix(const std::string& cmd_utf8)
     }
 
     if (returnValue) {
-        LOG(LogError) << "launchEmulatorUnix - return value " <<
+        LOG(LogError) << "launchGameUnix - return value " <<
                 std::to_string(returnValue) + ":";
         if (commandOutput.size())
             LOG(LogError) << commandOutput;
         else
-            LOG(LogError) << "No error output provided by emulator.";
+            LOG(LogError) << "No error output provided by game or emulator";
     }
     else if (commandOutput.size()) {
-        LOG(LogDebug) << "Platform::launchEmulatorUnix():";
+        LOG(LogDebug) << "Platform::launchGameUnix():";
         LOG(LogDebug) << "Output from launched game:\n" << commandOutput;
     }
 
@@ -120,7 +129,7 @@ int launchEmulatorUnix(const std::string& cmd_utf8)
     #endif
 }
 
-int launchEmulatorWindows(const std::wstring& cmd_utf16)
+int launchGameWindows(const std::wstring& cmd_utf16, bool runInBackground)
 {
     #if defined(_WIN64)
     STARTUPINFOW si {};
@@ -142,12 +151,14 @@ int launchEmulatorWindows(const std::wstring& cmd_utf16)
             &si,                                // Pointer to the STARTUPINFOW structure.
             &pi);                               // Pointer to the PROCESS_INFORMATION structure.
 
-    // Unfortunately suspending ES and resuming when the emulator process has exited
+    // Unfortunately suspending ES-DE and resuming when the game/emulator process has exited
-    // doesn't work reliably on Windows, so we may need to keep ES running in the
+    // doesn't work reliably on Windows, so we may need to keep ES-DE running in the background
-    // background while the game is launched. I'm not sure if there is a workaround
+    // while the game is launched. I'm not sure if there is a workaround for this, but on most
-    // for this, but on some Windows installations it seems to work fine so we'll let
+    // Windows installations it seems to work fine so we'll let the user choose via a menu option.
-    // the user choose via a menu option.
+    // Possibly the issue is specific to Windows 8.
-    if (!Settings::getInstance()->getBool("RunInBackground")) {
+    // Running in the background is also required for Steam games as ES-DE would otherwise
+    // wait forever for Steam to exit unless it was already running when the game was launched.
+    if (!runInBackground) {
         // Wait for the child process to exit.
         WaitForSingleObject(pi.hThread, INFINITE);
         WaitForSingleObject(pi.hProcess, INFINITE);
@@ -174,7 +185,7 @@ int launchEmulatorWindows(const std::wstring& cmd_utf16)
             }
         }
 
-        LOG(LogError) << "launchEmulatorWindows - system error code " <<
+        LOG(LogError) << "launchGameWindows - system error code " <<
                 errorCode << ": " << errorMessage;
     }
 

es-core/src/Platform.h

@@ -26,8 +26,8 @@ int runSystemCommand(const std::string& cmd_utf8);
 // Windows specific UTF-16/wstring function. (FOR FUTURE USE)
 int runSystemCommand(const std::wstring& cmd_utf16);
 
-int launchEmulatorUnix(const std::string& cmd_utf8);
+int launchGameUnix(const std::string& cmd_utf8, bool runInBackground);
-int launchEmulatorWindows(const std::wstring& cmd_utf16);
+int launchGameWindows(const std::wstring& cmd_utf16, bool runInBackground);
 
 unsigned int getTaskbarState();
 void hideTaskbar();

es-core/src/Window.cpp

@@ -648,7 +648,7 @@ void Window::setLaunchedGame()
 
 void Window::unsetLaunchedGame()
 {
-    // Tell the GUI components that the user is back in ES again.
+    // Tell the GUI components that the user is back in ES-DE again.
     for (auto it = mGuiStack.cbegin(); it != mGuiStack.cend(); it++)
         (*it)->onGameLaunchedDeactivate();