I'm presently not using a multimedia framework like SFML, because I'm trying to focus on executable and codebase size, but if that's the best idea, so be it.I'm new-ish to programming on the low level, and especially to performance-oriented programming, so there's always the chance I've missed something.Using a library/os function to do this for me While I was planning on doing this anyway, I thought I'd mention it here to ask for further information on how to best achieve this.Huge overhead for moving and managing data between GPU and CPUĪlgorithmic optimisations such as calculating multi-image bounding boxes and adding **** loads more code to only render the regions of the image that will be visible.Overhead from spawning and managing separate threads.Race conditions from simultaneous access to the same memory region,.This story, "Modify classic screensavers to use with Windows 10 and 8.Multithreading seems suboptimal for several reasons Try changing other retro screensavers and share your discoveries with others in the comment section. Notice how "Windows" has been replaced with "Aliens": Have fun For Windows 8 or Windows 10 users, this dialog is accessed from the Personalization menu in Control Panel.Ĭlicking the Settings button displays the following window. Once copied, right-click the file and Install via the context menu.įlying Aliens can now be selected as an option in the Screen Saver Settings dialog. If you use Windows 8 or Windows 10, copy the newly named Flying Aliens file to the C:\Windows\System32 folder. Rename the modified Flying Windows.scr file to Flying Aliens.scr. Once all changes have been made, save the file and open Windows Explorer. These are label captions so an extra space needs added to replace old character data.įor example, the label string below was changed from Number of Windows to Number of Aliens. Again, due to the shorter string length, inserting the extra space will "clean" remaining original string data and ensure the string text will render properly on the screen.Īlthough my copy of Flying Windows only had a single instance of a string padded with an additional space character, your copy could be different. Because our replacement string is one character shorter in length, an extra 00h byte value needs appended to each replacement to clear extra data and terminate the string.įor each instance found, examine the dump closely for instances of right-padding with a space (20h) character. Replace each instance of "Windows" with the word "Aliens". So, to make things consistent, search for all Unicode strings containing "Windows": However, installed "as is" the screensaver name and settings labels will continue to display "Flying Windows" - which would be confusing for a user to select in Control Panel. Ensure the string is null terminated with a 00h value:Īt this point - if saved - the screensaver will use the Webdings alien character and function correctly. Once found, click the right column and type "Webdings". Use HxD's Find feature to search for "wingdings" as shown below. Now, the screensaver needs an additional change to force it to use the Webdings font instead of Wingdings. This new value is 85 - hex value of the alien character. To illustrate this procedure, I chose the alien character, found in the Webdings font.īesides, nothing can fly through outer space quite like an alien.Īs with the smiley face modification, we will again change the Windows logo character FFh value to something new. Modifying this single byte changed Flying Windows to display smiley faces - as this photo illustrates: Taking it to the next levelĬhanging the Flying Windows screensaver to use a different Wingdings character is simple once you know where to make the change - but what if a person wished to use a character from an entirely different font? This too can be easily accomplished - albeit with a little more use of a hex editor. Finally, I found the address - 1E6C - that enabled me to transform Flying Windows to Flying Smiley Faces: In various addresses that appeared relevant, I changed FF hex values to 4A, saving and testing every change independently, reverting back to FFh if the change had no effect. Turning to HxD, I opened the Flying Windows.scr file saved on the USB stick. So based on this assumption - back again on a Windows 10 box - I opened Character Map, selected Wingdings and settled on the smiley face character, remembering its hex code value of 4A. I guessed it should then be theoretically possible to change this supposed character to another character found in the Wingdings font set. Based on observation, I assumed Flying Windows used the windows logo character (FFh) - last character of the Wingdings font - to fling through outer space.
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