Using .exe as wallpaper

[Revalopod]

how hard is it to set it up?
I wanna make a wallpaper application game in GameMaker, save it as a .exe
so how difficult would it be to get that .exe into a wallpaper?

[Biohazard]

For now, just make sure that it is a 32bits executable and try it.

If it doesn't work, I am not sure how much more you can do in GameMaker. Are you able to change the 'parent' of the game window somehow through scripts?

[Revalopod]

Originally posted by Biohazard:

For now, just make sure that it is a 32bits executable and try it.

If it doesn't work, I am not sure how much more you can do in GameMaker. Are you able to change the 'parent' of the game window somehow through scripts?

Yeah I don't think so.
I tried making a basic interactable wallpaper where you click and colour explosions come out, but Wallpaper Engine failed to load it.
I don't have the option to choose 32 bit executable, I can choose single run time executable, or an installer

[Biohazard]

Could you upload your game somewhere and share it here? I'll try to check it out soon.

[Revalopod]

Originally posted by Biohazard:

Could you upload your game somewhere and share it here? I'll try to check it out soon.

Sure, I'll do that tomorrow when I got on my computer.
Do you want the gamemaker project source files as well?

[Revalopod]

Here it is:
http://www.megafileupload.com/g63c/wallpaper.zip

:)

[Biohazard]

Okay thanks! I am still addressing some bugs at this time, I will look into it soon!

[Mechanoid]

you should be carefull around .exe files...
will it be dangerous if people use it within wallpaper engine, if bad people make, let's say a virus?

[Biohazard]

Right now Wallpaper Engine will warn you about potential risks before applying any such wallpaper to your desktop.

The best solution would be for me to personally approve these wallpapers first, but Steam does not support that exactly. Only curated (monetized) items can be reviewed by me first. A similar problem exists in Cities Skylines I think, I don't think they have any perfect solution for this, but I don't own it so I am not sure.

[Mechanoid]

Fair enough that it will warn you, but if you think it's an (actual) wallpaper and it tends to be a (free, not checked) virus for example.. then what?

i'd love for exe files to be verified first, lots of cool wallpapers... but yeh i don't think i want the potential risk of a virus for just that.

[Biohazard]

If you confirm that you understand the danger, it will run the exe. Much like you can confirm in Google Chrome that you understand the danger of harmful websites.

I spent a lot of time thinking about this and it was either having this risk or just not having this feature at all. But, thinking about this again now, I think I figured out a good solution: I could use workshop tags to implement my own review system. So Wallpaper Engine will block the wallpaper until I manually accepted it with a special tag. When the creator changes the wallpaper again, the tag will be removed and I have to review it again.

So yeah, I think that should solve it :)

[Mechanoid]

that's a great idea

[Revalopod]

Hey, just a though, would it be easier to work if it was exported as html and put up as a website?

[Biohazard]

If game maker can export as HTML then yes, that would work. You can open the html file directly with Wallpaper Engine and also push it to Workshop.

[Revalopod]

Originally posted by Biohazard:

If game maker can export as HTML then yes, that would work. You can open the html file directly with Wallpaper Engine and also push it to Workshop.

Yep, it supports HTML. Opening the HTML file directly? That's awesome, definitely saves me the hassle of trying to find a good web hosting site.

[Revalopod]

I don't think it is possible. It says "If you have chosen to build HTML5, then an index.html (default name, but you can give your own name too) along with a folder containing your game's files will be created and saved to the specified location. For your game to work you will need both of these to be uploaded to a server. The index.html can also be customised to show your game with a different background colour, or at a different position etc... but a knowledge of the HTML language is necessary for this (see the HTML5 Tab of the Global Game Settings)."

It needs both the HTML file and the javascript file, and Wallpaper engine can't run javascript :C