I am not an expert by anymeans in DirectX or OpenGl but I had an idea for a game this week that I would like to see implemented if possible. Could someone please enlighten me as to if this is even possible. The web is used today by numerous games to promote further playing of the game. In particular MMORPG web sites give information about any aspect of the game you could think of. While playing EverQuest, I realized that in order to benefit from these sites I had to remove myself from the experience of playing and view the site. What I would like to do is allow players to browse a web site while in the MMORPG I am developing. Perhaps embed a browser in part of the GUI that is represented by a book. Allow books to be handed off to other people in game. This way I can get the information I want, and share it with my friends, without ever leaving the confines of the game.(ie to a browser, IRC, or email) It seems to me that having to leave the game to get information detracts from playing the game and enjoying it. While it doesn''t make it unplayable by any stretch of the word, I think the ability to do this would enhance playability in a game that allows it. Is this possible using DirectX? Is it possible to do without writing your own HTML parser? I was thinking you could include the iexplore COM object like you would in a VB application but I may be oversimplifying it. Any feedback or input would be appreciated. Kressilac

I haven''t done much with embedding HTML into applications, but you could probably use IE''s mshtml.dll to do the trick. That way you''d end up with something like Winamp''s Minibrowser (which uses MSHTML.DLL for this). I''m not sure about DirectX compatibility though...

Just a few thoughts...

Simon Wilson
XEOS Digital Development

I think you could probably do it - getting access to web pages and cgi scripts using MFC is really easy, and I''m sure it''s not a big step from there.
Since most windows stuff relies on device contexts for drawing, and DirectX can supply them, I''m sure you can use the built-in functions of those COM objects, or any library you use.


#pragma DWIM // Do What I Mean!
~ Mad Keith ~
**I use Software Mode**

quote: Original post by xeos

I haven''t done much with embedding HTML into applications, but you could probably use IE''s mshtml.dll to do the trick. That way you''d end up with something like Winamp''s Minibrowser (which uses MSHTML.DLL for this).

Personally, I wouldn''t touch MSHTML.DLL with a very long stick Given the number of times it seems to be the cause of IE crashing, it can''t be all that good...

I really like that idea about haveing "books" in the world where characters can look up anything they need to know and then trade knowledge with others, etc. I think it would be quite feasible to set up a simple system like this, but you might want to consider not even bothering with html support. You have (at least) two other options:

1) Stick with plain text... its the content that really matters, right?

2) If you really want to get flashy without worrying about fullblown html you might want to develop your own simple markup language or pick a subset of html to support. This could allow for things like illustrations in the book and different font sizes, alignment, etc. It can be as simple or as complex as you want and it should be pretty extendible.

Check out the GPI project today!

you can use mshtml.dll i would imagine... as long as it renders to a window it should be simple.

you would use pDD->FlipToGDISurface() to flip to the surface that the GDI can draw on [most cards support this]
and pDD is a pointer to a directdraw interface

then you would use mshtml.dll to render to a part of your display..

adamm@san.rr.com

Chippydip,
- Primarily I was looking ot be able to give players access to the web sites that they frequent everyday while they play the game. Many third party web sites contribute to the overall success of the game. The main idea here is to get that content online in game so that the player never has to leave the reality(ok virtual) of the game. I do like your idea of a subset of HTML. That way web sites can build HTML pages that can both display on the site and within our browser in game.

- I am hearing mixed feelings on the mshtml.dll. Is there anyone out there that has used this DLL in a DirectX or OpenGL application with no problems? If not is there another library or DLL that is not Microsoft stable that could be used in its place?

Still exploring the idea.
Kressilac