A Dumb Question

[Xterra]

So, it's clear to me that the latest GZ devbuilds will not run on Windows 7. (EDIT: It's refusing to start after not finding an entry point in USER32.DLL, which is a core OS component of Windows.) I had a good, running devbuild going before I ended up updated it...then immediately un-updating it to 4.11.3 stable.

Does anyone have the last devbuild that runs on Win7 handy, perchance? The oldest build on the DRDTeam site is still no good.
(And don't say "just update to win10 lul", I already have it as a dual-boot. I've got 7 running for good reasons, and know and accept the risks. I'm only asking this because I forget the devbuild I had.)
-Xterra

EDIT: Mods, please feel free to move this topic if need be. I'm rusty as hell about how to do Forum Shit™.

[Rachael]

What is the error? You might be able to get away with the "Windows 95" trick. Where you just hex edit the reference to something else within the file. That was required for a lot of Windows 95 capable binaries for a long time that wouldn't run on Windows 95 anymore because of something very similar (it was kernel32.dll at the time). It was some silly stupid thing that really didn't matter and didn't affect how the program ran, it ultimately was some Visual Studio C Runtime thing that most programs did not use. That may be a similar situation here.

[Rachael]

Well I went poking around with it on my Windows 7 VM, and discovered that VxKex does allow GZDoom to run on Windows 7, but it does require that the operating system be fairly well updated in order to install. Also, I don't know if this will actually launch into the game, because there's no (working/stable) 3D acceleration with QEMU guests on Windows hosts and I really don't want to bother with any other VM software.

https://github.com/vxiiduu/VxKex

[Xterra]

What is the error? You might be able to get away with the "Windows 95" trick. Where you just hex edit the reference to something else within the file. That was required for a lot of Windows 95 capable binaries for a long time that wouldn't run on Windows 95 anymore because of something very similar (it was kernel32.dll at the time). It was some silly stupid thing that really didn't matter and didn't affect how the program ran, it ultimately was some Visual Studio C Runtime thing that most programs did not use. That may be a similar situation here.

Quoted verbatim:
The procedure entry point AdjustWindowRectExForDpi could not be located in the dynamic link library USER32.dll.

But hey, I appreciate that VxKex thing. I was hoping there was something like KernelEx for Windows 7. I'll be making significant use of that.
TBH I wasn't expecting to hear back so soon, but thanks Rachel.

[Rachael]

You're welcome.

[Xterra]

OK, testing it now and, while startup appears to be slower (EDIT: Uh, no, I'm full of shit, it's MUCH faster) (did y'all put in some new startup sequence?), it works otherwise with few hitches, apart from it misinterpreting my WadSmoosh package as FreeDoom P2 instead of Doom Complete like it's supposed to (EDIT: this appears to be due to the Freedoom assets and levels I have as part of the package), it's running.

[Rachael]

Yes, GZDoom's startup code has seen significant changes since version 4.11. The two biggest changes to note are: First, the old win32/gui API has largely been replaced by a custom, cross-platform widgets library. This is why you're seeing more customized buttons and widgets in the interface. This update also introduced vkDoom's new startup sequence, which does away with the richtext-widget console that ZDoom used for over two decades. These changes are likely why it no longer works with Windows 7’s native API.

Secondly, the startup screen now only draws half as many frames as your GPU can handle, which speeds up the startup process considerably. While this might make the progress bar appear a bit choppy, the payoff is a much quicker startup time, especially noticeable on older GPUs.

[Xterra]

It's understandable-- and been a long time coming.
I'm gonna miss the old ZDoom startup dæmon, but progress is progress and it's markedly faster.

Thanks again for that little VxKex widget. I suspect it'll prove mighty handy in the years to come.
Good luck with the engine going forward too, by the way-- and I'd suggest including a link to that same library whenever GZ 4.12 proper comes out, to avoid people complaining about "Y U STOP WIN7 SUPPORT".