This is how you run Settlers 3 in a window:
Download DxWnd from
here.
Extract it to some place. Consider a permanent place because you will be using it for multiple games.
Run dxwnd.exe
as admin.
On the first time, you do this:
Click Edit->Global settings...
Under 'Flags', tick 'Check for Admin rights'; this will ensure you won't forget to run it as admin in the future.
Under 'Defaults', select 'X,Y coordinates' and enter: X: 100, Y: 0, W: 1600, H: 1200 (X/Y are the top left corner, W/H is your preferred resolution). These settings will be copied to new game profiles.
Now, we add our Settlers 3 profile.
Click Edit->Add...
1. On the 'Main' tab:
Name: Settlers 3 (or whatever else you prefer).
Path: select the location of S3.EXE; e.g. D:\GAMES\S3ULT\S3.EXE
Launch: select the location of S3.EXE; e.g. D:\GAMES\S3ULT\S3.EXE
Under 'Generic'
Tick these:
- 'No banner'.
- 'Run in Window'
- 'Aquire admin caps'
Under 'Position'
Note that the defaults you set earlier were copied here. You can tweak them here further.
Tick:
- 'Keep aspect ratio'.
2. On the 'Input' tab:
Under 'Cursor handling', tick:
- 'Correct mouse position'.
Under 'DirectInput', tick:
- 'Hook dinput'.
- 'Hook dinput8'.
- 'Unacquire input devices on focus lost'.
3. On the 'Video' tab:
Under 'Windows handling', tick:
- 'Modal Style'.
Under 'Window size & position', select:
- 'Floating'.
4. On the 'DirectX' tab:
Under 'Emulation', tick:
- 'GDI mode'.
All other settings should be good at their defaults, so click ok.
You will see the new profile in the list.
Double-click the profile to run it and enjoy windowed Settlers 3.
When you exit DxWnd and it asks you whether you want to save the task list, say yes, otherwise you will lose your new S3 profile.
From here on, all you need to do is double-click the S3 entry to play.
One more thing:
you might want to enable "auto-hide" for the Windows task-bar so you get more real estate.
