New - not sure if Dualboxing is what I need

[Madadd]

Hello,

I suppose the best place to start is what I'm attempting to do. My idea is pretty synonymous with this short thread here: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/top...8798684?page=1. I want to put my gf on one screen, me on the other, each with our own keyboard/mouse, all off 1 computer. I got to this site because the OP in the link above mentioned dual boxing. However in viewing the beginners guide and looking a little innto multi-boxing, it seems like its more for 1 user controlling multiple instances off 1 (sometimes more) computer. But I want 2 users controlling 2 instances, off 1 computer. I tried looking around at Isboxer to see if it supported what I want to do, but I didn't find anything.

Is dualboxing right for me? is there another term/place/program I should be looking at instead?

[MiRai]

I want to put my gf on one screen, me on the other, each with our own keyboard/mouse, all off 1 computer.

I want 2 users controlling 2 instances, off 1 computer.

Windows, by default, isn't going to interpret multiple keyboards and mice as separate devices and I don't know if such software exists.

[Homer]

Windows, by default, isn't going to interpret multiple keyboards and mice as separate devices and I don't know if such software exists.

Was this changed in the past half decade or so? I remember in school crawling under desks in IT to plug a second mouse into my friends computer to fuck with him. They both would work.

[Svpernova09]

Was this changed in the past half decade or so? I remember in school crawling under desks in IT to plug a second mouse into my friends computer to fuck with him. They both would work.

By separate devices I believe he means 2 mouse cursors. You've been able to use multiple input devices for a good while in Windows. However there isn't any software (that I'm aware of) that will allow each device to have its input focused as if it was it's own computer. I vaguely remember (late 90s) such a device that claimed to do this however it wasn't something I would have recommended.

[MiRai]

Was this changed in the past half decade or so? I remember in school crawling under desks in IT to plug a second mouse into my friends computer to fuck with him. They both would work.

Of course they both work, but you can't assign one device to one game window and a second device to another game window without third party software.

[Ughmahedhurtz]

Was this changed in the past half decade or so? I remember in school crawling under desks in IT to plug a second mouse into my friends computer to fuck with him. They both would work.

Two mice can control one cursor, which is how Windows works today and why you could screw with your friend's head.

The problem regarding the OP's desire is that Windows by itself cannot maintain focus to more than one app at a time. The window/app that has focus is where all mouse clicks and keyboard keystrokes are sent unless you have specific software/hardware set up to route those differently. I'm presuming it would also require some hefty modifications to the Windows GUI as well, as there are video rendering (DirectX) complications when that window does not have focus (see the "Audio in background" option in WoW, for example). The fact that there are so few reliable multiboxing applications (which work around a lot of these issues) is further evidence of the complexity of this type of use case.

[zenga]

What you are looking for is called a 'multiseat' setup, often referred to as 'terminals'. Linux offers a broad range of possibilities, windows has it's multipoint server, but there are other commercial products available as well (name escapes me). Your pc just needs to have enough capacity. This has not much to do with the purpose of this site though, but some people might be able to help you out (I'm interested for sure how it's gonna work out for you, so keep us posted please).

Edit: looks like en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiseat_configuration might be a good place to start.
Edit 2: softxpand was the name of the windows software, costs like 50$ for the home version and I believe they have a trial as well.

[candlebox]

This is big in a lot of hospitals i have worked at. They will have servers set up with "Virtual Machines". They pipe CaT5 throughout the hospital and set up hubs. The hub has an attachment for a monitor and periphs. Make sure you have a bitchin pc though if you plan on getting to crazy. Might be cheaper to build a barebones PC http://www.newegg.com/Store/Category...Mini-Computers or piece one together in the long run.

[ebony]

it be a lot cheaper to get a 2nd pc for her and a lot easyer.

[Madadd]

Cheaper...no. Easier, yes. I always planned to do this some day as I will be constantly upgrading components, and I can spend the 500+ on a new machine or new components for my PC. So yea, new components. Besides, don't have the cash atm.

I always knew it was possible, just check out the link I provided in the original post (same game I'm workin with and everything). Zenga: Thank you for giving me a more refined search term.That softxpand, http://www.miniframe.com/solutions/home-users.html might be exactly what I need as it even mentions handling games. I might even be able to find something free with a little more searching. Unfortunately, I'm at work so I won't be able to provide any results until tonight, but I will do my best to share my results on this thread.

As for my PC...I'm hoping it will be able to handle the task. q6600 (I just recently had to reset the BIOS, so it's stock clocked now, but I used to have it OC'd @3.0 and will again if needs be for this project), 780i mobo, GTX 580 FTW hydro copper 2 (no additional OC), 4GB DDR2 (possibly 8GB, the other two stick I'm not sure about working order), 128GB Intel SSD and 750gb HDD, CPU and GPU watercooled. In lieu of a second monitor I will be using my 50" LG tv, using a miniHDMI-to-HDMI cable. So, for those who can't tell, my latest upgrade was the 580. It's a beast and should last awhile, but as NVidia tech support told me when I couldn't get SCII to play, "It's like a dragster trying to run down the track, pulling a crate of bricks." in reference to the "syngery" between GPU and Mobo. So yea, enough graphics power, but the next upgrade will be to my mobo/cpu/ram.

My only real planned outcome for this project is to play DiabloIII. I know they purposely made it to not be a terribly taxing resource hog, so I'm hoping I can do alright with it...as well, I read on this site that you can actually delegate which CPU cores each instance o the game will run on...Perhaps that's software specific, but if anyone knows an easy way to do this (if it even needs to be done?), let me know.