Mouse input not being released from other process's window - c++

Question

I am writing a C++ Windows program that displays game stats/friends info over games using a Win32 window and a DirectX11 renderer. (that renders a UI that is controlled with the mouse and keyboard)
The window is overlaid on top of the game’s window and has the flags WS_EX_TRANSPARENT and WS_POPUP set.
When the window is activated, I set WS_EX_LAYERED to capture inputs.
The created window is positioned on top of the target window if GetWindow(target_, GW_HWNDPREV) is different from the handle of the created window.
It is placed on top of it by calling SetWindowPos with SWP_NOACTIVATE | SWP_NOMOVE | SWP_NOSIZE | SWP_ASYNCWINDOWPOS.
I’ve double-checked that the flags are set correctly and that the functions are being called.
I also tried using ShowWindow with the SW_SHOW flag, but the result remained unchanged.
I’m currently running my tests on Portal 2, but ideally, I would want this to work on the majority of games. (OS used is Windows 11 22H2)
To activate the window and release the mouse capture from the game, I am calling SetForegroundWindow, SetActiveWindow, and SetFocus, all with the HWND of my window.
This approach works correctly when I run the program from Visual Studio, but when I run the compiled executable, the mouse remains locked in the game.
Both builds were tested in debug and release mode, and I really can't figure out why this is happening.
LRESULT Renderer::WndProc(...) {
switch (message) {
case WM_SIZE:
// resize buffers and recreate render target view
return 0;
case WM_DESTROY:
PostQuitMessage(0);
return 0;
}
return DefWindowProc(handle, message, w_param, l_param);
}
bool Window::Create(...) {
// ...
hwnd_ = CreateWindowEx(
wndclass,
class_name_.c_str(),
title_.c_str(),
WS_POPUP,
0, 0, 10, 10,
nullptr,
nullptr,
nullptr,
nullptr
);
SetLayeredWindowAttributes(hwnd_, 0, 255, LWA_ALPHA);
UpdateWindow(hwnd_);
constexpr MARGINS margin = {-1, -1, -1, -1};
const auto result = DwmExtendFrameIntoClientArea(hwnd_, &margin);
// ...
}
void Window::Activate() {
// Remove the WS_EX_LAYERED attribute.
SetClickThrough(false);
SetForegroundWindow(hwnd_);
SetActiveWindow(hwnd_);
SetFocus(hwnd_);
}
// ----------------------
// Sample main routine pseudocode:
// ----------------------
renderer->window.Create(...);
while (renderer->is_running()) {
renderer->BeginFrame();
// Position the window on top of the game found.
renderer->window().FollowTarget();
// Toggle the visibility using the F2 key.
// If transitioning from hidden to visible, call the window
// activation routine.
if (utils::KeyPressed(VK_F2)) {
if (ui->is_visible()) {
// .. window deactivation not included
ui->set_visible(false);
}
else {
renderer->window().Activate();
ui->set_visible(true);
}
}
ui->Draw(renderer);
renderer->Present();
}
I considered using a low-level keyboard/mouse hook to capture inputs, or offscreen rendering and presenting it in the game using a DirectX hook, but I’d rather avoid it as it would require many games to manually whitelist it.
Is there something else I’m missing or a different approach I should be taking?