Try something like this...

void GetMouseInput()
{

// Get The Relative Mouse Position
DIMOUSESTATE2 diMouseState2;
g_lpDID7_Mouse->GetDeviceState(sizeof(DIMOUSESTATE2), (void*)&diMouseState2);

// Update Our Cursor Position
g_nMouseX += diMouseState2.lX;
g_nMouseY += diMouseState2.lY;

// Now Make Sure The Cursor Is Still On The Screen
if (g_nMouseX < 0) g_nMouseX = 0;
if (g_nMouseX > c_ScreenWidth) g_nMouseX = ScreenWidth;
if (g_nMouseY < 0) g_nMouseY = 0;
if (g_nMouseY > ScreenHeight) g_nMouseY = ScreenHeight;

// Get Our Mouse Wheel Position
g_nMouseZ = diMouseState2.lZ;

// Get Our Button States
g_bLButtonDown = diMouseState2.rgbButtons[0] ? true : false;
g_bMButtonDown = diMouseState2.rgbButtons[2] ? true : false;
g_bRButtonDown = diMouseState2.rgbButtons[1] ? true : false;

}

This code stores the mouse information in global variables. Obviously, this isn''t a great programming practice, but I thought it would help the explination. You may want to multiply the mouse input by some constant to help speed up the movement of the mouse (this is a little too slow for me), but that''s just a thought.

One side note, the mouse wheel is better handled in most cases as a relative position anyway. If this isn''t obvious, just think about how it''s used.

Just in case you didn't know : a mouse wheel is something like a wheel (really?) which is located between the two buttons of the mouse. It is mainly used for scrolling in windows but there are other things for which it might be useful. You can use it to change weapons in a FPS (like Q3A) or to zoom in or out in a real-time strategy game (like Homeworld). The only limitation that you have to think about is, that not everbody owns one (you're one of them, I suppose .

And uh yea, I forgot. Some of the wheels (including mine) can also act as a third button if you press them (instead of rolling them)

Edited by - Chappa on 1/12/00 6:20:13 AM

Yep! MouseWheels are a cool thing and every game should support them. (I''m going to support it im my game,too).