AliceAndMe

A lightweight desktop companion widget that displays an anime character (Anya Forger) whose image changes based on the time of day. Built with C++17, Dear ImGui, and DirectX 11.

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What It Does

• Shows a borderless, always-on-top window (500×600) with an Anya image
• The image automatically changes based on your system clock (13 different images across 24 hours)
• Displays the current time in a pill-shaped overlay at the top ("3:42 PM")
• Drag anywhere to move the window
• Press Escape to close

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Tech Stack

Component	Technology	Why
Language	C++17	Fast, low memory, compiles to a single .exe
UI Framework	Dear ImGui v1.91.8	Immediate-mode GUI, tiny footprint, great for overlays
Graphics Backend	DirectX 11	Native on every Windows 7+ machine, zero driver issues
Image Loading	stb_image.h	Single-header PNG/JPEG decoder, no dependencies
Window	Win32 API	Borderless popup with always-on-top and drag support
Build System	CMake + MinGW-w64 (GCC 15)	Generates a portable .exe with no DLL dependencies

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Project Structure

AliceAndMe/
├── CMakeLists.txt           # Build configuration
├── README.md                # This file
│
├── src/                     # Application source code
│   ├── main.cpp             # Entry point + render loop (~120 lines)
│   ├── window.h             # Win32 window creation + input handling
│   ├── renderer.h           # DirectX 11 device/swap chain setup
│   ├── texture_loader.h     # PNG/JPEG → DX11 GPU texture loader
│   └── time_map.h           # Hour → image mapping (13 time ranges)
│
├── external/                # Third-party dependencies (vendored)
│   ├── imgui/               # Dear ImGui v1.91.8 (core + DX11/Win32 backends)
│   └── stb/                 # stb_image.h (single-header image loader)
│
├── moods/                   # Character images
│   ├── time/                # 13 time-based PNGs + 3 emotion PNGs
│   └── extra/               # Additional Anya images (fallback, etc.)
│
├── old/                     # Previous Electron-based version (archived)
│   ├── main.js              # Old Electron main process
│   ├── index.html            # Old renderer entry
│   ├── components/          # Old JS components
│   └── config/              # Old JS config (timeMapConfig.js)
│
└── build/                   # CMake build output (gitignored)
    ├── AliceAndMe.exe       # The compiled app (~1.2 MB)
    └── moods/               # Copied assets

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Source Files Explained

src/main.cpp — Entry point + render loop

The "conductor" of the app. Does 6 things in order:

1. Creates the Win32 window (via window.h)
2. Initializes DirectX 11 (via renderer.h)
3. Sets up Dear ImGui with DX11 + Win32 backends
4. Preloads all 13 time images into GPU memory (via texture_loader.h)
5. Runs the frame loop: check time → draw character → draw time pill → present
6. Cleans up everything on exit

src/window.h — Win32 window + input

Creates the OS-level window with these properties:

• WS_POPUP → borderless (no title bar, no borders)
• WS_EX_TOPMOST → always stays above other windows
• WM_NCHITTEST → HTCAPTION → click-drag anywhere to move
• VK_ESCAPE → close the app
• Handles WM_SIZE to resize the DX11 render target

src/renderer.h — DirectX 11 GPU plumbing

Sets up the connection between the app and the graphics card:

• Device → represents the GPU, creates textures
• DeviceContext → sends draw commands
• SwapChain → double-buffer (draw on back, flip to front)
• RenderTarget → the back-buffer texture we draw into each frame

src/texture_loader.h — Image loading

Bridges the gap from disk files to ImGui rendering:

1. stbi_load() → decode PNG/JPEG pixels from disk
2. CreateTexture2D() → upload pixel data to GPU
3. CreateShaderResourceView() → make it drawable by ImGui
4. Returns a Texture { srv, width, height } struct

src/time_map.h — Time-based image selection

Ported directly from the original config/timeMapConfig.js. Contains:

• 13 hour-range entries mapping to filenames (e.g., {6, 8, "6am8am.png"})
• GetImageForCurrentHour() → returns the path for the current time
• GetCurrentTimeString() → returns "3:42 PM" for the overlay

Time-to-Image Map

Hours	Image
12:00 AM – 1:00 AM	12am1am.png
1:00 AM – 6:00 AM	1am6am.png
6:00 AM – 8:00 AM	6am8am.png
8:00 AM – 10:00 AM	8am10am.png
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM	10am12pm.png
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM	12am1pm.png
1:00 PM – 2:00 PM	1pm2pm.png
2:00 PM – 4:00 PM	2pm4pm.png
4:00 PM – 6:00 PM	4pm6pm.png
6:00 PM – 7:00 PM	6pm7pm.png
7:00 PM – 8:00 PM	7pm8pm.png
8:00 PM – 11:00 PM	8pm11pm.png
11:00 PM – 12:00 AM	11pm12am.png

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Building

Prerequisites

• MinGW-w64 (GCC 13+) — install via choco install mingw
• CMake 3.16+ — install via choco install cmake

Build Commands

# Configure (first time only)
cmake -S . -B build -G "MinGW Makefiles" -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release

# Build
cmake --build build --config Release

Run

.\build\AliceAndMe.exe

The exe is ~1.2 MB and has zero DLL dependencies (CRT is statically linked).

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Controls

Input	Action
Click + drag anywhere	Move the window
Escape	Close the app

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What's Done

• Project scaffolded with CMake + MinGW
• Dear ImGui v1.91.8 + DX11/Win32 backends integrated
• Borderless, always-on-top, draggable Win32 window
• All 13 time-based images preloaded into GPU at startup
• Automatic image switching based on system clock (checked every minute)
• Aspect-ratio-preserving image scaling, centered in window
• Time pill overlay showing current time ("3:42 PM")
• Escape key to close
• Codebase split into 5 focused files with documentation
• Builds to a single portable .exe (~1.2 MB)

What's Next

• Speech bubbles showing system stats (CPU %, RAM usage)
• Embed images inside the .exe (no loose moods/ folder needed)
• Transparent window background (only the character visible, no dark bg)
• Hover interactions (random image swap on mouse hover)
• System tray icon with right-click menu
• Auto-start on Windows login