Flicker in full screen
by Howard Dortch · in Torque Game Engine · 11/02/2005 (4:53 pm) · 12 replies
Video goes nuts if im in full screen mode and someone logs on Instant messenger or any background process fires up. Any way to fix this?
#2
All I can say is you'll probably need a lot of coffee and donuts. :)
11/02/2005 (8:48 pm)
We'll... ask Microsoft and any company that produces an application to run on Windows to all meet up at your house, and discuss ways to ensure a global standard is in place where applications do not conflict with other applications in full screen mode.All I can say is you'll probably need a lot of coffee and donuts. :)
#3
I want a donut..
11/03/2005 (8:08 am)
At a guess though, I'd say the flickering is down to double buffering....I want a donut..
#4
11/03/2005 (8:09 am)
One thing I've not tested or checked is what happens if in Full screen, someone logs into MSN messenger and sends one of those Winks to you... will it paint all over your screen or will it wait until you Alt+Tab to MSN?
#5
11/03/2005 (8:35 am)
I wrote an app in DirectX full screen and didn't get any interruptions hence the question.
#6
11/03/2005 (8:41 am)
Were you allowing other parts of the O/S to have any CPU time? :-) 
#7
That's done automatically in the latest Windows O/S's if I remember correctly.
@All & Thread Creator
If this is in TGE then there's a problem with your setup somewhere, or a bug that doesn't occur on all systems.
We've been running TGE on a lot of different computers and msn/jabber/trillian/icq doesn't interfear with any of it at all.
11/03/2005 (10:50 am)
@Jason,That's done automatically in the latest Windows O/S's if I remember correctly.
@All & Thread Creator
If this is in TGE then there's a problem with your setup somewhere, or a bug that doesn't occur on all systems.
We've been running TGE on a lot of different computers and msn/jabber/trillian/icq doesn't interfear with any of it at all.
#8
11/03/2005 (1:46 pm)
Thanks for the response Stefan. Any ideas where to start looking? I have it happening on 2 different computers with 2 different OS's . I've been digging into the WM_XXX of the winproc and all I can figure is the focus is being taken away.
#9
So TGE loses focus if another program activates or updates it's window?
Does it behave this way in other fullscreen applications?
11/03/2005 (2:55 pm)
It is not Winproc if this happens on two different O/S's, I'm pretty sure of that.So TGE loses focus if another program activates or updates it's window?
Does it behave this way in other fullscreen applications?
#10
This is not something that can be dealt with cleanly. It is extremely configuration specific and windows does not provide any guarantees around it.
11/03/2005 (2:58 pm)
I vote for going with the standard dodge - "If you encounter problems make sure to disable any background processes, antivirus software, etc." - and putting it in your manual & tech support material.This is not something that can be dealt with cleanly. It is extremely configuration specific and windows does not provide any guarantees around it.
#11
Maybe create a new user (if using Win2k or XP) and just load the minimum software to run TGE to discount that it is hardware.
Also update video drivers to latest stable versions. Try changing from OGL to Direct3D or vice versa.
11/03/2005 (3:01 pm)
Is there software on each of the two affected systems that is continually trying to grab the screen context?Maybe create a new user (if using Win2k or XP) and just load the minimum software to run TGE to discount that it is hardware.
Also update video drivers to latest stable versions. Try changing from OGL to Direct3D or vice versa.
#12
I'd have to say, I agree with Ben, but I'd also make sure the app can be safely Alt-Tabbed so the user can sort their system out. (I believe Torque handles ALT+Tab quite nicely, so not an issue)
I remember Halflife had a problem (on my Voodoo3 card anyway) Once it went to full screen mode, any dialogs were lost... so when I had a firewall running and I wanted to play counterstrike, it was a bit of an arse to say the least to find it couldn't connect to the internet bacause the firewall has popped up a message saying "Do you want this program to access the internet Y/N" and I couldn't see it...
Neverwinter nights messed up with MSN too, but nothing serious.. just a flickering box being drawn in the corner when someone logs in. ALT+Tab, close down ALT+Tab back, and Neverwinter nights has paused for me. Very nice.
11/04/2005 (2:01 am)
I was just kidding about the CPU hogging :-)I'd have to say, I agree with Ben, but I'd also make sure the app can be safely Alt-Tabbed so the user can sort their system out. (I believe Torque handles ALT+Tab quite nicely, so not an issue)
I remember Halflife had a problem (on my Voodoo3 card anyway) Once it went to full screen mode, any dialogs were lost... so when I had a firewall running and I wanted to play counterstrike, it was a bit of an arse to say the least to find it couldn't connect to the internet bacause the firewall has popped up a message saying "Do you want this program to access the internet Y/N" and I couldn't see it...
Neverwinter nights messed up with MSN too, but nothing serious.. just a flickering box being drawn in the corner when someone logs in. ALT+Tab, close down ALT+Tab back, and Neverwinter nights has paused for me. Very nice.
Torque Owner Jason Farmer