black screen

[WanderingHead]

I've noticed a problem. Whenever I am running GGWAW and switch over to a new window, then switch back to GGWAW, the GGWAW screen goes black and is unrecoverable. I have to kill the program to recover.

I am not doing internet play, just running the program. Happens in intro screens or in the game.

[JanSorensen]

Thank you for the feedback.

I just tried this myself both in windowed mode and in full screen - and didnt not encounter the problem. So I am currently wondering what might differ between your system and mine.

Could you list what kind of system you so we might try to figure out what the problem could be, please?
- ram
- gfx card
- which version of windows
- etc
Also, does the problem occur both in windowed and in full screen mode?

If anyone else have the same problem I am very interested in hearing from you too.

[Avatar47]

Have exactly the same problem. Extremely annoying, and will definitely make me not want to 'upgrade' to 1.07. Screen goes black and is unrecoverable when ALT-TABing out of WaW. I have 512+ RAM, AMD 1800+, NVidia GeForce 4 card, WinXP.

By the way, props to you for your time doing this Jan.

[JanSorensen]

Does this happen both in Windowed and in Full Screen mode?

Also, 512 mb ram. How much exactly would you have? I personally have 1GB - so there is one possible culprit.

[Davidovich Trotsky]

For me it only happens in full screen mode, and its it for basically all full screen games i have, thats why i play them in windowed.

[JanSorensen]

WanderingHead and Davidovich Trotsky

Does this happen for you only with the beta patch 1.070 or also with the normal v1.040 version?

[Davidovich Trotsky]

ORIGINAL: JanSorensen

WanderingHead and Davidovich Trotsky

Does this happen for you only with the beta patch 1.070 or also with the normal v1.040 version?

For me, any of them, and in every single other game I have.

It only doesn't happen in windowed mode for me.

Just saying, you shouldn't really alt-tab in none windowed mode.

[Daykeras]

Well... How long do you wait before you decide it's unrecoverable?

And there is a small problem where WaW will error and freeze when alt-tabbed into. It's not often, but it's enough. It's usally when the computer resources aren't there to re pull it up. The game will freeze in a black box the size of windowed mode, not freeze with the whole screen as black. (My monitor is obviously set at a higher resolution).

As for alt-tabbing in games, so far as I know it's a ram/cpu issue. I know when I put in a gig of ram in my computer I cut down the lag time to going back into a game that is resource intensive.

Remember. There is a good chance it did not freeze. It may just be allocating resources to pull it back up on your screen.

[WanderingHead]

ORIGINAL: JanSorensen
Does this happen for you only with the beta patch 1.070 or also with the normal v1.040 version?

It happens for me all the time with 1.070. It never happened before, never with 1.040, and I certainly would have alt-tabbed out of the game when I played it last. I always do going to/from email when I send the game.

I use full screen, haven't tried windowed.

win2000 service pack 4 (another culprit, perhaps .. this was patched recently, after any 1.040 game)
Nvidia GeForce2 MX
768MB RAM

ORIGINAL: Daykeras
Well... How long do you wait before you decide it's unrecoverable?

Until now, about 20 seconds. But just now I tried for longer. Long enough to go downstairs and have a bowl of cereal; 10 minutes.

[JanSorensen]

Could I ask you to try in windowed mode, please? I always play in windowed mode and never have this problem.

I tried in full screen - most of the time alt-tab didnt cause a problem but I did encounter the black unrecoverable screen once.

My feeling is that its some odd Windows problem - rather than a GGWaW problem. I will report it to the programmer - but my gut feeling is that its not something he can (reasonably) fix as its simply a case of Windows bugging out when low on resources.

[toddtreadway]

It happens to me now under the 1.07 version (full screen). Never happened under 1.04.

[Daykeras]

Yea. I'm fairly certain it's a low resource problem in windows.

[WanderingHead]

ORIGINAL: Daykeras
Yea. I'm fairly certain it's a low resource problem in windows.

I don't know why Windows per-se should be blamed, or that this argument should absolve GGWAW. First, it ought to work on Windows, being the platform it is designed for. Second, it worked before. Third, I have 768MB RAM, and when it goes black my task manager says I still have 130MB free. The processor is idle, the disk is not spinning for virtual memory. It is just black and frozen. I have GGWAW set to low resolution as well.

It happens for me with GGWAW on full screen mode. I have not been able to get it to happen on windowed mode though I've just been trying.

[Daykeras]

Well it doesn't happen to me, and I have 2x more ram than you.

[Davidovich Trotsky]

ORIGINAL: WanderingHead

It happens for me with GGWAW on full screen mode. I have not been able to get it to happen on windowed mode though I've just been trying.

That's what I have been saying all along.

Computers just don't like it when you alt+tab in fullscreen mode, that's why I always have all my games in windowed mode.

[JanSorensen]

As it is I have yet to find any downside to playign GGWaW in windowed mode - so I suggest trying that to see if it fixes your problems.

[Davidovich Trotsky]

ORIGINAL: JanSorensen

As it is I have yet to find any downside to playign GGWaW in windowed mode - so I suggest trying that to see if it fixes your problems.

He said he has no problems at all with it in windowed mode.