View Issue Details

IDProjectCategoryLast Update
0004157Valley 1Graphical BugOct 6, 2011 6:40 pm
Reporterc4sc4 Assigned ToChris_McElligottPark  
Status resolvedResolutionfixed 
Product Version0.503 
Fixed in Version0.519 
Summary0004157: Alt-tabbing out of the game while in The Deep cause massive screen blur.
DescriptionI went inside a building in The Deep and alt-tabbed out of the game, when I went back to the game, there was massive screen blur. The whole screen was black and everything on the screen left artifacts behind. Kind of hard to describe so I'm attaching screenshots. The blur is much worse in game than in the screenshots.
TagsNo tags attached.
Internal WeightFix ASAP

Activities

c4sc4

Sep 28, 2011 2:07 am

reporter   ~0014183

Also happens after you change your graphic settings while in the deep.

Chris_McElligottPark

Sep 28, 2011 8:19 am

administrator   ~0014231

Yeah... to some extent that's what the deep does. It's not clearing it's buffer, so when you forcibly clear the buffer other ways it's likely to do that. This isn't a bug so much as it is a... side effect of the deep. It's something to look at, but I don't see this as a more generalized serious issue.

c4sc4

Sep 28, 2011 3:27 pm

reporter   ~0014390

Yeah, it's annoying side effect because if you alt-tab out of the game while in the deep because you can't see anything on the screen. You have to reload the save to fix it. Well actually I don't know if leaving your current chunk will fix it, I never tried that.

Chris_McElligottPark

Sep 28, 2011 3:33 pm

administrator   ~0014394

Hmm, just moving the camera or your character even slightly should fix it I'd think. But it's on my list to look at.

c4sc4

Sep 28, 2011 3:38 pm

reporter   ~0014397

The first screenshot is a result of moving my character around.

Chris_McElligottPark

Sep 28, 2011 3:39 pm

administrator   ~0014399

Oh, wow. Yeah, something is definitely up, then.

Chris_McElligottPark

Oct 4, 2011 11:38 am

administrator   ~0015598

I'm not able to duplicate this in 0.515. Are you?

c4sc4

Oct 4, 2011 3:07 pm

reporter   ~0015625

I just tried it in 0.515 and it is still doing it.

Chris_McElligottPark

Oct 4, 2011 3:08 pm

administrator   ~0015626

Hmmmm.... that's really frustrating, because I can't duplicate it. What OS are you on? And is it throwing any error messages into the .log file in AVWW_Data? Or anything into RuntimeData?

Toll

Oct 4, 2011 3:14 pm

reporter   ~0015627

Last edited: Oct 4, 2011 3:14 pm

I've got it on my end too. Can't find anything odd in my output_log.txt, and can't find any other log-files. My setup is Vista 64-bit with a NVidia GeForce GTX 460.

EDIT: Appending the log-file in case I missed something, but...

Chris_McElligottPark

Oct 4, 2011 3:16 pm

administrator   ~0015628

So, to clarify the steps I was taking, to see if these match:

1. Start AVWW, load a region that's in the deep, standing outside near the surface.

2. Alt-tab out.

3. Alt tab back in. Note that there is some very brief flickering of the windows from behind my AVWW window, for about 1-2 seconds.

4. Move around and everything is normal.


Is that what you guys are doing, or is there some other process I have to do to make this happen?

Chris_McElligottPark

Oct 4, 2011 3:16 pm

administrator   ~0015629

And to confirm, nothing looks amiss in that log file -- thanks, though.

Toll

Oct 4, 2011 3:20 pm

reporter   ~0015631

Your "windows from behind my AVWW window" made me test if fullscreen was a factor, and it is. I can only reproduce it if it's in fullscreen mode, if that helps. Otherwise... yeah. Step into The Deep, get sucked in, alt-tab out, activate the game again (by alt-tabbing or clicking the taskbar), and it's all black and uggy. Entering another region makes it normal again though.

Chris_McElligottPark

Oct 4, 2011 3:22 pm

administrator   ~0015632

Yeah, I was in fullscreen mode, too.

Toll

Oct 4, 2011 3:24 pm

reporter   ~0015633

Kinda makes me wish I had another graphics card to put in, but I think my old went into some other computer... If all else fails, I could try it on my parents comp over the weekend, and see if that makes a difference.

Chris_McElligottPark

Oct 4, 2011 3:30 pm

administrator   ~0015634

No worries, it's not worth all that. I may just rethink the visual style of the deep in general, as it's looking like it might be more trouble than it's worth.

Chris_McElligottPark

Oct 4, 2011 3:31 pm

administrator   ~0015635

Ooh! I bet I know what it might be -- the z buffer isn't being cleared, so maybe if you guys are running Aero or similar it's writing to that. I'm using the classic theme in windows 7. Do you might toggling off the Aero theme if you have it turned on, just to see if this is it?

Toll

Oct 4, 2011 3:37 pm

reporter   ~0015636

Hmm. Do you know where it can be toggled? I know I've seen it somewhere, but can't find it when I need it (of course).

c4sc4

Oct 4, 2011 3:38 pm

reporter   ~0015637

Alright I'll check that, I am on Windows 7 with aero enabled.

Chris_McElligottPark

Oct 4, 2011 3:42 pm

administrator   ~0015638

They move this stuff every OS release, seems like. If you right-click the desktop and hit Personalize, then there's the options. I'm using Windows Classic from the Basic themes at the bottom. Make sure and remember which theme you're using, of course, before you change it. :)

c4sc4

Oct 4, 2011 3:42 pm

reporter   ~0015639

Um, this is weird, when I disable aero, I can't even really alt-tab back into the game (in the deep at least), I can see the UI but the screen is flickering and I can see my desktop underneath.

Chris_McElligottPark

Oct 4, 2011 3:43 pm

administrator   ~0015640

Hmmm, that must be some sort of temporary issue based on just having switched the theme or something. No worries, don't spend too much time on that. I can see what I can find just with clearing the z buffer in general. I think it's the aero interface that is hardware accelerated and causing the issues, at any rate.

Toll

Oct 4, 2011 3:45 pm

reporter   ~0015641

Managed to disable it before loading up AVWW. I also get the flickering.

Chris_McElligottPark

Oct 4, 2011 3:47 pm

administrator   ~0015642

So same as before, you mean?

I guess it might not be aero itself, but rather the hardware-accelerated GDI+ in general. I specifically have a lot of the performance settings turned all the way down just because I hate the bloat in windows when those are on. Anyway, no need to try to duplicate that, but I think that because of the draw mode my desktop is using it's avoiding the issues yours are seeing. I'd hoped to be able to quickly verify that with you, but it doesn't really matter; I'll try getting it to clear the depth buffer no matter what, and see what that does for you. That's the only reason I can think of that this would be behaving this way for you.

Toll

Oct 4, 2011 3:49 pm

reporter   ~0015643

Well, no, actually. With Aero off, I get it flickering between my desktop and the previous black (which can give you a headache real quick). With Aero on, I come to the black, artefact'y window directly without flickering.

Chris_McElligottPark

Oct 4, 2011 3:52 pm

administrator   ~0015644

Okay, gotcha.

BobTheJanitor

Oct 4, 2011 9:43 pm

reporter   ~0015684

I'm on Windows XP (yeah, yeah I know) and playing full screen, and I get the flickering black horrible seizure screen when I tab out and back in as well.

Chris_McElligottPark

Oct 6, 2011 10:30 am

administrator   ~0015887

Okay, for 0.518:

* Put in a change so that the game always clears the depth buffer even when it's not clearing the main draw buffers.
** Hopefully this will solve the graphical issues when alt-tabbing out of the deep when in fullscreen mode on some machines.

Toll

Oct 6, 2011 2:07 pm

reporter   ~0015926

Sorry, no change :( I still get this when alt-tabbing out.

c4sc4

Oct 6, 2011 2:19 pm

reporter   ~0015929

The change is in 0.519 not 0.518

Chris_McElligottPark

Oct 6, 2011 3:31 pm

administrator   ~0015937

Sorry, yeah, wrong version. ;)

Toll

Oct 6, 2011 6:17 pm

reporter   ~0015953

In case you're curious, that seemed to fix it. Yay!

c4sc4

Oct 6, 2011 6:35 pm

reporter   ~0015956

Yep, it's fixed for me too.

Chris_McElligottPark

Oct 6, 2011 6:40 pm

administrator   ~0015960

Very excellent! Glad to hear that from both machines it's fixed. :)

So, that means that the hardware-accelerated OS desktop is drawing with a higher z index and then that's not getting cleared when the game launches back, if you're curious. Now the game itself is being sure to always clear the z buffer even if it's not clearing the back buffer. :)

Issue History

Date Modified Username Field Change
Sep 28, 2011 2:03 am c4sc4 New Issue
Sep 28, 2011 2:03 am c4sc4 File Added: Screenshot_2011_09_27_23_01_19.png
Sep 28, 2011 2:04 am c4sc4 File Added: Screenshot_2011_09_27_23_00_03.png
Sep 28, 2011 2:07 am c4sc4 Note Added: 0014183
Sep 28, 2011 7:10 am tigersfan Internal Weight => Fix ASAP
Sep 28, 2011 7:10 am tigersfan Assigned To => Chris_McElligottPark
Sep 28, 2011 7:10 am tigersfan Status new => assigned
Sep 28, 2011 8:19 am Chris_McElligottPark Note Added: 0014231
Sep 28, 2011 8:19 am Chris_McElligottPark Internal Weight Fix ASAP => Fix Before Major Release
Sep 28, 2011 3:27 pm c4sc4 Note Added: 0014390
Sep 28, 2011 3:33 pm Chris_McElligottPark Note Added: 0014394
Sep 28, 2011 3:38 pm c4sc4 Note Added: 0014397
Sep 28, 2011 3:39 pm Chris_McElligottPark Note Added: 0014399
Sep 28, 2011 3:39 pm Chris_McElligottPark Internal Weight Fix Before Major Release => Fix ASAP
Oct 4, 2011 11:38 am Chris_McElligottPark Note Added: 0015598
Oct 4, 2011 11:38 am Chris_McElligottPark Status assigned => feedback
Oct 4, 2011 3:07 pm c4sc4 Note Added: 0015625
Oct 4, 2011 3:07 pm c4sc4 Status feedback => assigned
Oct 4, 2011 3:08 pm Chris_McElligottPark Note Added: 0015626
Oct 4, 2011 3:14 pm Toll Note Added: 0015627
Oct 4, 2011 3:14 pm Toll Note Edited: 0015627
Oct 4, 2011 3:14 pm Toll File Added: output_log.txt
Oct 4, 2011 3:16 pm Chris_McElligottPark Note Added: 0015628
Oct 4, 2011 3:16 pm Chris_McElligottPark Note Added: 0015629
Oct 4, 2011 3:20 pm Toll Note Added: 0015631
Oct 4, 2011 3:22 pm Chris_McElligottPark Note Added: 0015632
Oct 4, 2011 3:24 pm Toll Note Added: 0015633
Oct 4, 2011 3:30 pm Chris_McElligottPark Note Added: 0015634
Oct 4, 2011 3:31 pm Chris_McElligottPark Note Added: 0015635
Oct 4, 2011 3:37 pm Toll Note Added: 0015636
Oct 4, 2011 3:38 pm c4sc4 Note Added: 0015637
Oct 4, 2011 3:42 pm Chris_McElligottPark Note Added: 0015638
Oct 4, 2011 3:42 pm c4sc4 Note Added: 0015639
Oct 4, 2011 3:43 pm Chris_McElligottPark Note Added: 0015640
Oct 4, 2011 3:45 pm Toll Note Added: 0015641
Oct 4, 2011 3:47 pm Chris_McElligottPark Note Added: 0015642
Oct 4, 2011 3:49 pm Toll Note Added: 0015643
Oct 4, 2011 3:52 pm Chris_McElligottPark Note Added: 0015644
Oct 4, 2011 9:43 pm BobTheJanitor Note Added: 0015684
Oct 6, 2011 10:30 am Chris_McElligottPark Note Added: 0015887
Oct 6, 2011 10:30 am Chris_McElligottPark Status assigned => feedback
Oct 6, 2011 2:07 pm Toll Note Added: 0015926
Oct 6, 2011 2:19 pm c4sc4 Note Added: 0015929
Oct 6, 2011 2:19 pm c4sc4 Status feedback => assigned
Oct 6, 2011 3:31 pm Chris_McElligottPark Note Added: 0015937
Oct 6, 2011 6:17 pm Toll Note Added: 0015953
Oct 6, 2011 6:35 pm c4sc4 Note Added: 0015956
Oct 6, 2011 6:40 pm Chris_McElligottPark Note Added: 0015960
Oct 6, 2011 6:40 pm Chris_McElligottPark Status assigned => resolved
Oct 6, 2011 6:40 pm Chris_McElligottPark Fixed in Version => 0.519
Oct 6, 2011 6:40 pm Chris_McElligottPark Resolution open => fixed
Apr 14, 2014 9:29 am Chris_McElligottPark Category Bug - Graphical Issue => Graphical Bug