Which are windowed? Why not all?
| Author | Topic: Which are windowed? Why not all? |
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Apprentice
Member # 6928
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written Saturday, March 18 2006 05:39
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First time poster long time reader. After playing a demo here and there over the years of Spiderweb games (an Exile here, a Geneforge there), I was in the mood for some more extended playing and was thinking of buying one of the newer ones, like G3 or A4. Much to my dismay both of those, as well as Blades which I also tried, all forced themselves into full screen mode. I am constantly working or chatting on the desktop and absolutely cannot have a game be fullscreen. Is there a reason why it must be set to a specific resolution and color depth? I could have sworn at least one of the older games did allow you to run it windowed. Do any Spiderweb games currently allow this? I'd probably just go with one of the older ones if it did allow you to run it in windowed mode. And, any chance all of these can be made windowed in the future? If not, why? Many thanks in advance. Posts: 3 | Registered: Saturday, March 18 2006 08:00 |
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Apprentice
Member # 5573
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written Saturday, March 18 2006 05:51
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If you go into the game, press Ctrl + Esc you will the be back on your desktop. Then right click on the window in the task bar. There should be an option to Restore. If that dosen't work, I'm out of guesses. Posts: 24 | Registered: Friday, March 4 2005 08:00 |
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Warrior
Member # 6234
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written Saturday, March 18 2006 06:12
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Ctrl + Esc can have nasty side effects on some games, like a flickering or a total black screen after switching back to the game, so be a bit careful with it. I don't know about Spiderweb games, which have side effects considering Ctrl Esc, but be a bit careful. It's frustrating to get very far in a game, and then lose that, because it's malfunctioning because of switching to your desktop and back. -------------------- There are 400 words in the dictionary that begin with "self" and only 8 that begin with "fellow". When in doubt. . . mumble. Posts: 150 | Registered: Saturday, August 20 2005 07:00 |
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Apprentice
Member # 6928
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written Saturday, March 18 2006 06:21
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Alt Tab and Ctrl Esc both work to get me to desktop and I can resume game and let it take fullscreen again but it still doesn't solve my problem of wanting the game open in a window while also letting me see other things on the screen at the same time (email, chat, etc). I do notice all of the games so far are taking 99% of CPU load (if I switch back to desktop). Are none of the older games run in windowed mode? I could have sworn a few were (just didn't want to download every single demo to find which ones did). Posts: 3 | Registered: Saturday, March 18 2006 08:00 |
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Councilor
Member # 6600
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written Saturday, March 18 2006 06:50
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I know that the Avernum Trilogy has an option to run in windowed mode. Not sure about what else. Dikiyoba. Posts: 4346 | Registered: Friday, December 23 2005 08:00 |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Saturday, March 18 2006 06:52
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All of the Exile games, including Blades of Exile, ran in windowed modes on macs. I'm not sure about PCs. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
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Shake Before Using
Member # 75
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written Saturday, March 18 2006 06:58
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I know all of the Exile games can run in a window on PCs, as can all Avernum games except Avernum 4. Posts: 3234 | Registered: Thursday, October 4 2001 07:00 |
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Warrior
Member # 6401
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written Saturday, March 18 2006 07:06
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This is what I do on Windows (only tried it with A1 and A2): Start game. Start game a second time. Quit one game. The remaining game is now smaller, and in the top left hand corner of the screen. Then you can press escape and go to preferences, click on 'Avernum takes up whole screen' (which it will do), then go back to to preferences and unclick it. The game is now smaller than the screen and in the centre, so you can easily click between windows. -------------------- I think this is really wonderful. Posts: 147 | Registered: Tuesday, October 18 2005 07:00 |
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Off With Their Heads
Member # 4045
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written Saturday, March 18 2006 10:23
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I always run BoA in a window. GF1-3 and A4 are the only games that don't allow running in a window, and because of extensive complaining, Jeff has made A4 more friendly towards running in the background. -------------------- Arancaytar: Every time you ask people to compare TM and Kel, you endanger the poor, fluffy kittens. Smoo: Get ready to face the walls! Ephesos: In conclusion, yarr. Kelandon's Pink and Pretty Page!!: the authorized location for all things by me The Archive of all released BoE scenarios ever Posts: 7968 | Registered: Saturday, February 28 2004 08:00 |
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Shaper
Member # 73
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written Saturday, March 18 2006 11:42
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Nethergate is a windowed game as well. It tells you that it runs best in 800x600 screen resolution, and I suppose it does look better that way, but it runs perfectly fine in 1024x768 resolution. -------------------- My Myspace, with some of my audial and visual art The Lyceum - The Headquarters of the Blades designing community The Louvre - The Blades of Avernum graphics database Alexandria - The Blades of Exile Scenario database BoE Webring - Self explanatory Polaris - Free porn here Odd Todd - Fun for the unemployed (and everyone else too) They Might Be Giants - Four websites for one of the greatest bands in existance -------------------- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Posts: 2957 | Registered: Thursday, October 4 2001 07:00 |
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Apprentice
Member # 6928
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written Saturday, March 18 2006 23:12
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Many thanks... Took me a while to see BoA could run in a window (have to be running a scenario to get access to preferences, can't do it from main menu). And those older Avernum's are just plain great so that's a lot of adventuring right there. Too bad all of the GF's are forced fullscreen. :( Seems like the newer games should have more options and features but the reverse is proving to be true? Has there been any mention of the 4 forced fullscreeners allowing windowed mode in a future patch? Thanks again! Posts: 3 | Registered: Saturday, March 18 2006 08:00 |
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Law Bringer
Member # 6489
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written Sunday, March 19 2006 12:06
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It would be a nice feature, but I doubt it. That's why I like my dual-monitor system. I can play games on one screen and have my browser and chat window up on the other. :cool: -------------------- "You're drinking liquor because you're thirsty? How nasty is your freaking water?" —Lazarus Spiderweb Chat Room Avernum RP • Summaries • OoC • Roster Shadow Vale - My site, home of the Spiderweb Chat Database, BoA Scenario Database, & the A1 Quest List, among other things. Posts: 1556 | Registered: Sunday, November 20 2005 08:00 |