NWN 1.69 + Vista: Can't Alt-Tab from game, can't play when I return to game

[Legacy_MrZork]

               This sounds like it's probably a common problem, but I didn't see it via Google search or hunting through the tech help section of the (recently) old NWN forums. NWN was working pretty well for me since I started playing last year and then last week I began having this problem that is proving to be quite annoying.

Symptoms
1. Alt-Tabbing from the game. I have no trouble starting the game, typically simply double-clicking the NWN Diamond desktop shortcut and clicking Play. While playing the game, when I hit Alt-Tab to switch back to another program, the screen goes black and nothing shows up. Hitting Alt-Tab again does not take me from the blank screen. Sometimes, hitting Shift-Alt-Tab will return me to the game, but doesn't return me to Windows or to another open app. To leave the game, I have to hit Ctrl-Alt-Del and then cancel (or open the Task Manager or whatever) and I will be returned to Windows. This happens without fail.

2. Returning to the game from Windows. After having left the game that way, when I try and return to the game, either via Alt-Tab or by clicking the NWN item in the Windows task bar, there is often a problem where I "sort of" return to the game, but I can't do anything there. By that I mean that I end up looking at what looks like the game and the mouse pointer is there, but I can't click on anything (to move, attack, right-click for radial menu, etc.) and none of the keyboard commands do anything. The mouse pointer doesn't change if I mouse over game objects (enemies, henchmen, usable objects, etc.) as it usually would and none of the on-screen menus respond.

(Incomplete context switch?)
I get the impression that the PC has switched back to full-screen mode and repainted the game, but the game isn't getting any of the user inputs. That impression is furthered by the fact that, sometimes, there is an intermediate stage where trying to return to the game results in the game displayed basically as it was when I left it, but the Windows task bar is still visible at the bottom. When I click on something in the game or on the game's item in the taskbar, it shifts to the mode just described above where it looks like the game is running (no task bar, etc.) but I can't interact with the game. This happens inconsistently, meaning that sometimes I can return to the game and all is well. But, the majority of the time, it takes several tries to get back to the game and, on several occasions, it has taken so many tries that I just killed the game (using the Task Manager) and restarted.

My PC is essentially the same as when things worked well
The odd thing is that I haven't played in a little while (maybe a month or two), but I haven't changed/added much on my PC (though I did install the DA:O Character Creator so that I could upload an avatar to these new forums). I know that I haven't changed NWN since I last played and things were working well.

What I have already tried
I saw some hints on other threads I searched, but none have panned out so far. I have tried hitting the Alt key again or holding it for a longer time. I have tried multiple Alt-Tabs. (As mentioned, sometimes hitting Shift-Alt-Tab after the initial Alt-Tab-to-blank-screen brings me back to the game.) So far, I haven't had any luck. I tried changing the Windows compatibility settings to Windows XP SP2 for nwn.exe and nwmain.exe. I tried starting the game by using either of those programs. I tried starting by running either of those as administrator. I tried lowering the graphics settings (e.g. textures lowered to medium, etc.). No luck with any of that.

No issue with game movies
FWIW, although I ran across many threads about this, I don't think I am having any trouble with the game movies. That is, if I let all the splash screens play (instead of just Esc-aping out of them), I can watch the whole Nasher-versus-the-minotaur movie without trouble. My only trouble seems to be with the context switches.

Help! Any ideas?
Ultimately, it's really the second symptom above that is frustrating, since I can reliably get back to Windows with a combination of Alt-Tab and C-A-D, but it is tedious and inconsistent to try and return to the game. I would appreciate any wisdom others may have. And, of course, if this problem was already addressed elsewhere and I missed it, a link to the previous thread or resolution would be helpful.

System Info
BTW, this is running NWN + the 1.69 patch under Windows Vista SP1. The PC is running an Intel core i7 920 CPU 6GB RAM with an ATI Radeon HD 4890 card w/ 1GB at 1920x1200 (for the game and normal Windows apps). Catalyst version 10.1, Driver Version 8.14.01.6091. DXDiag says that I am running DirectX 10. (I could post more DXDiag stuff if it would be helpful.)

[EDIT: For some reason, my original post had a bunch of formatting junk added, so I tried to clean it up.]
               
               

               

                     Modifié par MrZork, 20 juillet 2010 - 02:18 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_The Amethyst Dragon]

               I use Vista on my laptop and sometimes have a similar problem, especially when working in the toolset and doing an F9 to test.



I have added the option in one of my NWN .ini files (I don't remember off-hand which one) to allow the game to be run in 800x600 "windowed" mode.  I can switch in and out of this doing an Alt+Enter.  Usually, switching between windowed and fullscreen mode once or twice properly "refocuses" my computer back on the NWN game so I can go on my way playing or testing.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_The Masked Rog]

               I've always had this problem and I found out how to solve it (at least it seems to work all the time). When alt-tabbing back to the game, if you find it to be unresponsive prease Alt+F4 (I know, this is often used as a practical joke, but trust me here). When it asks you wether you would like to live the game Press No (your mouse should be active again). Voila, play as normal.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_pkpeachykeen]

               There are a few bugs and features that are competing to make this happen.



First off, Neverwinter Nights fights very hard not to lose focus for its main render window in fullscreen mode. That's because when it does lose focus, it has partial resource-reloading code and often has to completely restart the game (all games do, really, but NWN handles it differently from most others). Because of some of the bugs in the reloading code, it seems the developers added code so it tries not to be switched away from. That works in most cases, but combined with Vista/7 and a pixel-shaded desktop (desktop composition and Aero), it tends to have some interesting and unpleasant effects.



To actually just "fix" it, the best way is to run it at a windowed resolution the same as your desktop, or close. Being in windowed mode means it doesn't have to reload anything when you alt+tab out. Disable desktop composition and run in basic style mode while NWN is running.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_MrZork]

               Thanks for your suggestions. I think the workaround The Masked Rog made may be the most functional for me, since my biggest problem is the inconsistency in getting back into the game. It's still annoying that the game worked fine before and now it's gone flaky, this makes it consistently playable. I will check into running in windowed mode as well.



I'd still love to hear other ideas, of course. Particularly if anyone has a notion as to what conflict may have been introduced that started this problem when it didn't occur before.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Gorath Alpha]

               This is a semi-universal habit of many games, particularly single-player games.

All that is required is to use the game's own controls to reach a neutral screen, such as the SAVE menu.  Allow the menu to load, and you can minimize to your heart's content without having the game go unstable on you.  

That particular fix is also a universal one.