[Steam] [Linux] Top panel visible in fullscreen

[Borsook]

When playing in the fullscreen mode the system panel is visible. I'm using XFCE, but this is the only game displaying this behaviour, so I think the game is at fault.

That said - let me take the opportunity to thank you for the Linux port, this has been such a wonderful surprise!

[Tomislav Uzelac]

Yeah, some window managers do that. To fix, you can add the following launch option: sdl-fullscreen

(to do this, right click on the game in Steam Library, go to Properties -> General -> Set Launch Options)

FYI I'm not enabling this mode by default because sdl-fullscreen mode doesn't alt-tab well.


Cheers!

[Borsook]

Yeah, some window managers do that. To fix, you can add the following launch option: sdl-fullscreen

(to do this, right click on the game in Steam Library, go to Properties -> General -> Set Launch Options)

FYI I'm not enabling this mode by default because sdl-fullscreen mode doesn't alt-tab well.


Cheers!

thanks for a quick response! And you're right, it doesn't alt-tab at all in this mode... btw do you know maybe - is there a switch that allows to disable it for a game that has it enabled by default?

[Spooner]

I've had the same problem with Ubuntu 12.10, both via Steam and downloaded manually. Starting it like that does seem to fix it and yes, no more alt-tab ;( Probably something you need to make clearer to Linux users (rather than the fix being hidden on a forum).

[Spooner]

Oh, I was meaning that if it not uncommonly fails on Linux (e.g. on default Ubuntu installation) it probably warrants an option inside the game. As a aside, I'd expect the command-line option to be "--sdl-fullscreen", not "sdl-fullscreen", in Linux, but it doesn't matter that much.

Great that it actually runs on linux though and well done for being in the first batch of Linux-compatible games on the Steam beta!

[Tomislav Uzelac]

On the default linux install for Steam (this was our target), that is 12.04 with Unity shell, the fullscreen works for me.

Are you saying that it doesn't in 12.10? Are you using gnome-classic perhaps?

[Spooner]

Doubting myself, just checked it again and it worked, but then I remembered I was using sdl-fullscreen

As far as I'm aware Ubuntu 12.10 uses Unity and I certainly haven't messed with the installation to any great degree (It is enough trouble to work to make Linux actually _work_ without worrying about tweaking minor things like getting the "perfect" UI!). UoC, run from the latest Steam beta in full-screen, ignores both the top and left icon bars, when not using sdl-fullscreen (It also might be from that screen you can see that I am not actually using Unity, since I have no clue what window manager I'm actually using other than the one I got handed, which I quite like, so never considered changing).

[Tomislav Uzelac]

Bah, that's too bad. If it's indeed the case that most users need sdl-fullscreen then obviously we should make it the default.

Losing ALT-TAB sucks though.

[Spooner]

I would probably go with an option (and keep it off by default). UoC is pretty light on options, so it isn't like you are over-burdening users. Making it the only option (or the default option) would just annoy all those users, like yourself, who don't have a problem on Linux. Ideally a "Use SDL for fullscreen" checkbox with a tip of "Use this only if full-screen mode still renders window-manager tool-bars, but be aware that it disables alt-tab functionality". Should be pretty clear?

Since you only allow native-resolution full-screen, perhaps a full-screen, borderless window, rather than traditional full-screen switching might be better option, for all OSes in fact? Makes alt-tab instant and safe, though I suppose it might be considered slightly more resource-hungry.

EDIT: Actually, maybe you are using a borderless window normally, because I'm sure it was full-screen size, because I could see bits of it poking into other window-spaces in my desktop-switcher. All beyond me...

[Tomislav Uzelac]

a full-screen, borderless window

That's precisely what we're using on both Linux and Mac (10.7+ only I think, don't sue me). It's just that the window manager sometimes decides not to position the window at (0, 0)

Normal SDL fullscreen ALT-TABs beautifully on Windows provided you use the GDI video driver, so we force that and we haven't had issues there at all.