Immediately minimizing to desktop

NeatNit · #1 08-02-2010, 09:10 AM

http://forums.steampowered.com/forum....php?t=1331757

When I start the game, it immediately minimizes to desktop. If I'm lucky I can hear some of the intro videos' sounds.

I have not tried playing with DXWnd because it sucks ass. I managed to move the window (somehow) the first time I tried it and then it went from bad to worse. It's just not good. Besides, I like playing stuff like this in fullscreen :P

Anyway, the same thing happens with the demo I downloaded from here, and:

:

Minimum requirements: Pentium-120, Windows 95, 16MB RAM, DirectX drivers.
This demo is not compatible with Windows XP. There is no Macintosh version for this game.

So I'm kind of not sure if the version I have it supposed to work on XP or not..? I mean, it says it is on the Steam Store page ("Supported OS: A 100% Windows 2000/XP-compatible computer system (only)"), but it has the exact same problem as a version that clearly says it doesn't.

I'm using Windows XP Home Edition (32-bit)
Graphics card: Radeon HD 4850
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ 2.40GHz (copied from the Device Manager :P)

I've tried setting Oddworld to one core but it doesn't change anything.

Please help, or at least tell me where else to go for help. Thanks!

Paul · #2 08-02-2010, 10:32 AM

Stupid question, if its minimized then just restore it? Or by "minimizes" do you mean exits/crashes?

NeatNit · #3 08-02-2010, 11:05 AM

Sorry I wasn't clear. Every time I restore it it minimizes again immediately. The only way to exit it is either through Task Manager or by pressing Alt+F4 after trying to open it (right-clicking on it in the taskbar doesn't bring up a menu).

I've tried using Windows 95 Compatability Mode because I saw somewhere googling around that it works, but Steam doesn't allow it and apparently (unlike many other Steam games) the Steam version of Oddworld is tied with Steam and cannot launch without it. (When I open it through the EXE, Steam says "Preparing to launch Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee" (or Exoddus))

Paul · #4 08-02-2010, 01:32 PM

Sounds extremely dodgey to me, you must have some other software running that buggers it up?

NeatNit · #5 08-02-2010, 04:57 PM

Hmm... Perhaps. Although as you can see in the first link in the OP (to the Steam forums), I'm not the only one.

I will try a clean boot and see if it still happens. If it doesn't, I'll try to track it down, I promise I'll post the results!

NeatNit · #6 08-02-2010, 06:19 PM

Well, this is interesting.

I booted clean (in case you don't know, it basically means starting the OS without any other application running) and then started Steam and Abe's Oddysee along with it. It worked, I could see the intro, quit it and exited and started a normal boot.

I wanted to start trying to find the faulty program. I started Abe's Oddysee and expected it to minimize. It didn't.

The strange thing is that I've already tried restarting, so there must have been something about that clean boot that fixed it. I have no idea what. I didn't change anything that I know of.

If I find out anything else I'll let you know!

Paul · #7 08-03-2010, 11:01 AM

It does suggest some rouge app was interfering in some way..

mlg man · #8 08-03-2010, 11:03 PM

Try exiting Catalyst(Your Graphics Program)

NeatNit · #9 08-04-2010, 01:41 PM

If I wasn't clear in my last post, I fixed it, but I have no idea how. It just worked. CCC is still running, and everything I know of is still running. If the bug comes back, I'll try to experiment and figure this out.

NeatNit · #10 08-05-2010, 11:06 AM

UPDATE

It's PunkBuster!!

I didn't even know I had it installed, but looking through my processes I saw it (IIRC it was PunkBstrA.exe or something like that) and Oddworld worked once again!
Needless to mention the problem came back before I did that.