Witcher 3 keeps minimizing itself when I start it. (Fullscreen)

[Funchal99]

Witcher 3 keeps minimizing itself when I start it. (Fullscreen)

So, I recently got a new rig and purchased The Witcher 3 season pass, getting the GOTY edition on my GOG library. Been playing for some weeks perfectly and now, out of nowhere, this issue described in the thread's name happens.

I looked it up and apparently this is due to some app stealing focus, but what I find weird is that it's only happening to Witcher 3, with all other games working perfectly fine in fullscreen. As soon as the game starts, it minimizes itself and if I click on the icon to bring the window back up, it quickly minimizes itself again. I don't recall installing anything else and a look at the program's installed reveal nothing new that wasn't already there when I played it without issues. I found out I'm able to play in borderless mode just fine, but I'd still prefer to keep it fullscreen and I'd like to find out the reason for this sudden problem.

I did some more research and apps meant to find programs stealing focus either don't work or don't reveal nothing of note (one particular little tool I found here http://www.happydroid.com/focus says that there's no "no foreground application" everytime I try to bring Witcher 3's window back up).

The game is clearly working fine, but for some reason Windows won't let me keep it's window open unless it's borderless.

The only thing I know I did was update Nvidia's drivers, could that be related to the problem? I'm running the game on a GTX 1060 6GB, on Windows 10 from an SSD.

I guess I could get used to borderless, but I'd sure appreciate any help.

EDIT: Oh yeah, also, I don't use GOG Galaxy.

 

[Funchal99]

Okay, so I tried to re-install it, no dice. Full screen still minimizes itself. I'm seriously at a loss of what to do. I used a PS4 controller to play I Am Sestsuna (through Steam, therefore not using any third party program). Could that somehow be the issue? I also installed some Adobe programs (Premiere, After Effects and Photoshop), could something associated to that be behind it as well?

Anyone?

EDIT: Okay, so I found out that my monitor overcloked (even though the box said it featured this frequency in the first place) to 75hz was the problem, even though I have been playing with it overclocked ever since. So, does anyone know why that is and how I can go back to playing it on 75hz?

 

[iCake]

That's curious indeed. Can your hardware pull off near constant 75Hz? If it can't, then it might be better to stick with 60Hz.

Anyway, is 75Hz set up in Windows? Is in-game fps limiter set to unlimited or 75? Do you have v-sync enabled, if so is it set up through N-Vidia drivers or in-game settings?

Also, are there any signs of your monitor overheating at 75Hz?

 

[Funchal99]

I believe my hardware can handle it at 75hz, at least there have been no problems so far, aside from Witcher 3. There's no sign of the monitor overheating and I can play Deus Ex: Makind Divided set to 75hz refresh rate with v-synch off and there's not a single screen tear in sight. Also, site's that test it confirm I have a steady 75hz refresh rate.

I have v-sync enabled through nvidia's drivers for Witcher 3, but until recently I was using the in-game option (I tried changing it to nvidia driver's only to see if that was the issue, but to no avail). The in-game fps limiter is set to unlimited, as it has always been. Windows is set up at 75hz once I do it through Nvidia control panel, but only by ticking the "show frequencies not handled by this computer", which is definetly weird (again, my AOC monitor's box boasted about handling 75hz). All of this leads me to believe this is somehow a problem with Witcher 3 specifically, as all other games work perfectly, Deus Ex specifically not even needing any v-sync once I set up the refresh rate.

 

[iCake]

Well, at this point I can only assume that it's your GPU having a hard time there and going too hot. Please, monitor your GPU loads and temperatures to see if it has any bearing on the issue, does it seem to coincide with high temps and/or GPU load I mean. Stuff like that. Also try "prefer max performance" power consumption mode in NVCP.

 

[Funchal99]

No, can't be. This is a brand new GTX 1060 which runs the game like a charm with everything maxed out. As I said, Deus Ex and all the other games run fine. It's a problem with Witcher 3 specifically. I could keep on switching the refresh rates to play fullscreen or play borderless, but that would be obviously far from ideal.

 

[iCake]

Every game or rather engine stresses GPU differently, so saying "all the other games run fine" doesn't hold that much water as you might think. This is also the first time I ever hear about this issue so unless it's some extremely rare glitch, I highly doubt the game is actually at fault. I advise you to test if its overheating, it'll do no harm and the GPU temperatures depend on much more than just it being new or old. At best, you'll find the cuprit, at worst you'll waste some time but will also rule out one of the possible reasons for your problem. It's up to you if you want to bother with this though.

You can also try to roll back your GPU driver since you said it was working fine before the update. Check your PC for any malware/viruses as it can still be indeed a "focus" problem or/and disable all the services save for Microsoft ones and see if this helps.

 

[Funchal99]

I get what you're saying, however I actually found the "solution" about the whole "refresh rate debacle" here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/29203...8257883/?ctp=2
You can also find quite a few other threads on Steam and some on GOG about the issue, though it's rarely solved (sometimes, it's revealed to be a program stealing focus from the game, but again, all other games don't get their focus stolen in my case and I can play it on borderless without it minimizing itself).

Here's the post that actually made me realize the refresh rate was a problem: "Just wanted to post in case anyone else was still having this problem. I got about 95 hours in on Witcher 3 before experiencing this issue. Cannot pinpoint what caused it to begin, but I had been overclocking my monitor (HP 2711x / 1080p) to 65 Hertz. Dropping back down allowed me to play again... even though I had played all that time with the overclock in place. I actually tried the user settings fixes previously posted, and they did nothing for me, but dropping back down to 60 Hertz fixed it. Hope this helps anyone!"
This guy had literally the same problem as me. Unless both our GPU's were overheating or something, I'd say it's rather safe to say this is some sort of bug or compatibility error. Though I'm not sure if CD Projekt Red would be willing to look into it this late after release.