Game Display mode constantly starting in Fullscreen only

[Swarn_Lord39]

So, last few days, I've been attempting to play Stellaris while having a video running on my second monitor. Since I sometimes need to pause it, I prefer playing in Fullscreen Borderless. However, no matter what I do, it seems Stellaris is only starting in Fullscreen. I change the setting before quitting to restart it, I check the settings in the launcher, I make sure the game is selected and nothing else is touched all the way to start up, I use both Resume and Play from the launcher... But it almost always comes up Fullscreen, and I can't tell if I'm doing anything different the times it comes up Fullscreen Borderless.

 

[Swarn_Lord39]

Okay, slight update: Potentially switching the display mode to something else than back to Fullscreen Borderless in the launcher might be what it allowing it to be fixed. But the fact that the launcher says it's on Fullscreen Borderless at the start but doesn't load up that way is still a problem.

 

[AndrewT]

The launcher records that setting in pdx_settings.txt , then th egame writes it into settings.txt when it runs. Are both files successfully updated when yoiu make a change there?

And how are you determining whether the game is in fullScreen or borderless?

 

[Swarn_Lord39]

I'm opening the game and, once it's loaded, I am selecting off of the screen as well as opening the settings and checking it. In fullscreen, when I select anything from my second monitor, the game minimizes. If it's on Fullscreen Borderless, it stays up. And, every time it minimizes like that, when I open settings, it says it is on Fullscreen. I change it, save the settings, and quit the game to restart. And unless I do that flip in the launcher, it still opens on Fullscreen instead of borderless.

As for the settings files, I don't know if they are updating properly or not. I haven't touched them myself, though, so I don't know why they wouldn't do it now when I haven't had a problem like this before.

 

[AndrewT]

Me either, to be honest. Anyway can we check if they are updating successfully please?

 

[Swarn_Lord39]

I'm so sorry it took me so long to get back to this. I just checked, and my pdx_settings.txt said fullscreen, not fullscreen borderless when I opened it up. That is despite that I last played after managing to get it to fullscreen borderless. I did the switch in the launcher and it updated, but all that tells me is that something is making it switch back to fullscreen either when I exit the game or when I first pull up the launcher.

settings.txt is currently sitting at
fullScreen=no
borderless=yes
without me going into the game. I think that's supposed to be fullscreen borderless, right?

 

[Swarn_Lord39]

Okay, confirming that: When I opened up the launcher again, it updated my pdx_settings.txt and set the display_mode back to value="fullscreen" as it was loading the launcher.

 

[AndrewT]

So settings.txt is updating but not pdx_settings.txt , is that right?

What if you manually edit the two files?

And what antivirus app do you use? Add stellaris.exe to the exceptions list of your antivirus app; ESPECIALLY if you have Windows Defender, add it to the Ransomware "Apps Allowed Through" list. You should add steam.exe and C:/users/<UserName>/AppData/Local/Programs/Paradox Interactive/launcher-v2.2021.6/paradox launcher.exe to that list.

 

[Swarn_Lord39]

No, they are both updating. The problem seems to be that pdx_settings.txt is updating back to fullscreen whenever I open the launcher, regardless of what the setting was after I started the game. It saves the updated setting if I switch it in the launcher or in the game, but resets the moment I open the launcher again.

 

[AndrewT]

What antivirus app do you use? Add stellaris.exe to the exceptions list of your antivirus app; ESPECIALLY if you have Windows Defender, add it to the Ransomware "Apps Allowed Through" list. You should add steam.exe and C:/users/<UserName>/AppData/Local/Programs/Paradox Interactive/launcher-v2.2021.6/paradox launcher.exe to that list.

 

[Swarn_Lord39]

I use MalwareBytes, but that isn't the issue. The file has no trouble updating. When I change the setting, it changes in both files just fine, and stays saved. But when I launch Stellaris and the Paradox Launcher starts, it updates pdx_settings.txt from whatever my display settings are to Fullscreen. I opened the file, confirmed it was on Fullscreen Borderless before opening the Launcher, then opened the Launcher and watched the folder. The file updated the moment the Launcher started and when I opened the file again, it was set to Fullscreen.

Effectively: Opening the game resets my Display Mode.

 

[AndrewT]

I don't know what could possibly cause that. It's not a general problem.

Was there a Windows, AV app, or other update that applied just before the first time it happened?


I guess we may as well try full **clean** re-install:

- move any valued save games elsewhere, and user_empire_designs.txt from /Documents/Paradox Interactive/Stellaris/ if you have made any custom empires or races.
- "uninstall" in Steam-Stellaris
- manually delete both the Steam/SteamApps/common/Stellaris AND Documents/Paradox Interactive/Stellaris folders
- re-install game in Steam, run a Steam Verify when done.
- add stellaris.exe to the exceptions list of your antivirus app; ESPECIALLY if you have Windows Defender, add it to the Ransomware "Apps Allowed Through" list.
- start the game with no mods active and test

In particular you need to make sure there are no files or folders left under either the Steam Stellaris or Documents Stellaris locations, before installing again.

 

[Weltraumpraesident]

I don't know what could possibly cause that. It's not a general problem.

Was there a Windows, AV app, or other update that applied just before the first time it happened?


I guess we may as well try full **clean** re-install:

- move any valued save games elsewhere, and user_empire_designs.txt from /Documents/Paradox Interactive/Stellaris/ if you have made any custom empires or races.
- "uninstall" in Steam-Stellaris
- manually delete both the Steam/SteamApps/common/Stellaris AND Documents/Paradox Interactive/Stellaris folders
- re-install game in Steam, run a Steam Verify when done.
- add stellaris.exe to the exceptions list of your antivirus app; ESPECIALLY if you have Windows Defender, add it to the Ransomware "Apps Allowed Through" list.
- start the game with no mods active and test

In particular you need to make sure there are no files or folders left under either the Steam Stellaris or Documents Stellaris locations, before installing again.

These steps did only work for the first launch of the game.

EDIT:

When launching game via the .exe in Steam/SteamApps/common/Stellaris it "works" and starts the game in borderless window mode. When using the launcher, it keeps "resetting" to fullscreen mode.

 

[AndrewT]

Are you on launcher 2021.6 or the beta 2021.7? I'm starting to see similar reports with the beta in other games.

 

[jordanmyte]

What works for me is manually setting the pdx settings file how I want. (for example borderless fullscreen.) Then going to the pdx setting file and setting it as read only. That way the launcher cant keep changing it. now my game launches borderless even if I try changing it to fullscreen in the launcher.

 

[AndrewT]

Are you on launcher 2021.6 or the beta 2021.7?

 

[jordanmyte]

i am currently using launcher beta 2021.7-rc.2

 

[AndrewT]

That is what seems to cause this problem. Please opt out of that beta, back to the standard 2021.6 version. Thanks.

 

[DanoShanter]

So, last few days, I've been attempting to play Stellaris while having a video running on my second monitor. Since I sometimes need to pause it, I prefer playing in Fullscreen Borderless. However, no matter what I do, it seems Stellaris is only starting in Fullscreen. I change the setting before quitting to restart it, I check the settings in the launcher, I make sure the game is selected and nothing else is touched all the way to start up, I use both Resume and Play from the launcher... But it almost always comes up Fullscreen, and I can't tell if I'm doing anything different the times it comes up Fullscreen Borderless.

I know this is a bit of an old thread but I wanted to share this in case it helps someone with a similar issue. I downloaded the game about two weeks ago ... tried it first from GOG Galaxy but that kept crashing so I went to the Paradox Launcher and that worked except for the same sort of thing .. no matter what I set the game to, Fullscreen Borderless, Fullscreen, or Windowed, it kept coming up on one of the Fullscreen settings (only have one monitor so didn't know how to check that) with a little bit of the right hand part of the game area off my monitor when I clicked some tabs so I couldn't access some of the commands. However, when I changed the screen resolution to, I think, 1280 x 7hundred-whatever just now and set it to Windowed mode, it opened up in Windowed, but not filling my monitor vertically; tried 1280x975 next, and it worked just fine windowed. Going back now to try and see if I can test it for the other two