A very specific problem

[MatterBeam]

Edit: KSP now runs with maximum UAC rights. The programs I was using to try and it send it to the system tray were run with lesser rights.

1.0 works great. Uses 1.2Gb RAM at startup, great FPS and so on. No problems to report ingame.

However, I have a problem when trying to minimize the game to the system tray.

You see the date and time on the bottom right of your screen? There are a few icons next to it. Most people have the battery/power on their laptop, wifi bars, a spinning Avast icon... this is the System Tray.

I use Iconize 2.0.0.4 to add running programs to the toolbar. Most extensively, I use it for Google Chrome. Right click on Iconize, select Google Chrome and it minimizes to a tiny Chrome logo you can double click to restore.

KSP 0.90 allowed me to do the same. Switch to the Desktop or a non-fullscreen application, right click on Iconize and select KSP to store it away as a tiny icon on the bottom right toolbar. Other applications, such as Alien: Isolation, World of Tanks, Mechwarrior:Online all can be minimized this way.

However, a few applications don't. They briefly appear as icons in the System Tray, then reappear in their regular minimized forms (large Icon + title in Taskbar at the bottom of the screen).

KSP 1.0 is one of them now. It doesn't stay in the system tray anymore. It 'iconizes' for a brief second before restoring itself to the taskbar.

Is there any solution to this?

Edited May 1, 2015 by TruthQuark

[Harry Rhodan]

Is there any solution to this?

Have you tried starting it with the option -popupwindow?

[MatterBeam]

Have you tried starting it with the option -popupwindow?

No that didn't work

Minimizing from fullscreen had no effect. Minimizing from windowed only removed the borders to create a borderless window (borders could be restored from system tray).

[MatterBeam]

Anyone?

[MatterBeam]

Please?

[sal_vager]

I don't think this is possible to fix, anything as low level as how the game interacts with the operating system would be handled by the Unity engine, though it's probably just a setting in iconify somewhere.

[tetryds]

Yes, there is a fix for this.

Turn on true fullscreen mode.

Your game will not run on the background anymore, and the screen will flash when you alt+tab, BUT you get around +20 fps and all window issues fixed.

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/114935-KSP-1-00-and-0-90-win-32bit-true-exclusive-fullscreen-shadowplay-and-gsync-solution

[MatterBeam]

I don't think this is possible to fix, anything as low level as how the game interacts with the operating system would be handled by the Unity engine, though it's probably just a setting in iconify somewhere.

Most system try minimization programs have zero options or settings.

Yes, there is a fix for this.

Turn on true fullscreen mode.

Your game will not run on the background anymore, and the screen will flash when you alt+tab, BUT you get around +20 fps and all window issues fixed.

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/114935-KSP-1-00-and-0-90-win-32bit-true-exclusive-fullscreen-shadowplay-and-gsync-solution

Here's a screenshot of the 109C hexadecimal position:

As you can see, it is already 00.

Ingame settings have Fullscreen ON and Background processing OFF.

[sal_vager]

I think you're going to have to live with a taskbar entry rather than an icon, sorry, Squad don't do anything with KSP at this level, it's all handled by the Unity3D engine and if a Unity update breaks compatibility with Iconize and similar programs, you're best option is to file a bug report on the Unity tracker.

[tetryds]

Most system try minimization programs have zero options or settings.

Here's a screenshot of the 109C hexadecimal position:

http://i.imgur.com/LM3LW5v.png

As you can see, it is already 00.

Ingame settings have Fullscreen ON and Background processing OFF.

That is the wrong one, you must make 00 that 01 on the left of where you selected, on the same line (1098).

That will fix the issue.

[MatterBeam]

That is the wrong one, you must make 00 that 01 on the left of where you selected, on the same line (1098).

That will fix the issue.

I will return with results.

[MatterBeam]

All that did was start the game in fullscreen.

I went ahead and tested about 15 different programs. These include 4tray, MagicBossKey, WindowHider, PanicButton...

Every single application and window I have operate correctly with these programs, including those up to 4 years old (made for Windows 7).

I tested KSP 0.90 and it was compatible with those same programs.

KSP 1.0 is just special however, and refuses to go to the system tray or be hidden under any circumstances.

Any idea why this might be?

[sal_vager]

Well, 0.90.0 used Unity engine 4.5.5f1, while 1.0 uses Unity engine 4.6.4f1, so at some point whatever those programs need to do their work was broken.

There's no issues on the Unity tracker for system trays or any of the programs you listed.

Squad do want to switch to Unity5 later, but there is no guarantee that this issue would be resolved by the change especially if no issue has been logged with Unity.

Your best option is to file this as a bug on the Unity tracker so the Unity developers are aware.

------------

I'm going to add to this.

There's many, many players of KSP, on many different systems, and it's not possible to test for every eventuality, there's only finite resources available (time, man hours, developers, systems to test on, testers to test with) so Squad, indeed any games developer has to manage these resources carefully.

There's only so much they can do, so many things they can test and so much they can address, resources spent on one area is not available elsewhere.

And everyone has a pet peeve with the game, with any game, for myself I would like the down arrow on the navball changed to an up arrow when the navball is hidden, but this is such a small thing, I think no one notices it but me.

And I have no misconceptions though, this is not getting fixed, ever.

It's too minor, it doesn't break anything in KSP, people can live with it.

The issue is slightly different with compatibility with other software, obviously KSP has to be compatible with the operating system, graphics drivers, sound drivers, controllers, but all this is handled by Unity and the Unity3D game engine, where Squad code has broken compatibility with any of these it is a high priority to fix, if Unity updates break compatibility, well, we're all out of luck including the devs as Unity is proprietary software and even if the source was available, licensing does not allow for modification or fixes.

Most other 3rd party software is not even considered, not even Steam broadcasting which had a mouse bug with KSP for a while, completely unfixable by either Squad or Unity as it was an issue with how the Valve software worked with Unity games.

Anything less than that, well, you're out of luck, it's a case of wait and hope Unity fixes it or the 3rd party fixes it, it's not something Squad can address.

So unfortunately, as annoying as this issue may be, it's something that really doesn't effect KSP or your ability to play the game, all it does is make your taskbar look different to how you'd prefer.

Maybe Unity5 will fix it, but only if the Unity devs know of it and if they can spare the resources, while there's so many other things that do actually break games.

Edited April 30, 2015 by sal_vager

[MatterBeam]

Well thank you sal_vager. I'll go support a ticket to Unity, maybe try getting an answer from their forums. I'll return if I have any results/fixes.

PS: What's the response time on Unity Tracker like?

[sal_vager]

I honestly don't know, the only times I look are when there's issues like this, and I can't run the Unity editor so never needed to file an issue

[MatterBeam]

I've submitted on Unity Answers and on Unity forum.

But, please, just to make sure, could you (or anyone following this thread) try applying RBTray or Iconize 2.0 or TrayIt! To their KSP game? I need to make sure this isn't a problem specific to my install.

[sal_vager]

I can't, I use Linux, and I'll be honest but those programs look sketchy as hell.

Someone else may try though.

[MatterBeam]

I found and fixed the problem.

The latest version of KSP runs at the highest level of User Account Control rights. The programs I was trying to use to send it to the system tray were running under lesser rights, so could not affect it.

The problem was fixed by running said programs with Administrator rights.

[sal_vager]

Alright, I'll admit I'd never have thought of this, in my Windows experience with XP and a little Vista I either ran as admin all the time (dangerous) or got fed up with UAC (annoying).

I'm glad you figured how to fix this, and I'm sorry I was so dismissive.