I tried to screencapture/record todays game (dancing grace) to clarify a post I made on the GGOTD page but both "normal prtscn and jet screenshot failed at screencapture and both wondershare democreator and camtasia failed to record the game. Anyone know of an application that captures games from bigfish, alawar and those alike?
screen capturing alawar games?
(10 posts) (5 voices)-
Whiterabbit-uk
Games GuruI was able to capture screenshots using Capture wiz Pro and win 7's own snipping tool though it has to be done in windowed mode. When trying to capture in full screen I get a black screen.
Posted 12 years ago # -
mikiem2
ModeratorSometimes I've found like many other people that the easiest way to capture images or video is to use something other than the PC/laptop itself. It's often less time/hassle to just take a picture or video of the screen with a camera, cell, tablet etc., & if the problem concerns the display, that may be the only way to show or capture it. Another possibility, though it may be of more interest to video enthusiasts, is to record the screen with a DVD Recorder, DVR, etc. -- if you already have whatever to record video, connecting your PC/laptop display output might be trivial.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Mavadelo
MemberThanks for the replies
Yes rabbit, taking screenshots or record it while in windowed mode works fine for me too, however my comment on the GGOTD was addressing a specific full screen issue (posted under NoName) being full screen image stretch (or rather the lack there off.mikiem2, maybe I understand you wrong, I already said Democreator and camtasia failed in capturing, are you talking about an external recorder? If so then this is no option for me, taking a picture with a digital camera I have been thinking about and I might do that when I would need to address a serious issue, in this case the issue is rather minor and not worth the hassle. However it is good to be reminded that there are some unconventional ways if software fails.
It is good to see your reviews back Stephen, I missed them :) Glad to see your admin problems are sorted
Posted 12 years ago # -
mikiem2
Moderator"mikiem2, maybe I understand you wrong, I already said Democreator and camtasia failed in capturing, are you talking about an external recorder?"
Yes... PCs/laptops &/or graphics cards may have 2 or more video out connections, there are devices that connect to or between VGA adapters & have SVideo & RCA plugs for TV out, there are fairly cheap [~$20] USB boxes that have TV out connections [including HDMI]. If you have & use some sort of video recording setup already, connecting your PC/laptop to it may just be a matter of plugging in a cable & hitting the record button. I've used that sort of recording back in the days of VCRs, with a DVD recorder, with a 2nd PC/laptop etc. -- it's really not that uncommon. While some people I think buy or have bought whatever video recording hardware just for that sort of thing, I only wanted to point out the possibility for anyone that already has that hardware in case it hadn't occurred to them.
FWIW, in the old win 3.1/win95 days that sort of recording could be a Lot faster than converting video/animation with a PC -- nowadays it takes some of the load off the CPU &/or graphics processor, so for example you don't lose frames per second in the HD game play you're recording. Note that DRM may prevent recording on-line HD video that way, or at least make it challenging. Also note that some of the cheap, small HD video cameras can also record from video inputs, are designed to record TV programming & may work. If/when you've got 2 PCs or a PC & a laptop etc. Hauppauge makes a small USB box that takes video input [including component] & internally encodes it to 1080i AVC, so the "recording" PC/laptop only has to write the stream to disk, taking little CPU horsepower. It's a bit pricy but there's enough of a market that they have a model designed for Xbox/PS3 gamers.
"... taking a picture with a digital camera I have been thinking about and I might do that when I would need to address a serious issue."
Yeah, it can be a bit more work if you've got to get a camera out & afterwards transfer the images to your PC, but many people use the cameras built into their cell phones [to the point that camera makers are leaving, or have left the lower end camera biz or market]. With many [most?] cells or tablets you can snap a pic & have it [often automatically] posted on-line in less time than it takes to fire up whatever screen capture app. It probably won't look as good as a screen capture because you've got stuff like part of the monitor frame & maybe some reflected light, but often it's good enough. And some display problems won't show up on or with screen captures.
But as with the video recording, I'm Not trying to talk anyone into using separate devices -- just wanting to point out possibilities. :)
Posted 12 years ago # -
Mavadelo
MemberI felt in now way "talked into using" whatever. I appreciate it when people "think outside of the box"
Funny thing is, my monitor is actually also my television (I use my Sony Bravia HD Widescreen as monitor) and I have tv out, and it never dawned to me to just hook up my vcr to capture it that way.Thanks for the tips, I appreciate
Whizzy
Posted 12 years ago # -
Idunnobutiwastold
Gaming AcolyteI tried fiddling with Windows' program compatibility mode and was able to capture screenshots from the Alawar game. This is how it worked for me...
1) Select the DancingCraze.exe executable, click the right mouse button and tick some boxes in the Compatibility dialog form. (fig. 1)
+ Disable Visual Themes
+ Disable Desktop Composition
+ Disable Display Scaling on High DPI Settingsfig. 1
2) Start the game and press your keyboard's Print Screen key to capture an image to the clipboard. (fig. 2)
fig. 2
Then paste the clipboard content into MS Paint for further processing.
3) keeping the same compatibility settings, you should be able to save a video of the game to your PC, using your preferred on-screen capture software.
4) If you save the captured game video in AVI format, you can view the video in your media player and capture additional screenshots. (fig. 3)
fig. 3
Posted 12 years ago # -
Mavadelo
MemberThank you for the cooment idunnobutitwastold, will certainly try that when the need for a screenshot arises again with an alawar game. btw, your screenshot shows exactly what I wanted to show in the comment it was needing the screen for, the fact that on widescreen monitors the full screen is 'fake' when it comes to the playing area (yes I know it is the wrong quote sign i used with fake but the normal quote sign won't work somehow in this forum for me)
Posted 12 years ago # -
mikiem2
Moderator" the fact that on widescreen monitors the full screen is 'fake' when it comes to the playing area"
That's why my wife uses a 4:3 monitor. Haven't come across any games that don't look right [knock wood], whereas the few that I've tested on this PC have all been stretched or pillarboxed on the 16:9 screen. I *think* [could be wrong] that it's a matter of static images vs. dynamically created or drawn screens on games like Diablo III or WOW, where the background changes as you go forward, right, left etc.
At any rate only mention it to point out that while [at least in the US] wide screen monitors are vastly more common, you can find 4:3 monitors & they can have their advantages, if/when you're ever in the market. Another advantage is they offer greater screen height for displaying documents, web sites & such while taking up less real estate on your desk -- yes you can swivel some wide screen monitors, but then the screen is pretty narrow. Wide screen monitors OTOH are better for video [which nowadays tends to be 16:9], & when you're using a single monitor they can provide a more immersive experience in games like the mentioned Diablo II, WOW etc...
Posted 12 years ago #
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