Hi all,
This is a recurring problem and very frustrating. Multiple games(many Big Fish games), AOM Hunt for the puppeteer and the new Edna and Harvey, to name a few.
My specs are:

Alienware M15x, Intel® Core™ i7-620M 2.66GHz (3.33Ghz Turbo Mode, 4M cache 6GB Memory (1x 2GB, 1x 4GB DDR3)15.6-inch WideFHD 1920x1080 ) WLED ATI Radeon™ Mobility HD 5850
640GB 7,200RPM SATA-II HDD
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium

The game appears in a window and I can't seem to expand it to the full screen. I do right click on the icon and go to properties and select maximize but it makes no difference.
I keep quitting games because of this and would really appreciate some help.I am not particularly techie so if you would ,please make any suggestion as easy to understand as possible.I would really appreciate any and all suggestions.

Have you checked the game options to find out if you're playing the games in Windowed mode? I don't know about Edna and Harvey, but nearly every Big Fish game I've played has a Windowed mode.

You could also try changing your desktop resolution to something closer to what the game uses before starting it. Most Big Fish games are 1024x768 or less and your Alienware M15x screen is 1920x1080 by default.

Hi Jenny,
Thanks for your time and answer.Yes, I do go into the game options so I don't think that is the problem-you mean right clicking on the game and going to properties ,right?I have tried other resolutions but maybe not that particular one.I'll try it and let you know.But would that also apply to other games not just Big fish?Some seem to better quality images.
I wonder...I'll try it.Thanks so much.
Joyce

I have no idea if this is related, but I have a BF game which just started playing in a small window like you, jmd. I even tried re-downloading it and I get the same result. I have another game program which started doing this too - Peter's Puzzles. Peter hasn't been able to resolve it either. There have been suggestions that a Windows update has rendered certain games unable to play in a full window and it has to do with the programming in the game.

Are you running Windows 7 by chance? The BF game which is doing this for me is Hidden Expedition Amazon. I'm going to download it to my XP computer tomorrow to see if the issue is specific to Win 7.

Hi Draclvr,
Yes, sorry I forgot to mention that.I do have windows 7 because I bought my laptop last August. I don't have that particular game but I have bought other HO games and the window makes it really hard to find objects. I hope there is a workaround because I don't want to play games this way.
What I don't understand is if it is windows 7 why don't all the games have this same problem-sorry if that is a stupid question.I know nothing about programming.
Let me know if you come up with something.
Thanks
Joyce

Yes, there is a work-around. I have to change my screen resolution to 800 x 600 and then the game fills the whole screen. Make sure you have it set to "full screen" and not "windowed" mode.

That's really interesting; I have AOM Hunt for the Puppeteer as well and have no issue at all. It's not the BFG version however and has no built in option to play in windowed mode.

ATI (as well as nVidia) have scaling options embedded in their drivers. Is it possible that you've specified No-Scaling? You'll find them under the Appearance and Personalization settings.

I haven't looked at all my Big Fish games, but so far the only one which started playing in the small screen is Hidden Expedition Amazon. The only other one is Peter's Puzzles. I've had both on this Windows 7 computer for 2 years with no problem. I'm not sure when they started only playing in the small screen, but Peter Hewitt told me it was a few months ago and the only other people who notified him also had Windows 7 computers. Both games play normally on my XP computer. It was someone on the Windows 7 forums who suggested something in the programming and a Windows update.

Go figure.

Does the game actually play windowed (with a border around it) - or is it just that the graphics don't fill the entire screen.

No I meant starting the game, selecting "Options" in the game menu, and choosing Full Screen. There's usually a checkbox for Full Screen in the Options of most Big Fish games.


I hadn't heard that. But since Big Fish games normally are set to run in full screen by default, it could be the fault of a Windows update. Have you checked your recent Windows updates list to see which are the most recent?


Some Big Fish games use 1024x768, so I'd try 1024x768 first and if the game still doesn't fill the screen I'd use 800x600. Trying to put a 1024x768 image inside an 800x600 screen doesn't work so well.

All my Big Fish games definitely open up in full screen by default, as did Hidden Expedition Amazon previously.

I hadn't opened up that particular game for a few months, so when I went to it to help someone stuck in the game, I found that no matter the settings etc., it would not open full screen. I uninstalled, used CCleaner and downloaded again - same result. I tried all the resolutions, including 1024 x 728, but 800 x 600 was the only one that worked. I've had it on this Windows 7 machine since I installed the Release Candidate in June of 2009 and have played it several times.

It was about 3 months ago that Peter's Puzzles also stopped working in full screen mode. He and I worked on it for a bit, but with no luck. He offered to refund my subscription, but I told him I would just do Peter's Puzzles on my XP computer. I would have to go back at least 3 months to try to figure it out if it was an update. When talking to others who had the same issue on Windows 7 machines, that's what Peter figured it might be as they all happened about the same time.

Did you ever check the scaling options in your video driver?

Hi all,
Thanks for all your suggestions. In my case changing the resolution to 1024x768 or 800x600 actually make the window SMALLER.It's crazy, I know. It isn't an actual window with a border but I guess it is more like a square doesn't fill the whole laptop screen.
As far as scaling-I can't find that option, only see an option for changing the resolution. My drivers are all up to date , too.And yes, I always select full and not windowed in the options where available.
Thanks for all your suggestions so far, I really hope I can figure this out.

See if these instructions help:

If that doesn't help, check ***this page***, which has some pictures of the Catalyst Control Center scaling options for ATI cards.

I hadn't thought of that before you mentioned it earlier, Inland, so, yes, I did. I went through every option available in my Nvidia Control Panel and could find nothing referencing scaling for my GTX 260.

Draclvr, it would be under Display/Adjust Desktop Size and Position. While the above may not help any, you can also check your monitor's controls for similar adjustments.

Given that only games are causing the problem, it most likely is "bad" game programming where either DirectX or OpenGL settings are not working. Also since these games used to work, there must be some changes in your computer, software or hardware settings, since the last time you played these games. It is up to you to determine what changed.

Now, that I did do, Robert. I looked in my monitor controls, but they are set exactly as I have had them for 3 years. I don't want to change the settings as they automatically adjust to a game resolution and then switch back to my native resolution as they always have.

EDIT: I might add that I'm playing these games on my XP computer with no issues on the same monitor with the same settings.

I had a bit of time to check quite a few of my other games, numerous Big Fish games and others. I only have two which exibit this behavior - Hidden Expedition Amazon and Peter's Puzzles. Peter Hewitt reported similar issues from several other clients who have Windows 7 computers at almost exactly the same time.

Who knows... The work around is effective and I always have my XP computer where they both work perfectly as they did before.

There may be a bug in the drivers, several folks have reported this from time to time with different releases.

You should see the options listed under the Display category -

Flat Panel Scaling Options

Hi Everyone,
Thanks for the help . Jenny-that link to the article helped tremendously. I did some more research(now that I knew what to search for) and found many forums and articles on the same subject.So I took bits and pieces that were clearer to me from various sites . My setup wasn't exactly the same but after a few tries I figured it out. In addition I extended my desktop in controls. So far, anything I tested has filled my laptop screen nicely.
Thanks again to all,
Joyce

Glad to hear you figured it out.
Enjoy your games.