Trouble with Point & Click game with mouse cursor going off screen

[-$ilver-]

I bought Return to Zork. I tried to ask in the dedicated forum, but it is kind of quiet there and I do not expect a reply any time soon. I figured I would ask here, as I assume this issue could be the same for other games of it's type and the solution may be the same as well.

The top and left side of the screen seems fine. But the bottom and right side of the screen, the mouse pointer goes too far off the screen. Now I do not know if there is anything important that will be hidden there or if the mouse pointer is just leaving the game screen itself. Or maybe due to the pointer, that is just how the game is suppose to work, although I doubt it. If the mouse pointer never changed it's pointing direction it may need extra space on the bottom and right side of the screen so the "point" of the arrow has a chance to click something on the far bottom or right side. But I would assume the game would then just have the mouse pointer over the dark border and not hidden completely under it.

Doing Alt-Enter only shrinks the screen, but the shrunk screen still does the same thing. And there is no config screen at the start or during game play for resolution/video that I am aware of. Does anyone know a fix for this? Is it a DosBox issue perhaps? I have several days before I will have to return it. If anyone can help before the time is up I would appreciate it, otherwise I will have to ask for a refund before it is too late. Thank you.


https://store.steampowered.com/app/585240/Return_to_Zork/

[Bee🐝]

If you still haven't found an answer, try asking here https://adventuregamers.com/

They have a very active community of friendly adventure gamers and someone in their forums should be able to help - this is their speciality.

[Crazy Tiger]

That's normal and also happens in Windows and other games. It's because the actual mouse pointer is just a dot/point, which is located at the tip of the arrow. If the mouse arrow wouldn't go off screen on the right and bottom, it would mean you couldn't click anything near the border.

[ReBoot]

Start by defining the actual problem. Can you not click certain things? Does the game lose focus?

[-$ilver-]

ReBoot님이 먼저 게시:

Start by defining the actual problem. Can you not click certain things? Does the game lose focus?

The mouse cursor goes off the screen. ^^! I do not know if that is normal since I have never played the game besides the Steam version. I have no idea if something is hidden under the black bars or border the mouse pointer disappears under. I can click on what is in the middle of the screen just fine, if that is your question.

Crazy Tiger님이 먼저 게시:

That's normal and also happens in Windows and other games. It's because the actual mouse pointer is just a dot/point, which is located at the tip of the arrow. If the mouse arrow wouldn't go off screen on the right and bottom, it would mean you couldn't click anything near the border.

But why wouldn't it go over the border, rather than under it. It gives the impression that something is wrong with the game. I have seen other games that do something similar, but not to the extreme as this.

[Judgmental Amaterasu]

It's likely just an issue with how old the software is and having difficulty with a current age resolution. Just an example of the stuff that can happen when running old games on current hardware, it's physically impossible to play Black and White 2 with any most modern mice without modification.

[-$ilver-]

Crazy Tiger님이 먼저 게시:

That's normal and also happens in Windows and other games. It's because the actual mouse pointer is just a dot/point, which is located at the tip of the arrow. If the mouse arrow wouldn't go off screen on the right and bottom, it would mean you couldn't click anything near the border.

Also Call of Cthulhu: Shadow of the Comet does the same thing But it does switch how the cursor looks and it does indeed hide the "point" of the arrow behind the border. Is that normal too? So if going down the bottom of the screen as you get near the "edge", the arrow switches upside down and thus the point of the cursor is way below the border edge and not visible. Same for when going to the right, the arrow pointer shifts right. it feels like there is other stuff hidden.

[-$ilver-]

Fiddle님이 먼저 게시:

It's likely just an issue with how old the software is and having difficulty with a current age resolution. Just an example of the stuff that can happen when running old games on current hardware, it's physically impossible to play Black and White 2 with any most modern mice without modification.

Do you know of any fixes for Point & Click Adventure games?

[ReBoot]

What black border?

[Crazy Tiger]

-$ilver-님이 먼저 게시:

Crazy Tiger님이 먼저 게시:

That's normal and also happens in Windows and other games. It's because the actual mouse pointer is just a dot/point, which is located at the tip of the arrow. If the mouse arrow wouldn't go off screen on the right and bottom, it would mean you couldn't click anything near the border.

But why wouldn't it go over the border, rather than under it. It gives the impression that something is wrong with the game. I have seen other games that do something similar, but not to the extreme as this.

Because only the small point at the tip matters. On top and on the left the tip of the arrow will get on the border and stop there. On the right and bottom it's the same, with the only difference being that the arrow goes over it. But the actual mouse pointer doesn't.

It's normal behaviour.

-$ilver-님이 먼저 게시:

Crazy Tiger님이 먼저 게시:

That's normal and also happens in Windows and other games. It's because the actual mouse pointer is just a dot/point, which is located at the tip of the arrow. If the mouse arrow wouldn't go off screen on the right and bottom, it would mean you couldn't click anything near the border.

Also Call of Cthulhu: Shadow of the Comet does the same thing But it does switch how the cursor looks and it does indeed hide the "point" of the arrow behind the border. Is that normal too? So if going down the bottom of the screen as you get near the "edge", the arrow switches upside down and thus the point of the cursor is way below the border edge and not visible. Same for when going to the right, the arrow pointer shifts right. it feels like there is other stuff hidden.

Sounds more like your screen isn't properly aligned. Most monitors let you set the screen size yourself, which means that you can make the actual desktop/game screen larger than the physical screen. Some people I know set it slightly smaller than the physical one, for example, so they have a small black border around the screen.

Are you sure it's set correctly?

[Judgmental Amaterasu]

-$ilver-님이 먼저 게시:

Fiddle님이 먼저 게시:

It's likely just an issue with how old the software is and having difficulty with a current age resolution. Just an example of the stuff that can happen when running old games on current hardware, it's physically impossible to play Black and White 2 with any most modern mice without modification.

Do you know of any fixes for Point & Click Adventure games?

With modern monitors and the like you can usually adjust the display region.

[-$ilver-]

Crazy Tiger님이 먼저 게시:

It's normal behaviour.

Crazy Tiger님이 먼저 게시:

Sounds more like your screen isn't properly aligned. Most monitors let you set the screen size yourself, which means that you can make the actual desktop/game screen larger than the physical screen. Some people I know set it slightly smaller than the physical one, for example, so they have a small black border around the screen.

Are you sure it's set correctly?

So it is normal for one game and not another of the same genre?

And no I am not sure it is set correctly nor how to go about finding out. Is it all just trial and error? Or do you mean is my screen set to what it is suppose to be for every day tasks? Of that I am pretty sure. Just not sure for what the game actually needs.

Fiddle님이 먼저 게시:

With modern monitors and the like you can usually adjust the display region.

Display region? What is that?