Fix for the Windows desktop gamma brightness

Discussion in 'The Newbie Zone' started by Iven, Jul 22, 2022.

  1. Iven Antonius Bayle

    Usefull hint for debugging the windows desktop gamma brightness

    1. Create a desktop link:
    right click on desktop -> new -> link

    2. Enter this path for Windows 10:
    C:\Windows\System32\dccw.exe
    (drive letter can vary and has to be adjusted)

    3. click forward and finish

    To reset the screen brightness you then only have to double-click (open)
    the link icon and then abort with the escape key.

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

    If you are playing in fullscreen mode:

    [IMG]

    When "Enable Windowed Gamma" is unchecked you won't have to reset the Windows desktop brightness.
  2. Thunderkiks Augur

    Anyone know what an easy fix would be for windows 7? Already sick and tired of having to run the calibration tool every time I go out of EQ.
  3. Tucoh Augur

  4. Iven Antonius Bayle

    If you have an ATI/AMD graphic card, you could use the old Catalyst software to create setup profiles. Or try the modern AMD Radeon software. There is similar software from Nvidia.
  5. Thunderkiks Augur

  6. Thunderkiks Augur

    Nvidia here but dumb old truck driver so no idea what to do there. Thanks though =)
  7. Tucoh Augur

    I saw 11 for the first time today. Do not want.
    Stymie and Thunderkiks like this.
  8. Rauven Augur

    The way I handle this is once I'm in on character select is alt-enter to go to fullscreen, login a character, then alt tab and right click on desktop. I then select display settings. The settings revert back to normal and I can play normally.

    This works on Win10, but may potentially only work since I've done the windows recalibration thing recently for another semi-related issue.

    The real fix will come from Daybreak when they decouple gamma settings from changing stuff outside the game.
  9. Shillingworth Augur


    I use it in a VM to test Windows versions of software I write. It's pretty bad. Having used Windows from 3.1 to Windows 7 before I gave up on Windows and stuck to Linux. It's really hard to recognize the Windows in it. Feels more like a "smart TV" than a PC. Horrible VM support too but that's likely because it's not released yet. Can kind of use a mix of Win7 and Win10 VM setup to get some hardware accel but nothing like being able to pass through an entire CPU or stick of memory for full native speed.
  10. Iven Antonius Bayle

    The maybe biggest drawback with Windows 11 is that you cannot use old partition formats like NTFS and FAT for the Windows boot storage device (and maybe also for all other SSD/HDD drives) and it has to be converted into the new GPT partition system because of the required UEFI Secure Boot function, which does mean a high risk for a complete data loss if no data backup is being made. In many cases it will be easier but more costly to buy a new SSD drive (>=500 GB) and starting completely fresh.

    From what I had heard, Windows 11 is less storage and memory intensive than Windows 10 and does perform faster. Not sure if that is true because it would be something new in 32 years of MS Windows history where about each new OS was getting bigger and slower. As Windows 11 is only since an half year on the market I definetly cannot recommend it yet for stability, security and compatibility reasons. Like with other well known software the user is getting used to be the (cheap) product tester.
  11. Razorfall Augur

    I've been using it for a few months now. It's not too bad after moving the taskbar to the left, but it is really annoying for boxing. The biggest problem for me is that all the windows are combined by default, and cannot be separated like they could be in windows 10. I had all the windows separate, and boxes in always in a certain order so if I needed to switch to my tank I would click the third window. ISB users can set up shortcuts to switch windows, but for old school boxers they'll have to do an extra click (if the taskbar will behave long enough to click on the window) or use windows + (number of EQs position in the taskbar) to cycle through toons.
  12. Annastasya Augur

    i tried your method in windows 10 and it still didnt fix. When EQ is running, the gamma to other windows/browsers is fine. When i turn the game off, the gamma settings for everything else gets super dark. i can manually fix this or use other modes, but otherwise i dont know how to keep EQ gamma where i need it to be to play, and not have EQ downgrade my computer settings whenever it closes.
  13. Iven Antonius Bayle

    It is only a temporary solution and not a permanent fix. Make use of it after closing EQ.
  14. Shillingworth Augur


    Technique I'm thinking of is one I have to use in Linux adapted to Windows. First you'll need to find a command that you can punch into the command line to adjust gamma. I have no idea what that is in Windows but as an example in Linux this looks like 'xgamma -gamma 1.0' to reset all 3 of my screens to their calibrated gamma values. Create a text file, in the first line put the full path to eqgame.exe with ' -patchme' after it. For the second line add the command to adjust/reset your gamma. Save that file as 'StartEQ.bat' and use that to launch the game, but the launcher on any days where the game is updated to fetch the updates.

    The idea with this script being. The first line will run EQ and the script will sleep until EQ's entry point returns, which should only happen when it closes. At that point it will be able to move to the second line and run the command to set gamma back to your settings. As for an actual gamma value. 1.0 if it's percentage based gamma or if it's absolute it will be 1.8, 2.0, or 2.2 depending on which your monitor was calibrated for (it could be different but those are the typical gamma curves).
  15. Iven Antonius Bayle

    Added another practice tip for those that do play in fullscreen mode in the initial post.
  16. Annastasya Augur

    My current fix for this, is everytime i shut down EQ i open up the display settings in Windows. Doing this sets my settings to what i have them set to, which is plenty bright enough. Still, every time i run Everquest, the game overwrites my settings when it shuts down.
  17. Iven Antonius Bayle

    If you are using Windows 10 you should try out my first advice, Annastasya. If you are playing in fullscreen mode make use of the second advice and EQ won't overwrite your Windows desktop gamma brightness settings. The only problem that then does remain is that the user has to press Alt-Return in the Character Selection once per session and box to enter the fullscreen mode.