Quick Tip: Getting ACTION, Dxtory, FRAPS and More Working With Battlefield:Hardline [Fix/Workaround]

I have been doing some Recording Tests over the past while with Mirillis' ACTION - for those who aren't familiar with it, ACTION is a game recording application, similar to MSI's Afterburner, Bandicam, Playclaw and others - and I was reminded that it does not automatically "work" with Battlefield: Hardline [that is, 'hook onto it' or 'detect-it-and-get-ready-to-record']. I actually remember running into this issue during the Beta, but at the time I merely used another recording program and didn't think much of it since. To find out more about this issue recently (since reminded of it) I dug around a bit and did a few tests, trying to find a solution and/or conditions it did work under - and wanted to share my few findings as a 'Quick Tip' for others, here.


Looking around, I found out that this is still an ongoing issue with Battlefield: Hardline - and before that, it was to some extent with Battlefield 4, even causing BF4 to 'crash' on Startup for some people. I also found out that these issues occurred not only with ACTION, but also with other similar programs, such as FRAPS and Dxtory, according to the Battlelog Forums and the main Mirillis Forum. In many places, I found the same solution stated again and again by helpful posters... So, I tried it out - and it worked perfectly! I repeated testing with it a few times - and once I was satisfied it solved the issue and was repeatable (for others to use), I wanted to share it here, with you.

Here are the steps of what to do [with a shortcut I figured out, to type it in faster/easier, near the end of this post]:

• In the game, hit the Tilde key ("~", which looks like a 'squiggly' line - the key is in the upper-left of Standard keyboards, to the left of the Number 1 and above the Tab key), which should bring down the Console. In here, you can type in commands for the game.
• Type the following in one line:
  
  RenderDevice.PresentAsync 0
  
  (That is, "render device dot present async", then a space, then a "zero")
• Hit enter and then you can close the Console by hitting the Tilde key (~) again.

That's it!

As long as that is all you want to do in the Console (you don't want to enter in any more commands), you can then just close it, as it is done - those are all the steps to do. You should then see the HUD (indicator) for ACTION pop up on the screen in the corner you chose in the "HUD Settings" section, in ACTION.

Note that this may not always be needed... For example, if you launched BF4 in Windowed or Borderless modes, it may not be required. In Battlefield: Hardline, it seems to be needed no matter what mode you run the game in [for the interface of these programs to be shown and able to record without issues]. For example, I just started up Hardline in Windowed mode a couple of times as a test - with ACTION and FRAPS - and those steps were still needed to get these ready to record (their little hud/ui/interface did not show up at all until the above command was entered. 

Another way I saw suggested in Forums, was to enter in the command via a User Configuration file (User.CFG), created in the game directory. For those who don't know, a User Configuration file is simply a text file that the game will 'run' when it starts up - and this text file can have commands listed in it, so that you don't need to manually type the command each time you play the game.

Although even a Battlelog Moderator suggested it at one time, here, it seems it is possible that this process can be "detected" or "seen as" a hack - and you can effectively be Banned, Blacklisted from Ranked Servers, and other negative actions taken against you - as seen in this thread at the Mirillis' Forums, here... Although I am sure there are many people out there using this command in a Configuration/Startup File without issue, as it has happened to some people in the past...I personally would suggest against going this route, for now, and merely type it in whenever you want to use ACTION/Dxtory/FRAPS/etc to record your gameplay in Battlefield games.

On my own, I figured out a faster way of typing this command into the Console and wanted to share it here - apparently the Tab key will try to 'guess' at the terms you are typing in (much like the Command Line or Terminal in Unix, Windows, and other operating systems [black box screens that you open to enter commands]) and by using the Tab key, you can quickly enter the command above by using these steps, after opening the in-game Console with Tilde (~):

Hit "r" then the Tab key

Hit "d" then the Tab key again

Hit "p" then the Tab key one more time

Hit "0" (zero) and hit Enter

That's it! 

R-tab-D-tab-P-tab-Zero. Done! Now, the same command as above has been entered even faster and you should see the HUD/indicator for your preferred recording program pop-up on the screen - and you can now record your battles once again. Here is an example/reminder GIF of using the Tab input method for this command, in Hardline:

GIF Example/Tutorial/Reminder of How To Get ACTION, Dxtory, FRAPS And More to Work With Battlefield:Hardline
(Click to see Full Size - Save and Share with others!)

Hopefully the above gets these programs working with Hardline for you too, dear reader, as easily as it did for me.


See You In The Game!

[Personal Log TwoZeroOneSixPointSix: I could not find the 'original' bearer of this wonderful information, to give Credit to them - and to find out "why" it solves the issue with these few recording programs (as I am not a programmer, the reason is not immediately obvious to me) and I always like to try and share the "why things work" of solutions I present, to others as well. I eventually assumed it was a developer at some point in time, but in the vast posts of passed-on knowledge, their name has become lost into the aether... Regardless, I want to say 'thank you' to whomever this helpful dev is - and I want to pass on that thanks to all the other anonymous sharers of this tip [about this issue with Hardline] on Forii everywhere. This QuickTip is merely a culmination of, or passing on yet again of, this great bit of information on this issue with these few game recording programs and Hardline. Enjoy]