Quick Tip: NVIDIA 'In Game Overlay' Stopped Working? Here's How To At Least Get It Going Again [Fix / Workaround That Might Work For Some, Updated 2018-04-26]

Whether it wants to be called Shadowplay, Share or [as of the time of this post] In-Game Overlay; it doesn't really matter to most people I think - we just look for something to record our gameplay once in a while, maybe take some Screenshots, 'and just work'. Thankfully, NVIDIA's In-Game Overlay [or whatever it may be called by the time I finish this post, heh] does just that. Most of the time.


Although I rotate between a handful of different recording programs off and on (such as Bandicam, Action, Playclaw and others - just for fun and also slowly working on another 'Game Recording Comparison' for the future), In-Game Overlay [built into the NVIDIA Drivers, aka "for free"] records when I want, it records a Buffered Loop (a timed, re-recording of 'the last xyz seconds', to save when needed) - and it even takes Screenshots and more. However, sometimes this big fella has just 'stopped working' lately. No saving Screenshots, no Recording, no Error Message, Nothing; and I wasn't sure why... After only a tiny bit of Troubleshooting, I quickly figured out how to at least 'get it going again' and I just wanted to share that here for you all, in a Quick Tip™.

To be honest [I always believe in being completely honest], I am still not sure why NVIDIA's In-Game Overlay stopped working - but I did figure out how to simply get it working again - and here's what I did:

• Once I noticed the Overlay wasn't taking Screenshots, I looked to see if the Overlay itself or more of the (many) NVIDIA utilities were still running, in the Task Manager. They were. [The In Game Overlay's Executable is still called "NVIDIA Share.exe", btw]
• Thinking that something might have gone wrong with the Overlay utility, I opened up NVIDIA's GeForce Experience.
• In GFX [my accro.], I clicked on the 'gear' in the upper-right corner, "Settings".
• In the Settings area, I clicked on the switch/toggle for In-Game Overlay.
• Although it took longer than normal, it eventually turned Off. Clicking it again, it turned back On.

That's it! After those steps, the In-Game Overlay was working once again. Taking a Screenshot, for example, the notification from the Overlay came up, and the Screen was saved. It also started Recording again, without issue. Here is a 'Tutorial Image' of the steps to take:

Tutorial Image of what steps to take to 'restart' the NVIDIA In Game Overlay;
the recording utility built into the NVIDIA Drivers
(Click to see Full Size)

Although I do not have any details on why it failed, I still thought this short 'tip' would be helpful for people that might run into this ("shadowplay not recording" or "in-game overlay not taking screenshots", etc) - so I wanted to share it here. HTH!

...

Update, 2018-03-26: Just a quick Update, that as of March 2018, I have run into somewhat of an extension of this issue, where GFX is no longer responding to this simple 'toggle' of the In-Game Overlay... Doing so (which used to temporarily 'fix' the issue above), now merely results in an 'error' message box, stating "That Didn't Work. Try Restarting Your System.", which although polite, is not very informative as to what caused the error or what else can be attempted to isolate/troubleshoot the issue further:

Doing some more research online, I see many others running into this issue, as well as its' 'extension' here... However, there still is no absolute 'fix' for this problem yet [at least, none that is verifiable and repeatable, which I prefer to have as a qualification to my sharing it here as a "fix"] - therefore, I cannot say for certain what can be done to fix it, even though a wide range of things have somewhat worked for others (some early steps work, others must use further steps), such as:

• Uninstalling/Reinstalling GeForce Experience
• Installing an older version of GeForce Experience
• Utilizing a third-party 'drivers uninstaller' to completely remove NVIDIA's GPU Drivers and Reinstall NVIDIA's GPU Drivers/GeForce Experience [AMD users can get a similar utility directly from AMD]
• Reinstallation/Formatting of entire system (eg. Windows) and Reinstalling NVIDIA GPU Drivers and Reinstalling GeForce Experience

...

Update, 2018-04-26: Just another Update, that as of April 2018, I was looking at this issue once again [since it still occurs, where InGameOverlay/Share just 'stops working' randomly (for no apparent reason)] and found that NVIDIA has this exact symptom listed as an "Open Issue (Windows 10)" in their Driver Updates now (Change Log / Release Notes); which basically means it is 'a known issue', but that they do not have a fix/patch at this time. This was found in the Release Notes for NVIDIA GPU Driver version 397.31, found here:

https://us.download.nvidia.com/Windows/397.31/397.31-win10-win8-win7-desktop-release-notes.pdf

(USA Source of NVIDIA GPU Drivers, Release Notes)

As you can see, under the Windows 10 Section, it lists this very problem as an Open Issue. Good Luck, NVIDIA - I hope you find a solution someday!

Excerpt of the Driver Release Notes, showing this problem as an 'open issue'
Click to see Full Size

Again, once I find out what actually is a solid fix for this issue, I will state so here and post it in big, bold lettering [lol], along with a Tutorial Image (text on an example image of the solution, etc). Until then...

And More: A Simple Explanation Why 'Loot Boxes' May Be Considered "Gambling", In Games Like Star Wars Battlefront II, Et Al... [Editorial]

((Portions of this article
may or may not have
information obtained
from this unidentified
Imperial Officer))

Recently, in the game Star Wars: Battlefront 2 (EA, Dice), there was the introduction of "Loot Boxes". These are purchasable 'crates' that can contain multiple items. These items are generated randomly (RNG, Random Number Generation) and are obtainable by using "RealLife™" Money [my superscript as pun] - and therein lies the problem being discussed.

In an attempt to explain it simply on a Steam Forum Thread a few days ago, I posted the comment below. I replicate it here, to share with others, so that this whole 'issue' may be understood more fully:

"If I may pop in, to explain the reason why "loot boxes could be considered gambling"; it is due to a few factors:

- There is an RNG factor in the potential items from the Loot Boxes (the items are random, and some items are worth more than others)

- The inclusion of the possibility of utilizing RealLife™ Currency to obtain them.
[Because of this element, more than anything, it could possibly be construed as "gambling"...]

- Because the items (1) can be exchanged in the game for other items that 'cost RealLife™ Money (2), they are 'gambling on the possibility' that they will 'save money' if there are better/higher items in the Box purchased (i.e. they will 'save money' if the RNG produces higher/better items in the Box; they will not have to buy much more)

Together, all three points mean the game essentially has "gambling" within it...
I assume the reason why some parents are getting upset about it, is that there is a possibility of a Minor using their RealLife™ Money to obtain the Loot Boxes (in any game).

The solution is simple however; remove the possibility of utilizing RealLife™ money to obtain the Chests/Boxes/etc OR the possibility of getting 'better items' that will 'deconstruct into elements that can accrue to get better items' ("saving money" if the better items appear via RNG) and there is no longer the possibility of it being "gambling", as it were."

The above points, along with the fact that the 'items' can actually affect a players' performance (i.e. a person with more items or better items can actually live longer or do more damage than someone without the items), is the sum of the whole problem that is upsetting many gamers, the entire issue becoming aflame in the recent release (Nov.17th) of "Star Wars: Battlefront II".

Other games (eg. "Team Fortress 2"), handle this concern for the most part by making sure that the items contained in their 'loot crates' are only 'cosmetic items' (hats, skins, costumes, etc) that do not affect player performance against other human players. It remains to be seen whether the "RNG Factor" involved in such 'Crates of Loot' in these other games, like TF2, are going to still become a 'gambling' issue, or not.



Hopefully this helps you dear reader, in understanding the issue at hand and why some people are getting 'up in arms' about it at this time. 

~Troy from The Game Tips And More Blog

My Free Font, Just For You™: LED SCREEN GTAMBLOG CAPS+ 2.0 (with Download Links)

An awkward name perhaps, for an odd little, simple version of an "LED Screen / Scoreboard Style Capitals Only" font (including Punctuation and Accents!) - but years ago, I contacted the author of a similar-styled font, to ask specifically for Commercial Use of his font, that looked somewhat like this one [I have been using it "Officially" here at The Blog since then - you can see Examples of it all over this site, on the images].

Today, I found Fontstruct, an easy-to-use, free, online Font creation utility - and thought "why don't I make my own version this font, not only for 'The Blog' to use, but for others to possibly use as well?".
And so, here is an 'LED Screen' or 'Dot Matrix' style font (also usable as a 'Pixel font') - with punctuation and a couple of 'accents' - but capitals only, as traditional LED Screens or Scoreboards ("Score Screens") would have used; made by my hand, Just For You™...

I am distributing it as "LED SCREEN GTAMBLOG CAPS+ 2.0" by 'Troy from The Game Tips And More Blog', at various Font sites, such as those below (for Downloading, Updates as I add more and/or am approved by them). [If you prefer, contact me via email and I can also send you the TTF or Zip of the Font, from me, directly]:

• Fontstruct (where I created the font by hand): 
https://fontstruct.com/fontstructions/show/1459839/led-screen-gtamblog-caps-2-0
• Fontspace: 
• http://www.fontspace.com/thegametipsandmoreblog/led-screen-gtamblog-caps-20

Feel free to Comment on those sites, or here (Suggestions, Questions, And More) or contact me via e-mail if you have any questions about the font, at:
gametipsandmore@gmail.com

Usage License: (Creative Commons, Attribution License, 4.0)

You are free to utilize this font for ANY purpose whatsoever, including Commercial Use and Monetization of any kind, Royalty-Free; the only condition being that you mention my name somewhere, anywhere, during use of this font.
If you would like to make a Donation, on behalf of using this font, you may do so via PayPal, using my email (gametipsandmore@gmail.com), but this is not required at all, to use this font for any purpose you desire.

As some of you may know, I have been playing around with Fonts off and on, creating them for various images/headers/etc here at The Blog over the years, compiling at least 4-5 fonts or so from scratch, with varying levels of completion... I 'm not sure when I'll get around to finishing all of them - but for now, I hope this font can perhaps be useful for some quick images, videos, or whatever you may want it for - Enjoy!

Edit:

 I may return and add some images and examples of the font... Soon™
Also, although I have made this font by hand at the Fontstruct website, I always suggest that you Scan any files you download (just in case), with an Anti-Virus utility of some sort - whether it is Windows Defender (built-in to Windows 10, after downloading) or via an online scanner/website, such as VirusTotal.com or similar.

The 2017 Extra Life 24-Hour Gaming Marathon, In Support of The Children's Miracle Network Hospitals [Post Updated All Weekend]

Wow, it's that time again - time to try to play some games for a cause - in my case, I play as much as I can through the weekend for the Alberta Children's Hospital Foundation (as I was born and raised in the province of Alberta, Canada).

This year actually 'sprung up' on me, as I haven't been feeling well these past few weeks... I have had a bit of a fever [38C/100F+]  the entire time and have been extra sore and slow (I say 'extra' as I myself have a condition, called Myalgic Encephalomyelitis - which is basically an infection of the brain and spine that causes Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue symptoms (pain and tiredness, respectively) - a condition I have had for 12 years now [wow it's been that long]). So, playing for this charity every year is special to me and something I have tried to do every since I heard of Extra Life back in 2015.

Image Link to The Extra Life main website, where you can see all of the other wonderful people participating in this event, many of them streaming their marathon Live on Twitch and other streaming sites! (Link opens in a new window)

Due to my own illness then, I cannot play 24 hours straight through, but I count my gaming hours Playing For The Kids™ over the entire weekend of the event (in this years' case, Saturday November 4th and Sunday November 5th), hopefully tallying 24 hours in total.. (in the case that I am not 'up to it' for that long, I allow myself to count my wife's gaming time, as she generously tries to play beside me and add hours, for a "Total Household Hours" amount). [I always hope that in the spirit of the event and the intention, that my dear readers and those at Extra Life find this acceptable]

As has occurred in past years, I do not have the ability/energy to set up and maintain a constant Stream of some sort yet (through Twitch, YouTube and other streaming services); but what I do is I share some details and Screenshots (and Videos if I can) of what I am able to play, here at The Blog, in an ongoing and updated post - one that I will be adding to as the weekend progresses (including Sunday Night), right here!

So, follow along with me as I Play For The Kids™ all weekend, updating this very post as I go - and if you wish to take part, you can Pledge/Donate directly to the Extra Life charity via the Logo/Image just below or through this link for 2017: https://www.extra-life.org/participant/247989 - and whether you pledge anything or not, feel free to just return to this posting for gameplay time Updates, Screenshots, some Video Clips from the weekend - and more!



See You In The Game!



Update, Saturday 12:30PM MST: Beginning The Marathon, with the initial post above and gathering snacks and drinks to start Playing For The Kids™!


Update, Saturday 7:30 PM MST: As usual with this event, I always try to play some good'ol Minecraft Hardcore Mode (you only get one life!), to see how far I can get during the marathon.

Usually, I don't get too far and starting out this year was no exception. I spawned in a new Hardcore world - in a wintery biome which I found out later was "Cold Taiga" - which meant, although there were plenty of Trees for Wood to use, there were no seeds to find and plant right away for food, there were no large hills in sight (for easy access to Stone and Coal to cook any foods I might come across) except in the far distance - and as night fell, I died right away to a band of two skeletons and a zombie that came out from behind one of the many, many trees.... Wow what a harsh start!

I began another Hardcore world, hoping to spawn in a relatively easier biome - and I did... I quickly collected Seeds from the Grass around me and began a Garden to grow Wheat RIGHT AWAY, heh. I had to cull some of the many Pigs I found around me in order to eat, planning on replenishing their numbers later on. I then carved out a little Mud Hut in the hillside nearby and settled in for the night...

Updates on that World as I play more - but for now I have to stop and take another break. More to come!

Total Gameplay Time: ~2.0 hrs

Update, Sunday 10:30 AM MST: I played last night right up until I fell asleep, starting a "Just One Life™" character in Fallout 4 (where I stop playing and delete that character upon dying just once), and was popping into various games for short periods of time, like Marvel Heroes (which has Daily Login Rewards, with small 'gifts' every few days you enter the game - and a Free Hero available at the no doubt-difficult-to-get-to, Day 300) [Even if I do not have the energy to play for a while, I try to pop in to register a login, heh - to see how far I can go].

I also popped into The Elder Scrolls: Legends, a Virtual Collectible Card Game based on The Elder Scrolls series [a good game for slow-paced-yet-still-kinda-flashy-and-enjoyable gameplay that you can play against the CPU/AI only, if you desire to]. I also ran a few Benchmarks and did a few quick driving tests in Grand Theft Auto V, trying out some settings I saw in YouTube videos online (to see if I get the same framerate with the same hardware) - but I felt a bit weird at the concept of playing GTA games for this Event [shouldn't I be playing games kids would play, or at least Family-Friendly games? lol], so I didn't stay in Los Santos very long.

Today, I plan on playing as much as I can, continuing my Minecraft: Hardcore Mode world, and my Fallout 4 "Just One Life™" character, along with some Elder Scrolls Online gameplay, hoping to get up to 24 hours in Total. I'll also post more Screenshots next Update. Here I go!

Total Gameplay Time: ~ 5.0 hrs

Update, Monday 9:30 AM MST: Well I played as much as I could... 

In Minecraft, I continued my Hardcore Mode world (actually Marathon 2017 World 2.0, as I died without even leaving the first Biome in the first one (above)), making a nice Garden along the shore of a River nearby...

When night fell upon the world, since I was out on a 'walkabout', looking around the Biome, I quickly dug into the nearest hill, making myself a small mudhut house to Craft and Cook in... I should have maybe stayed in it all night, but I thought I would get started on collecting more Food, by killing a few Spiders and using their silk to make String, crafting a Fishing Pole.. And what happened? Two Skeletons came out from behind a tree and as I ran back toward my little 'second mud hut', they cornered me and filled me full of arrows, as I weakly flailed my Rock Sword back and forth... I hope my 'Deeds Will Be Remembered' [hehe Diablo2]...

To make myself feel better, I popped in an out of a few games for the next few hours... I tried out Need for Speed: Most Wanted, which seemed like an open-world racing game, with good graphics.

Playing that game reminded me of a 'test' I wanted to do (I love running Benchmarks and Tests, heh) with Grand Theft Auto Five (GTAV), where I saw a video of someone running it on High Settings, to test out the differences between how it performed on two different CPUs (Processors, referring to the 'main engines' of a computer). So I started up GTAV and ran the Benchmark (to see if I got similar results) and drove around the city a bit.

While the game looked good, I felt a little weird playing such a 'mature' game during a Marathon for children's charities [lol shouldn't I be playing 'family friendly games'? or does it matter?], so I just took a few Screenshots (of course), and then left it for now, for something else.

The Beta for Paladins, a MOBA-slash-FPS game by the makers of Tribes:Ascend and Smite, was going on, so I popped into that game, going through the Training and playing for a while afterward.

Total Gameplay Time: ~ 10.0 hrs

Alas, just like before, I couldn't quite make the 24 Hours on my own... My own illness [where I am sore a lot and get tired easily] keeps me from playing for very long at one time. However, as I stated earlier, what I like to do, is include the game playing time that My Better Half does alongside me, as part of a "Household Total"... If I include her generous contribution, the new total becomes:

Total Household Time: ~23.0 hrs

Haha - even with her inclusion, I did not 'quite' make the 24 Hours in total... But, as stated above, I hope that in the spirit of the Marathon and its' intention - and mine - I hope that what did accrue would be acceptable... In fact; I do not think that 'total game time' is the main goal of this Marathon... This time is perhaps to literally 'take time', to think about those that are much more unfortunate than us, and in the case of this Charity, much younger than most of us... During this Day or Weekend, whichever it is, I think, we remember those out there, those that are in need. In this spirit/state-of-mind; I thank you Dear Reader, for following along in this small adventure. Whether you donated at all or not, I hope that you played a little bit of some game, took a little bit of time, to think about those that are in much more pain and need than most of us are. And I thank you for following me on this small journey. Take care, my unmet friend - and perhaps See You In The Game.