Moving the game to a different display while in exclusive fullscreen causes the audio to glitch (pops and crackles).
Setup:
AoE4 Version 6.1.130.0
Windows 11
Nvidia 3070ti with 3 monitors
I’m using the “line out” audio port on my motherboard to my speakers.
The game starts on the Windows “Main Display” in “exclusive fullscreen”. I want to play the game on a different display. When I move the game to a different display using Windows-Shift-Arrow, the audio starts popping and crackling like there is a loose connection. If I move the game back to the “Main Display”, the glitching stops. If I move the game off the “Main Display” again, the glitching starts.
If I change “Main Display” in Windows to a different screen, the game starts on the new display. While the game is on the new “Main display” the audio doesn’t glitch. However, if I move the game to a different display (even the one used as Main Display before), the audio glitches.
If I change to “borderless fullscreen”, it doesn’t matter where the game starts or where I play, there are no audio issues.
I can change the display that doesn’t glitch in-game by switching to “borderless fullscreen”, and then back to “exclusive fullscreen”. e.g.
Start the game in “exclusive fullscreen” on “display A”, the audio doesn’t glitch.
Move the game to another screen, “display B”, the audio glitches.
Move the game back to “display A”, the audio glitching stops.
While still on “display A”, switch modes to “borderless fullscreen”
Move the game to “display B”
Switch modes to “exclusive fullscreen”
The audio doesn’t glitch when the game is on “display B”, but does glitch when on “display A”.
I can reproduce this behavior on all 3 of my displays.
So the bug appears to be triggered by moving the game to a different display after entering “exclusive fullscreen” mode (either when starting the game, or changing to “exclusive fullscreen” in-game). This might not be a game bug, but I don’t experience this with any other games I play.