Regression UI Bug for RC1

[alucinor33]

In previous 9.00 Beta versions you guys FINALLY(after years) fixed the mouse cursor being smaller than a grain of sand on 4k monitors. This is back with RC1; The mouse cursor is a fourth the size it should be again, ergo it is set to a pixel size for a regular 1920x1080 monitor.

Please, please, PLEASE fix this for 9.00 I can't play a game that hides the mouse cursor from me unless I put my head one foot away from my monitor.

[Alan Phipps]

I couldn't find any obviously related changes in the RC1 changelog. These two have a very distant relationship:
* [RC 1] Added optional alternative WASD-style profile for keyboard and mouse.
* [RC 1] Fixed certain combinations of input bindings for mouse wheel or for joystick axes not working correctly.

The only partially related one from other beta version changelogs was:
* [Beta 7] Fixed emulated mouse cursor disappearing on Linux and Steam Deck (problem introduced in 9.00).

[CBJ]

We've not made any changes to the mouse cursor. And we can't help you if you don't provide any information for us to work with. You've not even told us whether you're playing on Windows or Linux, let alone any of the other information requested in the forum rules.

[alucinor33]

Sorry about the lack of information. I am playing on Linux.

SYSTEM INFO
Operating System: Arch Linux
KDE Plasma Version: 6.6.4
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.25.0
Qt Version: 6.11.0
Kernel Version: 6.19.14-arch1-1 (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: Wayland
Processors: 24 × AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 12-Core Processor
Memory: 64 GiB of RAM (62.7 GiB usable)
Graphics Processor: AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT

VULKANINFO: https://pastebin.com/Y11PgbgU

HARDWARE:

> lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Starship/Matisse Root Complex
00:00.2 IOMMU: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Starship/Matisse IOMMU
00:01.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Starship/Matisse PCIe Dummy Host Bridge
00:01.1 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Starship/Matisse GPP Bridge
00:01.2 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Starship/Matisse GPP Bridge
00:02.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Starship/Matisse PCIe Dummy Host Bridge
00:03.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Starship/Matisse PCIe Dummy Host Bridge
00:03.2 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Starship/Matisse GPP Bridge
00:04.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Starship/Matisse PCIe Dummy Host Bridge
00:05.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Starship/Matisse PCIe Dummy Host Bridge
00:07.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Starship/Matisse PCIe Dummy Host Bridge
00:07.1 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Starship/Matisse Internal PCIe GPP Bridge 0 to bus[E:B]
00:08.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Starship/Matisse PCIe Dummy Host Bridge
00:08.1 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Starship/Matisse Internal PCIe GPP Bridge 0 to bus[E:B]
00:14.0 SMBus: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH SMBus Controller (rev 61)
00:14.3 ISA bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH LPC Bridge (rev 51)
00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Matisse/Vermeer Data Fabric: Device 18h; Function 0
00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Matisse/Vermeer Data Fabric: Device 18h; Function 1
00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Matisse/Vermeer Data Fabric: Device 18h; Function 2
00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Matisse/Vermeer Data Fabric: Device 18h; Function 3
00:18.4 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Matisse/Vermeer Data Fabric: Device 18h; Function 4
00:18.5 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Matisse/Vermeer Data Fabric: Device 18h; Function 5
00:18.6 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Matisse/Vermeer Data Fabric: Device 18h; Function 6
00:18.7 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Matisse/Vermeer Data Fabric: Device 18h; Function 7
01:00.0 Non-Volatile memory controller: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd NVMe SSD Controller PM9A1/PM9A3/980PRO
02:00.0 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Matisse Switch Upstream
03:03.0 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Matisse PCIe GPP Bridge
03:05.0 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Matisse PCIe GPP Bridge
03:06.0 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Matisse PCIe GPP Bridge
03:08.0 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Matisse PCIe GPP Bridge
03:09.0 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Matisse PCIe GPP Bridge
03:0a.0 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Matisse PCIe GPP Bridge
04:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8125 2.5GbE Controller
05:00.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation I211 Gigabit Network Connection (rev 03)
06:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Wi-Fi 6 AX200 (rev 1a)
07:00.0 Non-Essential Instrumentation [1300]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Starship/Matisse Reserved SPP
07:00.1 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Matisse USB 3.0 Host Controller
07:00.3 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Matisse USB 3.0 Host Controller
08:00.0 SATA controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH SATA Controller [AHCI mode] (rev 51)
09:00.0 SATA controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH SATA Controller [AHCI mode] (rev 51)
0a:00.0 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Navi 10 XL Upstream Port of PCI Express Switch (rev c1)
0b:00.0 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Navi 10 XL Downstream Port of PCI Express Switch
0c:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Navi 21 [Radeon RX 6800/6800 XT / 6900 XT] (rev c1)
0c:00.1 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Navi 21/23 HDMI/DP Audio Controller
0d:00.0 Non-Essential Instrumentation [1300]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Starship/Matisse PCIe Dummy Function
0e:00.0 Non-Essential Instrumentation [1300]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Starship/Matisse Reserved SPP
0e:00.1 Encryption controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Starship/Matisse Cryptographic Coprocessor PSPCPP
0e:00.3 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Matisse USB 3.0 Host Controller
0e:00.4 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Starship/Matisse HD Audio Controller

> lsusb

Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 05e3:0610 Genesys Logic, Inc. Hub
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0b05:18f3 ASUSTek Computer, Inc. AURA LED Controller
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 002: ID 174c:2074 ASMedia Technology Inc. ASM1074 High-Speed hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 004 Device 002: ID 174c:3074 ASMedia Technology Inc. ASM1074 SuperSpeed hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 005 Device 002: ID 2550:8761 Realtek Bluetooth Radio
Bus 005 Device 003: ID 1b1c:1b49 Corsair CORSAIR K70 RGB MK.2 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard
Bus 005 Device 004: ID 046d:c08b Logitech, Inc. G502 SE HERO Gaming Mouse
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub

DRIVERS:

> uname -ra
Linux 6.19.14-arch1-1 #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Thu, 23 Apr 2026 06:57:02 +0000 x86_64 GNU/Linux

> lsmod
Module Size Used by
rfcomm 110592 4
cmac 12288 3
algif_hash 16384 1
algif_skcipher 12288 1
af_alg 32768 6 algif_hash,algif_skcipher
nct6775 40960 0
bnep 36864 2
nct6775_core 81920 1 nct6775
hwmon_vid 12288 1 nct6775
vfat 28672 1
fat 114688 1 vfat
snd_hda_codec_alc882 20480 1
amd_atl 61440 1
intel_rapl_msr 20480 0
snd_hda_codec_realtek_lib 65536 1 snd_hda_codec_alc882
intel_rapl_common 53248 1 intel_rapl_msr
snd_hda_codec_generic 114688 2 snd_hda_codec_realtek_lib,snd_hda_codec_alc882
snd_hda_codec_atihdmi 20480 1
snd_hda_codec_hdmi 61440 1 snd_hda_codec_atihdmi
snd_hda_intel 73728 4
btusb 81920 0
btmtk 32768 1 btusb
snd_hda_codec 217088 6 snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec_realtek_lib,snd_hda_codec_alc882,snd_hda_codec_atihdmi
btrtl 36864 1 btusb
snd_hda_core 151552 6 snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_codec_realtek_lib,snd_hda_codec_atihdmi
eeepc_wmi 12288 0
btbcm 24576 1 btusb
ghash_clmulni_intel 12288 0
asus_wmi 122880 1 eeepc_wmi
snd_intel_dspcfg 49152 1 snd_hda_intel
iwlwifi 618496 0
btintel 73728 1 btusb
aesni_intel 102400 3
snd_intel_sdw_acpi 16384 1 snd_intel_dspcfg
platform_profile 20480 1 asus_wmi
r8169 143360 0
ee1004 16384 0
asus_ec_sensors 40960 0
rapl 20480 0
igb 360448 0
sparse_keymap 12288 1 asus_wmi
snd_hwdep 24576 1 snd_hda_codec
pcspkr 12288 0
wmi_bmof 12288 0
mxm_wmi 12288 0
bluetooth 1204224 32 btrtl,btmtk,btintel,btbcm,bnep,btusb,rfcomm
cfg80211 1470464 1 iwlwifi
realtek 57344 1
sp5100_tco 20480 0
snd_pcm 217088 4 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_core
ptp 53248 1 igb
mdio_devres 12288 1 r8169
pps_core 32768 1 ptp
snd_timer 57344 1 snd_pcm
dca 20480 1 igb
rfkill 45056 7 asus_wmi,bluetooth,cfg80211
libphy 184320 3 r8169,mdio_devres,realtek
snd 155648 16 snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hwdep,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_timer,snd_hda_codec_realtek_lib,snd_pcm
i2c_piix4 36864 0
mousedev 28672 0
joydev 28672 0
i2c_smbus 20480 1 i2c_piix4
mdio_bus 65536 3 r8169,libphy,realtek
soundcore 16384 1 snd
ccp 217088 0
k10temp 12288 0
mac_hid 12288 0
dm_mod 233472 0
crypto_user 12288 0
i2c_dev 28672 0
nfnetlink 20480 1
amdgpu 16334848 66
amdxcp 12288 1 amdgpu
i2c_algo_bit 24576 2 igb,amdgpu
drm_ttm_helper 20480 1 amdgpu
ttm 126976 2 amdgpu,drm_ttm_helper
drm_exec 12288 1 amdgpu
drm_panel_backlight_quirks 12288 1 amdgpu
gpu_sched 69632 1 amdgpu
drm_suballoc_helper 16384 1 amdgpu
video 81920 2 asus_wmi,amdgpu
nvme 73728 3
drm_buddy 32768 1 amdgpu
nvme_core 274432 4 nvme
drm_display_helper 286720 1 amdgpu
nvme_keyring 20480 1 nvme_core
cec 98304 2 drm_display_helper,amdgpu
nvme_auth 32768 1 nvme_core
hkdf 12288 1 nvme_auth
wmi 32768 4 video,asus_wmi,wmi_bmof,mxm_wmi

[alucinor33]

Is there anyway for me to regress back to the beta 11 version to verify it was the RC1 update that changed my mouse cursor size?

[alucinor33]

Yesterday night I was happily playing beta 11 with the mouse cursor being a normal visible size. I closed the game to have dinner. When I came back I noticed steam updated X4 for RC1. I launched the game and the mouse cursor was super tiny again like previous versions before the 9.00 beta. Nothing else changed on my computer; I did not update my system, steam did not update itself. The only change, literally an hour apart, was X4 updating from beta 11 to RC1.

I didn't even turn off my computer. The only thing that happened between the mouse cursor being a normal size for my 4k monitor and impossible to see tiny was X4 updating from beta 11 to RC1.

[alucinor33]

The tiny mouse cursor bug is still present for me with RC2.

I've tried to work on the bug myself in the limited capacity I can as a user since the game is unplayable for me due to the mouse cursor size.

One thing I noticed is that this is exclusively an issue with the X4 mouse cursor, not steam. When I shift-tab out to the steam console in X4 the steam mouse cursor size is perfectly normal. As soon as I shift tab back into X4 the mouse cursor changes back to a tiny blue dot.

I tried two workarounds, the second one thankfully worked.

First attempt:
In launch options I added: "XCURSOR_SIZE=128 %command%"
This did change the size of the mouse cursor for steam BUT X4 completely ignored it and continued displaying a tiny blue dot.

Second attempt:
I installed gamescope: "pacman -S gamescope"
In launch options I added: "gamescope -w 3840 -h 2160 -f -- %command%"
This changed the size of the mouse cursor in both steam and X4... the size of the cursor is back to its normal size now in X4 using this workaround. The one oddity I noticed is the size of the steam client mouse cursor is still way bigger than X4's mouse cursor.

I hope all this helps in egosoft finding what is going on with this unusual bug.

[alucinor33]

Update on the second workaround that works on fixing the mouse cursor size using gamescope.

It introduces a new problem; It removes the ability to pan my view in first person with the mouse. When I attempt to pan in any direction it jitters without actually moving, it almost seems like gamescope is keeping the mouse in the center.

[alucinor33]

I found a third workaround that seems to work without adding additional problems like the gamescope does. EDIT; It does add additional problems

As stated in my system spec I use KDE with Wayland. Under my system settings -> display settings -> legacy applications (X11) it has an option for legacy applications to apply scaling themselves or forced scaling by the system. Mine was set to legacy applications applying scaling themselves. When I changed this to forced scaling by the system X4 has a normal size mouse cursor that the issue is no longer present.

Apparently X4 is a legacy X11 application that cannot apply scaling itself on the mouse cursor under Arch Linux, KDE, and Wayland. Because my monitor is 4k I have scaling set to 200% in my system settings -> display settings. I changed it to 100%, and as a result my mouse cursor in my system and X4 was super tiny; in fact as tiny as it is in the original bug. Apparently your application ignores the scaling setting managed by Wayland.

EDIT: nevermind, when scaling is forced by the system X4 decides to FORCE me into 1920x1080 and I cannot change it to 4k. Sigh....

[alucinor33]

Noticed steam updated X4 today to 9.00 Beta (611269). The mouse cursor is still not respecting my system's 200% scaling setting and is the size it should be for a 1920x1080 resolution instead of my 3840x2160 resolution.

I played around with my system's display setting's scaling setting more with respect to X4 - it appears the X4 application completely ignores Wayland's scaling setting because changing it makes zero difference in the scaling of fonts and the mouse cursor in the X4 application.

What is also strange is the fonts in X4 are normal for 4k, which makes the tiny mouse even more comical (it can fit inside the hole of an "a" character).

So I think I may have found the bug... specifically your application does not interface with Linux Wayland graphics when it comes to playing nice with its scale setting for high dpi monitors.

I also remembered X4 has its own internal UI scale setting. This does indeed change the scale of all UI elements EXCEPT the mouse cursor which I argue is a bug because the mouse cursor is very much a part of the UI. When I change the UI scale to 1.8 the mouse cursor looks even more comical to the 1.2 scale it was at before. So if you want to ignore the system's scale setting and have your own can you please scale the mouse cursor along with the rest of the UI? After playing with the UI scale setting it appears the mouse cursor is hardwired to a scale of 0.5, assuming you want the height of the cursor to be the same as the height of the UI scale slider UI widget.

As an example, in my KDE desktop when I change the display settings scale option it scales the mouse cursor along with all fonts, so that behavior makes sense to me.

[alucinor33]

I did a quick google search about X4 UI scale setting and mouse cursor size. If google is correct it states that X4 does NOT change the mouse cursor size from that setting, and instead grab's the desktop system's mouse size settings.

The problem is X4 ignores my desktop system settings, as I have shown repeatedly in this post. It ignores the display settings -> scale setting. It ignores the global theme -> cursors -> size setting. So it ignores its own UI scale setting and my system's scale settings and sets the mouse cursor size to the smallest possible (as stated in previous post, it seems to match with the UI scale setting at 0.5; the smallest possible setting).

Also, please respect both the display settings -> scale setting and the global theme -> cursors -> size setting. This would match my desktops behavior and all other applications that actually behave in a KDE Wayland Linux environment.

[alucinor33]

I took some screenshots to help you guys see what I am seeing.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/kUZUs1tBvVsZuBxu7

One image is showing the mouse cursor next to the UI scale setting when it is 0.5.

Two images show the entire screen, one with UI scale at 0.5 and one at 1.0. When the scale is 1.0 the text is readable and the game playable for me (ignoring the mouse issue). If the mouse cursor matched the same size, where its height is the same of the UI scale slider widget (like it is when it is 0.5), then I could actually see the mouse on my screen too. As you can see it is not.

Two other photos compare my desktop mouse cursor with the X4 mouse cursor. The X4 mouse cursor needs to match the size of my desktop cursor. If I change my scale or cursor size system settings, my desktop cursor will get larger or smaller, but the X4 cursor never changes. If google is correct this is incorrect behavior from X4 which should be respecting my system settings pertaining to the mouse cursor size.

As I have stated before, this is a severe accessibility issue for me. I strain so much trying to find where the mouse is it gives me a severe headache if I play for more then 10 to 15 minutes.

p.s. In beta 11, the X4 mouse cursor was indeed as large as my desktop mouse cursor.

[CBJ]

I've been asked to suggest you try adding -prefer-wayland to the command line when launching the game.

[alucinor33]

Since I can't play my favorite game right now I've been very busy doing everything I can to help you guys with this issue... So I did a quick lookup of Linux Wayland scaling protocols:

Google AI did a nice job I think;

In Wayland programming, there is no single "global" system scale. Instead, scaling is handled per-output, and the client (your application) decides how to respond based on information provided by the Wayland compositor.

Core Mechanism: wl_output

To get the scale for a specific display, you must listen for events from the wl_output interface:

Register a Global Handler: Use wl_registry_bind to bind to the wl_output interface when it appears in the registry.

Listen for the scale Event: Implement the wl_output_listener and specifically the scale callback. This event sends an integer factor (e.g., 1 for 100%, 2 for 200%) representing the compositor's preferred scaling for that physical output.

Update Surface Scale: When your application surface enters or leaves an output, you receive wl_surface.enter or leave events. You should track which outputs your surface is on and use the highest scale factor among them to render your buffer.

Fractional Scaling (Modern Approach)

Standard Wayland only supports integer scaling. For high-resolution displays requiring values like 125% or 150%, modern compositors use the wp_fractional_scale_v1 protocol:

Protocol: wp_fractional_scale_manager_v1

Mechanism: You create a wp_fractional_scale_v1 object for your surface. The compositor then sends a preferred_scale event containing the scale factor in 120ths (e.g., a value of 180 represents \(1.5\times\) scale).

Benefit: This allows the application to render at the exact required resolution instead of rendering at a larger integer size and having the compositor downscale it, which avoids blurriness.

Implementation Summary

wl_output.scale : Basic HiDPI support; universally supported by Wayland compositors.

wp_fractional_scale_v1 : Modern HiDPI support; avoids blurriness on 4K/1440p screens

Toolkits : GTK / Qt / SDL : Use high-level libraries like SDL or Qt which abstract these protocols for you.

I don't know what you guys use for programming graphics in Linux, I am a Qt programmer myself and it does an excellent job abstracting all this stuff for me, so I'd figure I'd include it all.

I wanted to include this because all my troubleshooting strongly suggests X4 is ignoring Linux Wayland scaling protocols. I also think it is specific to X4 because all other linux games I have in steam change their mouse cursor according to my scale system settings, including steam itself. Only X4 misbehaves in this fashion.

[CBJ]

It's not ignoring Wayland protocols; it's not using Wayland at all by default. See my post above.

[alucinor33]

Well that worked

I'm glad it wasn't a bug after all and just a simple fix. No wonder it wasn't following Wayland settings when it doesn't even use it.

Thank you to everyone at Egosoft that took time to help me out, I feel kind of silly now but the solution, a missing command line argument, is VERY linux.

Is there anywhere that holds common issues and fixes for linux we can put this for the next X4 gamer running under Linux Wayland?

[CBJ]

Glad to hear that you can play again now.

It's a relatively new option, added when we introduced Wayland support with 9.00, but found that we couldn't make it the default because of problems encountered by other players. We'll try and get it added to the Troubleshooting section of the X4 Foundations Wiki soon.