Unusual error (error: failed to create renderer) when using pygame.SCALED about pygame HOT 7 OPEN

This error message typically pops in due to some compatibility issues with the os or versions of the libraries. To resolve the issue you may,

1. Try upgrading the pygame version
2. Ensure graphics driver is up-to-date
3. Try using different flags. In the above code, .HIDDEN means that the window will be hidden after creation. This is often used when you want to create a window off-screen, perform some operations, and then show it later.
4. Try different windowing system. may be pygame.window.WindowMacOSX

from pygame.

been getting a similar error on windows, seems to work fine with 2.4.0 but not >=2.5.0 (though this may be a completely separate issue)

from pygame.

Have you tried manually scaling it with the pygame._sdl2 (mentioned in the doc) or you could try something like this:

import pygame
import pygame._sdl2 as sdl2

flags = pygame.SCALED

initial_scale_factor = 3 # <-- adjustable
window = sdl2.Window.from_display_module()
window.size = (WIN_WIDTH * initial_scale_factor, WIN_HEIGHT * initial_scale_factor)
window.position = sdl2.WINDOWPOS_CENTERED
window.show()

This works without the pygame.RESIZABLE module and should give a scaled window with whatever initial scale factor you want

If you encounter issues with _sdl2 or need a more stable approach, try manual scaling within Pygame's core API using surface transformations or resizing techniques.

from pygame.

been getting a similar error on windows, seems to work fine with 2.4.0 but not >=2.5.0 (though this may be a completely separate issue)

Thanks but when I try a new conda/mamba env with an older pygame version, it still does not work for me:
pygame 2.4.0 (SDL 2.28.5, Python 3.8.18)

from pygame.

Have you tried manually scaling it with the pygame._sdl2 (mentioned in the doc) or you could try something like this:

import pygame
import pygame._sdl2 as sdl2

flags = pygame.SCALED

initial_scale_factor = 3 # <-- adjustable
window = sdl2.Window.from_display_module()
window.size = (WIN_WIDTH * initial_scale_factor, WIN_HEIGHT * initial_scale_factor)
window.position = sdl2.WINDOWPOS_CENTERED
window.show()

This works without the pygame.RESIZABLE module and should give a scaled window with whatever initial scale factor you want

If you encounter issues with _sdl2 or need a more stable approach, try manual scaling within Pygame's core API using surface transformations or resizing techniques.

Thanks for getting back to me. I can successfully import pygame._sdl2 as sdl2 so that is a nice start. I do not know how to integrate this into my existing code:

initial_scale_factor = 3 # <-- adjustable
window = sdl2.Window.from_display_module()
window.size = (WIN_WIDTH * initial_scale_factor, WIN_HEIGHT * initial_scale_factor)
window.position = sdl2.WINDOWPOS_CENTERED
window.show()

Does this replace any of my existing code like:

self.screen = pygame.display.set_mode((WIN_WIDTH, WIN_HEIGHT), flags = pygame.SCALED)
    def draw(self):
        self.screen.fill(BLACK)
        self.all_sprites.draw(self.screen)
        self.clock.tick(FPS)
        pygame.display.update()

I am not sure how window interacts with screen and the calling of screen in my code (sorry new to pygame and any coding other than for simple bioinformatics).

from pygame.

Yes, you can replace the line where you set the display mode with the SDL2 code. Here's how you can integrate it into your existing code:

import pygame
import pygame._sdl2 as sdl2

BLACK = (0, 0, 0)
WIN_WIDTH, WIN_HEIGHT = (256, 128)
FPS = 60

class Game:
    def __init__(self):
        pygame.init()

        flags = pygame.SCALED
        flags |= pygame.RESIZABLE  # optional

        pygame.display.set_mode((WIN_WIDTH, WIN_HEIGHT), flags | pygame.HIDDEN)

        initial_scale_factor = 3  # <-- adjustable
        window = sdl2.Window.from_display_module()
        window.size = (WIN_WIDTH * initial_scale_factor, WIN_HEIGHT * initial_scale_factor)
        window.position = sdl2.WINDOWPOS_CENTERED
        window.show()

        self.screen = pygame.Surface((WIN_WIDTH, WIN_HEIGHT))
        self.clock = pygame.time.Clock()  
        self.all_sprites = pygame.sprite.Group()  

    def draw(self):
        self.screen.fill(BLACK)
        self.all_sprites.draw(self.screen)

game = Game()

running = True
while running:
    for event in pygame.event.get():
        if event.type == pygame.QUIT:
            running = False
    game.draw()
    pygame.display.flip()
    game.clock.tick(FPS)
pygame.quit()

I use VSCode as my IDE and this code works for me. Pygame is an amazing library to start with and it is fun. About the window interaction, try referring to youtube tutorials.

from pygame.

Thanks for getting back to me Namitha-KS.

I can run the above code without an error message and I get a small black window. But when I added the relevant code to my larger script, I get the same error:
python main.py pygame 2.5.2 (SDL 2.28.5, Python 3.12.1) Hello from the pygame community. https://www.pygame.org/contribute.html Traceback (most recent call last): File "/Users/jameslloyd/Documents/Main_Work_JPBL/Non_work/Hobbies/Game_dev/pygame/Building_RPG_Game_example/My_first_game_attempt/main.py", line 149, in <module> game = Game() ^^^^^^ File "/Users/jameslloyd/Documents/Main_Work_JPBL/Non_work/Hobbies/Game_dev/pygame/Building_RPG_Game_example/My_first_game_attempt/main.py", line 43, in __init__ pygame.display.set_mode((WIN_WIDTH, WIN_HEIGHT), flags | pygame.HIDDEN) pygame.error: failed to create renderer

I am not sure what pygame.display.set_mode((WIN_WIDTH, WIN_HEIGHT), flags | pygame.HIDDEN) is supposed to be doing here as it contains the pygame.SCALED that always causes the error for me. When I remove this line from my code, or just remove the flags, I just get a super large black screen. So I am not sure what I am doing wrong here but sadly it has not solved the issue.

Thank you again for trying!

from pygame.