@Starling what i did before the aforementioned steps was disabling and re-enabling of my integrated GPU prolly it did something too

try to go to device manager>display adapters>click ininstall this device on whatever integrated GPU you have>then restart your pc, go back to device manager, right click on display adapters and choose "scan for hardware changes"

After troubleshooting TEF on Windows 11...for like six hours (whoops)...the only set up that works at all was manually adding the app into the graphics settings and changing the preference to High Performance, combined with changing the Compatibility to run the game on Windows 7 and deselecting the screen resolution setting (though, I'm not sure if this affected much other than the doubling window display that kept occurring for me).

Windows Search Arrow System > Display > Graphics > [browse and add application] > select "ForestViewer" > Options: High Performance

Right-click Application Arrow Properties > Compatibility tab > 1) Compatibility Mode: Windows 7; and 2) Settings: deselect "Run in 640 x 480 screen resolution"

Worked smooth as long as I didn't disconnect to the network while in-game, otherwise it would crash and refuse to open again. Had to uninstall and reinstall to fix this. Running older games on Windows 11 seemed to be a known issue within the forums so I added the instructions in case it helps anyone!

The only problem I have now is logging in to my old old old account— waiting fifteen minutes of "logging in" without any results! Guess that's my punishment for having a 12yo inactive account lol. In the meantime, exploring as a guest deer ain't so bad (I do still miss my og stags)

If anyone else is having trouble, this came about bc I was doing the spelldata stuff with my best mate but theirs was being weird, so on a whim I uploaded my game as a zip to google drive and had them try it, and it worked. I might not keep this up forever, but did just move it into a place I've meant to keep permanently, so if you're looking at this months/years on and it doesn't work, pls DM me and I'd love to try to see if I can help!

my version is a little bit weird apparently. when you get this, unzip it, then open "ForestViewer.exe". this will open a folder (same as where this version of the game currently is; if it's elsewhere, navigate to this install location), in this open "Q3DStart.q3d". everything from there should be normal!

LINK

I'm not sure that all these are essential, but just in case, I presently have:

Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Redistributable Version 8.0.56336
Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable - x86 9.0.30729.17
Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 x64 Redistributable - 10.0.40219
Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 x86 Redistributable - 10.0.40219
Microsoft Visual C++ 2012 Redistributable (x64) - 11.0.61030
Microsoft Visual C++ 2012 Redistributable (x86) - 11.0.61030
Microsoft Visual C++ 2013 Redistributable (x64) - 12.0.30501
Microsoft Visual C++ 2013 Redistributable (x86) - 12.0.30501
Microsoft Visual C++ 2015 - 2022 Redistributable (x64) - 14.42.34433
Microsoft Visual C++ 2015 - 2022 Redistributable (x86) - 14.42.34433

This computer/OS was installed December 26, 2024 on a reformatted drive with some older drives (with older data, including the TEF I'm running, which has an install date of May 18, 2011), and all programs on this list have been installed since then, so while some of these aren't needed for TEF, there is at least somewhat minimal accrued bloat here.

It somehow fixed mine, but if it makes any difference I'm:
1) running Hum's version (idk if it makes a difference. I haven't tried running the original since the server switch and I just so happened to have installed Hum's a few days beforehand but it didn't work prior to server switch)
2) I notice I have a better chance of it working if I boot TEF up once my laptop first loads. TEF always crashes the first time, but then the second time it works... If I try to load the game after my laptop has been on a while, it doesn't seem to work? It's so bizarre