Cutscene audio keeps playing when out of focus

[zeromido]

Prerequisites

• I have searched for similar issues and confirmed this is not a duplicate

Game Version

• Command & Conquer Generals
• Command & Conquer Generals: Zero Hour
• Other (please specify below)

Bug Description

Description

The audio doesn't want to stop when the game loses focus (Alt-Tab) or after pressing Esc to skip videos (sorry, I know this feature is new). This affects both Bink video files and real-time rendered sequences. As far as I can tell, music tracks pause when the game is out of focus and resume when it's back in focus. The issue seems to be with voiceover audio only.

Version

generals-weekly-2026-02-27
generalszh-weekly-2026-02-27

Observed Behavior

1. Bink Videos (Alt-Tab)

• Issue: Audio continues to play in the background after switching windows.
• Detail: If the audio has started playing, it does not pause or mute; it continues until the current speaker/audio buffer finishes.

2. Real-time Rendered Cutscenes (Alt-Tab)

• Issue: Audio mutes on Alt-Tab but does not resume.
• Detail: Upon returning to the game, the visual rendering continues, but the audio remains silent for the remainder of the sequence.

3. Manual Skip (Escape Key)

• Issue: Bink audio is not terminated on skip.
• Detail: Pressing Escape during a dialogue sequence skips the video, but if the voice-over audio has already started, it continues to play to completion. Also, pressing ESC during a game-engine cutscene shows the pause menu and doesn't skip it.

Expected Behavior

• Global Focus: All game audio (including Bink and engine-rendered speech) should mute or pause immediately upon switching windows.
• Resume Logic: Audio should resume in synchronization with the current visual frame upon the window regaining focus.
• Interrupt Logic: Pressing the Escape key should call a termination command for any active voice/speech buffers associated with that scene including game-engine cutscenes

Reproduction Steps

1. For Bink: Trigger a video cutscene -> wait for audio to start playing -> Alt-Tab. (Audio keeps playing).
2. For Engine Scenes: Trigger a real-time scene -> wait for audio to start playing > Alt-Tab out -> Alt-Tab back in. (Audio is gone).
3. For Escape Skip: Trigger a video cutscene -> wait for audio to start playing -> Press Esc. (Voice continues playing over the next screen).

Additional Context

No response