Debug.err http://pastebin.com/6vQK4uVM
dxdiag http://pastebin.com/8vPQx8DA
I was playing the campaign and got to a tactical battle where the UI bugged out and wouldn't accept any commands causing me to randomly click around trying to get SOMETHING to happen. Eventually I clicked autoresolve and it went very poorly so I tried to reload. The saves looked like they were from beta but I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt (bad idea) and loaded the Autosave. The game then crashed (big surprise) and now when trying to start it I have a black screen, pushing escape starts the sounds from the intro video but only the first few seconds of it, pushing escape again causes the main menu music to start.
Cliffs
1. Black screen on startup rendering game unplayable
2. Saves from beta showing up in the load menu with no saves showing from the campaign
3. Tactical battle UI is still buggy
Ok, I don't know how many this would apply to, but I was having a similar problem. Try and load, black screen with the menu words, but nothing would happen past that. No music for me. About 153k memory usage, no CPU usage.
I updated drivers, messed with permissions, changed the preferences, etc.
I finally solved it on my end - I had the folder and subfolders set to "hidden" (due to being on a networked computer at work). I read the debug.err and realized the game wasn't finding files that were clearly there. I took the "hidden" setting off and the game worked.
I then put the "hidden" setting just on the main folder, and it still works fine. So the "hidden" setting on some of the subfolders and files was causing the problem for me.
Think it's time for me to get back to "work"... <grins>
I really wanted to be able to tell all my friends how awesome this game was when it came out but that's just not happening.
To the top.
Having same problem. Not running ATI, I did however install the game to my G: drive as I have no space on C:. Trying an install on my backup system.
I'm having the same black screen on startup.
Debug.err
Game loads. Screen is black. If I hit ESC once I hear a stuttering opening scene, hitting ESC again I hear the music fine at the main menu but I can't see anything because of the black screen.
1.0.0 worked for me. But since then, both updates have not worked.
I've tried the following; installing latest NVidia drivers, uninstalling/reinstalling, and deleting the entire 'C:\ProgramData\Stardock\Elemental - War of Magic' directory.
Thanks for this, Telaeus. Its not a 100% fix for me, but it does help a LOT. For me, I just flipped my whole program data file from hidden to not hidden (probably not the best idea, but I'm the only one who uses my laptop), and I managed to launch elemental on the first try both after spending about an hour playing starcraft 2, and after watching some videos online, both situations that would have taken a dozen or more tries in the past. Still get the black screen if I launch elemental, exit it, and then try to launch it again a minute or so afterwards, but this makes life much more pleasant.
Bizarrely, what worked for me, and now means the game loads every time, is that I changed
'GfxThrottleFrameRate=1' to 'GfxThrottleFrameRate=0'
This was after I noticed that my debug.err was telling me that my refresh rate was 0Hz.
Hope it works for others as well
Tried this, successfully started elemental 3 times in a row back to back, never even been able to get 2 before. For anyone else looking for it, that line is in the prefs file in documents/my games/elemental on Vista.
Still just a black screen. V1.00 work fine, but others not
Mine seemed to have been all not hidden in the first place; flipped them into hidden and back, still all black
Notice though new update available, hoping on that
Ah well, updated again (no the one after 1.05.016) and still black screen
Have you tried windowed mode or any of the solutions others have found?
This is a pretty strange issue since everyone seems to have a different solution that doesn't work for anyone else, so any debug.err files that you guys can provide should help get us more data to work with.
What is even stranger that it did manage to start overall 3x (of about 60+ tries). But when I stopped and tried aganin next time black screen again. Alos no difference I could detect ( tried with and without having the screens data folder deleted)
Same problem here, installed version (CD) works, 1.05 or 1.06 give me black screen with music when i start campain or single mission. Editor works. Tryed to install again, use Windoed Mode, disable all stuff, delete folders, set the flag to 0 ecc ecc. No solution
Nvidia GFX and updated driver :
http://pastebin.ca/1927132
PS: The game seems a big beta , next time just wait or u'll kill your good reputation.
I noticed that all with this problem have GeForce 8800 GT/GTS. Same problem same card for me aswell.
Which is a bit odd since that's what I've got in my own system.
Are you guys who are not using ATI traytools using any other similar refresh-rate locking apps that may be interfering with the game?
Yes, all guys with this problem have 8800GT/GTS or 9800GT (same card with different name). No ATI traytools, just the basic Nvidia stuff
I have a 9800 gt and i cant get past the startup screen without my computer freezing.
We would happily play the campaign at this beatiful weekend with 1.0 if there was not a forced incompatibility for the pre-1.06 saves.
My wife's pc has geforce gts 250 with the same issue.
Hi, guys! Finally I made it. To overcome the 'black screen' problem all that is needed is to install updates in order. 1.0 -> 1.01 -> 1.05 -> 1.06.
And it works!
Shame on you, Stardock!
Impulse patches the game directly and is the only legitimate way to obtain the updates... so if you're having some issue from "patching in the wrong order", then that tells me you've got a "special" version of the game. In which case we're not the ones who should be ashamed. If you're going to steal from us, at least have the decency to not waste our time when we've got paying customers to help.
I have the game from day one from Impulse as I pre-ordered and since patching away from the pre-launch version I pretty much always simply see a black screen (according to impulse tried 100+ times to load it and managed to get a non-black screen about three times).
So please do not treat this as a problem of rogue customers
so if you're having some issue from "patching in the wrong order"
Well technically isn't the issue caused by patching directly and NOT patching in order'? That is how I read this at least. Why are so many users seeing this? I suspect that they purchased the game (disc) and update via impulse to the 'latest', which then causes blank screen as it skipped the previous two updates (yes, I know patches are supposed to be accumulative, but if this is proving to solve the problem then surely something is wrong with the single update). Surely then the fault is still with the single direct updates? It seems obtaining the patches from illegitimate sources, if that is what is being done, is the only way to solve a bug at this time based on the feedback on here.
Not condoning illegal ownership by any means, but I was shocked to see Stardock employees attack users on their boards, especially when it appears to defend a fault impacting many others. I want to purchase the game with box etc, and not direct download. If I can't then upgrade to 1.06 without issue I guess I have to wait a little longer still. Can someone confirm my thought here; are those with blank screens using Impulse to get 1.06 (or .05) directly after installing from the DVD? If not then perhaps everyone with the blank screens are using "special" copies (and I should not expect many replies ) and I'm good to go with purchasing it now, otherwise I'll wait on the coming patch(s).
Big SD fan, have been since picking up Sins, and have 100% confidence issues will be resolved with this game which I have eagerly awaited. However I am glad I didn't rush into immediate purchase.
Because there is no skipping. Impulse simply checks all your files against the server copy and replaces any that are different in one shot. So you'll have the exact same version and files as everyone else.
Don't take a direct response to one pirate as more than it is (we can tell who is and who isn't). There have been a number of them scattered about the forum though, and it's getting old fast when they're distracting us from the actual problems and causes being seen by you guys.
Most of the people with this issue are using refresh rate lock tools. We're still investigating the rest.
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:
Sign in or Create Account
