Black screen on launch

from GalCiv2 Forums
Ok, first off, i bought a new laptop. Game worked great on the old laptop (which is far less in specs than new one). but now when i hit "Play the game" the game goes to black and never progreses, i end up having to kill the process in the task manager. I patched and same thing, still goes black.

Not sure why it'd not work on my new system, but it worked fine on a lesser system.

Here's my debug file for you (oh why can't we attach fikes instead of cut and pasting?)

_____________________________________________

Debug Message: Version v1.5 last updated on: Thu Jan 11 13:39:19 2007
Debug Message: GalCiv2 is activated.
Debug Message: Checking DX Version.
Debug Message: *********DXDiag info follows.*********
System Info
Time: 9/13/2007, 09:17:22
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
Machine Name: USS-INTREPID
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.070227-2254)
Languages: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Clevo Co.
System Model: M570RU
BIOS: BIOS Revision: 1.00.02cS
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T7700 @ 2.40GHz (2 CPUs)
Physical Memory: 2046MB RAM
Page File: 814MB used, 3124MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS


Display Info
Display device 1:
Device Name: \\.\DISPLAY1
Card Name: NVIDIA GeForce 8700M GT
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip Type: GeForce 8700M GT
DAC Type: Integrated RAMDAC
Key Device: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0409&SUBSYS_05731558&REV_A1
Display Memory: 512.0 MB
Current Display Mode: 1920 x 1200 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor Name: Default Monitor
Monitor Max Resolution:
Driver Name: nv4_disp.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0011.0145
Driver Date: 6/25/2007 01:39:00
DirectX Acceleration Enabled: Yes



Sound info
Sound device 1:
Description: Realtek HD Audio output
Default Sound Playback: Yes
Default Voice Playback: Yes
Hardware ID: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10EC&DEV_0883&SUBSYS_15580573&REV_1000
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Driver Name: RtkHDAud.sys
Provider: Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
Driver Version: 5.10.0000.5413
Driver Date: 5/10/2007 05:28:08
Type: WDM
Other Drivers:
Acceleration Level: 3
Cap Flags: 0
Min/Max Sample Rate: 0, 0



Debug Message: *********END dxdiag info.*********
Debug Message: Entering WinMain
Debug Message: ******* Starting Game Shell *******
Debug Message: Going Fullscreen
Debug Message: Preparing to change display settings.
Debug Message: Using multilsample setting: D3DMULTISAMPLE_NONE
Debug Message: Could not create the render device using default format. Switching to 16bit
Debug Message: Using multilsample setting: D3DMULTISAMPLE_NONE
Debug Message: Could not create the render device.
Debug Message: InitializeDirect3D Failed.
Debug Message: Now Fullscreen
Debug Message: Shell initialization complete
3,593 views 8 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Go to My Documents\My Games\GalCiv2, open the file prefs.ini, and make the following changes:

Change
DisplayWidth=1024
DisplayHeight=768
ColorDepth=32
Fullscreen=1

To
DisplayWidth=(Your desktop width)
DisplayHeight=(Your desktop height)
ColorDepth=32
Fullscreen=0

Then save the file and start the game.
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Ok, only change i had to make was to turn full screen off, then it launched fine, turned it back on in game and now everything works great.

Thanks
Start11 - Customize the Start Menu and Taskbar in Windows 10/11.
Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Go to My Documents\My Games\GalCiv2, open the file prefs.ini, and make the following changes...

Thanks, Kyro. Your advice did just the trick for me. The game now loads perfectly, and is a lot prettier to look at to boot!
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Just yesterday, I had to do an OS restore, as I replaced my primary master Hard Drive.
Now, I'm getting this issue as well. All my drivers are in, got all XP updates, and got all GC & DA updates.

I tred the solution Kyro suggests, but it didn't help. What else can I do?
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
BTW, here's my Debug.err file

Debug Message: Version v1.5 last updated on: Thu Jan 11 13:39:19 2007
Debug Message: GalCiv2 is activated.
Debug Message: Checking DX Version.
Debug Message: *********DXDiag info follows.*********
System Info
Time: 9/26/2007, 17:20:40
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
Machine Name: KAMAKASI
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.070227-2254)
Languages: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: VIA Technologies, Inc.
System Model: KT600-8235
BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) XP 2800+, MMX, 3DNow, ~2.1GHz
Physical Memory: 2048MB RAM
Page File: 309MB used, 3072MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS


Display Info
Display device 1:
Device Name: \\.\DISPLAY1
Card Name: ALL-IN-WONDER 9800 SERIES
Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc.
Chip Type: ATI Radeon Graphics Processor AGP (0x4E48)
DAC Type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
Key Device: Enum\PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_4E48&SUBSYS_4F721002&REV_00
Display Memory: 128.0 MB
Current Display Mode: 1280 x 1024 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor Name: Plug and Play Monitor
Monitor Max Resolution: 1600,1200
Driver Name: ati2dvag.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0010.6719
Driver Date: 8/21/2007 21:07:59
DirectX Acceleration Enabled: Yes



Sound info
Sound device 1:
Description: SB Audigy Audio [D000]
Default Sound Playback: Yes
Default Voice Playback: Yes
Hardware ID: PCI\VEN_1102&DEV_0004&SUBSYS_00511102&REV_03
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Driver Name: ctaud2k.sys
Provider: Creative
Driver Version: 5.12.0001.0441
Driver Date: 10/8/2003 10:06:04
Type: WDM
Other Drivers:
Acceleration Level: 3
Cap Flags: 0
Min/Max Sample Rate: 0, 0



Debug Message: *********END dxdiag info.*********
Debug Message: Entering WinMain
Debug Message: ******* Starting Game Shell *******
Debug Message: Going Fullscreen
Debug Message: Preparing to change display settings.
Debug Message: Using multilsample setting: D3DMULTISAMPLE_4_SAMPLES
Debug Message: Could not create the render device using default format. Switching to 16bit
Debug Message: Using multilsample setting: D3DMULTISAMPLE_NONE
Debug Message: Could not create the render device.
Debug Message: InitializeDirect3D Failed.
Debug Message: Now Fullscreen
Debug Message: Shell initialization complete
Debug Message: WM_CLOSE message received.
Debug Message: GameUninitialize start
Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Just yesterday, I had to do an OS restore, as I replaced my primary master Hard Drive.
Now, I'm getting this issue as well. All my drivers are in, got all XP updates, and got all GC & DA updates.

I tred the solution Kyro suggests, but it didn't help. What else can I do?


Are you sure you changed everything as noted? That debug says it's still trying to run fullscreen, rather than windowed.
Reply #7 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Here's what was changed:

From This:
[Video]
DisplayWidth=1024
DisplayHeight=768
ColorDepth=32
Fullscreen=1

To This:
[Video]
DisplayWidth=1280
DisplayHeight=1024
ColorDepth=32
Fullscreen=0
Reply #8 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Got it! YAY!!!! I don't know what the deal is, but the newly released ATI Ver. 7.9 Driver seems to have been the problem. I rolled back to Ver. 7.8, and she fired right up!