[EM] 1.808 Black/Blank screen on startup *FIXED*

[Spero42]

My game crashes on startup. The screen turns black for a few seconds and then goes right back to the desktop.

It logs the following:

[COMMON]
PathToEXE=C:\\sw3dg\\EvochronMercenary\\CrashOn_01_31_12.txt
[CEXE]
m_dwRuntimeErrorDWORD=Internal Code:0
m_dwRuntimeErrorLineDWORD=66305

My system specs:

Windows 7x64 Home Premium
Intel i7
8GB RAM
NVidia GeForce GT 335M w/ 1GB onboard RAM

When I first installed, it did successfully launch. Since then, it has failed every time. I've tried reinstalling to no avail.

[Edited on 2-1-2012 by Vice]

[Vice]

That appears display related. What driver version are you using? As something else to test, add -mode1 to the end of the target line (include a space between the EvochronMercenary.exe and -mode1) for the game's desktop icon (or create one if it doesn't exist), then launch and see if the behavior changes.

[Maarschalk]

Hi Sparo42, welcome to the game and forum!.....Hope to see you out there some time!....

Did you try restarting your computer?
Also try putting Planet Detail to Low in the Games options to start with!

[Vice]

It appears he can't make it to the main menu, so he can't change settings. It appears the problem is display related though, so I'd suggest the step I posted above to try and diagnose the problem. Restarting is also a good step to try. Also, make sure the game has full write permission to its save data folder (default c:\\sw3dg\\EvochronMercenary) and also try launching the game with 'Run as administrator' to test for changes.

Edit: Also, sometimes when this has happened in the past, it may have been the result of the game getting launched twice or not being properly shut down previously, leaving a duplicate task visible in the task manager. IIRC, this can result in an error message about a file block and/or a blank screen upon launch. So it's something else I'd suggest checking and a restart would also help resolve this.

[Edited on 1-31-2012 by Vice]

[Spero42]

I have tried restarting my computer, administrator mode, as well as putting "-mode1" after the shortcut (thanks to that helpful readme at the top of the tech support forums). None have resolved the issue.

My driver version is 285.62

[Vice]

Do you see any blue bars appear at the bottom of the screen before it returns to the desktop? Please send me a msinfo report on your system and I'll look into it further: http://www.starwraith.com/evochronmercenary/faq.htm#8

[Spero42]

I've sent an email, but I have a question.

Is it possible that a missing .cfg file can be the cause? My guess is that your game creates a .cfg of the settings when it is first launched. If something was faulty with that file, it may cause this issue. Upon reinstall, the .cfg is gone, but somehow a registry artifact may still be preventing the game from launching, thereby preventing the creation of a .cfg.

Perhaps if you could supply me with that .cfg, it might fix things.

Just a thought...

Edit: And no, there are no blue bars.

[Edited on 2-1-2012 by Spero42]

[Vice]

I've sent a reply with a step to try. The game doesn't depend on registry settings for startup and if it's stopping before the bars appear, then it is likely not getting far enough along to create the config files anyway. So it's likely a more root cause on the system.

[Spero42]

Uninstalling Commodo did the trick.

Thanks!

[Vice]

In addition to Comodo Internet Security, a number of other security applications are known to cause interference problems with games. They can also cause intermittent crashes, system stability problems, performance reductions, and other problems. For anyone else encountering this or a similar issue, Steam provides a list of several programs with known issues here: https://support.steampowered.com/kb_art ... -SFLZ-9289

Sometimes a 'gaming mode' or 'exception' option works, but sometimes the changes such security programs make to a system can't be reversed without fully uninstalling it. In those cases, using alternate protection programs with fewer system interference, performance, and reliability issues may be the only solution.