Getting Sound But No Image - Black Screen

[jcope]

I've tried to search for this. I will search more, but it's taking time.

Problem:
Game runs fine on integrated Intel graphics processor. I can see and do everything, with and without mods installed. But game only shows black on NVidia GPU, with and without mods installed. From the initial videos all the way through to the actual game screens. The game is running, the sound works, and if I click around I hear I'm actually making inputs, but no picture.

Setup:
Brand new gaming computer
Intel Core i7-4700HQ
GeForce GTX 880M
24 GB DDR3
1 TB 7200 rpm Hard Drive, 256 GB Solid-State Drive
Game is installed on SSD (drive F).

What I've done so far:
- I tuned the GPU way down last night, hoping to stumble across a setting that might be causing the problem. No luck. All black, all the time.
- I refreshed the drivers last night. Again no luck. I plan to clean them out and reinstall tonight.

Question:
Any others had/solved the same problem, or can point me to threads dealing with it? I've been searching, but aside from driver refresh haven't seen many solutions. I'm hoping to collect a few before I get home tonight.

[Armistead]

Seems it was an issue long ago for some and deleting entry movie scene sometimes worked. Most agree you need DX9 running for SH4, so make sure you have that installed as well.

[Bilge_Rat]

Does the card work in other games or on the desktop? If not, first check it is hooked up properly and you have an adequate power supply

if its a brand new computer, the issue may not be game related, it sounds like your rig is giving priority to the IGPU instead of the graphic card. I had a similar issue with my new build.

Check in the BIOS for your motherboard regarding the video card, there should be a setting allowing you to always give 1st priority to the video card.

[merc4ulfate]

It is most likely your Nvidia settings.

By default many Nvidia cards are set to use the CPU for graphics not the card itself. This is to insure that the graphics interface will operate prior to the switch over.

Go to:

3 D Settings>Adjust Image Setting with Preview>CLICK Let the 3D application decide

Manage 3D Settings: Global Settings

"Manage 3D settings" > Global Settings (or game specific Program Settings):
Anisotropic filtering: 8x
Antialiasing - Gamma correction: On
Antialiasing - Mode: Override any application setting
Antialiasing - Setting: 16xQ
Antialiasing - Transparency: Supersampling
Conformant texture clamp: Use hardware
Error reporting: Off
Extension limit: Off
Force mipmaps: None
Multi-display/mixed_GPU acceleration: Single display performance mode
Stereo - Display mode: Use vertical interlace monitor
Texture filtering - Anisotropic sample optimization: Off (greyed out)
Texture filtering - Negative LOD bias: Clamp
Texture filtering - Quality: High quality
Texture filtering - Trilinear optimization: Off (greyed out)
Threaded optimization: Auto
Triple buffering: On
Vertical sync: Force on


3D Settings: Program Settings

1. Select the location of SH4

2.
Ambient Occlusion /NOT SUPPORTED/ OFF if it is
Anisotropic filtering /2X
Antialiasing - FXAA /Use Global Settings (OFF)
Antilaliasing - Mode /Application Controlled
Anitaliasing - Settings /Application controlled
Antialiasing - Transparency /SuperSampling
CUDA -GPU /Use Global Settings(ALL)
Maximum pre-rendered frames /Use the 3D application setting
Multi-display/mixed-GPU acceleration / Single Display Performance Mode
Shader Cache /Use Global Settings(ON)
Texture Filtering - Anistropic sample option /OFF
Texture filtering - Negative LOD bias /Clamp
Texture Filtering - Quality /High Quality
Texture Filtering - Trilinear Optimization /OFF
Threaded Optimization /Use Global Settings (AUTO)
Triple Buffering /ON
Vertical Sync /ON

SET PHYSX CONFIGURATION: Select a Physx Processor /SELECT YOUR GRAPHIC CARD IN THE DROP DOWN WINDOW (not AUTO or CPU)

Display:
Change resolution:
1280x1024, refresh rate 60 Hz. color depth highest 32-bit

Nvidia is sometimes not as quick out of the box as ATI in dealing with games ... odd yes I know.

Mine had the same issues and these settings fixed it. Do not set your resolution to high ... the game doesn't like it.

[jcope]

Thanks, guys. I'm a bit stuck on this one. I uninstalled and re-installed the GPU drivers tonight. No change.


Amistead,
I moved the entry videos to a place where the game can't find them. No change.

I have DirectX 11, which should be ok. Maybe I should downgrade to 9, but then another game wouldn't work. Not sure. I could try it.

Bilge_rat,
The card works for other games ok. Your other suggestion about which graphics processor is priority made some sense. But I'm forcing the game to use the NVidia GPU.

merc4ulfate,
As much as I could, I went through and duplicated the settings you described in both the global settings and program settings tab (where SH4 has a profile). You had some settings I don't have available, and I have a few that you don't have. Probably 80% match up. I'd take your advice on the others. I need to provide the details, but I can't now. I'll have to do this on Sunday night. I'm about to go on a trip.

Nothing I've done so far has helped. I've actually not seen any effects at all. Always just black.

This is frustrating. I got this machine partly because I wanted to play SH4 on it. I'd hate to find out it won't work.

[Armistead]

You can install numerous versions of DX, least you could when I was on XP. Most still agree you need 9 for this game and is no problem to have multiple installs.

[jcope]

Ok, I'll check that out.

[merc4ulfate]

By the way I do not see a mention of what OS your using??

[jcope]

Windows 8.1. It's taking some getting used to.

[jcope]

So I overcame this problem, after seeing a remark in another post.

I can now play the game using the NVidia processor, but not in full screen mode. Only windowed mode.

The solution was to go to C:\Users\jcope\Documents\SH4\data\cfg and find the file called main.cfg. In that file, edit the resolution line to something less than 1900x1080, and make sure FullScreen=No, as shown below.

[VIDEO]
Resolution=1600,900,60,22
DynamicShadows=No
FullScreen=No
Synchronized=No
TextureResolutionHigh=Yes

When the game runs, it comes up in a window, still showing the black screen, but after the intro videos (fail to) play, when I click back onto the game window, the visuals appear and the game runs just fine. Maybe the intro videos could be made to run, but I'll live without them.

Thanks for the responses. I hope this solution is useful to someone else.

[merc4ulfate]

I would hate to play in windowed mode.

[jcope]

Happy update: I found windowed mode at 1600x900 to be tolerable, but a little exhausting when you are required to read bearings/headings on the sonar controls and plotting on the navigation map at the pixel level.

Based on something I read online, I decided to try to run the game as administrator. And viola, that allowed me to finally run at full resolution, full screen. How nice that is going to be: no more distracting desktop icons to ignore, no more peering at the screen straining my eyes.

[TorpX]

Yeah, that sounds a lot better.

[merc4ulfate]

You should have everything set to run as Administrator ... since that is what you are on your own machine.