GWX2 Black Screen on Startup

[XLjedi]

I just installed the D2D version of SH3 with 1.4 (on Vista64).

Game runs beautifully without GWX2. After installing GWX2 the load sequence gives me the howling wolf, the intro movie, then a black screen (is there s'pose to be a load screen?) I can see my cursor only... after awhile the cursor disappears too and I hear the music playing as if I'm at the game menu, but nothing but black on the screen.

Tried a reinstall once and same problem. :hmm:

[XLjedi]

Doh...

Seems to be a graphics card setting issue. I was able to make it work by turning off all the GPU settings. I have the latest nVidia drivers for Vista: 169.25

I'll poke around and see if I can find some usable settings...

[XLjedi]

Oh good grief... I can't play SH3 with any AA at all!

This looks horrible (good FPS though )

Anyone heard any news on why the latest nvidia 169.25 vista drivers don't work with SH3? ...of if/when it will be fixed?

[Der Kolkrabe]

Originally Posted by aaronblood

I just installed the D2D version of SH3 with 1.4 (on Vista64).

Game runs beautifully without GWX2. After installing GWX2 the load sequence gives me the howling wolf, the intro movie, then a black screen (is there s'pose to be a load screen?) I can see my cursor only... after awhile the cursor disappears too and I hear the music playing as if I'm at the game menu, but nothing but black on the screen.

Tried a reinstall once and same problem. :hmm:

Hi!

I have Vista32 and I'll got same problems first too...

Install and uninstall...no working...then d/l new driver to my GeForce 8600GT card.
Driver v.169.25.
Now works

Ps. I have same problems with SH4 too, both shows intro, then black screen...

After new driver....

[XLjedi]

For me it was a graphics card / driver issue. I have an older 6800 ultra and if I turn on ANY of the AA features in the nVidia graphics control panel it will reward me with the black screen.

In my case, the 169.25 driver didn't seem to play well with SH3 and the GPU. For me, basically, nothing works with the 169.25 driver.

However, with other games (even the newer ones) I get beautiful game displays with the AA enabled. So it may just be something with the inner-workings of SH3 that just causes the game to not like the new drivers and AA.

It's interesting to me that the latest nvidia software came with some game presets under the advanced options and actually had Silent Hunter 3 in there with the recommendation that all features of the card be switched off.

My latest game, Sins of a Solare Empire, seems to render beautifully with the new drivers.

[Philipp_Thomsen]

Thats not related with the videocard.

Uninstall any codec pack you have and you'll see that the game works like a charm.

If you don't want to lose your codecs, just rename the folder called "movies" inside the game/data folder. Rename it to "moviess" for instance, and the game will also works like a charm.

[XLjedi]

Yeah, when I had WinXP-32 installed, I do recall I had the same exact black screen issue upon trying to load Falcon 4 AF. When I researched the cause of that one it was, as you point out, linked to incompat with a codec pack that I had installed. Worked fine after I killed the offending codecs.

Now however, I'm working with a fresh install of Vista-64. I don't have any extra codec packs loaded. If there's a conflict now, it's with a codec pack that pre-exists in Vista.

Do you have a recommendation for what or how to disable codecs that are already installed in Vista-64 Ultimate edition? ...I'll see what happens when I rename the movies folder.

[Philipp_Thomsen]

Originally Posted by aaronblood

Yeah, when I had WinXP-32 installed, I do recall I had the same exact black screen issue upon trying to load Falcon 4 AF. When I researched the cause of that one it was, as you point out, linked to incompat with a codec pack that I had installed. Worked fine after I killed the offending codecs.

Now however, I'm working with a fresh install of Vista-64. I don't have any extra codec packs loaded. If there's a conflict now, it's with a codec pack that pre-exists in Vista.

Do you have a recommendation for what or how to disable codecs that are already installed in Vista-64 Ultimate edition? ...I'll see what happens when I rename the movies folder.

Too soon to be using vista for anything. Too much incompatibility. I'll start using it by the end of the year, maybe more, maybe less. Whats wrong with XP?

If you dont have any codecs installed, then just rename the folder "movies".
I dont know any other way.