BLACK SCREEN - I hear menu button sounds and some music

Larsenex

Join Date 04/2009

+212

For starters...Ill try to help.

How much ram do you have?

What is your video card and are you using the latest drivers? (This issue is usually related to your hardware and/or drivers).

Also check and see what your virtual ram is set at. It should be double or more of your current ram (this is a suggestion and others may have better advice) I say double so if you have 4 gigs of ram, double your virtual memory to 8 gigs.

See if those are covered and lets hear what happened.

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kin3tix

Join Date 09/2014

+5

Larsenex,

Thanks for the helpful post!

n3mrut,

As Larsenex mentioned, what you're experiencing does indeed sound like it could be related to your graphics driver, so I would first recommend trying to update to the latest version of your graphics card driver. If you're still experiencing some issues, please try the recommendations on the below page:

https://esupport.stardock.com/index.php?/default_import/Knowledgebase/Article/View/496/161/general-galactic-civilizations-iii-troubleshooting

If you've already placed a ticket for this issue, please be patient while we review your case and respond with some recommendations.

Thanks!

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Thank you guys

i have 16gb ram
also i have 880m 8gb.. iam using latest driver ofc..
I have 16gb ram and still need virtual memory ?

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Larsenex

Join Date 04/2009

+212

I turned off my Virtual memory as I have 16 gigs as well. I suspect when the next two sizes up that arrive I will have to go back and turn on page file and I will set it to 32 gigs. So far I can play Immense with zero issues. I have been in a protracted war with the Drengin, turn 413 and I am slowly taking his planets. I am cheating by using carriers in my assault fleets.

They really need a balance pass.....(another subject.)

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well my game gives blackscreen , its different issue

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Quoting Larsenex,

reply 4

I turned off my Virtual memory as I have 16 gigs as well. /snip/

I (at first) also turned off virtual memory when I got 16 gb. Then I learned that turning off VM represents a fraction of a percent improvement in performance, and that it has some potential side effects, such as introducing instability and preventing the formation of crash dumps.

So when one goes to the VM settings, there will be a recommendation for the minimum and maximum size of VM. I set the minimum size = maximum size so that the VM doesn't have to be reallocated.

Reference: http://www.howtogeek.com/126430/htg-explains-what-is-the-windows-page-file-and-should-you-disable-it/

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Hi I also get a black screen with just the game cursor showing but the music is still playing, usually when I'm viewing the galaxy map. Started happening after about 30 turns into the game and then every few turns after that. I have the latest driver for my graphics card and all the updates for windows 7 sp1 and I have my virtual memory set at twice my system memory I play on gigantic map size. Thanks

My Specs:

Windows 7 sp1

AMD Phenom II X4 945 3.00 GHz

System Memory 4gb

Nvidia Geforce 550 TI 2gb

Hard drive 1TB

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I have the exact same problem. However, I recently upgraded my GPU (from Radeon HD 5830 to R9 290 Tri-X). I also increased my RAM from 4GB to 20GB (5 x 4GB DDR3). Game runs much more smoothly now but after 5 minutes runs a black screen. I had no problems with my old card. My drivers are up to date. I don't know how to check virtual memory. Just wondered if people thought the RAM was an issue or if I need to get onto AMD about the graphics card?

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resolution in windows and in game have to be equal. that was the solution by me

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Quoting Pimelmonster,

reply 9

resolution in windows and in game have to be equal. that was the solution by me

Pimelmonster,

What are your system spces? Have different resolution settings works fine for me.

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tilyas89

Join Date 01/2014

+13

Quoting pshaw,

reply 10

Quoting Pimelmonster,

reply 9

resolution in windows and in game have to be equal. that was the solution by me

Pimelmonster,

What are your system spces? Have different resolution settings works fine for me.

Hi this exact same thing is happening to me. I have the surfacebook with the dedicated gpu. It only displays properly when I set it to 3000x2000. Anything less and it does the black screen, with cursor showing and music in the back like its running fine. Changing my resolution every time I play makes me actually not want to go through the hassle :/

I don't believe that changing resolution is working properly right now and I would immensely appreciate it if this bug was given attention since I can't play until its fixed

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Quoting tilyas89,

reply 11

Quoting pshaw,

reply 10

Quoting Pimelmonster,

reply 9

resolution in windows and in game have to be equal. that was the solution by me

Pimelmonster,

What are your system spces? Have different resolution settings works fine for me.

Hi this exact same thing is happening to me. I have the surfacebook with the dedicated gpu. It only displays properly when I set it to 3000x2000. Anything less and it does the black screen, with cursor showing and music in the back like its running fine. Changing my resolution every time I play makes me actually not want to go through the hassle :/

I don't believe that changing resolution is working properly right now and I would immensely appreciate it if this bug was given attention since I can't play until its fixed

Which surface book do you have?

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tilyas89

Join Date 01/2014

+13

i5, 8 gb, 256 hard drive, with dedicated gpu. Fully updated. My brother has the same specs and the same problem.

UPDATE: This happens with 1.71 and 1.8 opt in. I am at a loss as to what's going on! I'm fully updated in drivers and everything.

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Just got the 1.8 update.

I too have the Surface Book and am getting the same issue. Black screen, but can see the cursor and hear music.

I have the game running at 1920 x 1200

16Gb ram i7 with dedicated Nvidia GPU and 512Gb SSD.

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Quoting MooMan1,

reply 14

Just got the 1.8 update.

I too have the Surface Book and am getting the same issue. Black screen, but can see the cursor and hear music.

I have the game running at 1920 x 1200

16Gb ram i7 with dedicated Nvidia GPU and 512Gb SSD.

Can you submit a ticket with we can help you out? Thank you.

https://esupport.stardock.com/index.php?/Tickets/Submit

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tilyas89

Join Date 01/2014

+13

I've submitted a ticket. #BXN-310-32502

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I too just submitted a ticket. #ZFC-758-36616

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Quoting MooMan1,

reply 17

I too just submitted a ticket. #ZFC-758-36616

Update: we loaded GC3 using the same surface book device. In our test, the game does run at 3000x2000 UNLESS the surface is using the integrated Intel graphics card instead of the NVIDIA card. This would happen if the device thought it was in tablet mode. Can you add to your ticket the Debug.err file (found in [your documents]\My Games\GalCiv3)? We'll be able to confirm that this is indeed the problem fairly quickly.

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tilyas89

Join Date 01/2014

+13

Quoting pshaw,

reply 18

Quoting MooMan1,

reply 17

I too just submitted a ticket. #ZFC-758-36616

Update: we loaded GC3 using the same surface book device. In our test, the game does run at 3000x2000 UNLESS the surface is using the integrated Intel graphics card instead of the NVIDIA card. This would happen if the device thought it was in tablet mode. Can you add to your ticket the Debug.err file (found in [your documents]\My Games\GalCiv3)? We'll be able to confirm that this is indeed the problem fairly quickly.

Hi and thanks for the reply. I'm not sure what you mean by the post. Yes it ran it 3000x2000 but the problem was that's the only resolution it ran at. Setting it at anything else, without changing the desktop resolution to match, would give us the black screen upon restart. I included a bootleg video with my ticket.

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Quoting tilyas89,

reply 19

Quoting pshaw,

reply 18

Quoting MooMan1,

reply 17

I too just submitted a ticket. #ZFC-758-36616

Update: we loaded GC3 using the same surface book device. In our test, the game does run at 3000x2000 UNLESS the surface is using the integrated Intel graphics card instead of the NVIDIA card. This would happen if the device thought it was in tablet mode. Can you add to your ticket the Debug.err file (found in [your documents]\My Games\GalCiv3)? We'll be able to confirm that this is indeed the problem fairly quickly.

Hi and thanks for the reply. I'm not sure what you mean by the post. Yes it ran it 3000x2000 but the problem was that's the only resolution it ran at. Setting it at anything else, without changing the desktop resolution to match, would give us the black screen upon restart. I included a bootleg video with my ticket.

Okay I misunderstood the issue -- I thought the problem was it was wouldn't run at 3000x200 and would at other resolutions. I'll test again on Monday when I have access to the surface book again. Can you also add the debug.err to your ticket? It may contain some error messages that would clue us in to the problem.

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tilyas89

Join Date 01/2014

+13

I'm not sure what the debug.err is. I ran the stardock thing they sent me and attached it as a file.

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debug.err is located :- ....Documents/My Games/GalCiv3

The game generates a new one every time you start it, it a log's of everything that happens.

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For my ticket #ZFC-758-36616 I attached the debug.err file.

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