GF4 not displaying

[misafir]

I have installed GF4 for windows XP. It starts but I get a blank screen. Sounds play and I hear menu highlighting when I move mouse, but there's nothing on the screen.

 

I tried blindly clicking, and I think I hit start new game. A long bar outline and a small white rectangle appeared, maybe player pic and name? I pressed enter and it dropped to desktop with a windows warning that system has been saved from an error (my Win isn't English, I don't know exact translation).

 

I had freshly reinstalled directx and graphic drivers. And I'd like not to redownload because I still have dialup.

[Micawber]

Ouch.

 

Try turning on troubleshooting options (rightclick on desktop, "settings" tab, "advanced" button, "troubleshoot" tab, "hardware acceleration" move slider down to one of the lower settings). In the past I've found this can solve problems with direct X applications.

 

If not, try uninstalling Geneforge 4 and reinstalling again. Check that your program files/spiderweb software/geneforge 4/data folder exists and is full of .bmp graphics files.

 

When you say "freshly installed" graphics drivers, do you mean you have just got a new graphics card? If so it is likely it shipped with an out of date driver (they usually do) so you might have to suffer a bit and visit the manufacturer's website to download a newer version. Likewise for Direct X if you got it anywhere other than the microsoft website it might not be the latest version.

[Spidweb]

Also, try running the game directly. Go into the My Programs folder, open the Spiderweb Software/Geneforge 4 folder, and double click on Geneforge 4 itself to run it.

 

If some glitch in your operating system is keeping the game from finding the graphics files, this might help.

 

- Jeff Vogel