Technical problem : black screen.

[Rabbid]

Hello everybody,

I am confronted to a quite annoying problem :

During first mission, only the objective arrow, the portraits of the characters and the status line was visible to me : all the rest of the play screen was totaly black.

I first though about a graphic problem so I launch an another type of game ( melee map), and there was no problem at all.

So i resign myself to fullfil the first mission blinded ( not so difficult, just tedious).

The second mission and all the fellowing, i have no more this problem.

And suddenly, near the end of the game ( i think so : when you must invoke the Time Master in order to stop Entropy), same problem as the first mission : all my screen is black again. The mission is somewhat more complex than the first one, too...so i can't finish the game, which is very frustrating :puppyeyes:.

There are no patch for this game, and i can't understand how i can use the mod edit tool to solve the problem.

Please help me, freedom fighters ! ;)

[ow_tiobe_sb]

IIRC, this is a fairly common problem that certain users with specific video cards encounter; however, it might be overcome by changing one of the video settings under options before entering the campaign.  The effect that causes this problem, if memory serves me, is the ripple effect that FFvTTR uses during the first mission and the final one.  Unfortunately, I cannot remember the exact name of the setting.

Of course, the solution might be that you need to update your video drivers if you are using an ATI Radeon video card.

Wasn't there a black screen solution on the FreedomFans boards before those forums went down?  My memory fails me. :(

ow_tiobe_sb
Phantom Bunburyist and The Prat in the Hat

[Rabbid]

I use a G-Force 4 MX video card ( worst card ever, really  :thumbdown:). I am still searching the source of the problem but thanks for your help.

Can't find a ripple effect on the graphic option by the way  :huh:.

[Previsionary]

tiobe is indeed correct about this being a fairly common problem of certain cards. The fix required the user to change some lines in the mission scripts. I can't remember what it is at the moment

[Panther_Gunn]

I have a copy of one of the fixes that someone put out when all this first came up.  It's actually a replacement missions.ff file, with the fixed lines already put in.  The readme.txt has no name on it, so I don't remember who made this one.....I want to say Kommando, but I'm probably wrong.  Give me an address to send it to, and it's yours.

[Rabbid]

Ok, if possible, we should put a direct link to these fixes, for other people who could need it ( i've heard that with recent video cards, there can be problem too).

@Panther_Gunn : your messages box is full ^_^.
My mail adress is the following : cedde2002@yahoo.fr. Thanks.

[Panther_Gunn]

ooh, would I be correct in guessing that's a French address?  Do you know if you're using a U.S. version of the game, or a European (Digital Jester) version?  I don't remember if this fix was compatible with both or not, so I suppose the worst that could happen is it just doesn't work.  I'll try & get this out soon.

[blubla]

i'm having the same problem would it be possible to link that fix on the site so that i can get it too thanks

[GGiant]

Shouldn't this be here?

[stumpy]

Yes, even the title suggests it belongs in the Technical Issues forum. I will move it momentarily.

Meanwhile, a straightforward search for black screen yielded this thread which should help explain the issue and possibly provide a solution.