Black screen on startup no matter what

[Ver]

I think I've tried every soloution today for the black screen problem but sounds still coming through. All drivers updated, meet the specs etc, monitor just goes click, but minimising shows the desktop.
Just got the game yesterday, is it a windows 2000 thing that I can't sort this out as there seems to be a lot of it.

 

[Zanmato]

Don't have this problem with mine on Win2k. Did you have any settings on for switching off the monitor after a set amount of time or any screensavers? Is the DirectX fully up to date?

 

[crunch]

By editing ini file:
- Try playing the game in a window (Fullscreen = 0)
- Try turning off intro movies (NoIntroMovies = 1) (I think)
- Try running the game by doubleclicking a savegame (you can get a savegame e.g. in the GOTM section of civfanatics.com)

Post your specs. I assume you patched the game. When exactly does it go black? Yeah, reinstall directX just in case.

 

[Ver]

Never have the monitor power down, direct X up to date etc, same with graphics card drivers.
Not got a saved game at all, only got it Monday. Tried the ini file editing to no joy, running it on a min spec antique athlon with a gforce 4 440mx, 256 266DDR RAM.

 

[crunch]

Can the game run on 256MB RAM? I am not sure.

Anyway... sounds like the game tries to force some unsupported resolution on your monitor. Do you also have a legacy monitor?

 

[Ver]

No idea, picked this one I'm using up cheap second hand a couple of months back when my old one finally gave up the ghost after 7 years. Come up as a simple plug and play device, and has no manufacturer/model info on it.

 

[Snerk]

The black screen problem seems to be related to videocard or driver issues. Make sure that your driver is correct for your videocard, and properly installed.

 

[Ver]

Yes, I have the latest drivers, it was the first thing that I checked to be honest. Latest direct X and so on too. Their tech support have had the email detailing the problem the past week and heard nothing from them yet. Just goes to show. Anyway looks like I'll be returning the game and getting guild wars instead I think.

 

[Snerk]

hmm.. shame though...
Try posting your dxdiag first to see if anybody got any ideas.