Main Menu Blacked Out Center (UPDATE)

[Magnum9]

So I went through all the .NETFramework stuff, and it still takes a good while for the game to load when I launch from steam, but I FINALLY got to the main menu and now this is what I see.

Any ideas? The opening cinematic plays fine. I can see cursor changes within the black window but nothing loads.

I'm getting close to refund frustrated at this point

[Raap]

Try clicking in the upper right corner of the black rectangle.

Anyway, I'd check to see if internet explorer's installed and working correctly.

[Magnum9]

Checked IE. Everything is up to date, still the same black screen.

Also tried clicking around the top right a bit but no luck. Any idea what that screen is supposed to be? I'm going to laugh if it is as "Thanks for buying distant worlds!" banner preventing me from playing the game

[Raap]

Yeah, that would be ironic. I'll screenshot my own startup screen so you can see, and perhaps manage to 'hit' the button. It's essentially the encyclopedia welcoming you to the game. Note, my resolution is probably different from yours, so it might not be in the exact same spot. I'm also not sure if closing that window will get rid of the black rectangle.

[Magnum9]

I've now done framework, clean video driver install, disabled scaling, clean IE install, clean direct x install.... same god damn problem.

I've clicked on the areas where a "finger" icon pops up, nothing happens, invisible link seems to stay put. Nothing as far as error windows if I tab out or look in task manager.

Sure was nice when I could put a CD in the disk tray and a game would actually work. I swear every steam game I install has some quirk or hoop jumping that takes hours to work around. And it isn't like I have a crap computer or blasted/out of date software

[Magnum9]

Okay update.

So after monkeying around with everything under the sun I thought "Hmmmmmm... let me change display settings".

I usually run my monitor at 1920x1200 so I kicked it down to 1280x1024. Tada... it worked.

Scaled back up to 1920x1200 and poof. Black "Welcome to Distant Worlds" screen again.

Scaled back to 1920x1080 and... IT WORKS! Now my questions are

A) Why won't it run in 1920x1200
B) How do I get it to switch to 1920x1080 when I boot the game? Leaving my system at this setting outside of the game is making my eyes freak out.

(I have clicked the "Disable Display Scaling on high DPI" on the distantworlds.exe file if that's supposed to be a fix)

[Erik Rutins]

Thanks for that report Magnum9, we'll test here and see if we can figure out if the 1920x1200 issue is general or system specific.

It should work in all resolutions, so it's quite bizarre that it does not work in this particular one for you.

[Magnum9]

No problem.

I've been playing for a few hours now and game seems stable. I haven't really been fielding a lot of ships/founding many colonies yet etc, but it looks like it's going to run fine other than the resolution.

Still clearly have no idea what I am doing in game but looks like this is going to scratch a very long standing space 4x itch.

Will continue to try and figure out the downsizing issue on my machine. Thanks for the response and for making what looks like a very deep space empire sim.

[Erik Rutins]

Hi Magnum9,

We have a new update coming out today that has an option to disable the intro movie that we would like you to try when you get a chance. We're continuing to investigate this 1920x1200 issue in the meantime.

Regards,

- Erik

[Magnum9]

Kaabam!

Downloaded the update beta. Opened startup.ini and changed play movie field to 0.

Reset my monitor display to original 1920x1200. Game boots directly in to main menu

Great job. I'll hopefully get to play a bit more this evening and see if the "pan to top left" bug triggers after prolonged play again.