Solution for black-screen-with-music issue

[ekees]

Now that I have some feedback that this works for other people, I'm making a new thread in order to make this procedure easier to find.


* BACKGROUND

Skip to the PROCEDURE section if you are impatient.

The problem I had was that the game starts in a black screen and I can hear music from the intro, then the slow beat menu music if I wait long enough. I've seen a bunch of other posts describing this, so I knew I was not alone. I believe the game defaults to a high resolution in fullscreen mode, which isn't going to work for everyone. This is especially true for those who still have 4:3 ratio monitors.

During the problem, I noticed that I can hear when I navigate the menus with the up and down arrow keys as there is a sound blip when moving to the next menu choice.

So, my buddy started up the game, and I wrote down the steps needed to navigate while blind2ed with the black screen. This method worked for me with the demo and the retail game.


* PROCEDURE

I already have some feedback now, but please post a reply and let me know of your results with this method.


1) Start Capsized.

The intro will start to play after several seconds.


2) Press ESC once, then press ENTER once.

You have just interrupted the intro and you are now at the main menu. The music should have changed.

If this step gives you hassles, then just let the intro play out... it's not that long of a wait.


3) Press DOWN twice, then press ENTER.

You are now at the OPTIONS menu.


4) Press DOWN twice, then press ENTER.

You are now at the VIDEO menu.


5) Press ENTER once.

You have just changed WINDOWED MODE from OFF to ON.


6) Press UP twice, then press ENTER.

You have just selected APPLY from the video menu, but you will still remain in the VIDEO menu.

* RESULT

If you followed these steps without error, the game should have switched from Fullscreen mode to a window with your desktop showing.

You might not be able to see the titlebar of the game window, but now, you can use your mouse or keyboard to switch the resolution in the menu to something that makes sense for your computer.


* NOTES:

i) DON'T SHOOT THE MESSENGER! I'm just trying to help out here

ii) The game will only run in letterbox ratios, even in windowed mode. You can center the window on your screen, but the action will be chopped on both sides. With 720p letterbox monitors as cheap as 89$ USD in today's market, letterbox-only is the new reality.

iii) If you miscount your presses of the arrows, then move your mouse around a bit and slide it up to the upper right. This will "reset" the menu such that nothing is selected anymore. Pressing DOWN once at this point will highlight the first menu item in the list.

iv) The game will fail to start and dump you back to desktop if you have sound disabled on your computer or you have no sound capability at all.

v) If you try to futz with the game files by renaming the intro WMV file in order to cut down on time to start up, the game will fail to start and dump you back to the desktop. There's little reason to do this, however, as after you've managed to start the Campaign, the intro will no longer automatically play after you launch the game at a later date.

vi) If my suggested procedure does not work for you, don't spend hours and hours trying it over and over. Something else is wrong and there's little point in banging your head against a wall until you pass out. The game is cool, but it's not worth getting your blood boiling in a fit of mouth-foaming/teeth-gnashing/screaming-keyboard-smashing rage... there's already too much crap in the world to induce that.


* OTHER NOTES:

By design, the first menu option is highlighted when you arrive at a menu.

i) Main menu:

CAMPAIGN
ARCADE
OPTIONS
EXIT

ii) OPTIONS menu:

GAME
SOUND
VIDEO
CONTROLS
GAMEPAD OFF
COOP OFF
BACK

iii) VIDEO menu:

WINDOWED OFF
RESOLUTION XXXX x YYYY
VSYNC ON
APPLY
BACK

[LambOfGod]

I'll try this as soon as i get home. I'll post the results.

Thank you, support from the devs is useless. No response to mails, twitter or forums.

[anticitizen101]

+rep.

[ron kooby]

Perfect fix; thanks! FYI, I was on a 1280x1024 monitor, and it actually is a supported resolution, I just couldn't choose it until I was in windowed mode. +rep