SOLUTION: Game not starting

[Gibbo]

Hi there! Thanks for stopping by!

As you’re all probably aware assassins creed IV black flag has been a traumatic experience, I personally got the game around a month ago in a steam sale and have not been able to play it through steam or ubisofts amazing *cough* Uplay. I’ve read various posts on the matter and haven’t really had any solutions that work for me. Other posts say that if you uninstall a program called bitguard.exe this can get the game to work. However I did not have this program installed so this was not the problem that I was facing. Below is a list of what I did to get my game to work, hopefully it will work for you. If not you could maybe do the pain staking task of uninstalling the game and reinstalling and seeing if the method works then.

NOTE: If this method does work for you, I would recommend that you load up Uplay go to the settings icon at the top right of the program (the cog), this should by default be on the general tab and uncheck: Enable Cloud Save Synchronization for supported games.
When I was doing my research on how to get the game to work, a lot of people where posting saying that they were losing hours of game time due to this being checked so make sure that you uncheck to ensure that you do not lose any progress.

SOLUTION

1. Right click on Assassins Creed IV Black Flag and select properties.
2. Go to the tab Local Files then click Verify Integrity of Game Cache…
3. Once this is completed on the same tab click Browse local files…
4. This should now open a folder with all the games files
5. Scroll down until you find AC4BFSP
6. Right click on the file and select troubleshoot compatibility
7. A new pop up will appear click try recommended settings
8. It will then confirm that settings have been applied; Stating
Settings Applied:
Windows compatibility mode: Windows xp (Service Pack 2)
9. You can now click the Start the program… button that is on that interface to see if the game works
10. You may have to allow the program to make changes to the computer click yes
11. The game should now launch

I hope that this method works for you and that you can now play the game!

Leave any comments below stating if this method works for you or doesn’t and I will try help as best I can, good luck!

[Robyn]

Hi, I also bought this game in the sale; it was working perfectly until I got to memory sequence 3. All I get every time I come to a certain point in the mission is "windows could not start this screensaver" and then the game crashes.

I have tried EVERYTHING including uninstalling/ reinstalling, msconfig, restarting the game, troubleshooting, and practically everything else listed on the ubisoft forums. I tried this too, and it didn't work either.

Long story short, HELP ME!

[Gangsta's Paradise]

[germanrifter]

@Gibbo: thanks for your post; my game worked on Win7 after reinstalling and following your instructions. On the other hand: I tried it again on another system with win 8.1 and realized that I had UPLAY in offline mode; maybe that was my problem all along .

Thanks again anyways!

[Gibbo]

Originally posted by danjo69:

@Gibbo: thanks for your post; my game worked on Win7 after reinstalling and following your instructions. On the other hand: I tried it again on another system with win 8.1 and realized that I had UPLAY in offline mode; maybe that was my problem all along .

Thanks again anyways!

I'm glad that this worked for you! I'm not sure on how to help you with Windows 8.1 if i find a soultion i'll let you know!

[Gibbo]

Originally posted by Robyn:

Hi, I also bought this game in the sale; it was working perfectly until I got to memory sequence 3. All I get every time I come to a certain point in the mission is "windows could not start this screensaver" and then the game crashes.

I have tried EVERYTHING including uninstalling/ reinstalling, msconfig, restarting the game, troubleshooting, and practically everything else listed on the ubisoft forums. I tried this too, and it didn't work either.

Long story short, HELP ME!

Hi there Robyn,
Sorry to hear that it's still not working, do you have any background applications running such as MSI Afterburner? I've heard that this can cause problems.

If i find anymore solutions i'll be sure to let you know, danjo69 mentioned that having Uplay in offline mode may also cause a problem. check to see if that is online, other than that i can't think of anything else! Sorry

[Robyn]

Thanks for replying Gibbo,
Uplay is online, and as far as I'm aware, the only background application is steam, which is idle when I'm running the game. :c

[Artrysa]

words can descibe how much i love you right now man, thanks!

[coastalranger212]

None of this worked for me :(

[Artrysa]

Originally posted by coastalranger212:

None of this worked for me :(

does your game not save or does it not start?

[coastalranger212]

Originally posted by Artrysa:

Originally posted by coastalranger212:

None of this worked for me :(

does your game not save or does it not start?

As soon as it comes to the first page with the historical and ethnical bla bla bla it stops working

[Artrysa]

hav you tried to reinstall or varify the game cache?

[Joker19]

When I troubleshoot it runs in compatibility mode for Windows 8 and still doesn't work

[Radipz]

If I run this game while my internet connection turned on, my game needs a longer time to start.... even for the beginning videos... and sometimes lags at beginning... :( , is it just me or anyone here also had the some problem?

[KizilYalnizfokbaligi 将軍]

Originally posted by Diptags:

If I run this game while my internet connection turned on, my game needs a longer time to start.... even for the beginning videos... and sometimes lags at beginning... :( , is it just me or anyone here also had the some problem?

yeah ı have the same problem here. i cant open the game.ı think there is a problem with ubisoft servers

[drjleeper]

Originally posted by Robyn:

Hi, I also bought this game in the sale; it was working perfectly until I got to memory sequence 3. All I get every time I come to a certain point in the mission is "windows could not start this screensaver" and then the game crashes.

I have tried EVERYTHING including uninstalling/ reinstalling, msconfig, restarting the game, troubleshooting, and practically everything else listed on the ubisoft forums. I tried this too, and it didn't work either.

Long story short, HELP ME!

Suggest you post your computer stats including GPU memory & processor...