[SOLVED] Rain World Opens to a Black Screen, but the Game is Running

[µ]

Nvidia GeForce GTX 860M 4GB
Intel i7-4710HQ 8 CPUs
8GB RAM
(I know it's an older laptop, I haven't got a chance to upgrade)

So, I don't know if it's only exclusive to Rain World or if it applies to Unity games in general, but almost ALL of the Unity games I'm playing suddenly only show a black screen on launch/have the screen stuck somewhere seconds after loading. Risk of Rain 2, Overcooked 2, Oxygen Not Included, and also Rain World are some of the examples.

The problem is, the game IS running, I can interact with the menu and all, and the music is audible. I just can't see anything being displayed on the screen.

I've tried running Rain World on the integrated Intel HD Graphics, and it runs just fine. But when I switch to my Nvidia graphics, nothing is displayed on the screen.

I don't think it's my graphics card; I can run other games just fine, but not the ones that using the Unity engine. I also have updated my drivers to the latest version, verified the file integrity, and ran it as administrator. But nothing works.

To be noted though, I've fixed this problem on Risk of Rain 2 and Overcooked 2 by inputting "-window-mode exclusive" to the Steam launch options. But it didn't work with Rain World somehow. Maybe because it's 2D?

Any advice would be thoroughly appreciated, thanks.

[Wolfofdoom3]

Maybe try fiddling with the compatibility settings and verify the integrity? If all unity games do this to you, I assume it's maybe because your hardware has some issue with the engine.

But I don't know much about this stuff, so I'm sorry.

[µ]

No worries. Thanks for replying, though.

As I've said, I've tried to verify the file integrity and even reinstalled it several times. The compability settings didn't do anything.

Maybe it's Nvidia, I dunno. The game runs properly on integrated graphics. The thing is, I can run other games on my Nvidia too so I don't really get what's the problem here.

Actually as of right now, I've already managed to run the other Unity games (at least the ones installed on my system). So, it's only Rain World left. I've tried forcing DirectX 9 and I could actually see the main menu, but everything's pink.

If it's helping for anyone, I'm on Windows 8.1 64-bit.

[∩∩4r|<]

Hmmm, I have an Nvidia card myself, and have used the Nvidia CP a few times in the past to manage (3)D settings; now, it's an 2D game of course, but I just decided to add it to see if I can manage some settings there. You can at least try some settings there, and the ones not supported are greyed out for me, like AA (which wouldn't have changed a thing anyway)

Other than that: I checked the registry for you, and when you go to Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Videocult\Rain World, there are 3 settings related to Screenmanager; e.g. height, width, and Fullscreen mode (TRUE/FALSE?!) ... and maybe the registry tweak (here @ 3.) that works for the Long Dark, works for Rain World too?!

[µ]

Thanks for your reply, but sadly it didn't work either. Or maybe I'm just not fluent enough in this kind of thing to properly use a .bat file to modify the registry.

But I figured that this MAY has something to do with scaling. Rain World runs in 1366x768, doesn't it? Some people managed to fix this problem by changing the scaling options to either "Maintain Aspect Ratio" or "No Scaling". But for me, it didn't work. Changing my native resolution also didn't work.

For reference, here's my screenshot of the initial controller scheme screen; 1920x1080 native resolution on Nvidia GeForce GTX 860M:
https://imgur.com/0qPjY2r

But it's just that; no mouse cursor, even the text on the button are all not placed properly.

The game IS running; I can hear the button selection sound if I managed to somehow hover my cursor above it, but even if I manage to click on the button, then it's just all black. The game continues to the main menu screen, while I can't see anything.

[µ]

In summary, the things I've tried are:

• Choosing the "Maintain Aspect Ratio" and "Override Application Settings" in the Intel Graphics Control Panel
  
• Checking the box for the "Disable display scaling on high DPI settings" in the executable's properties
  
• Running the program as an administrator
  
• Using the compability settings for Windows 8, 7, and Vista
  
• Inputting "-window-mode exclusive" to the Steam launch options
  
• Inputting 1366x768, 1360x768, and 1920x1080 resolutions to the Steam launch options
  
• Adjusting 3D settings for the program in the NVIDIA Control Panel
  
• Changing my native resolution to 1366x768
  
• Verifying the file integrity
  
• Updating my drivers
  
• Reinstalling the game
  
• Forcing DirectX 9; the game runs properly but everything is pink. Unplayable
  
• Using flatmode.txt
  
• Checking if I have some kind of background overlay like the NVIDIA ShadowPlay
  
• Disabling the Steam in-game overlay

But nothing worked.

I'm at loss right now, I can't even remember if I had did something else to fix this. I'm still open for suggestions though, but as of right now, I'm gonna let this game sit on my system for a while. Maybe the solution will present itself later.

Thankfully, I did get the game on a sale. So, it won't be that bad; even if the game is still not working until forever and my eligibility for a refund has been void.

[Wolfofdoom3]

Then the best solution is to ask on the rain world discord. Some people may know, and they never post on steam as far as I'm aware.

[µ]

Then I'll do just that. Thank you for your response. I'll get back here if I ever manage to run the game properly to post the solution.

[∩∩4r|<]

Good you're mentioning that: I initially started the game @ my native resolution of 1680 x 1050, but had some trouble with the aspect ratio, therefore black bars + Steam Overlay ';prints' — if you know what I mean. Not sure what was inbetween, but I finally decided to go with 1366 x 768 (that's what I see via the registry + 1/TRUE for Fullscreen Mode) and set my native resolution to 1366 x 768. I've successfully used the scaling option in the The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth for instance to prevent >100% zoom = HUD displaying fully, but I then couldn't go with a higher quality; results may vary here, but I can imagine this doesn't fix your problem!

So, really odd to see the text not being displayed properly aligned on the Input Method screen already! You know, I've been a subscriber to the Rain World forum for a while now, but thanks to you I actually came to know there's this other RW forum: Bugs! [not the edible kind]. I'm kind of overwhelmed by it, and it seems a lot is unaddressed there, but I could confirm a lot of other players have the same or similar issues as you. 1 person with (max.) similar issues fixed his problem while creating the lacking UserData folder. Now, you told us you could play Rain World on your HD (processor) Graphics 4600, so I assume there's a UserData folde already, apart from the fact the symptoms are different ;-) Might dig a little deeper into this forum myself, but might also be worth a shot for you ...

Then your list: thanks for being so structured, and I sense you know what you're doing! Since you mention NVIDIA ShadowPlay — whether a miss or not, taking every shot ... — would it be worth it to disable the NVIDIA Display Container LS (Windows service)?! I have it disabled by default ...
Then, assuming, but still 'shooting': everything up-to-date as well regarding DirectX? I have never been on Vista or Win 8 myself (XP --> 7 --> 7 + 10 :), so not sure if there's something interesting going on with DirectX on Windows 8 ...

Anyway, I never leave problems unfixed when I'm at it, so don't mind me staying here for a while I respect your attitude and motivation for this game — not being in the way, regardless of it not working for you

[∩∩4r|<]

Originally posted by Wolfofdoom3:

Then the best solution is to ask on the rain world discord. Some people may know, and they never post on steam as far as I'm aware.

I know you're very active and helpful on the Rain World forum (singular ...), but have you been aware of this other forum related to the inedible bugs? ^^

[Wolfofdoom3]

Well the thing is, I'm not very good at dealing with bugs. To know what a person is dealing with, I would have had to deal with the same thing and solved it.

Not even programmers can always know how to solve these issues, mostly because there's so damn many different PC specifications and you have no idea how each will react to specific software.

[∩∩4r|<]

Originally posted by Wolfofdoom3:

Well the thing is, I'm not very good at dealing with bugs. To know what a person is dealing with, I would have had to deal with the same thing and solved it.

Not even programmers can always know how to solve these issues, mostly because there's so damn many different PC specifications and you have no idea how each will react to specific software.

I see! Just wondering due to the amount of unaddressed threads there vs. your interaction with the public Thanks for elaborating!

[µ]

...I've finally decided to play Rain World on my integrated graphics LOL.

It seems like the low framerate that I've got is only in the main menu and the intro FMV, but continuing through the game it seems like the fps is fine.

MAYBE it had something to do with the NVIDIA drivers not supporting the game or anything, I don't know. But at least I can play it now. Hopefully my integrated graphics is enough to get me through the whole game without any problems.

Anyway, thanks for everyone that has been replying and helping me.

[µ]

On the other note, I've realized something weird.

In the NVIDIA Control Panel's 3D Settings, choosing the "Use global setting (Auto-select: Integrated)" produces the same result as choosing the "High-performance NVIDIA processor". The only way to make the game works is to manually select the "Integrated graphics"

Now, I don't really know much about this, but could the game be possibly mistaken my dedicated for my integrated? Or vice versa?

[Wolfofdoom3]

Hmm did you try directly running with the dedicated GPU from the exe then? Not sure if that would change anything though.

[µ]

I've tried. And yes, it still didn't work.

But hey, at least now I can get the game up and running, even though the core problem still hasn't been found. I'm suspicious that the game has indeed mixed my dedicated and integrated gpu the other way around somehow.

Well, as long as it works