Partial black screen bug [~80-85% of the screen is black]

[ĢơłđҒĩŋģęŗ]

Hey all,

I am having an issue were ~80-85% of the screen is black other than a piece of the screen on the far right. It can be temporarily fixed by changing resolution in-game then back but this is tedious as I get this issue every time I change locations in-game. I also have this issue for KOTOR 2 [in that game I can temporarily fix by alt-tabbing but that doesn't appear to work with KOTOR 1].

Here is what it looks like: https://imgur.com/Ki7vPGy

I have tried disabling soft shadows + frame buffer effects and running in windowed mode -- nothing works.

I thought it may have been something with Nvidia settings but switching from my dedicated graphics card to integrated graphics doesn't resolve the issue.

It is not seem to be resolution specific as in KOTOR 2 for example if I go down to 1680x1050 I get the same issue [as opposed to leaving at my desired 1920x1080]. In terms of widescreen for KOTOR 1 I've followed all of the well-known guides out there to the letter so that is not the issue [especially since I get the same exact problem in KOTOR 2 which has widescreen support built-in].

Appreciate any and all help as I have not found any solutions anywhere!

P.S. this issue has been reported in the following places as far as I can tell and in each case no one really seemed to find a solution:

1. https://steamcommunity.com/app/208580/discussions/0/523898291502595261/
2. https://www.reddit.com/r/kotor/comments/5d18is/kotor_1_more_than_half_the_screen_is_black/
3. https://www.reddit.com/r/kotor/comments/deoo58/kotor_1_partial_black_screen_help/

[Revolucas]

The engine uses OpenGL. You can try fiddling with OpenGL-specific settings in the Nvidia 3D settings.

You can also try the "Transparency fix" from this mod: https://www.nexusmods.com/kotor/mods/1282

Not necessarily for the transparency fix itself, but because It's a modified OpenGL dll. There could just be something wrong with the version that is included in that version of Windows on your laptop.

[ĢơłđҒĩŋģęŗ]

No dice sadly... can get it to work a bit longer by doing windowed mode for now.... will keep fiddling with Nvidia settings I guess. Appreciate the help!

[ĢơłđҒĩŋģęŗ]

Never mind.... starting in Windowed mode then expanding once I get to the main menu works but as soon as a cutscene starts the issues returns... super frustrating since it feels like I'm so close to fixing....

[Dark_WolfUK]

I had this issue after switching from Intel integrated graphics card on my laptop to my Nvidia card after troubleshooting general black screen on the startup menu, which I vaguely remember was an issue when I first played this game way back when.

I also had same issue with the windowed screen that I could full screen, but the minute I alt-tabbed and went back into game, I'd have the partial black screen again.

I FIXED IT! After ages of playing around with various bits of advice online, I decided to try something that no one had advised - I set my compatibility to Windows 7 instead of XP Service Pack 2 or 3. Although I had checked all the DPI override boxes as part of some other advice, I unchecked it all.

Not only does the game run in 1920x1080 and with no partial black screen (or any black screen at all so fixed my original issue) but it also now runs in fullscreen from the start :)

I had also download the mod recommended above, but that didn't fix anything until I made my changes. So not sure if there is a combination of fixes there, though it's the Windows 7 compatibility that seems to have sorted everything finally.

Just a final note, the reason the black screen on start up was such an issue was that even though I could overcome this with alt-tabbing, I always had a black screen for movies. I tried starting a new game after this fix and the start up movie (when you wake up in bed, never had an issue with the main Intro movie) plays flawlessly now as well.

Hope this fix works for you too, if you're still trying to fix it after all this time :)

[ĢơłđҒĩŋģęŗ]

Originally posted by Dark_WolfUK:

I had this issue after switching from Intel integrated graphics card on my laptop to my Nvidia card after troubleshooting general black screen on the startup menu, which I vaguely remember was an issue when I first played this game way back when.

I also had same issue with the windowed screen that I could full screen, but the minute I alt-tabbed and went back into game, I'd have the partial black screen again.

I FIXED IT! After ages of playing around with various bits of advice online, I decided to try something that no one had advised - I set my compatibility to Windows 7 instead of XP Service Pack 2 or 3. Although I had checked all the DPI override boxes as part of some other advice, I unchecked it all.

Not only does the game run in 1920x1080 and with no partial black screen (or any black screen at all so fixed my original issue) but it also now runs in fullscreen from the start :)

I had also download the mod recommended above, but that didn't fix anything until I made my changes. So not sure if there is a combination of fixes there, though it's the Windows 7 compatibility that seems to have sorted everything finally.

Just a final note, the reason the black screen on start up was such an issue was that even though I could overcome this with alt-tabbing, I always had a black screen for movies. I tried starting a new game after this fix and the start up movie (when you wake up in bed, never had an issue with the main Intro movie) plays flawlessly now as well.

Hope this fix works for you too, if you're still trying to fix it after all this time :)

Wow thanks for replying! I had largely given up! I will give it a shot! Much appreciated!

[Yakasuki]

Originally posted by Dark_WolfUK:

I had this issue after switching from Intel integrated graphics card on my laptop to my Nvidia card after troubleshooting general black screen on the startup menu, which I vaguely remember was an issue when I first played this game way back when.

I also had same issue with the windowed screen that I could full screen, but the minute I alt-tabbed and went back into game, I'd have the partial black screen again.

I FIXED IT! After ages of playing around with various bits of advice online, I decided to try something that no one had advised - I set my compatibility to Windows 7 instead of XP Service Pack 2 or 3. Although I had checked all the DPI override boxes as part of some other advice, I unchecked it all.

Not only does the game run in 1920x1080 and with no partial black screen (or any black screen at all so fixed my original issue) but it also now runs in fullscreen from the start :)

I had also download the mod recommended above, but that didn't fix anything until I made my changes. So not sure if there is a combination of fixes there, though it's the Windows 7 compatibility that seems to have sorted everything finally.

Just a final note, the reason the black screen on start up was such an issue was that even though I could overcome this with alt-tabbing, I always had a black screen for movies. I tried starting a new game after this fix and the start up movie (when you wake up in bed, never had an issue with the main Intro movie) plays flawlessly now as well.

Hope this fix works for you too, if you're still trying to fix it after all this time :)

This was the fix! This right here, I'd been looking for weeks for this, now i can finally play the game properly in windowed mode. Thank you so much.


I managed to fix black movies already but it only works if you want to play in borderless mode using a program called "borderless gaming".

[Jackdestroyer05]

Originally posted by Dark_WolfUK:

I had this issue after switching from Intel integrated graphics card on my laptop to my Nvidia card after troubleshooting general black screen on the startup menu, which I vaguely remember was an issue when I first played this game way back when.

I also had same issue with the windowed screen that I could full screen, but the minute I alt-tabbed and went back into game, I'd have the partial black screen again.

I FIXED IT! After ages of playing around with various bits of advice online, I decided to try something that no one had advised - I set my compatibility to Windows 7 instead of XP Service Pack 2 or 3. Although I had checked all the DPI override boxes as part of some other advice, I unchecked it all.

Not only does the game run in 1920x1080 and with no partial black screen (or any black screen at all so fixed my original issue) but it also now runs in fullscreen from the start :)

I had also download the mod recommended above, but that didn't fix anything until I made my changes. So not sure if there is a combination of fixes there, though it's the Windows 7 compatibility that seems to have sorted everything finally.

Just a final note, the reason the black screen on start up was such an issue was that even though I could overcome this with alt-tabbing, I always had a black screen for movies. I tried starting a new game after this fix and the start up movie (when you wake up in bed, never had an issue with the main Intro movie) plays flawlessly now as well.

Hope this fix works for you too, if you're still trying to fix it after all this time :)

This actually worked, after a month and a half of tinkering! Thanks for the solution!

[barkspawn]

Originally posted by Dark_WolfUK:

I had this issue after switching from Intel integrated graphics card on my laptop to my Nvidia card after troubleshooting general black screen on the startup menu, which I vaguely remember was an issue when I first played this game way back when.

I also had same issue with the windowed screen that I could full screen, but the minute I alt-tabbed and went back into game, I'd have the partial black screen again.

I FIXED IT! After ages of playing around with various bits of advice online, I decided to try something that no one had advised - I set my compatibility to Windows 7 instead of XP Service Pack 2 or 3. Although I had checked all the DPI override boxes as part of some other advice, I unchecked it all.

Not only does the game run in 1920x1080 and with no partial black screen (or any black screen at all so fixed my original issue) but it also now runs in fullscreen from the start :)

I had also download the mod recommended above, but that didn't fix anything until I made my changes. So not sure if there is a combination of fixes there, though it's the Windows 7 compatibility that seems to have sorted everything finally.

Just a final note, the reason the black screen on start up was such an issue was that even though I could overcome this with alt-tabbing, I always had a black screen for movies. I tried starting a new game after this fix and the start up movie (when you wake up in bed, never had an issue with the main Intro movie) plays flawlessly now as well.

Hope this fix works for you too, if you're still trying to fix it after all this time :)

Omg, thank you so much!!

[I am not Frank.]

Originally posted by Dark_WolfUK:

I had this issue after switching from Intel integrated graphics card on my laptop to my Nvidia card after troubleshooting general black screen on the startup menu, which I vaguely remember was an issue when I first played this game way back when.

I also had same issue with the windowed screen that I could full screen, but the minute I alt-tabbed and went back into game, I'd have the partial black screen again.

I FIXED IT! After ages of playing around with various bits of advice online, I decided to try something that no one had advised - I set my compatibility to Windows 7 instead of XP Service Pack 2 or 3. Although I had checked all the DPI override boxes as part of some other advice, I unchecked it all.

Not only does the game run in 1920x1080 and with no partial black screen (or any black screen at all so fixed my original issue) but it also now runs in fullscreen from the start :)

I had also download the mod recommended above, but that didn't fix anything until I made my changes. So not sure if there is a combination of fixes there, though it's the Windows 7 compatibility that seems to have sorted everything finally.

Just a final note, the reason the black screen on start up was such an issue was that even though I could overcome this with alt-tabbing, I always had a black screen for movies. I tried starting a new game after this fix and the start up movie (when you wake up in bed, never had an issue with the main Intro movie) plays flawlessly now as well.

Hope this fix works for you too, if you're still trying to fix it after all this time :)

I know this is a year old, but thought I would throw in there that this helped me as well! I don't know why it didn't work before, but this solved the problem of most of the screen being black. Now on to finding more bugs! (Hopefully not, lol)

[Shiki]

Originally posted by Dark_WolfUK:

I had this issue after switching from Intel integrated graphics card on my laptop to my Nvidia card after troubleshooting general black screen on the startup menu, which I vaguely remember was an issue when I first played this game way back when.

I also had same issue with the windowed screen that I could full screen, but the minute I alt-tabbed and went back into game, I'd have the partial black screen again.

I FIXED IT! After ages of playing around with various bits of advice online, I decided to try something that no one had advised - I set my compatibility to Windows 7 instead of XP Service Pack 2 or 3. Although I had checked all the DPI override boxes as part of some other advice, I unchecked it all.

Not only does the game run in 1920x1080 and with no partial black screen (or any black screen at all so fixed my original issue) but it also now runs in fullscreen from the start :)

I had also download the mod recommended above, but that didn't fix anything until I made my changes. So not sure if there is a combination of fixes there, though it's the Windows 7 compatibility that seems to have sorted everything finally.

Just a final note, the reason the black screen on start up was such an issue was that even though I could overcome this with alt-tabbing, I always had a black screen for movies. I tried starting a new game after this fix and the start up movie (when you wake up in bed, never had an issue with the main Intro movie) plays flawlessly now as well.

Hope this fix works for you too, if you're still trying to fix it after all this time :)

You sir, continue to be a legend. I've been searching for a solution to this for a while and this did the trick.

[Grimo]

Originally posted by Dark_WolfUK:

I had this issue after switching from Intel integrated graphics card on my laptop to my Nvidia card after troubleshooting general black screen on the startup menu, which I vaguely remember was an issue when I first played this game way back when.

I also had same issue with the windowed screen that I could full screen, but the minute I alt-tabbed and went back into game, I'd have the partial black screen again.

I FIXED IT! After ages of playing around with various bits of advice online, I decided to try something that no one had advised - I set my compatibility to Windows 7 instead of XP Service Pack 2 or 3. Although I had checked all the DPI override boxes as part of some other advice, I unchecked it all.

Not only does the game run in 1920x1080 and with no partial black screen (or any black screen at all so fixed my original issue) but it also now runs in fullscreen from the start :)

I had also download the mod recommended above, but that didn't fix anything until I made my changes. So not sure if there is a combination of fixes there, though it's the Windows 7 compatibility that seems to have sorted everything finally.

Just a final note, the reason the black screen on start up was such an issue was that even though I could overcome this with alt-tabbing, I always had a black screen for movies. I tried starting a new game after this fix and the start up movie (when you wake up in bed, never had an issue with the main Intro movie) plays flawlessly now as well.

Hope this fix works for you too, if you're still trying to fix it after all this time :)

Thank you so much, you're a god send!