Black screen on launch with cursor and music

[SpacesuitSPF9000]

Fresh install (no mods or other config changes). Game launches with black screen, visible mouse cursor, and background music.
I've seen earlier posts with identical problem, but none of the recommended fixes have solved.
No other games have presented with a similar issue.

Troubleshooting:
- Ran all updates for Windows
- Updated graphic card driver to 531.41
- Disabled steam overlay
- Checked Vulkan install via vulkaninfo console command
- Verified game files
- Disabled AV (MS Defender)
- File compression is disabled
- No other screen overlay is enabled
- Deleted the Egosoft folder from Documents folder
- Rebooted the PC several times

Specs:
- Windows 11 Pro 64-bit
- Intel i9-13900KS
- Gigabyte Z790 Aorus Master
- 32GB Corsair DDR5-7200
- 2TB Samsung 990 Pro NVMe
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 24GB

DxDiag.txt sendspace link [www.sendspace.com]

[mmmcheesywaffles]

When you rebooted the PC did you leave at least a minute? This allows residual charge to dissipate which can avoid accidental reloading of damaged files.

[SpacesuitSPF9000]

thank you yeah everything dissipated just fine. Just not the problem.

[Paul]

I have the same issue and also on a 4090. I am wondering if it is a problem with the game working with that GPU as the MSAAx16 graphics option was also greyed out saying it wasnt compatible.

[OGNocturnal]

It sounds like the games trying to use an integrated GPU rather than finding the dedicated.

[Raymond Thierry]

Nah, same problem, GTX 1060. I think it might be a problem with previosly installed mods, so need to uninstall everything, not just disable them. I just don't have time for this rn.

[SpacesuitSPF9000]

No mods at all. Fresh install. As in, never installed x4 before.

Went into the in Documents/Egosoft/x4/*number*/ folder, opened the config.xml file, changed

 <gpu>1</gpu> 

to

 <gpu>0</gpu> 

Same black screen with cursor and music. Just for fun also tried

 <gpu>2</gpu> 

with the same result which is pretty weird.

[XiongBenXiong]

Similar setup and having the same issues

[SpacesuitSPF9000]

After digging a little further it looks like the problem is related to the samsung 990 pro NVMe drive, which was reported on the egosoft forums back in January - link [forum.egosoft.com]

Looking at the disk usage while on the black screen shows it consistently maxing out the read speed. Drive encryption is off and the firmware is the latest version. This is the only game it happens with.

@eMYNOCK is this on anyone's radar? Happy to test and/or provide more details if needed.

[mmmcheesywaffles]

How weird.

[Raymond Thierry]

Only new campaign doesn't start, custom game is ok.

[Raymond Thierry]

So eh... Funny... =D I just hit ESC on this black screen and everything works just fine.

[Cioby]

I literally moved my gog version of the game to another SSD and it worked. This seems to be the solution thanks.

[billiegirl77]

I found this solution for me, V-Sync as the problem.

1. Locate the "Foundation" game folder: Open File Explorer and navigate to "Documents\Polymorph Games\Foundation".

2. Find the configuration file: Look for a file named "usersetting.config" within the "Foundation" folder.

3. Edit the configuration file: Right-click on "usersetting.config" and open it with a text editor like Notepad.

4. Adjust V-Sync setting: Search for the line that contains "<Vsync value="ON"/>". Change the "ON" value to "OFF" to disable V-Sync. Save the changes and close the text editor.

5. Launch the game

6. Optional: Enabling V-Sync during gameplay: If you prefer V-Sync enabled while playing, you can do so from the in-game settings.

7. Disable V-Sync before closing the game.

[Baxx]

I'm having a hell of time with this. It was working fine for many hours, then just poof it started going black screen after launch. I updated drivers, resinstalled, ect.... makes no sense, the EGOSOFT logo screen plays, then if flashes with opening screen and just stops working

[Adanufgail]

Originally posted by mmmcheesywaffles:

When you rebooted the PC did you leave at least a minute? This allows residual charge to dissipate which can avoid accidental reloading of damaged files.

This is nonsense techno babble