Medieval 2 Total War Black Top Left Corner Screen

[Astro_Artemis]

When I originally downloaded the vanilla game it ran well except for occasional crashes "unspecified error". But once I attempted to download the stainless steel 6.3 and 6.4 mods, My computer just fails to run the game entirely. I've since deleted the mod files, uninstalled and reinstalled the game, and even have verified the game files. No matter what I do now, when I launch the game either through steam, through the desktop shortcut, or the exe file in my computer's M2TW folder, that same little black screen appears in the top left corner and it will just sit there until I click "stop" on steam or ctrl alt del.

Anyone have any suggestions of what I can do? At this point I just want to be able to play the vanilla game again.

[Wizard of Woz]

Make sure you delete all the folders when you uninstall.

[Astro_Artemis]

Originally posted by Wizard of Woz:

Make sure you delete all the folders when you uninstall.

I made sure to delete absolutely everything, but there is still a launch issue with my computer. Outside of the Medieval 2 Total War folder, is there anywhere else I should be looking for files to delete?

[Wizard of Woz]

Maybe check appdata

[Gigantus]

Uninstalling does not completely remove files.
Look for the medieval2.preferences.cfg file (that's one of those files) in the root of the game and remove it. Then restart - a new file with default values should get created and most likely solve your issues.
You may also want to delete the content of the 'preferences' sub directory for the same reason.

The game is to old to write to appdata. But it might write to the virtual store, so check this:
https://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?397636

Last, but not least, remove Steam custom launch options: right click the game in Steam's library and choose 'properties' - then look for the launch option field and remove any entry.

And do use my Stainless Steel repack next time to make your life easier:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=861485547

[Astro_Artemis]

Originally posted by Gigantus:

Uninstalling does not completely remove files.
Look for the medieval2.preferences.cfg file (that's one of those files) in the root of the game and remove it. Then restart - a new file with default values should get created and most likely solve your issues.
You may also want to delete the content of the 'preferences' sub directory for the same reason.

The game is to old to write to appdata. But it might write to the virtual store, so check this:
https://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?397636

Last, but not least, remove Steam custom launch options: right click the game in Steam's library and choose 'properties' - then look for the launch option field and remove any entry.

And do use my Stainless Steel repack next time to make your life easier:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=861485547

Thank you so much Gigantus!! It finally installed the mod correctly. Unfortunately, when it comes to launching the game, I am still running into the black left upper screen issue. The virtual store folder was empty so I wasn't able to correct it using that link

[Gigantus]

Black little screen will be a DOS command window. Does it have any text lines? If so please provide a screenshot.
If you are on Win11 then installing the DirectX legacy SDK might help: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=35

Did you do the other stuff? CFG file and preferences folder?

Did you apply any compatibility settings to the game executable file(s) or LAA (4GB patch)?

Also give it a shot if you can start the main campaign via my desktop shortcuts:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1921844849

[Astro_Artemis]

No text lines, it was just a black corner of the screen. I went into notepad and created a config file, and doing a copy/paste of the necessary parameters from a previous steam discussion post. It seems to have (maybe?) helped a bit because since doing that I get a full black screen as opposed to it just being in the corner.

Compatibility settings have been changed to Windows 7 and LAA patch has been applied to both the medieval2 and kingdoms exe files, and the DirectX legacy has been installed.

After all this, I still just get a blank black screen where I am forced to shut down my laptop or just sign out to force the application to quit. I did do a Local Disc file search for any potentially misplaced previously downloaded SS6 or SSHIP downloads and did find them and promptly deleted them. Now I'm wondering whether there are any other previously downloaded files that are interfering with the game launching successfully

[Gigantus]

Last, desperate, suggestions:
1. In compatibility select 'disable full screen optimization' and set DPI to 'let application chose' (or some wording like that).
2. Manually delete everything in the medieval 2 total war directory and then restore it by running a cache verification: https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=2037-QEUH-3335

Note: You will need to redo the stuff for the executable files unless you opt to back them up - but I would suggest to redo it with the new ones. Like doing the m2 file and then copy\rename it to kingdoms using this guide of mine:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=859017394

[mayckonwesley34]

Originally posted by Astro_Artemis:

When I originally downloaded the vanilla game it ran well except for occasional crashes "unspecified error". But once I attempted to download the stainless steel 6.3 and 6.4 mods, My computer just fails to run the game entirely. I've since deleted the mod files, uninstalled and reinstalled the game, and even have verified the game files. No matter what I do now, when I launch the game either through steam, through the desktop shortcut, or the exe file in my computer's M2TW folder, that same little black screen appears in the top left corner and it will just sit there until I click "stop" on steam or ctrl alt del.

Anyone have any suggestions of what I can do? At this point I just want to be able to play the vanilla game again.

DId you manege to solve the black screen problem? I also have the same problem. I don't know if the problem was after downloading a mod.

[Gigantus]

Read through the thread and try yourself - your hardware\system files might be different so something might work for you where it doesn't work for him.