black screen of doom

[Xx_Aki_Xx]

hi!! i bought the game a few weeks ago and have spent a while troubleshooting it. i've tried deleting the d3d9.dll, changing name of the file, changing resolutions, and changing versions to beta ones. i cant get the nvidia control panel 'cause i have an intel one. i tried using windows graphics thing to force high performance and intel to force it to. and when i start the game the music plays and cursor appears with the little steam notifications coming though. i also have no anti-viruses installed. idk what to do.

here are my laptop specs
Processor 12th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-1255U 1.70 GHz
Installed RAM 16.0 GB (15.7 GB usable)
System type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor

Edition Windows 11 Home
Version 23H2
Installed on ‎9/‎17/‎2024
OS build 22631.4751
Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.22700.1055.0

im really sorry brian, i know you've had to go through like 20 of these situations and apologize if i missed a solution in the threads D:

[brianlancaster45]

Did you try the No Steam version?

[Xx_Aki_Xx]

yes yes, tried the renaming and resolution stuff with it too

[brianlancaster45]

Oh damn, it looks like the No Steam version is still reading Steam. Thanks for the report. Will be fixed in a few minutes, hopefully.

[Xx_Aki_Xx]

oh alright, i'll send my results as soon as the patch is released

[brianlancaster45]

Alright, should be patched. Try the No-Steam version.

[Xx_Aki_Xx]

still no luck sadly, tried using both the launcher and the independent exe file and messed around with the resolution and renaming it

[brianlancaster45]

close Steam and open it again, make sure patch is installed.

[brianlancaster45]

I know the non-Steam patch was ♥♥♥♥♥♥ until the fix just now (thanks for report). That also seemed like the fix to the problem in other threads.

[Xx_Aki_Xx]

ok, i closed steam, tried it with the patch installed, no dice and i verified the integrity of the files and trying it with the d3d9.dll file (no work), and without it (no work), with changing resolutions (no work), and renaming the files (no work)

[brianlancaster45]

Damn it. Can I DM you a key for the GOG version so you can see if that works?
EDIT: It probably won't, but it's some kind of compensation at least.

[brianlancaster45]

I was sure removing the Steam plugin fixed the black screen problem. Hopefully somebody else has an idea.

[brianlancaster45]

I saw in a forum somewhere that somebody replaced the DX9 DLL with a different build from a different year/month and it worked. http://www.oldversion.com/windows/directx-9-0c

[Xx_Aki_Xx]

unfortunately me and brian couldn't fix this. if any of you have a clue on how to fix this, do shoot a message in here!

[qmskidi]

hey brian I've encountered the same issue as Aki with my laptop today, but when I connected the laptop to my old 16:9 monitor the game can work well without any black screen，both steam and no steam version.
maybe it has something to do with 16:10 screen resolution?

[qmskidi]

oh and once I turn on my laptop's 16:10 screen the game crashes