Stuck on opening screen

[Sorry About That]

Hey everybody,

I'm stuck on the opening screen. I see dots, which are stars, and a black circle, which is supposed to be a planet. I've reinstalled the game, updated the C++ visuals, verified files, restarted the PC, started the game with the controller plugged in and unplugged, and checked my drivers. Nothing has worked. Anybody have any suggestions?

[Bobywan]

Any chance that what you are seeing is a crazy zoom in of the title screen ?
Maybe you have an external driver software that force a resolution too high.

[Sorry About That]

Originally posted by Bobywan:

Any chance that what you are seeing is a crazy zoom in of the title screen ?
Maybe you have an external driver software that force a resolution too high.

Nope. It's the standard screen. The background is rotating, so it's loaded, and it responds to button presses (in the sense that the "best played with controller" screen clears when a button is pressed), but it's a normal loaded screen. I've seen what it should look like, the planet should have trees, but it's stuck right before they load.

[Sorry About That]

Well I "fixed" it. If I hit the windows key and then go back into the game, it loads properly. Odd.

[AuRomul]

I have the same problem. I see the stars, the planet's silhouette, but no music nor Moebius and Anapurna screens. Hitting the windows key doesn't work for me

[Sorry About That]

Originally posted by AuRomul:

I have the same problem. I see the stars, the planet's silhouette, but no music nor Moebius and Anapurna screens. Hitting the windows key doesn't work for me

The most recent update, done today, fixed the issue for me. I wish I could help more, but I don't have any suggestions.

[VisMortis]

I have the same problem but only when my PS5 controller is connected

[VisMortis]

Do you have a controller plugged in? If yes try configuring the controller in steam big picture mode and then start the game from there. That fixed it for me

[AuRomul]

Thank you all for the suggestions. Actually, the solution proposed by Moebius (installing Microsoft C++ redistributables) is what worked for me. I didn't try it at first because it didn't relate to our exact problem (slightly differences like the planet being iluminated and the music playing).

[Disappearing Salami]

C++ installs arent working for me, neither is big picture. Even not plugged in I still cant start the game

[songbird]

Only way I've found around this is to not interact with the game at all until the menu screen has fully appeared. No skipping the intro crawl, wait for the camera to pan and the bonfire to light and then wait until the "new game, resume game" etc. options appear. From that point you're safe to interact, but until then just keep your hands off the keyboard and controller.

Very annoying bug but I'm sure it'll be fixed pretty quick.

[Sorry About That]

Originally posted by virginlungs:

Only way I've found around this is to not interact with the game at all until the menu screen has fully appeared. No skipping the intro crawl, wait for the camera to pan and the bonfire to light and then wait until the "new game, resume game" etc. options appear. From that point you're safe to interact, but until then just keep your hands off the keyboard and controller.

Very annoying bug but I'm sure it'll be fixed pretty quick.

I will say, before this patch fixed it, I did the same. It is the weirdest bug. I can see the stars, the outline of the planet and trees, but the menu never popped up after ten minutes of waiting. I'm lucky I mashed on buttons like a toddler to find the windows key workaround, but it sucks that my newer CPU/GPU lead to the issue. I hope everybody's issues gets fixed.

[songbird]

Originally posted by Veezybaby:

Originally posted by virginlungs:

Only way I've found around this is to not interact with the game at all until the menu screen has fully appeared. No skipping the intro crawl, wait for the camera to pan and the bonfire to light and then wait until the "new game, resume game" etc. options appear. From that point you're safe to interact, but until then just keep your hands off the keyboard and controller.

Very annoying bug but I'm sure it'll be fixed pretty quick.

I will say, before this patch fixed it, I did the same. It is the weirdest bug. I can see the stars, the outline of the planet and trees, but the menu never popped up after ten minutes of waiting. I'm lucky I mashed on buttons like a toddler to find the windows key workaround, but it sucks that my newer CPU/GPU lead to the issue. I hope everybody's issues gets fixed.

Thanks dude, enjoy the expansion.

[Secret Varus]

Originally posted by virginlungs:

Only way I've found around this is to not interact with the game at all until the menu screen has fully appeared. No skipping the intro crawl, wait for the camera to pan and the bonfire to light and then wait until the "new game, resume game" etc. options appear. From that point you're safe to interact, but until then just keep your hands off the keyboard and controller.

Very annoying bug but I'm sure it'll be fixed pretty quick.

I've tried this and everything previously listed, but for some reason it still isnt working.
My issue started when i left the game on for 5 minutes while i was away from my computer, and my computer either crashed, or updated, and now the game does this...
I have a ps5 controller connected that i've been playing the game with, if this helps solve the issue in any way.
This dlc is so good, idk if anyone can tell but im pretty desperate to get back to it

[songbird]

Originally posted by Secret Varus:

Originally posted by virginlungs:

Only way I've found around this is to not interact with the game at all until the menu screen has fully appeared. No skipping the intro crawl, wait for the camera to pan and the bonfire to light and then wait until the "new game, resume game" etc. options appear. From that point you're safe to interact, but until then just keep your hands off the keyboard and controller.

Very annoying bug but I'm sure it'll be fixed pretty quick.

I've tried this and everything previously listed, but for some reason it still isnt working.
My issue started when i left the game on for 5 minutes while i was away from my computer, and my computer either crashed, or updated, and now the game does this...
I have a ps5 controller connected that i've been playing the game with, if this helps solve the issue in any way.
This dlc is so good, idk if anyone can tell but im pretty desperate to get back to it:Hearthian_Cry:

Using the advice in this thread fixed it for me: https://www.reddit.com/r/outerwilds/comments/pxat6w/can_someone_help_me_to_fix_that/henly7c/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

Essentially you need to delete your profile in the files then make a new one of the same name. You can copy your old profile's info over into the new one to keep your save progress. This fixed everything for me; after a while my old fix stopped working for me too.

[Caraduradeplaya]

Originally posted by virginlungs:

Only way I've found around this is to not interact with the game at all until the menu screen has fully appeared. No skipping the intro crawl, wait for the camera to pan and the bonfire to light and then wait until the "new game, resume game" etc. options appear. From that point you're safe to interact, but until then just keep your hands off the keyboard and controller.

Very annoying bug but I'm sure it'll be fixed pretty quick.

And here I am, one year later, reading this post.

I really want to play this game, but this is embarrassing.

Let's hope I figure out my solution. So far, none of the three I tried worked.