Screen turning blank

[nightshift]

This is an error I encountered during my first playthrough right after I reloaded my gun. Just on a specific area of the diner, my screen turned blank and I hardl made my way to the back-office basically blind.
Then the same happened during my second, except it was blank from the reloading sequence. Sometimes just fragments of the diner was visible, like the neon sign floating in the skyline background, but the whole diner was gone.
Also after I finished te first drive I should be there next to my car to get the camera from the box in the trunk, but it was all just a blank screen. Sometimes I managed to get the night sky appear if I looked high up (to the point that no enviroment was visible). I BARELY managed to get the caera out BLIND again somehow hearing the sounds of the opening box and the *grab* of the instrument, then there was a flash (I suppose that's when it switches to daylight) but it was blank again.
I cannot play the game like this. Any ideas on what can cause this or how to fix it? I tried to meddle with switching the game to windowed mode or changing the FOV in hope that it will somehow reset the visuals, but nothing changed.

[nightshift]

Now I managed to grab the camera from the car, walked around a bit but then I pressed Esc to reach the menu and all I could return to is a blank screen.
Also no subtitles when I was sitting in the diner watching the crows peck a body outside. Heard the mumbling but there was no subtitles. I checked a playthrough on youtube and there should be subtitles there. I don't know what can be the problem. Can anyone shed some light on these things?

[BeauChaotica]

Hi NSG,

We've not heard from anyone with these issues before! Could you give us some details on your system specs to see if something jumps out for further investigation?

[jessiscah]

Hey,
Not had an issue like this before. If I'm reading correct, the game goes blank but the menu is still accessible?
Can you let me know what operating system you're using and I'll try to figure something out.

Cheers,
Jess

edit: oops, didn't see chris get in there before me

[nightshift]

Hello there,
so I re-installed the program, but it remained the same. It's funny because I already completed the game once and it was fine excluding the missing subtitles at the scene with the crows outside te diner (where both of your names are there) and the underground bunker.
Actually, the subtitles become visible for like a fragment of a moment when I switch to windowed mode and back again for some reason. I don't know if any specs or drivers has anything to do with it, but since about half-a-year now I'm back with my 9 year old laptop (Asus UL30Vt) witch features the following specs:
- Intel U7300 dual 1,3GHz
- 4 GB RAM
- GeForce G210M (512 MB)

So pretty bare stuff, but decent performance still. Basically after I watch the blooming of the girl next door and conversed with Vladimir at the gas station I cannot advance further since the same blackness comes with the next part and I cannot see anything. I hear my footsteps, but I'm basically blind. And it's always this part and the diner, the other segments like the apartment corridor or the driving sequence have no problem.

Not exactly sure if this can be of any help, but here's a shot about the part where I reload the gun. The moment I pick it up, the screen goes blank.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1548144854
If we take my current equipment into consideration and the fact that no one else encountered this, we can safely assume, that the issue probably originates from my side. It's just that I do not know why the game always goes blank on the exact same parts each time.
But I understand that it's kinda tough to provide any helpful insight in this case and thank you for your previous replies.
Hope you'll have a pleasant weekend.

[jessiscah]

Hey, sorry for the wait - just catching up with things after the weekend.

Thanks for the providing the screenshot, visualizing things helps a lot with the more obscure bugs.

Hmmm, so from the screenshot + info provided, it doesn't seem like there's any problems with the game actually toggling the presence of objects on the code side. Contents of each area is tied together, so you either get everything or you don't. Problems code side would result in you falling through the floor and seeing nothing at all rather than a few isolated objects.

This rounds things down a good deal. I *could* be wrong, but from information available, I'm going to suspect an issue with assets being managed/maintained at the engine level rather than a scripting bug.

What could cause this? I'm inclined to say that it's the 512mb of GPU memory. While Paratopic is very low fidelity, we load close to the entire contents of the game - graphics, animation, scene data - in at startup to allow for (virtually) seamless shot changes. This adds up, and when you throw in Unity's internal management of things, the addition of a few assets generated at runtime and operating system useage, problems are almost certainly going to arise with 512mb.

Apologies for not being able to throw up a patch or other actionable solution to your issue, but If you want it, a refund request through Steam should cover you.

- Jess

[BeauChaotica]

Have we finally found the lowest boundary for feasible computer spec on this title..?

[nightshift]

Game ran flawlessly on this little buddy. At least on the first occasion, but regarding performance - no issues at all. No surprise either, I mean this game shouldn't be more challeging than... I don't know Quake 2 for example.

Originally posted by jessiscah:

Contents of each area is tied together, so you either get everything or you don't. Problems code side would result in you falling through the floor and seeing nothing at all rather than a few isolated objects.

That is what worries me, since as I mentioned, the problem is always with one certain area. After I pick up the gun, it's blank completely. The diner and the woods only. If I face into the opposing direction, so not towards the chairs and the counter, things are all visible, but towards it where most if the diner area is, it's blank. Not ecactly black, but more like a very deep dark blue. After I pass through the opening leading behind the counter, things are visible again.

Anyway... it's fine. I definetly don't want a refund - first playthrough was a joy and I think that the money is in good hands with developers like you. I knew I had to buy the game when I saw a screenshot somewhere with that building on the other side of a chasm at the end of the woods. That place, with that building in the woods next to the chasm with thick vegetation below also from that viewpoint - I recognised that from a dream I had previously (only it was dusk), so I couldn't resist.

It was good. I will return to this on a different gear.
If there was some usefulness in my feedback, that's all the better.

[BeauChaotica]

Thanks for the kind words bud, glad you enjoyed it.