Menus blank, can't start game

[gwelty]

I start the game, and while I hear the audio for the intro videos in the background, the videos themselves do not play. All I see is the screen for the menus. Then the audio stops, and it's clear that I'm supposed to be at the main menu.

Except that I'm not. It's just a blank rectangle where the words are supposed to be. So I can't start the game.

I've verified the game files, updated my graphics driver, and the problem remains. My specs:

Intel Core i7 CPU 930 @ 2.80GHz (4 cores)
9gb DDR3 RAM
1gb AMD Radeon HD 5850
Windows 7 64-bit
AMD Catalyst Version 14.12

It's frustrating because I played through about half of this game a few years ago with no problems. But now it won't load. Any ideas?

[gwelty]

FWIW, here's a screenshot:

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=443153315

[5M0k1N]

considering youve played it already maybe its some compatibility issue with your old profile?

save game is here -> %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Hard Reset Extended\profiles\<user-id>
and config file here -> %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Hard Reset Extended\profiles\<user-id>\config.cfg

[gwelty]

I'm not sure what you mean. I've looked at both of those files. The game isn't using my old "Hard Reset" folder in Documents. It's using the "Hard Reset Extended" folder in Documents. Was there something you wanted me to investigate there?

Also, there's an update. I was able to get the game to run. I just blindly clicked where it *looked* like the menu item for "new game," and then I clicked again, and it started my game. However, *none* of the text prompts come up. So, I've been able to successfully play the game through part of the first level. The checkpoints seem to work fine, the graphics and sound are fine, etc. But whenever I hit 'escape' to get to the menu, the whole screen blurs, and there's nothing. I have to hit 'escape' again to get back into the game.

So basically, I have no way to load this savegame again after I quite the game, because I'm operating the menus blind. To summarize:

-- game works perfectly fine, with graphics and sound.
-- no text prompts come onscreen during the game.
-- no menus of any sort when I boot up the game, or hit "escape" while in-game.
-- no intro videos or cutscenes play at any time, though I hear the audio.

Are you suggesting that just deleting my entire "Hard Reset Extended" folder in Documents might help?

Thanks!

[5M0k1N]

yea i meant deleting it (copying it somewhere else actually) just to see what happened

the fact that theres no text is kinda odd lol. theres many threads about people seeing blurry text but they all see it at least
to fix blurry text most people got the mipmap setting to default values in the CCC (the amd config software)

maybe you can try that?

[gwelty]

Yeah, I went to "Standard" menus in CCC and chose default values for mipmap, and it didn't do a single thing. It's as if the entire text layer for the menu system is defunct.

Right now I have a quicksave and checkpoint that I can see in my "Hard Reset Extended" folder. I just made them in-game. Let's say I quit the game. How would I reload one of *those* files when I reboot the game? I can't see any menus! :-) Is there a command line I can use?

[gwelty]

Also, I'll backup the Extended folder and then delete it, just to see if that fixes the problem. Somehow I doubt it, as the game itself is running fine, except for the menus.

[gwelty]

Yeah, deleting both the "Hard Reset" and "Hard Reset Extended" folders in Documents does nothing. No menus. I'm surprised there's nothing about this in the Steam discussions. My system is a standard Win7 64-bit AMD 5850 setup. I even turned off all antivirus to see if that made a difference, and it didn't. Is there a command line to run the game in 'safe mode'?

[5M0k1N]

no idea about a command line or safe mode
what language is the game on by the way?

[gwelty]

US English, I assume.

The PCGaming Wiki entry for this game is pretty useless. It would be nice to see what all the command line options mean.

The game works perfectly. It's just that none of the menus and videos can be seen. Makes it hard to continue a game :-)

[gwelty]

Looks like a couple of people had this same exact problem back in 2012:

http://steamcommunity.com/app/98400/discussions/0/882960163780650093/

No solution, though.

Edit: just deleted and then redownloaded the entire game. Same problem. Reinstalled DirectX from the installer in the game folder. Nothing. I just can't get the menus to show up.

[5M0k1N]

yea ive seen them as well lol

very frustrating to use google with this game due to its name which gets me results about people resetting their phones :/

found this thread, which not sure how i missed it before because it sounds very similar to your issue: "not even any viewable options on the main screen."
anyways guy fixed it with

Originally posted by apocolyptus:

I found the AMD beta driver and downloaded that, then I changed my 3d standard settings to balanced (and let the game set the AA and others). It seems to work as it should now.

thats the thread http://steamcommunity.com/app/98400/discussions/0/618458030648799009/

another thing by the way, the dev prefers the old steam forums so maybe you can post it there (link this thread as well so they can see what youve tried) and hopefully you hear from him
http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=1205

[gwelty]

5M0k1N, thanks for this. I came across that thread yesterday. I guess I was skeptical that recent (April 2015) beta drivers would fix this, since clearly AMD wouldn't be addressing Hard Reset issues in a beta driver from April 2015 that wouldn't be addressed in my latest stable driver from December 2014. Hard Reset is a dated game, and they're only addressing newer games in the beta drivers. Also, I couldn't find an option for "changing 3D standard settings to balanced" in the Catalyst Control Center. Perhaps that's added in the beta drivers as well.

Anyway, I'll check it out!

[gwelty]

Wow, that was a lot of work for nothing! (Not your fault, of course.) Uninstalled all AMD graphics drivers, rebooted, installed AMD beta drivers (15.4) from here:

http://support.amd.com/en-us/kb-articles/Pages/latest-catalyst-windows-beta.aspx

Rebooted. Went into CCC and set 3D standard settings to balanced, ran Hard Reset, and same problem. Nothing changed.

I guess I'll post this thread in the old steam forum for this game, and perhaps there will be some new ideas.

[5M0k1N]

that sucks. another thing i can think of (still kind of a long shot) is to install the directx and redist installers that come with hard reset (folder probably is Steam\steamapps\common\hardreset\redist)
ive got a few more ideas but probably gonna end up being a waste of your time lol

good luck

[nauseatingpain]

did you google it? cuz i found like 4 resources on the internet that could help you solve this