If this doesn\'t just ruin your day...

[KillorLive 0]

AMD 1.7ghz T-Bird

512mb SDRAM

Gainward GF3 64mb DDR

ABit KT7-A RAID

Soundblaster Live! Platinum 5.1

My screen is entirely black except for text, I reinstalled, still same problem. Every-f**king-thing is black. Just black. I see white text, black screen. Black...so black...

[KillorLive 0]

Oh my God! In the technical forum I get 25 views but no one helps! Is that bulls**t or what? This is supposed to HELP people!

[theavonlady 2]

Have you downloaded and installed the latest Nvidia Detonator drivers for you GF3 card?

Search The FAQ for "nvidia" and for "AMD".

While you're at it, if your motherboard is based on the VIA chipset, search The FAQ for "VIA chipset".

Let us know if anything helped.

[KillorLive 0]

Yeah, I have had them for a long ass time, sorry for being a craggy #######, but this is completely unnaceptable for a game that I shelled out good money for. I went into 1600x1200 and it just went completely black, I went into 1280x1024, black, I reinstalled, black, I reinstalled and updated, black... I'm not about to do much more for a game that needs so much work done for it JUST to play it.

[theavonlady 2]

Sometimes installing an earlier video driver version, instead of the latest, does the trick. This does seem to be related to your video cards, obviously.

What version of Windows?

Did you run the OFP preferences program and click on AUTODETECT? What are your preferences settings?

After running AUTODETECT, as above, does OFP work for you at 640x480x16?

[KillorLive 0]

Urge...to..kill...rising...

I've done all of this. If I reinstalled it's pretty obvious I tried all other alternatives...

Win XP

(Edited by KillorLive at 10:01 am on Nov. 25, 2001)

[theavonlady 2]

Well, I've got life insurance, so what the heck!

Seeing that you're on XP, have you tried the following:

1. Uninstall the Nvidia detonator drivers.

2. Install XP's drivers for the card.

3. Test OFP (AUTODETECT first).

4. Install Detonators over the XP driver versions.

5. Test OFP (AUTODETECT first).

What version of DirectX are you using? Some folks have reported problems with new 8.1 and have resolved them by retreating to 8.0A.

Finally (and this should defintely get me killed), have you tried another video card? Even borrowing a reasonable card from a friend, just for an hour or two, to test.

You may fire when ready!

[Guest]

My goodness, how grouchy.

1. Do other 3d games work on your machine?

2. Do you have other problems with your machine (blue screens, bootup issues, GPF, etc)?

3. Run diagnostics on directx - start/run/dxdiag and see if anything out of the ordinary pops up.

* begin rant *

I'm really sick of reading about "this game takes so much work just to play" and similar comments.

_I_ don't have your problems.

_Others_ don't have your problems.

_You_ have a problem.

What's the difference? We're all humans, we all get the same programs on stamped CDs. We have pretty much the same hardware - some have exact hardware - lord knows we all have the same OS...

So, why do people blame THE GAME?

Isn't it obvious it's something with YOUR PC SETUP?

* end rant *

[Unl33t 0]

OBiJuan is 100% correct.

People come in and Flame B.I.S for making a "s**t" game that doesent even "work"

WELL *rant*

IF YOU DUMB f**kERS HAD ANY IDEA OF HOW YOUR SYSTEM WORKS AND WHAT KIND OF s**t YOU INSTALL ON YOUR MACHINE YOU WOULD NOT HAVE THESE BULLs**t PROBLEMS THAT ONLY YOU HAVE AND ONLY _YOU_ COULD HAVE STARTED.

IF IT WAS THE GAMES FAULT EVERYONE WOULD HAVE THESE PROBLEMS.

*/end rant*

[theavonlady 2]

/me relieved no longer being KillorLive's intended target.

[KillorLive 0]

*pulls back hand*

*slaps room*

It IS THE GAME, now, if you dips**ts had half a brain, you would have figured it out.

Nothing is wrong, BUT THIS GAME. It is prone to bugs, and that is A PART OF THE GAME, none of your options worked. Relying on the community to answer my question was a bad idea. Knowing that exempting Avon the whole lot of you are either so far up your ass with arrogance you can't even see past the haze or you genuinely have the IQ of a wet cabbage.

[edit]

<rant>

YOU wanna know why people say it's the game so often? BECAUSE IT f**kING IS! MY WHOLE SYSTEM IS UP TO PAR AND WORKING FLEE-f**kING-FINE UNTIL I GET THIS GAME, THEN WHEN I ASK FOR SUPPORT I GET RANTED, NOW, WITH A COMMUNITY LIKE THIS IT JUST MAKES THE PEOPLE ASKING QUESTIONS A LITTLE BIT DISCOURAGED AT PLAYING THIS GAME. THIS IS THE ONLY GODd*amn GAME THAT DOES NOT WORK WITH MY SYSTEM MORE THAN 3 GAMES. I THINK THAT WHEN YOU CHANGE YOUR RESOLUTION AND THE GAME GOES BLACK, IT'S NOT MY SYSTEM. FOR ANYTHING ELSE, YOU CAN GO f**k YOURSELVES.

</rant>

(Edited by KillorLive at 7:09 pm on Nov. 25, 2001)

[ScreamingWithNoSound 0]

LMAO!

KillorLive, you're full of sh*t!

I work on a PC support line. I get "my computer isn't working" all day long.

Fact: GeForce 2 and GeForce 3 use the same drivers.

Fact: I don't have a problem similar to yours.

Fact: Someone else on this forum has a GeForce 3 that works in OFP, but doesn't work in any OTHER game!

Fact: There is no such thing as a 1.7Ghz Tbird.

Now, if you'd like to stop being such a consumer and start acting like someone who actually wants to find out how to fix their problem, please:

Reset your BIOS defaults

Set PnP Aware OS in your BIOS to YES

Re-install Windows XP

Do NOT install anything else, even your printer.

Install + update OFP. If you're in Europe, do v1.2, then 1.3, if the US, do 1.3 only.

Test it, if it don't work, try these and in this order:

Install the latest Via 4in1 driver (4.35something)

Install the latest version of your RAID drivers (if using it)

Install the latest version of the Nvidia Reference Drivers(from the NVIDIA website).

DO NOT install the latest SB Live! drivers.

Install Modem/Cable modem drivers.

Do not mess about with any of the 'advanced' settings for anything.

Try the game, if you still have problems, supply:

The correct model / speed of your CPU.

The BIOS version of your MOBO

The full specification of you RAM

Your sound card model

Modem model (and drivers used if not std windows)

NIC model (and drivers if not std windows)

ALL other misc components and drivers used.

The order you have your PCI cards in their slots (if you think that this isn't important, then you obviously ARE a consumer)

The spec / setup of your HDD/DVD/CDRW etc - are you using a RAID setup?

A clear, concise description of the problem. It is obvious from your last post, that you did not provide this the first time round. The problem has changed from "I just get blank screen with white text" to "I get it when I change screen res"

Then, maybe, you would get more 'helpful' suggestions or a possible sollution.

<RANT>

There is NOTHING, I repeat N O T H I N G that irks me more, than someone who comes on saying "it's not working" and then CRITISISES people for providing suggestions, when it is THEY who are the numpty, because THEY did not provide ALL the information that someone who is trying to help, trying to give them a sollution _*IN THEIR OWN TIME*_, would need to actually give a sollution!

</RANT>

Oh yeah, if it only happens when you change screen res in game, but otherwise the game works fine, don't change screen res in game!

(Edited by ScreamingWithNoSound at 11:20 pm on Nov. 25, 2001)

[m79 0]

Or if the above is to complicated , Just uninstall your own OS , do us all a favour ,and dont reinastall.

Wanker.

[KillorLive 0]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Quote: from ScreamingWithNoSound on 11:17 pm on Nov. 25, 2001

LMAO!

KillorLive, you're full of sh*t!

I work on a PC support line. I get "my computer isn't working" all day long.

Fact: GeForce 2 and GeForce 3 use the same drivers.

Fact: I don't have a problem similar to yours.

Fact: Someone else on this forum has a GeForce 3 that works in OFP, but doesn't work in any OTHER game!

Fact: There is no such thing as a 1.7Ghz Tbird.

Now, if you'd like to stop being such a consumer and start acting like someone who actually wants to find out how to fix their problem, please:

Reset your BIOS defaults

Set PnP Aware OS in your BIOS to YES

Re-install Windows XP

Do NOT install anything else, even your printer.

Install + update OFP. If you're in Europe, do v1.2, then 1.3, if the US, do 1.3 only.

Test it, if it don't work, try these and in this order:

Install the latest Via 4in1 driver (4.35something)

Install the latest version of your RAID drivers (if using it)

Install the latest version of the Nvidia Reference Drivers(from the NVIDIA website).

DO NOT install the latest SB Live! drivers.

Install Modem/Cable modem drivers.

Do not mess about with any of the 'advanced' settings for anything.

Try the game, if you still have problems, supply:

The correct model / speed of your CPU.

The BIOS version of your MOBO

The full specification of you RAM

Your sound card model

Modem model (and drivers used if not std windows)

NIC model (and drivers if not std windows)

ALL other misc components and drivers used.

The order you have your PCI cards in their slots (if you think that this isn't important, then you obviously ARE a consumer)

The spec / setup of your HDD/DVD/CDRW etc - are you using a RAID setup?

A clear, concise description of the problem. It is obvious from your last post, that you did not provide this the first time round. The problem has changed from "I just get blank screen with white text" to "I get it when I change screen res"

Then, maybe, you would get more 'helpful' suggestions or a possible sollution.

<RANT>

There is NOTHING, I repeat N O T H I N G that irks me more, than someone who comes on saying "it's not working" and then CRITISISES people for providing suggestions, when it is THEY who are the numpty, because THEY did not provide ALL the information that someone who is trying to help, trying to give them a sollution _*IN THEIR OWN TIME*_, would need to actually give a sollution!

</RANT>

Oh yeah, if it only happens when you change screen res in game, but otherwise the game works fine, don't change screen res in game!

(Edited by ScreamingWithNoSound at 11:20 pm on Nov. 25, 2001)

<span id='postcolor'>

*AHEM*

You sir, are full of s**t.

Saying you work on a PC support line is sad.

Order your own 1.7ghz system, http://www.ex-parrot.com/~pdw/sinoco.html I suggest you actually look s**t up before you try and act smartass.

M79's post, well, he's a moron.

Period.

I fixed the problem myself, OFP somehow installed DX 8.0 over DX XP. How odd.

Now for me ranting to other people's rants, they didn't *ask* nicely.

They just started ranting and DIDN'T ask questions.

You infact are the first person besides Avon to ask a question without the word "f**k" in it.

Sorry about the lack of updates, I just reinstalled OFP, with finals it's not easy to play games all day.

[Mister Frag 0]

KillorLive, I hope you don't actually think that the Athlon XP 1700+ runs at 1.7GHz, because it doesn't -- it runs at 1.47GHz. The fastest Athlon on the market is the XP 1900+ at 1.6GHz.

[Mister Frag 0]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Quote: from KillorLive on 6:37 am on Dec. 13, 2001

<Snip>

I fixed the problem myself, OFP somehow installed DX 8.0 over DX XP. How odd.

Now for me ranting to other people's rants, they didn't *ask* nicely.

They just started ranting and DIDN'T ask questions.

You infact are the first person besides Avon to ask a question without the word "f**k" in it.

Sorry about the lack of updates, I just reinstalled OFP, with finals it's not easy to play games all day.

<span id='postcolor'>

By the way, OFP does NOT somehow install DX8, it only offers you the option to launch the DirectX 8.0 installer.

The decision to install it was yours, and if the install didn't work, it's Microsoft's fault.

One might argue that the OFP installer shouldn't provide the DX8 installation option if a more recent version is already installed, but then again, OFP does not claim support for Windows XP.

[KillorLive 0]

Yeah.

I know, I've admitted to that in another post.

My bad. That makes it only 4 times I've had to format to play OFP from the games problems.

I didn't mean the XP 1700.

[RedRogue 0]

You clicked 'Yes' to install DX 8.0 when it prompted you. It was YOUR fault not the game's. YOU installed DX 8.0 over what you needed. And don't expect that the community will forget your words around here, they have quite a good memory.

[KillorLive 0]

No-f**king-s**t Sherlock.

That was one human error, 4 game errors.

[Rogue 0]

The only thing really curing this is to activate the deinstall routine of OFP, hehe.

I think we all should donate money for a C++ compendium to replace bis´s "C++ for dummies" edition.

[Animal 0]

i am not sure your DX prob was what solved this anyway. have you never noticed that DX will not install over a never version of DX? It might look like it installed it, but is likely just checking and seeing a never ver and exiting. If this is not so, it would be the first i have seen a older version overwrite a newer one.

As for me, i told it to install 8.0 and after install i noticed it didn't, i had ver 8.1 on my system already. The real prob with black screen is likely your refresh rate. if your using a diff res now, that is likely why it works, or the reinstall fixed it. if higher res's are not working, try to edit your flashpoint.cfg file with a diff refresh rate. worked for me. it was at 75, i tried 0 for it to use default, did not work, so tried 60 and BAM! all was fine, 1600x1200 32 bit working fine.

P.S. A diff thread name would have likely got more attention sooner. i have bypassed this thread many times. only now looked at it in hopes of finding something to solve a scratchy sound prob with SB live. Likely a driver issue. i will keep playing.

[Gambba 0]

A small appology wouldn't go a miss to the game Killor, you started this post with a bad attitude and now your problem is fixed you look like you're trying to finish it with ATTITUDE! Avonlady and Screaming... made good valid suggestions with methodical processes and instead of replying politely and with answers to their questions you just flame them and give no answers.

Nowhere did you actually detail what steps you had taken in attempting to fix YOUR problem you just blamed the game, yes there are problems with the game but this post was never going to help anyone!

You also said that you got 25 views with no help, that's because you gave nothing to work with!

People like Avonlady have to assume that everyone is a dummy and start at the basics (You know crawl then walk then run) if she jumped in at the deep end then maybe 95% of gamers would be lost. So to recieve information you must give information!

Last but not least, never ever slag off someones job, and if out of all the info he provided all you could do was put his job down and argue about the 1700 T-bird (1700 does not refer to clock speed!) , then I think he must of provided some valid info??!

[KillorLive 0]

Hey buddy, I got ranted on here.

I suggest we all just stop posting on this one.

It's too much d*amn flame and not enough help, almost the whole story for BIS.

If BIS would have helped or some of the dips**ts whom will remain unnamed were less arrogant and more intelligent I might have changed my tone.

You have a clear slate with me however, so yeah, sorry for being spitefull to you for being ignorant about this topic.