Black Screen (no ingame visuals)

[66ee78da0ccb1Forek]

Ok, so I decided that I was going to relive this game and dug out my old CD.  I've done a clean manual install and added the SS2 Tool update from this site.  I've also registered my LGVID.AX file, so I can see the cutscenes, but I'm having a very bizarre issue.  When I start a new game, I see the intro movie (how can you challenge a perfect immortal machine ...), I then see the loading screen, then all goes black.  However the game has loaded because I can hear the starting area and as I move around I get voices ("welcome to the Ramsay recruitment centre").  Also, if I press Esc, then I can bring up my ingame menu.  I just can't see anything but a black screen ingame.

I've search around a bit but can't find anything which looks relevant, does anyone know how to fix this?

System:
Windows Vista Home Premium (32 bit)
NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GS
Intel Core2 Duo CPU (2GHz)
2GB RAM

[66ee78da0ceb9voodoo47]

that means ddfix and you graphics card driver do not work together as intended.try putting this into your ddfix.ini:

Code: [Select]

UseSysMemOverlay=2
OverlayColourKey=0xf81f

[66ee78da0d15bForek]

I've just tried this but it doesn't seem to make any difference.  Everything is still black.

that means ddfix and you graphics card driver do not work together as intended.try putting this into your ddfix.ini:

Code: [Select]

UseSysMemOverlay=2
OverlayColourKey=0xf81f

[66ee78da0d253voodoo47]

try again with this:

Code: [Select]

UseSysMemOverlay=2
OverlayColourKey=0xffdf

[66ee78da0d497Forek]

Still all black.  Just to check, I'm just meant to be editing the .ini file and saving it right?  I don't need to re-run anything to make it work.

try again with this:

Code: [Select]

UseSysMemOverlay=2
OverlayColourKey=0xffdf

[66ee78da0d58bvoodoo47]

ok, try just UseSysMemOverlay=2

and perhaps update your graphics card drivers, if you are not using the latest ones.

[66ee78da0d790Forek]

Ok, I feel very embarrassed now!  That one fixed it.  Thank you.

and perhaps update your graphics card drivers, if you are not using the latest ones.

[66ee78da0d88dvoodoo47]

no problem. just a little note-you should not use UseSysMemOverlay=2 unless you really need to, as it slows down things quite a bit.

[66ee78da0d9feKolya]

Alternatively try commenting out UseSysMemOverlay=2 (by preceding it with a semicolon) and set
OverlayColourKey=0xffffff
If this works for you, keep it, as it doesn't cause the framerate slowdown, voodoo47 mentioned. 

[66ee78da0dae7Kookaburra00]

I'm real sorry for being such a n00b, but please tell me how to update graphics driver thinggy...

[66ee78da0dc63Kolya]

Download the latest drivers for your card from your video card vendor's website and unpack the archive on your desktop.

If you don't know your card go to
START->Run: devmgmt.msc

In the window that just opened find the Video Card in the tree and click on the + besides it to open the tree there. There is your video card. Rightclick it, choose "Update Drivers" and point it at the drivers you downloaded.