Author Topic: Random black screens and lag  (Read 2012 times)

Offline shotdown007

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Random black screens and lag
« on: September 01, 2014, 05:02:07 pm »
So the game at random moments the game will go black for anywhere around 10-60 seconds then will go back to normal, and while it is black you can still see a few things like the portal names and UI. This random black screen also occurs in the menu and in lobby. I believe this is also causing my game to lag when i get close up. Because there is no way i should be lagging when i only have like 500 ships lol. If someone could help me with this problem that would be great, Ty.
-Shotdown007
« Last Edit: September 01, 2014, 06:12:40 pm by shotdown007 »

Offline keith.lamothe

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Re: Random black screens and lag
« Reply #1 on: September 01, 2014, 09:55:37 pm »
Sorry about the inconvenience.  What OS are you running on?  And what kind of video card?
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Offline shotdown007

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Re: Random black screens and lag
« Reply #2 on: September 01, 2014, 11:13:21 pm »
Mac OS X 10.9.4 and Intel HD Graphics 4000

Offline keith.lamothe

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Re: Random black screens and lag
« Reply #3 on: September 02, 2014, 08:57:42 am »
Ok, thanks.  Can you post a screenshot of one of the black-screen times?  Sounds kind of ironic to ask for, but you did say it's not totally black :)

Edit: also, are you running this from steam?  Probably doesn't matter in this case, but to be sure.
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Offline shotdown007

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Re: Random black screens and lag
« Reply #4 on: September 02, 2014, 01:19:57 pm »
Here are the pictures of the black screens, one of the main title, one while in a lobby, and one while in game, with a before and after shot.
But I have realized what causes the black screen, which are the steam in-game pop ups which are in the bottom right corner of the screen shots. I'm pretty sure that is whats causing it. Also yes it is through steam lol.
« Last Edit: September 02, 2014, 01:22:42 pm by shotdown007 »

Offline Hearteater

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Re: Random black screens and lag
« Reply #5 on: September 02, 2014, 02:25:13 pm »
Is it permanent once it happens or is the duration limited to say as long as the pop-up is present?

Offline doctorfrog

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Re: Random black screens and lag
« Reply #6 on: September 02, 2014, 02:30:20 pm »
Try enabling this option, and restart the game. It will take much longer to load, but see if it eliminates the issue.


Offline shotdown007

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Re: Random black screens and lag
« Reply #7 on: September 02, 2014, 02:58:03 pm »
Yes it is temporary, and lasts for as long as the pop up is there, but i think that it sometimes lasts longer than the pop up. Also i tried that preloaded option thing and it didn't fix it, and it caused the game to freeze lol.

Offline x4000

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Re: Random black screens and lag
« Reply #8 on: September 02, 2014, 04:37:24 pm »
In terms of the screen going black when the steam overlay is active, that was a known issue that happened with a lot of our games on Steam, but the latest versions of the steam client seem to have fixed it.  I am running the steam client version that was build August 28 2014, at 3:30:07, Steam API v016, Steam package versions 1409240101.

One thing that you can also try is making the game run in 32-bit mode as suggested here for another game: http://steamcommunity.com/app/274520/discussions/1/38596747873155861/

I hope that helps!
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Offline shotdown007

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Re: Random black screens and lag
« Reply #9 on: September 02, 2014, 05:57:30 pm »
Tried the 32 bit version thing and it didn't not work, but i did disable steam overlay and that did fix it, but if there is a way to fix steam overlay so it could work without the black screens that would be great, if not thats fine too. Also i included "lag" in the title but i think that might be some other bug or something, idk lol. Ty to everyone for all the help so far.
« Last Edit: September 02, 2014, 06:02:13 pm by shotdown007 »

Offline x4000

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Re: Random black screens and lag
« Reply #10 on: September 02, 2014, 06:02:01 pm »
Well, I'm not sure why the steam overlay is doing that for you when it's not doing it for me anymore... that's frustrating. There's unfortunately not much I can do about that other than OS-style workarounds like the one I suggested before. You might make doubly sure you're on the latest version of the steam client, or beyond that unfortunately just disabling the steam overlay until the issue gets resolved on your setup might be the best thing.
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Offline shotdown007

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Re: Random black screens and lag
« Reply #11 on: September 03, 2014, 12:54:05 pm »
Yea ill just turn overlay off, ty for the help tho

 

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