BATTLETECH - After the unity logo the screen keeps black and the game never start

[BARBOSA (Aries)]

One line summary of your issue
After the unity logo the screen keeps black and the game never start

What platform are you running the game on?

Steam

What operating system do you use?
Windows 7 SP1
Which version of the game are you running?
1.7
What DLC do you have installed?
Flashpoint,
Urban Warfare,
Shadowhawk Pack

Please explain your issue is in as much detail as possible.
After the automatic download and install of 1.7 update on steam, i tried to start the game . Everything go as usual until unity logo fades. A white changing number appears on upper right corner of the screen and the game never starts, even though the mouse arrow change from windows standard to what is seen in the game.
Have you tried verifying your files?
Yes

Steps to reproduce the issue
Start the game and wait.

Attach DxDiag (PC), System Info log (Mac), or run sudo lshw -html > specs.html and uploaded specs.html (Linux)

Attach Output Log
Windows: BATTLETECH\BattleTech_Data\output_log.txt
Mac OS: Users >{name} > Library > Logs > Unity > Player.log
Linux: ~/.config/unity3d/Harebrained Schemes/BATTLETECH/Player.log

If the game crashed, please attach the crash file with the time stamp closest to the crash.
Windows: [Steam library folder]\steamapps\common\BATTLETECH\DumpBox
OSX: Macintosh HD > Users > [username] > Library > Application Support > Steam > steamapps > common > BattleTech > DumpBox
Linux: [Steam library folder]/steamapps/common/BATTLETECH/DumpBox

If a save game was loaded at the start of the game session, upload it. Please make sure to upload the save game with the timestamp closest to when you loaded it.
Windows:
Steam: [Steam installation folder]\userdata[SteamID]\637090\remote\C0\SGS1
GOG: 'C:\Users\USER_ID\AppData\Local\GOG.com\Galaxy\Applications\50593543263669699\Storage\Shared\Files\C#\SGS#'
Vanilla:'C:\Users\USER_ID\AppData\LocalLow\Harebrained Schemes\BattleTech\C#\SGS#'
OSX:
Steam: Macintosh HD > Users > [username] > Library > Application Support > Steam > userdata > [SteamID] > 637090 > remote > C#> SGS#
GOG: Macintosh HD > Users > [username] > Library > Application Support > GOG.com > Galaxy > Applications > 50593543263669699 > Storage > Shared > Files > C# > SGS#
Vanilla: Macintosh HD > Users > [username]> Library > Application Support > unity.Harebrained Schemes.BattleTech > C# > SGG#
Linux:
Steam: /home/.steam/steam/userdata/[steamID]/637090/remote/C#/SGS#
GOG: /home/[username]/.config/unity3d/Harebrained Schemes/BATTLETECH/remote/C#/SGS#/
Vanilla: /home/[username]/.config/unity3d/Harebrained Schemes/BATTLETECH/remote/C#/SGS#/

Attach screenshot / video

 

[emmasterakia]

Hey all,

We are aware of this issue and are currently working on a solution. Please continue to share relevant information to help us move forward.

Thank you!

 

[Hobby]

Hey all,

We are aware of this issue and are currently working on a solution. Please continue to share relevant information to help us move forward.

Thank you!

As I said before -- this problem is 99,9% related to something what is stored in either "userprofile" and/or in "current user" registry.

SOLVED HERE: https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/foru...s-screen-shown-forever.1260587/#post-26155340

Reasons:
- same machine,
- same install folder,
- same Steam app,
- same AV / AV settings,
- same firewall
& if I'm in main profile logged, game doesn't start (3 logos and dark), but in second profile (new one) game runs smoothly.

I don't know about any other difference(s) between these two locations/instances (specs: W7 x64 Ult., AMD FX-8370, nVidia 1070Ti, 16GB DDR3)

 

[HBS_SpaceCollie]

To help us eliminate some variables, could folks please sound off on what anti virus solution they're using? It would be a big help!

 

[BARBOSA (Aries)]

I use Avast Free.

 

[Eelectrica]

To help us eliminate some variables, could folks please sound off on what anti virus solution they're using? It would be a big help!

I'm running Windows Defender and Acronis True Image has a built AV.
Occasionally run a malwarebytes scan too.
These things run on my good test profile as well.

It's a Win 10 Pro OS

 

[xponent5446]

Same issue. I can confirm creating a burner windows admin login fixes the problem. I run Windows Defender 10 because I had Kaspersky but I am not a Russian bot.

 

[AndrewT]

To help us eliminate some variables, could folks please sound off on what anti virus solution they're using? It would be a big help!

Post #64:

Windows Defender
Windows Defender Enabled
Antivirus
Antivirus Enabled
Display Name Windows Defender
Virus Signature Database Up to date

Post#69:

Windows Defender
Windows Defender Enabled
Antivirus
Antivirus Enabled
Display Name Windows Defender
Virus Signature Database Up to date

Post #47:

Windows Defender
Windows Defender Disabled
Antivirus
Windows Defender
Antivirus Disabled
Virus Signature Database Up to date
Kaspersky Free
Antivirus Enabled
Virus Signature Database Up to date

Post #48:

Windows Defender
Windows Defender Enabled
Antivirus
Antivirus Enabled
Display Name Avast Antivirus
Virus Signature Database Up to date

Post #52:

Windows Defender
Windows Defender Disabled
Antivirus
Norton AntiVirus
Antivirus Enabled
Virus Signature Database Up to date
Windows Defender
Antivirus Disabled
Virus Signature Database Up to date

 

[HBS_L8Knight]

There are two workarounds we recommend for Windows players:

1. Rolling back to 1.6.2 allows the game to function, albeit without new features or access to the Heavy Metal expansion.
2. Some players have found that the issue can be circumvented by creating a new Windows user account and playing though that. You will not be restricted from your saves since that's through Steam, but we realize it's still not an ideal solution.

We are actively investigating.

 

[Eelectrica]

There are two workarounds we recommend for Windows players:

1. Rolling back to 1.6.2 allows the game to function, albeit without new features or access to the Heavy Metal expansion.
2. Some players have found that the issue can be circumvented by creating a new Windows user account and playing though that. You will not be restricted from your saves since that's through Steam, but we realize it's still not an ideal solution.

We are actively investigating.

Thanks for that. If there's any tests or something like that you want some of us to try, I'd be happy to help.
Cheers.

In the mean time, I'll just switch user for some Battletech

 

[Teggs]

Also getting stuck at the aforementioned black screen after the three splash screens on build 1.8.0.629r-34044 from GOG in Linux.

When launching from the command line, I see a possible issue:

Preloaded 'ScreenSelector.so'
Preloaded 'libAkFlanger.so'
Preloaded 'libAkGuitarDistortion.so'
Preloaded 'libAkSoundEngine.so'
Preloaded 'libAkStereoDelay.so'
Preloaded 'libAkTremolo.so'
Preloaded 'libBinkPluginLnx64.so'
Preloaded 'libSDL2-2.0.so.0'
Preloaded 'libasound.so.2'
Preloaded 'libc.so.6'
Unable to preload the following plugins:
libBink2x64.so
libopenal.so.1
libsndio.so.6.1

Perhaps it's unable to play the intro because that requires Bink? The three files that aren't preloading are present in the same directory as the others. (/Battletech_Data/Plugins/x86_64)

In Player.log there are a number of lines like this:

Fallback handler could not load library /run/media/USERNAME/New Volume/GOG Games/L/BATTLETECH/game/BattleTech_Data/Mono/libuser32.dll

That is probably because there is no BattleTech_Data/Mono directory.

I don't know if any of these error massages existed before, or if they indicate the issue. The versions of the game shipped with Flashpoint and Urban Warfare worked, so I had no reason to look previously.

Separately, it might be as well to sanitise the log file generation as I did to remove the username.

Thank you. Looking forward to playing again soon.

 

[AndrewT]

Also getting stuck at the aforementioned black screen after the three splash screens on build 1.8.0.629r-34044 from GOG in Linux.

When launching from the command line, I see a possible issue:

Preloaded 'ScreenSelector.so'
Preloaded 'libAkFlanger.so'
Preloaded 'libAkGuitarDistortion.so'
Preloaded 'libAkSoundEngine.so'
Preloaded 'libAkStereoDelay.so'
Preloaded 'libAkTremolo.so'
Preloaded 'libBinkPluginLnx64.so'
Preloaded 'libSDL2-2.0.so.0'
Preloaded 'libasound.so.2'
Preloaded 'libc.so.6'
Unable to preload the following plugins:
libBink2x64.so
libopenal.so.1
libsndio.so.6.1

Perhaps it's unable to play the intro because that requires Bink? The three files that aren't preloading are present in the same directory as the others. (/Battletech_Data/Plugins/x86_64)

In Player.log there are a number of lines like this:

Fallback handler could not load library /run/media/USERNAME/New Volume/GOG Games/L/BATTLETECH/game/BattleTech_Data/Mono/libuser32.dll

That is probably because there is no BattleTech_Data/Mono directory.

I don't know if any of these error massages existed before, or if they indicate the issue. The versions of the game shipped with Flashpoint and Urban Warfare worked, so I had no reason to look previously.

Separately, it might be as well to sanitise the log file generation as I did to remove the username.

Thank you. Looking forward to playing again soon.

I don't think your problem is anything to do with the issue discussed in this thread. It looks like installation corruption to me:

0:23(1): error: syntax error, unexpected '[', expecting $end
Note: Creation of internal variant of shader 'Terrain/BT-TerrainTesselation' failed.

I assume GoG has an installation verification process, see if that finds anything to fix.

 

[Herald of Omega]

So I got Heavy Metal, but it wouldn't work with mods enabled.
So I went back to 1.7.1 and it was working again.
Then the power went out, then came back on, and after the 3 logos I got the black screen with FPS? on it.
Updated Nvidia drivers to latest, no change.
I looked at profiles.dat in D:\Users\Username\AppData\LocalLow\Harebrained Schemes\BATTLETECH and it was all a bunch of nulls.
I deleted that file, and now 1.7.1 is working again, just had to adjust settings and log back into Paradox.
profiles.dat now contains mostly text.

 

[emmasterakia]

Just wanted to let you know we are super grateful for all information you provide us with here!

As soon as we have an update we'll share it with you. Thanks again.

 

[Mr Morden]

I am running Malawarebytes and McAfreLivesafe - roling back to 1.62 again so i can actually play.....

 

[Mr Lizard]

Having all the same symptoms in the thread, I did the full uninstall and created a new Windows profile. Logging onto that profile, I navigated to the Steam website and downloaded the game. NOTE: the first time I tried this, Windows asked me to access the Steam launcher via my main (admin) profile and I got the exact same result: black screen after the title cards.

I scrubbed BattleTech from my system again via the complete uninstall directions (you'd think I really like the game or something) and tried one more time, but this second time when I logged into Steam I avoided accessing my main Windows profile when prompted, even though I'd logged into my Steam account.

This did the trick, as now I have a fully-functioning build (ver 1.8) with all DLC running on the alt profile.

Hope that helps any other poor unfortunates. Now, to go chasing after my Marauder!

 

[BARBOSA (Aries)]

Be it laziness or lack of free time, i decided to attempt just creating a new user and start the game (no unistalls). It worked!

Hope the info makes easier for those who want to try the current solution, and help the devs narrowing down the problem (as having to create a 2nd windows user to play is not a complete fix).

 

[Teggs]

No joy on build 1.8.1-640r from GOG. I also tried deleting the BATTLETECH and Harebrained Schemes directories after uninstalling the game, rebooting, then reinstalling. Same libraries not preloading, same non-starter of the Bink intro, same Player.log as far as I can see.

If the GOG build was corrupt, then it was corrupt twice now. It seems unlikely. (Then again InXile managed to post a corrupt file the first time, and then bork the installation script on their second try with Bard's Tale IV, so I suppose it's possible.)

 

[AndrewT]

No joy on build 1.8.1-640r from GOG. I also tried deleting the BATTLETECH and Harebrained Schemes directories after uninstalling the game, rebooting, then reinstalling. Same libraries not preloading, same non-starter of the Bink intro, same Player.log as far as I can see.

If the GOG build was corrupt, then it was corrupt twice now. It seems unlikely. (Then again InXile managed to post a corrupt file the first time, and then bork the installation script on their second try with Bard's Tale IV, so I suppose it's possible.)

Looks like an issue in the video/graphics area:

Renderer: AMD Radeon(TM) HD 8800 Series

0:23(1): error: syntax error, unexpected '[', expecting $end
Note: Creation of internal variant of shader 'Terrain/BT-TerrainTesselation' failed.

Is there any newer Mesa version available for you?

 

[Mandatory Rat]

Hello again folks!
As we all noticed, the last patch did not help in solving our problem. I want to tell you my version of (temporary) solution. I've been playing like this for a couple of weeks now.
Like others, the game works if I use another Windows account on the same PC.
Therefore, by trial and error, I realized that you can play without changing the profile by simply launching Steam.exe with the “run as” option and indicating the profile on which the game works.
Such a primitive but working solution. For me, this is more convenient than constantly logging out of account.

PS
Tried to do some analytics. But nah ...
Waste of time. I tried to take pictures of the registry using various software, I tried to make logs in the Process monitor. All this nonsense takes hundreds of thousands of lines of code, which are very difficult (and time consuming) to compare. Apparently, for some reason, the unity video player is not correctly initiated, which must turn on the cartoon before the start of the game. Its looks like a infinite loop of some initiation, but all we see is a black screen.
I can offer developers to make a beta version of the game for us, where all the initial logos and cartoon would be disabled, and those people who are experiencing problems could be tested. Can we skip it and go directly to Main Menu? MAYBE, this could help us, although I may be wrong in my theory.

 

[Der Gepuschelte Flausch]

I have the same issue and I did this stuff with a second account and it worked when Steam runs in a fresh account, letting only BT run in an own account did nothing. So I did a little research in the internet and when I'm not totally wrong this is been an issue that happens with other games too => issue with Unity? So some people tell that this bug only happened when not developing in Unity but installing the game...?!

Combining these two point leads to the following point: there is a bug that happens when Unity and Steam comes together and including something in your user account. And it's been an Issue since Version 1.7(?) or so, hence people say falling back to older versions make the game working again.

I'll check the Steam stuff in my account, maybe I find a clue to this.