[US][Win7] Cannot Start Game. Black Screen after Atomic Torch Logo

[AxeHammer]

Just recently bought the game and loaded it up on my desktop, ran like a dream and really enjoying it.

However, just installed it on my laptop (Toshiba Portege Z830) and am unable to play the game as the screen goes completely black, but the game is still responding and I can Shift Tab to view the Steam Communication interface

Game Version: Not sure how to check this. Latest version on steam (downloaded 6/10/2015)

Game Mode: Single Player

Bug Location: On Start-up

Steps to Reproduce: Start the game on a Win7 Based Sys (see screen shots of System and Hardware)

Reproduction Rate: 100%

Screenshot:




BuG Report:
- Start up game in steam, great no problems
- Void expanse logo apears, music starts
- the Atomic Torch Logo comes up
- the Steam box appears on the bottom right hand side.
- BUT when the steam logo starts to drop down the screen stays completely black. (see screenshots)
- Can still Shift Tab into the steam interface but game does not continue loading past this point

Log Files:
Cannot find these in the Documents folder or the steamapps folder.
Where do I find these in a Win7 based sys?

[ai_enabled]

Hello!
Please be sure you have installed latest GPU driver (https://downloadcenter.intel.com/search?keyword=2nd+Generation+Intel%C2%AE+Core%E2%84%A2+Processors+with+Intel%C2%AE+HD+Graphics+3000%2F2000).
Also the game requires DirectX 9 (download from Microsoft (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=35)). Please restart your PC after DirectX installation.
If still no luck running the game, please upload all the log files from the folder Documents\AtomicTorchStudio\VoidExpanse\Logs on Google Drive or Dropbox and post the link.
Regards!

[AxeHammer]

Drivers have been updated aswell as DirectX.
After restart, same issue occurs, however it now freezes on the AtomicTorch Logo





The Log files are not located in Documents\AtomicTorchStudio\VoidExpanse\Logs, nor is there any directory in my PC (either my laptop, or my desktop where the game is working) named AtomicTorchStudio or VoidExpanse.

However inside the SteamApps folder (C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\VoidExpanse\VoidExpanse_Data) there is a file called output logs, which I hope is what you are asking for.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ildvoevbnobjm3i/output_log.txt?dl=0





All files

[ai_enabled]

I see... well, this log file contains enough information to determine the problem:

Code Select Expand

IOException: Win32 IO returned 6851. Path: d:\Users\elliot2\Documents\AtomicTorchStudio
  at System.IO.Directory.CreateDirectoriesInternal (System.String path) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
It means the game cannot create the required folder to store the game config and other user data. This is strange as 6851 error states "The operation could not be completed because the volume is dirty. Please run chkdsk and try again" (from w32errcodes (http://www.mathemainzel.info/files/w32errcodes.html)).

My thoughts regarding this issue:
1. (most probably) you have some antivirus software which restricts the game from creating the folder in Documents. Try to add VoidExpanse.exe to the antivirus white list;
2. you don't have free space on D:
3. (less probably)  disk D: is damaged and you need to run chkdsk /f /r D:

Also you could try to manually create folder "AtomicTorchStudio" at d:\Users\elliot2\Documents\ and then run the game.

Regards!

[AxeHammer]

Thankyou for the feedback,

Does the Folder need to be created in the D: directory or can it be created in C:?

This model Toshiba has a Flash Memory card as a secondary memory location which we have setup as D:, but some softwares dont like having anything stored there.

I'ff try to reformat it and see what that brings, otherwise would like to know if I can alter the path to C:

[ai_enabled]

AxeHammer, the game uses system environment variable to determine Documents folder. It can be anywhere, but the game doesn't have option to change this path. You could change it by moving "Users" folder to C: or (maybe) by using junction links (http://schinagl.priv.at/nt/hardlinkshellext/linkshellextension.html).
The game should run fine with any FAT32/NTFS drive on Windows if it's working properly.
Regards!

[AxeHammer]

Thankyou for the help, game is working fine after reformatting the drive.
I was terrified it would be some driver/GPU incompatibility issue that would stop me playing on it.

Thanks again!

[ai_enabled]

AxeHammer, glad it works. Enjoy the game and get ready for the next update coming very soon!
Regards!