I can't play!

[Daphnes]

I downloaded the game, waited for it to update, but it won't play. I hit the play button, and it says loading game, my screen goes blank, but then nothing. If I hadn't paid money for this game already, I'd leave it. Somebody help me please.

[Calthine]

<cite>Daphnes wrote:</cite><blockquote>I downloaded the game, waited for it to update, but it won't play. I hit the play button, and it says loading game, my screen goes blank, but then nothing. If I hadn't paid money for this game already, I'd leave it. Somebody help me please. </blockquote> How long are you waiting?  There's a movie that plays before the game fires up, it starts with a black screen.  You can mouse-click or hit the space bar to get past it without it playing. How much RAM do you have?  Are your video card drivers current?

[Daphnes]

I don't know about my video card. The black screen comes up, but then it goes away. I waited a minute or so, as I chatted in the EQ chat area, but nothing else popped up.

[mellowknees72]

I would: 1) Check to ensure that your video drivers are the most recent, up to date ones for your PC 2) Hit the "Preferences" button on the login window and click "Play in windowed mode". This will launch the game in windowed mode, so if your computer has an error message popping up when the program tries to run, you can actually SEE what it is. 9 times out of 10 when a friend (or myself) has had the issue you're describing, launching in windowed mode clues me in to what's going on - more often than not, your firewall, video card, or some other part of your computer is trying to tell you something behind that black screen that's going nowhere. If you can get to that error message, you'll be in a better position to figure out what's going on! <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> Good luck!

[Daphnes]

Ok, progress. It says I need a video card with at least four texture units. I don't know how many units mine has, but apparently it's a video card problem.

[Calthine]

<cite>Daphnes wrote:</cite><blockquote>Ok, progress. It says I need a video card with at least four texture units. I don't know how many units mine has, but apparently it's a video card problem. </blockquote> That's a start!  Check the manufacturer's website for information, and be sure to update the drivers, just in case.