Startopia black screen with sound on startup

On certain machines Startopia can run into startup issues where you’ll only see a black screen and possibly your mouse. Some users also hear game sound when this issue occurs. One possible workaround is the following (original solution posted by mp.73):

  • Open up the DirectX control panel. Press the Start button Picture of the Start button, and type dxdiag in the Search box, and then press ENTER.
  • Enable “Use ModeX for 320 by X(DX7-)”. From within the DirectX control panel, switch to the directdraw tab and select the group tab labelled performance. From here enable “Use ModeX for 320 by X(DX7-)”.
  • Run Startopia again. If everything worked as expected you should now land on the main menu on your first try.

If you’ve followed the above steps and are still having trouble with the Startopia black screen issue, please post in the comments below. To increase your chances of a solution being found include as much detail as possible (which version of the game you’re running, what operating system you have, what video card you have and steps to reproduce the issue). Screenshots are also very useful!

sources: link 1

Startopia crash/slowdown on building brig

As originally reported here, there is a known issue where Startopia can crash or slowdown significantly after building a brig. There are a few steps you can follow to reduce the effect of this slowdown and avoid crashes:

  • Update your video drivers.
  • Switch Transform and Lighting to Software. This option is known to fix many slowdown/crash issues in Startopia. Go to Options > Video > Transform and Lighting deselect “AUTO” and select “Software” from the drop down menu.
  • Build smaller brigs. If you’re still experiencing slowdowns, try limiting the maximum size of your brigs. The maximum size seems to vary by machine – you’ll have to test what you can get away. A good starting point might be limiting the size to only 4 cells.

If you’ve followed the above steps and are still having trouble with the Startopia crash/slowdown on building brig issue, please post in the comments below. To increase your chances of a solution being found include as much detail as possible (which version of the game you’re running, what operating system you have, what video card you have and steps to reproduce the issue). Screenshots are also very useful!

sources: link 1, link 2

Startopia flickering screen

With certain graphics cards users have reported experiencing the Startopia flickering screen issues, especially on newer systems. To fix the flickering screen issues you’ll have to modify the game settings:

  1. Switch Display Method to Blit. Under Options > Video > Display Method deselect “AUTO” and select “Blit” from the drop down menu.
  2. Switch Transform and Lighting to Software. Options > Video > Transform and Lighting deselect “AUTO” and select “Software” from the drop down menu.

After you’re done the settings screen should look something like this:

startopia_flickering

If you’re also experiencing crashes and gameplay bugs, they are most likely unrelated to this flickering screen issue. See the Startopia on Windows 7 post for more info about possible crashes and solutions.

If you’ve followed the above steps and are still experiencing the Startopia flickering screen issue, please post in the comments below. To increase your chances of a solution being found include as much detail as possible (which version of the game you’re running, what operating system you have, what video card you have and steps to reproduce the issue). Screenshots are also very useful!

sources: link 1, link 2, link 3

Startopia multiplayer crash

Startopia like some older games has issues with syncing during multiplayer games. These syncing issues can cause frequent and very frustrating multiplayer crashes. As of November 8th, 2013 there are no known patches, or official solutions but there are a few workarounds that can greatly decrease the number of crashes and make multiplayer playable:

  • Do not use gamespy. The game works much better on TCP IP/LAN.
  • Do not try to save. Do not pause. Do not open the menu. This is the most generally accepted and effective workaround. Saving, pausing and opening the menu all increase the chance of a de-sync which will crash you game.
  • Disable autosaves. There are a number of reports that the autosave itself causes the crashes and that disabled the autosaving by write-protecting the file might help. To disable autosaves this find all autosave*.sav files, right click > properties > read only.

If you’ve followed the above steps and are still having issues with the Startopia multiplayer crash, please post in the comments below. To increase your chances of a solution being found include as much detail as possible (which version of the game you’re running, what operating system you have, what video card you have and steps to reproduce the issue). Screenshots are also very useful!

sources: link 1, link 2, link 3, link 4, link 5, link 6, link 7

Startopia on Windows 7

Startopia, like many older games has some known issues with newer operating systems and video cards. To run Startopia on Windows 7 follow you’ll likely have to follow these steps:

  1. Install patch 1.01. The vanilla version of the game has several crash to desktop bugs that were fixed in patch 1.01, so make sure you install it. This is the version that steam automatically patches to. Full patch notes can be found on moddb.
    Download link 1 <– shacknews
    Download link 2 <– moddb
  2. Install patch 1.01b. This patch reportedly fixes many game play bugs, adds difficulty modes and allows for WASD navigation. Full patch notes can be found on moddb.
    Download link 1 <– softpedia
    Download link 2 <– moddb
  3. Run as administrator and with Windows 98 compatibility. Right click on your Startopia shortcut, select properties. Select the compatibility tab and run the program under Windows 98 compatibility and select Run this program as administrator (if you are on Windows 7 or Vista).

These few steps should cover most crashes for the game. The developer site (muckyfoot.com) has long since gone down but you can view their FAQ via an old web.archive.org snapshot here. There are a few more obscure errors that you might run into with Startopia. See the related posts for discussion and solution.

  • Startopia crash/slowdown on building brig. On certain machines Startopia slows down considerably or even crashes after a brig is built.
  • Startopia black screen with sound on startup. Some users have reported an issue where the game startups but presents only a black screen sometimes accompanied by game sound. This issue can often be fixed by changing dxdiag settings. See the linked post for some possible workarounds.
  • Startopia muliplayer crashes. If you’re interested in playing the game with friends AKA multiplayer be warned there are many known issues. The most common issues appear to be autosaves and desync issues. See the linked post for some possible workarounds.

If you’ve followed the above steps and are still having trouble running Startopia on Windows 7, please post in the comments below. To increase your chances of a solution being found include as much detail as possible (which version of the game you’re running, what operating system you have, what video card you have and steps to reproduce the issue). Screenshots are also very useful!

sources: link 1, link 2, link 3, link 4, link 5

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