This will tell you how to fix the black screen problem you get when you start Freelancer with WIN 98\ME, an Nvidia card and detonator drivers 43.xx and over. Ok, ok, its not a true fix, but it will let you play the game. I did the testing on a system that uses WIN 98se, and uses a GeForce 3 Ti200 card and has v44.03 Det drivers installed.

First, find your Freelancer directory and open it.

Second, open the EXE folder.

Third, find and double click on a file called dacom.ini

Forth, look for the line that says:
DirectX8 ; implements IID_IRenderPipeline, IID_IVertexBuffer under dx8

Fifth, change the 8’s into 9’s so that it looks like this:
DirectX9 ; implements IID_IRenderPipeline, IID_IVertexBuffer under dx9

Than make sure to save it.

Sixth, double click on the Freelancer.exe icon; you should see the Freelancer splash screen appear. Than wait for a screen that says that Freelancer has encountered an error. Tell it not to send a report to Microsoft.

Seventh, go back to the dacom.ini file and change the line back to its original form.
DirectX8 ; implements IID_IRenderPipeline, IID_IVertexBuffer under dx8

Save.

Lastly, double click on the Freelancer icon and the game should start right up!

This worked for me and it should work for you too, but don’t get mad if it doesn’t please!
The only downside is that you have to do this every time you start your computer, but it is very easy to do.
If the procedure doesn’t work than make sure to use older drivers to run the game.


Quantum


Edited by - Quantum on 17-05-2003 02:06:03