Screen going black after 20-30 minutes in game

[D'Arkaine]

I'm hoping someone has some help to offer on this odd issue that started last night on 3-3-06.

I was ingame for about 20-30 minutes and my screen went black - like my monitor lost the signal from my video card. The pc was still running - I heard the sounds of the freakshow smacking my dom around and winamp was still running.

After rebooting my pc - i was able to get video again. I went back in game and had a repeat of the incidence.

I have verified that my video chipset fan is running normally and this issue only happens in city if heroes. I do not have any other games installed at the moment to test them out (fixing to see if it is in all 3d games)

I am running an ati all-in-wonder radeon 9800 pro with 128mb ram and running older drivers. The same drivers i have been using for months with no trouble.

Any ideas?

[sheld0n]

Well, the only thing I can think of is overheating, but you seem to have that covered... :think:

[NibblerJr]

The same thing happens with me. My screen goes black and I can hear the sounds still, music and whatnot, but I can't turn my monitor back on. I'm not always on CoV (But I'm pretty sure it's always running...ie me looking at forums or something.). I have a NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT for my video card.

[RedSwitchblade]

If it were a heat issue the system would lock or reset (believe me I know) or the colors would get garbled first and then wash out entirely. It sounds like a driver confilct, in terms of ATI get the latest drivers because they make COH run amazingly well.

As for the 6600GT, I can't say for sure... check your fan and blow the dust out of the heatsink just to be sure. Update drivers.

[ThunderMace]

I would bet it's a driver issue. try 2 or 3 different ones and let me know.
Also, pull out and reseat your video card. that seems to fix this alot.

[D'Arkaine]

huh...drivers seemed to have fixed it....will need extensive testing this weekend.

odd...cause of ati issues with coh - i have literally never updated my video drivers since april, 2004. Guess something changed this last patch.

[ThunderMace]

Score!

[The Widowed]

I used to have the exact same problem, and I have an ATI Radeon 9600 video card. Fortunately, the problem eventually went away; Either City of Heroes patched its way out of the conflict or I updated my drivers and it went away.

Did you try Alt+Tabbing out of CoX and back again? I'd do that and I'd get my game back, but the cursor and some of the interface would be pitch black.

I take it Slow Burn received death by Freakshow. :D

(And OMG, you remade Fluffy Darkness as a Corruptor? (http://www.herocorps.com/vdb/?a=1) You Tussle whore, you! :D )

[D'Arkaine]

yeah...fluffy was more of a villain :)

and i still have many of my tusslers living on...goldfinch, rock.hound, hive-mind and others

i think i have moved to freedom for my alt. alt. server...I think it is on the opposite coast from virtue so when bad things (tm) happen - i can hop on rusted edge my katana-ninja stalker (shame i cant have ninjitstu as a hero)

[The Widowed]

Oh, I know. I'm sure there have been plenty of ninja good guys in the comic books. Heroes deserve to have Ninjitsu too!

I still have a chunk of my old Tusslers and Scufflers floating around...Patrick Galloway, Madame Sinister, Sweetywedd and both versions of Liz spring to mind. I never got around to deleting them, and now I'm glad I didn't. :)

Wasn't Felonius Rex an ex-Tussler too?

[D'Arkaine]

yes. Felonius rex was. :) the all cat inspired tussle.

for the tussle - he was commissioned to steal statesman's helm. He decided to pretend to be a hero to work his way into state's good graces...

he failed and he was mutated and thrown in prison by recluse.

[Jade_Dragon]

Oh, I know. I'm sure there have been plenty of ninja good guys in the comic books. Heroes deserve to have Ninjitsu too!

You better freakin' believe it!!!!! Now that I've tried MA/Nin for Bloodwolf's villain side, I want it for his hero side. He was always half Ninjitsu anyway. (Used only the toggle Def powers, had Stealth and Intimidate which can be used very similarly to Placate, and I'd have cut off an arm to be able to have a healing power without having to resort to Aid Self)

Let Spiderman and The Flash have Super Reflexes. Batman is Ninjitsu. :D

(And don't get me started on how Danger Sense is Ranged AND AoE...)

I still have a chunk of my old Tusslers and Scufflers floating around...Patrick Galloway, Madame Sinister, Sweetywedd and both versions of Liz spring to mind. I never got around to deleting them, and now I'm glad I didn't. :)

Psuedo-Dragon is still around, but on Justice he can't join the Pre-Teen Protectors. And I don't think I'll ever delete Thoth, he's just too cool a character design. :D

[Jade_Dragon]

And going back to the original topic of this thread... :D

I have been having a recurring problem on my desktop computer in which the screen will not go black, but freeze after a given amount of time playing. I can see the sounds of moving and fighting bad guys, and even see the text above their names moving around, but the screen itself, including myself and the background, completely freeze. I'm guessing that the UI graphics still work, being a separate layer from the game display.

Anyway, a number of things fix the problem sometimes, but not always, and usually if I have the problem once it recurs again soon after. I can sometimes open the Enhancement screen and that brings it back, but that's the least likely to work. Next is opening the Options screen and changing a graphics setting. (Like upping character detail) I haven't tried /stuck yet, but I'm guessing that's my last resort. Often the only thing I can do, though, is shut the game down and reboot.

Anyway, it seems that my drivers are up to date, but that card's always acted squirrely. It doesn't seem to have effected my laptop yet. I don't know if the problem is related, but apparently it's connected to the latest update, so with luck it'll get found and fixed.

[D'Arkaine]

Have you tried any other games? or is it just happening in coh?