Black screen but hearable sound in main menu after launch

[Jhofstetter]

Hi there,

I'm a big fan of the game but lately I am unable to play. I launch the game and everything is fine, the art in the loading screen is visible. But when I get to the main menu; the screen stays black, except for my cursor (glove or sometimes hourglass). I can also hear all the sounds but see nothing else.
I tried to do clean re-install several times and have wiggled around with the settings in the launcher, as well as verifying the files in steam. I even uninstalled antivirus and vpn software.
I am running the game on a MacBook Pro (2020) with the latest updates, game does work on my pc still. Is there a way for me to fix this on Macbook?

Thanks in advance for helping

 

[Commander_A]

Hi there,

I'm a big fan of the game but lately I am unable to play. I launch the game and everything is fine, the art in the loading screen is visible. But when I get to the main menu; the screen stays black, except for my cursor (glove or sometimes hourglass). I can also hear all the sounds but see nothing else.
I tried to do clean re-install several times and have wiggled around with the settings in the launcher, as well as verifying the files in steam. I even uninstalled antivirus and vpn software.
I am running the game on a MacBook Pro (2020) with the latest updates, game does work on my pc still. Is there a way for me to fix this on Macbook?

Thanks in advance for helping

Is it an Intel-based Mac? If so, then you're in the same boat I'm in. They stopped supporting OpenGl and only run Vulkan, which doesn't work on older macs unfortunately. I'm attempting to get a full refund as this isn't mentioned in their store page's minimum requirements to run the game.

 

[AndrewT]

I'm attempting to get a full refund as this isn't mentioned in their store page's minimum requirements to run the game.

• MINIMUM:
  • OS: Mojave (MAC OS X 10.14)
  • Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-7820HQ
  • Memory: 12 GB RAM
  • Graphics: AMD® Radeon™ PRO 560 (4 GB)

As Intel video is not mentioned it is, and always was, unsupported for the MacOS version of the game, regardless of the renderer in use. It's a sheer matter of luck that it ever worked in fact!

 

[Jhofstetter]

Is it an Intel-based Mac? If so, then you're in the same boat I'm in. They stopped supporting OpenGl and only run Vulkan, which doesn't work on older macs unfortunately. I'm attempting to get a full refund as this isn't mentioned in their store page's minimum requirements to run the game.

Thanks for your reply. I do have a Mac with an Intel processor, even with an i7 core just as mentioned in the game requirements. So the problem would be that my graphics are also Intel?
Anyway, it is weird that we were able to play it normally until now without warning (Or I missed the warning). Also: the steam store page for Crusader Kings 3 still markets the game as playable for both windows and MacOS to this day, so then it should be playable on both(?) My Macbook is not that old and was quite expensive, and like I said could run the game perfectly before, so I can't imagine that all of sudden it's not powerful enough and I am (or we are) an exception to their MacOS playability.

(Edit: btw, I think for me the problem started occurring when the Persia pack came out.)

 

[Jhofstetter]

Thanks for your reply. I do have a Mac with an Intel processor, even with an i7 core just as mentioned in the game requirements. So the problem would be that my graphics are also Intel?
Anyway, it is weird that we were able to play it normally until now without warning (Or I missed the warning). Also: the steam store page for Crusader Kings 3 still markets the game as playable for both windows and MacOS to this day, so then it should be playable on both(?) My Macbook is not that old and was quite expensive, and like I said could run the game perfectly before, so I can't imagine that all of sudden it's not powerful enough and I am (or we are) an exception to their MacOS playability. I'm also a loyal player and bought every single DLC that is available, so it's a bit disappointing that it's so hard to find information about this.

(Edit: btw, I think for me the problem started occurring when the Persia pack came out. But it could be a bit before that)

 

[AndrewT]

I do have a Mac with an Intel processor, even with an i7 core just as mentioned in the game requirements. So the problem would be that my graphics are also Intel?

That is exactly the issue, I'm afraid!

As mentioned above, support for openGL was removed in recent patches for this game and Vic3, which means they will no longer run on that unsupported hardware.

All you can do is revert to the previous 1.10.2 version in the Steam betas tab, or play on some other machine that meets the hardware specs. Also, if you have Apple Bootcamp installed it will probably work there.

 

[Jhofstetter]

That is exactly the issue, I'm afraid!

As mentioned above, support for openGL was removed in recent patches for this game and Vic3, which means they will no longer run on that unsupported hardware.

All you can do is revert to the previous 1.10.2 version in the Steam betas tab, or play on some other machine that meets the hardware specs. Also, if you have Apple Bootcamp installed it will probably work there.

Thanks for the reply!
It's good to know that I can still play the game on an earlier version and the other options too. I'm fortunate enough to be able to play on PC some days of the week. I do still wonder though if there was a warning for these Mac players that I've missed (and I don't mean scrolling through 50 lines of change log). A bummer that this is one of the consequences of the updates, but 'tis the world of technological progress. By the way, I assume newer beta versions will be available over time on steam? At the moment the latest I can play on is 1.9.2

Anyway, it feels good that you all reached out to help or advise. Thread solved if you ask me.

 

[AndrewT]

I do still wonder though if there was a warning for these Mac players that I've missed

Deprecation of OpenGL Support for MacOS and Linux

Hello everyone! We're announcing today that with the release of Wards & Wardens, Crusader Kings III will no longer support the OpenGL renderer on MacOS and Linux as we shift our focus towards better support for the Vulkan rendering API. OpenGL...

forum.paradoxplaza.com

By the way, I assume newer beta versions will be available over time on steam? At the moment the latest I can play on is 1.9.2

1.10.2 is definitely there. Steam put them in alpha order, not numerical order.

 

[Dardlem]

Also, if you have Apple Bootcamp installed it will probably work there.

Unfortunately, it's not working for me. Tried running it on MacBook Pro 13' 2019 (i5, Intel Iris Plus 655). Looks like the only options left are to play older version, play on another device, or try cloud gaming (e.g. GeForce Now).

P.S. GFN works fine for me.

 

[AndrewT]

Tried running it on MacBook Pro 13' 2019 (i5, Intel Iris Plus 655)

Using Bootcamp, are you saying? So under Windows? Because the Intel® HD Graphics 630 is supported there, and your Intel Iris Plus 655 ought to be better than that.

 

[Dardlem]

Using Bootcamp, are you saying? So under Windows? Because the Intel® HD Graphics 630 is supported there, and your Intel Iris Plus 655 ought to be better than that.

Yep, I have Win 10 installed via Bootcamp. Game launches just fine (same as MacOS), but as soon as it loads main menu the screen freezes. I can still interact with the game, sound is working fine, but I can't see a damn thing (same as MacOS).

 

[AndrewT]

Did you want to pursue that issue, or are you okay with GFN?


IF you do: Right click on ck3.exe , properties, compatibility. Tick "disable fullScreen optimisations" untick every other box in that dialog, Apply and exit.
Then in the launcher Game Settings menu, select fullScreen display mode, Vsync off, cap refresh rate at 60.


If those don't help:
DXDIAG is a program you run from the Windows search box on the task bar. After running it will open a window and start collecting info with a progress bar in the lower-left corner. When it completes click the 'save all information' button and save it to a file then attach that file here.

Please attach here your Documents/Paradox Interactive/CK3/pdx_settings.txt .
From your Documents/Paradox Interactive/CK3/logs/ folder, attach here system.log , error.log , exceptions.log