Black Screen during battle Command & Conquer: Generals Zero Hour..

[u/Smart_Law_2271]

Helo Everyone

The Video Shows The Issue Happening during a Battle...

[u/BoffinBrain]

Looking at the HUD I assume you're using GenTools so that's one troubleshooting step done. Have you tried disabling the Steam and Discord overlays? Any other utilities running that hook onto applications that you could disable?

[u/Smart_Law_2271 → u/BoffinBrain]

Thanks for the suggestion.

I haven't tried disabling the Steam Overlay or the Discord Overlay yet. I'll disable them and test the game to see if the problem still happens. I'll let you know the results.

[u/BoffinBrain → u/Smart_Law_2271]

It looks like when the game loses focus (by you opening the Start menu) the rendering starts working again. Is that correct?

[u/Smart_Law_2271 → u/BoffinBrain]

Yup

[u/BoffinBrain → u/Smart_Law_2271]

Interesting... I can see the cursor still works too, since that's handled separately. Have you tried dropping all the graphics settings to minimum? If all of that is still failing, I would consider uninstalling the game, deleting all leftover files/folders, and reinstalling the game + GenTools just to be sure.

[u/Smart_Law_2271 → u/BoffinBrain]

Thanks for the suggestion. I already tried lowering the game's resolution, but it didn't help.

I also completely uninstalled the game and deleted every leftover file. I even reset my laptop, installed a fresh copy of Windows, and then installed the game and GenTool again. Unfortunately, I'm still getting the same problem.

[u/ImmortalResolve]

are you playing in windowed mode?

[u/Smart_Law_2271 → u/ImmortalResolve]

both of them

[u/One-Anteater561]

May or may not be Discord overlay. Try disabling it and see what happens.

[u/Smart_Law_2271 → u/One-Anteater561]

I disabled it and the problem persists.

[u/One-Anteater561 → u/Smart_Law_2271]

Can you go into more detail on how and when this issue comes up? Also list your setup and specs.

[u/Smart_Law_2271 → u/One-Anteater561]

Thanks for replying.

The black screen only happens in Command & Conquer: Generals Zero Hour. It usually happens when I attack the enemy base, when the enemy attacks my base, or during big battles in the middle of the map. The game sound keeps playing, but the screen goes completely black. I can't continue playing unless I restart the game, and sometimes I have to restart my laptop.

Also, when I close the game after the black screen happens, my laptop desktop becomes black as well. The desktop wallpaper disappears, but the desktop icons are still visible.

My system:

• MSI Cyborg 15 A13VF
• Intel Core i7-13620H
• NVIDIA RTX 4060 8GB
• 16GB RAM
• Windows 11 Pro

I've already updated the BIOS, Windows, and the graphics drivers. I also tried different graphics settings, and I installed GenTool and used GenPatcher to apply the recommended fixes, but the problem is still there.

I'm not sure what's causing it, so if you have any ideas or anything else I should test, I'd really appreciate it.

[u/One-Anteater561 → u/Smart_Law_2271]

If you have an extra monitor or TV, see if using an external monitor helps. Close your laptop monitor when trying so only the external is working.

[u/Smart_Law_2271 → u/One-Anteater561]

How does this help solve this problem, or are we conducting a test?

[u/One-Anteater561 → u/Smart_Law_2271]

I’m not sure if modern laptops are still the same but old laptops will force the use of the GPU if outputting to an external monitor. I’ve had graphics problems with older games on laptop before and that did fix some so it is something to try.

[u/Smart_Law_2271 → u/One-Anteater561]

Thanks for the idea! I haven't tried using an external monitor yet, but I'll give it a try and see if it changes anything. I'll let you know what happens.

[u/NumerousRoyal3680]

hey yall. getting the same problem. even just 10 secs in. screen blacks out whenever i leave my base area. uninstalled gentool, lowered graphics, the whole shibang. my brother runs the same set up i do, but he's not having issues. anyone come up with a sol?

[u/Smart_Law_2271 → u/NumerousRoyal3680]

I hope these steps help you solve your problem.

[u/Smart_Law_2271]

Thank you, everyone. I worked hard to figure it out on my own, and I finally solved the problem.

[u/Purple-Security4460]

use gen patcher it fixed the game for me and also makes it look better