Finally decided to sit down and give this one some attention, and then it doesn't run!

I get a start-up menu page with a button that says "Play Distant Worlds" (or something like that). When I press it, some 30 seconds pass and then it comes back to the same startup screen again.

I'm running Windows 10, is that the problem?

Finally found a sol.. well, a workaround:

In Startup.ini change "playmovie 1" to "playmovie 0"

You don't get the intro video, but the game runs.

it still can't work.Sad

Hi, fi92's solution works well on W10 Home 64 bit 1909 with theme DW Extended Universe. But i'm just getting to know the rules and i haven't finished a full game yet.

Heh, no, not entirely to be honest. But it's a faily new laptop, definitely newer than the 2014 release date of the game, surely this game wouldn't require drivers introduced after it was released. Or?
Funny, I can't mark my own follow-up post as "Solution", so I've just marked Treehugger's first confirmation that the workaround worked.

It might sound silly but normally the latest directx version or graphics drives are somewhat mandatory for running games, updated to their last versions, especially if you do allow windows to update too

i have the same problem now, over 2 years later. Has this been looked at? Please respond soon, as I can still return it if not. Thanks.

Same problem. No, editing Startup.ini to playmovie 0 didn't work. Yes, I have all the latest drivers.
I'll be checking for more solutions around the net for a while, then refunding.