Just downloaded the game the other day while it was on sale and it will not let me run the game through the GOG client. The game starts, but once I click on New Game and a new save position, the screen goes black. There is also no audio. I'm not 100% technical savvy but any help would be appreciated. Most I found in forums was keyboard issues. Didn't help me : (

How long have you waited when the screen goes black? Does it eventually crash and/or give an error?

I bought the game back in April, but I'm just now getting around to playing it. The game ran once for me. I went into the settings to max out the graphics, adjust audio sliders, and rebind keys. Rebinding the keys in-game was turning out to be a major frustration because you can't bind a key if it's already in use, and you can't unbind a key either. I quit to search the forums to see if there was an easier way (there isn't), and then the game wouldn't start.

When I run it, it sits at a black screen for a while, then I get an error telling me the game the game crashed. The error says a crash report folder was created in the game folder and tells me to send it to the developer. In the crash folder, I looked at the error log and the error was: I tried running it without Galaxy and running, but it does the same thing. I tried renaming the Galaxy64.dll, but it still crashed, then I found there is another Galaxy64.dll in the Data\Plugins directory. After renaming that one too, the game now runs.

This may not work for you though since it sounds like you're having a different issue, but look in the game directory to see if it crated a crash report folder. It should be at the top. The folder name is the date and time of the crash in the format of YYYY-MM-DD_HHMMSS (Year-Month-Day_Hour_Minute_Second). Inside there is an error.log and output_log.txt. If not, look in the Firewatch_Data directory for an output_log.txt file that is created every time the game runs and open it to see if you see any obvious errors.

Same problem with the black screen occurs when I start the game... is there any solution for that?

Same issue here - normal windows install, no sound in main menu and black screen after game selection.
Tried different things mentioned in the FAQ section - e.g. installing the Codec Pack and testing several graphic/compatibility settings, but without success...
Is there any solution around the corner???

I was having the same issue about a month and a half ago, but I just redownloaded it and it seems to work now. Maybe they patched it recently? Either way, here's the answers from the GoG support ticket I opened back in April, maybe something here might help:


1) In case of GOG GALAXY 2.0 the repair button will be located next to the PLAY button (on the right) > Manage installation > Repair

2) Using an unusual DPI setting has been known to cause problems for some games. Please follow these steps to reset it to the default value and let me know if it helped:
I) Right-click an empty section of your desktop and go to "Screen Settings",
II) In "Screen Settings" window locate "Change size of text, applications and other elements" and move the slider to 100%. Press Apply to save settings.
III) In some cases custom DPI might be only visible in Custom Scaling settings. Please click on it and input 100 in the next window.

3) Your DxDiag report shows that you're using an integrated Intel video device. Please go to NVIDIA Control Panel and there to Manage 3D settings. You should be able to select the NVIDIA card as the preferred device. If this will not help to run the game, then please create a custom profile for the game to use GeForce as preferred device.
This video might be helpful:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTbbG7QBDig
After that please update both your graphics devices drivers:
http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx

4) Please download this archive:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/armfv9zyoq5b64z/redist.zip?dl=0
once downloaded, please extract it, and install 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, and 2015 redistributable packages (x86 and x64).


Good luck!

I have the actual version 1.09, so this can't be the reason.
to 1) I don't have GOG Galaxy
to 2) my DPI slider is at 100%
to 3) I have a RX5700 which is correctly shown by Dxdiag
to 4) I still have to check that, currently I have 3 versions of 2008 x86, no 2013 x64 and no 2015 x86

Any news from the other affested users?
Thanks for the help so far!

You're welcome, glad that did the trick!

Number 4, what the hell. How did that work? I was having the exact same problem, and then I installed the 2013 redistributable, and the game loaded perfectly. Thanks a lot for this!

Hi there,

I just downloaded the game and I have the same issue, so annoying

Hello! I came to the forum looking for a "walkthrough" (yes! I know cheaters never prosper! I've stopped looking now! Sheesh...):
My current rig is very much the wrong side of the border-line that is "the minimum system requirements", so I'm not surprised my game is laggy. I've adjusted the settings to compensate for the same, so my game will look like p00p...but it's never crashed.
Turns out I have four different versions of the "2013" C++ redist' already installed, but no 2008 at all. I am running x64 Windows 10 with a dedicated graphics card.
I'm going to vote up FukujinPickle's post now.

Installing both the Visual Studio 2013 C++ x64 and x86 redistributable packages from Microsoft (search for KB 3138367) worked for me

Thanx, this one fixed it for me.
(Windows 10, Radeon Vega graphic card)

what did you rename it as?

I usually change the extension to .disable, so it would be Galaxy64.dll.disable. You have to have file extensions visible though, by default they are hidden. You can also move or delete them. I renamed it so I could put it back if I needed to.