katerinafm: When I attempt to launch the game after installing, I get the Risen logo for a second, then an infinite black screen that I have to close through the task manager.

During the installation it asked me to install a version of Physx. I already have it on my computer, but I said okay anyway since it doesn't matter, however it couldn't install because when I accepted the window just said 'Text' and there was no progress bar so I had to cancel that. Installation finished normally after that.

I downloaded the latest version of Physx just in case, and ran the troubleshoot utility on the Risen exe file, where it suggested that I run it on Windows XP mode. But when I click on 'start game' and asks me for the permission to run the game, it won't even get to the black screen after the Risen logo, it doesn't appear to even try to load it after that. To even get to the black screen I have to run it 'normally' without the troubleshoot utility.

ChrisSZ: Is the black screen after the Risen logo really infinite? Depending on your computer specs it can take several minutes until the game starts.

I also remember having the same trouble with Physx during the installation. Could you try deinstalling Physx, deinstalling Risen and then reinstall Risen again?

katerinafm: Okay, it appears to load now! And you were right, I did have to wait a bit for it to load in that black screen. So I'm not sure if that was the problem or that I uninstalled physx and let it be installed during the game installation (without problems this time).

ChrisSZ: Nice. Sometimes patience pays off ;-) Have fun with the game, it's really great!

That Physx thing probably has nothing to do with the loading time. But I remember the game crashed a lot on my computer before I reinstalled it as described above. After doing that I don't remember having any crash anymore.