Hi

I have a Windows 10 computer. I used to play Pharaoh easily. (Literally, no hitches.)

I had to reformat it a couple of months back where I have done a hard reset. When I loaded the game via GOG Galaxy and even downloading it, all I get is a black screen, the music, and an arrow.

I've tried resizing the resolution (800x600), changing compatibility (Windows ME, XP, 7 and 8) and using the widescreen patch. All are coming out the same.

My Nvidia overlay is off btw. I really do not know how to make this work. :(

Have you tried running it in windowed mode? I'd figure that would be your best bet:
https://www.reddit.com/r/impressionsgames/comments/5kwbzx/how_to_get_caesar_iii_to_run_in_windowed_mode_on/
Should work the same for pharaoh.

On Windows 7 is the same error. I try fix it but no work.

Try this:

Pharaoh - Launch crash

Please download this archive:
http:/files.gog.com/support/inf/Pharaoh.zip

Once downloaded extract it's content, the Pharaoh.inf and PharaohMap.inf files, to the root of game's installation folder, overwriting existing ones.

In order to navigate to game's installation folder:
- If the game was installed via GOG GALAXY, please select the game in GOG GALAXY, click on More -> Manage Installation -> Show Folder
- If the game was installed via offline installer, then you will have to manually navigate to the game installation folder, by default it's: C:\GOG Games\Pharaoh Gold\

Windows 8 and 10 users: Please right-click on the game's shortcut, select Properties. Switch to the Compatibility tab, and enable Reduced color mode and set it to 16bit.

Windows 7 and older versions users: Right click on the Desktop, select Screen Resolution. In Screen Resolution window select Advanced Settings, here switch to Monitor tab, and change Colors to High Color (16Bit).

Once reduced color mode is set, start the game. It should boot up in windowed mode that you can resize freely.