I'm currently at the ending (probably) of chapter 1, during the riot. Just talked to Margot, and I'm going to follow the blood stains to find Cedric. When I find the dead elf and Geralt says "That's not Cedric", and I go back up to where the Inn is, the screen fades out and zooms in on the Inn as to give me a clue. Then when the screen fades to black again, I never get a picture. I can move around and every button works, but there's only a black screen.

Anyone have this issue? Tried loading a slightly earlier save, lowering the settings (put everything on low), rebooted the computer. Nothing helps. It's really frustrating, I want to continue playing this game!

No-one? It seems to resemble the same kind of bug that many people have encountered, the one where the game fades to black after a short cutscene, but the picture never comes back on. The strange thing is, I can still move and fight and do all kinds of stuff and I can hear it in the background, but the screen is completely black. Dammit, I want to play this game!

It definetly sounds like a bug, as I remember clearly that part and nothing of the sort happens. You will still look around and then find Cedric which will share important information with you.

Have you tried loading earlier autosaves/saves?.

Tried a save before I talked to Margot, after searching for clues in the other room. No difference. Also tried installing the beta drivers, and that did nothing.

Maybe you could try lowering the video and audio options in the menu to normal or low level (low textures, no AA, etc) just to get through that glitch and afterwards raise them again.

As I stated in the OP, I have already tried that. :(

Just don't go back to the Inn and find Cedric, wander around the forest tracking the blood t rails and you should be able to find him eventually. There's false paths also and it appears you simply found one of them.

Hmmm, I guess I could try that. Didn't even know he left the town. It's difficult to see the blood, so I've only followed two false tracks so far. Thought it might have been set up to "appear" only when I've checked out all the false tracks, since that's a typical (bad) design today.

Unfortunately, my 5yo kid is at home, and being a hardcore gamer, he probably wouldn't be able to look away. He'll have to wait a few years before playing games like these.

Had the issue where the screen fades to black. Solved it by doing exactly what Borlag said. It took me about eight tries before I realized that it was totally bugged in town. Good luck!

Use the amulet so that it highlights the bloodtrail. He left through the gates opposite of the inn.

Tried using the amulet yesterday, but can't say I noticed any blood.

Anyway, Lukasz from the CD Project support team contacted me and asked for a save file which I sent him. He confirmed that the bug occurs after trying my save, and that it will be fixed in the patch. Which is good news, obviously. I can't remember the last time a support team contacted me, it's usually the other way around. :D

He also said that I can use a Cat to see the blood - something I should've thought of. Not a big fan of the black and white effect that the Cat potion gives you, but it's nice to see organics through walls and whatnot.

Sorry I was not able to help you better, the cat is a must being that the medallion takes a little while to recharge and their effects are not permanent.

Beware of the endregas and nekkers around the blood path as they tend to overrun you.

Glad that the patch will address your glitch, half the forum is going mad waiting for the patch hope you can install it tomorrow.

No worries, I got past it by ignoring the false trails. I'm now happily enjoying Chapter 2. :)