When I try to start a new game in the latest version of the Halo mod SPV3, there's nothing but a black screen over cutscenes and gameplay and no HUD. There isn't a pause menu either.

I have no idea what is causing this bug, I don't remember it happening before and I want to play the game!

Googling the problem yielded nothing except a dead reddit thread that didn't even have the solution on it.

HOW DO I FIX THIS BUG SO I CAN PLAY THE MOD PROPERLY?

This is the version I mean: https://www.moddb.com/mods/spv3-for-halo-ce/downloads/spv3-2-0

And this is the dead reddit thread:

https://www.reddit.com/r/halospv3/comments/714iho/screen_is_black_when_i_launch_the_game/

umm well you would probably be better served asking questions on their moddb or on reddit, Halo isnt sold by gog and I dont imagine there are alot of halo players here.

Too bad that I don't use reddit and I don't have a ModDB account. I posted this thread in the general discussion section precisely because it isn't sold here. (my vanilla Halo 1 PC is my old disk copy)

hmmm well, have you tried to reinstall Halo and then reinstall the mod? did you uninstall the previous version? what troubleshooting steps have you taken so far?

I have been downloading a fresh install and currently I'm attempting to disable GPU enhancements for the executable in case my NVIDIA card is interfering with it. If the latter fails, I'll try the former. Reinstalling opensauce didn't work, and I think I uninstalled the old SPV3 as I can't find it. All the better to try the fresh install if my GPU attempt fails.

yeah sadly, I dont have my old halo pc disc well I have the disc but I lost the key years ago sadly, so I can do an install myself, if you run into more problems leave a comment on their moddb and re-check you followed their instructions.

thats the best advice I can give you atm.

SPV3.2 requires an update for Halo that was released by Bungie a few years ago called Halo Custom Edition (that's what it means when it says it's for Halo CE. I know, it's confusing because the game was originally called Halo Combat Evolved:

Get the update here:
https://www.bungie.net/en-US/Forums/Post/64943622


Most mods released within the past few years require the updated Halo Custom Edition 1.0.10 patch.

Those files are online installers and require an internet connection.

FYI, Getting Custom Edition to work with the single player levels is a challenge, so I just installed the Halo PC patch since I don't play online.

Also, check the description section on the SPV3.2 moddb page. It reminds you to do a few things:

**********************

To install SPV3.2 properly:

• if you're not on Windows 10, make sure you install .NET 4.6.1

• ensure you have Halo CE legally installed— the SPV3 installer will allow you to install it, but you will need a key

• install SPV3 to the suggested path, or at the very least NOT in Program Files, and NOT on top of HCE or an older version of SPV3

• install run amaisosu.exe and install OpenSauce by choosing haloce.exe in your SPV3 folder

• install DirectX 9.0c using this link: File.n2.network (or Github.com) ((Use the links in the description. I haven't duplicated those links, but there at the moddb page you linked to))

• set your scaling to 100% in your Windows display settings --- It is recommended you deactivate your antivirus and UAC (User Access Control) when installing SPV3. Please add the SPV3 folder as an exception to your antivirus, as AVs often give false positives for our stuff.

******************

And yes, that's all a huge pain which is why I haven't done it.

Sorry for the late reply but I did find a solution in the end though I forgot to mention it here: I just had to ignore the launcher and run SPV3.2 via its own Halo CE executable instead and it worked fine, albeit without loading the launcher.

It's still odd why the actual game launcher they expect you to use is buggy like that. Not even the developers nor installation videos warn of that glitch.