so as soon as I get to the menu, the graphics are really messed up. the screen is flickering, and the mouse leaves a trail, and within a few seconds it crashes. i installed Co8, but the problem is there regardless of whether their mod is active or not. the game crashes before I have the chance to lower the graphics if that's the problem. any tips?

Try some compatibility modes and be sure that your graphics-management software (like Catalyst or the nVidia settings program) is not set to override software settings.

You could also set your desktop to a lower resolution before playing.

Lastly, you could always try to re-download and reinstall just in case you have an issue there. I doubt it, though.

Those are a few ideas. Let me know if you need more ideas.