The first few times I tried to play the game, the graphics were bad enough to be unplayable (dialogue options completely unreadable, bad rendering throughout). Turning off the graphics card fixed the issue, but that means I can't have other programs in the background/turning off the graphics card for a "modern" version of the game is annoying.

Is there a workaround for this that I haven't figured out?

I agree. Upon my first loading, the Cyberflix Logo came in right, but then the Game / Tour screen was completely black. (fortunately, I remembered where the buttons were from back in the day)

After that, I noticed a lot of graphical issues, mostly black dots upon various spots on screen. (I use Intel integrated graphics)

I have the same problem with the Black Screen (but Audio is still there) after the Cyberflix Logo. I managed to get "normal view" back with ALT-TAB'ing and return to the game. After some tries the game is back without black screen. Maybe this will help you too? It's not a perfect result but it could help you maybe like it does for me.

I even don't recommend to have any windows left open in the background because starting the game caused reduced size of some windows for me. Its because the game reduces the resolution of windows in the background.

I found these settings to fix my graphic issues:

Use the compatibility mode settings and turn on the following options. You may need to try different combinations of options depending on your system:

Run in 256 colours (or Reduced colour mode)
Run in 640×480 resolution
Disable visual themes

(from: play-old-pc-games.com/2013/02/06/titanic-adventure-out-of-time)

The graphics issue appears to be resolved with the recent tour update - at least, with the settings that I have on the program, I can launch from Galaxy without needing to turn my graphics card off, so that's a plus.

My system doesn't appear to recognize the game as a separate program however, since I can't alt-tab out of it. I'd love to be able to get out of the game temporarily without needing to shut the whole thing down - I don't think the game launches in any sort of recognizable window for me.

Same issue here, black screen, graphical issues with black dots. The tour fix update changes nothing here.
When will this issue be fixed? I got my money refunded, and will probably buy again, when this is permanently fixed. What I have figured out, I think, is it is a Windows 7 issue, since I tried it on a Windows 8.1 machine, and it works totally fine on Windows 8.1. I really want it to work on Windows 7! It's just maddening to have it work rarely, then have the game be totally useless. GOG, please make a permanent fix for this game! I want to buy it again!

Here is my solution to deal with it but it is just a temporal fix. All you have to do is click on the life preserver, save, and that way it gets rid of that glitch for a while. I hope this method helps a little.

have the games Oxenfree and Grabrial Knight sins of the father when I first installed them they worked fine . Now there seem to be a problem with the Graphics Garbrial and his secertary are there but invisible and the same with Oxenfree the ground and steps all missing and the thought writings are messed up any one that can help it will be appriceated. Mel

I also have this problem. First time I started it, it ran fine. But now I get a black screen at startup, and very grainy graphics when I press esc and the game starts.

Did they fix this yet?

Also, I cannot alt-tab out for some reason.

"For those experiencing random black patches and/or other palette discoloration, changing your display settings from 32-bit to 16-bit color seems to rectify the issue. Also make sure these compatibility settings are enabled:

Run in 256 colours (or Reduced colour mode)
Run in 640×480 resolution
Disable visual themes"

This does not work for me.

......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrIfHYWvbpE

this video helped me fix the problems I was having