Grey Screen Bug With Cave Story (Solved!)

It is always like this when I start it up, I have tried to change the res but nothing works.

I have even tried to redownload, get a patched version, and try to see if modded Cave Story works but nothing does.

It continues to stay like that, I can press start, continue, hear the music, just like the game is playing but I just can't see anything.

 

Have you tried compatibility settings? Right-click the game's executable and click on properties, and then go to the compatibility tab.

 

I tried to make the game run in Windows 7, 10, and Windows XP (Service Pack 2)

 

The path to your copy of CS doesn't contain any unicode characters... right?

 

Nope I have the folder on my desktop, and I have tried to run it using Winrar and normally.

 

Your desktop files are located at "C:\Users\[userfoldername]\Desktop" where [userfoldername] is replaced with your user folder name. Does that folder name contain non-ascii characters?

I have tried to run it using Winrar

Please don't tell me you tried to run it from inside the zip file instead of extracting it first.

 

Well I gone inside the zip tried to run it like that, took the folder out and put it on my desktop then tried to run it.

So I guess I extracted it after running it from inside the zip?

And no my [UserFolderName] does not contain non-ascii characters.

 

So all of the files were extracted from the zip file, and you are not trying to run Cave Story from within a zip file?

I mean as I see it there are two possibilities as to what your issue could be:
1. Cave Story can't find the data folder. That means that either you are running it from within a zip file, the data folder is missing or not where it should be, the path has unicode characters, or the folder is inaccessible/corrupted.
2. An issue relating to your graphics card driver or Direct X.

 

The data folder is right there and I don't know what to check to see if my graphics card is broken ( I have a Intel Core/ Intel Family something)

 

To me it sounds like your PC doesn't like the old DirectShow calls it needs to display properly?
How about trying to play using something like this:
https://www.cavestory.org/forums/threads/dll-mod-loader-alternate-music-mod.13879/
Using the graphics_enhancement setting.

Or you could try a ddraw wrapper like DXGL. But it has some requirements to install...
https://www.dxgl.info/

EDIT: oh and make sure you've reset the PC once already, often weird issues can be solved just by restarting the computer.

 

I don't really know where to put the graphics enhancement files, and I have no clue on how to use the DXGL on Cave Story.

 

I don't really know where to put the graphics enhancement files, and I have no clue on how to use the DXGL on Cave Story.

"Download the mod loader and its sample mods from the link below. Inside the zip file is a folder called 'mods' and a file called 'dsound.dll'. Extract those two to your Cave Story directory (so mods and dsound.dll are in the same folder as Doukutsu.exe)."
Here's a quick step by step for each:
1) Go to https://github.com/Clownacy/Cave-Story-Mod-Loader/releases/tag/v1.5
2) On that page under "Assets" download: CS-Mod-Loader-v1.5.zip1.64 MB
3) Open the CS-Mod-Loader-v1.5.zip and copy everything (mods, readme.txt and dsound.dll) into the same folder the game is in. Where Doukutsu.exe is.
4) Try starting Doukutsu.exe and see if it works! (By default graphics_enhancement should be active)
5) Open DoConfig.exe if it isn't working and try switching it to windowed or full screen to see if that makes any difference...

I'll add how to do DXGL later...

 

...How would my graphics DLL help? I guess it makes fullscreen a bit more compatible with modern systems, but it shouldn't do anything for windowed mode.

 

Good News! I can see something now! But it's the Loading... Text and after about 10 or so seconds the game crashes instantly... But for now thanks!

 

...How would my graphics DLL help? I guess it makes fullscreen a bit more compatible with modern systems, but it shouldn't do anything for windowed mode.

Ah, graphics_enhancement doesn't affect windowed? I forgot! Though using DXGL you can run graphics_enhancement in full screen... windowed with a DXGL option, to some extent...
But yeah, was hoping your DLL might magically fix the issue.

@SonicSoup make sure you are running Full Screen!

Good News! I can see something now! But it's the Loading... Text and after about 10 or so seconds the game crashes instantly... But for now thanks!

Hmm... Sounds like you're close and yet so far...!

Here are some thoughts:
You don't have an error.log or error file in your Cave Story folder do you? If you do, open that up in notepad and see what it says.

If you have the CS Mod Loader still in your Cave Story folder, it might not hurt to open up the "mods" folder, then look for settings.ini (settings), right click that and choose open with... and look for notepad or your favorite text editor.
Then carefully change: debug_console = false to debug_console = true, and maybe logging = false to logging = true, then save the file. After that, run the game and after it crashes, check for an error.log (error) file, and open it up and read it.
Worth a shot?

Other unlikely thoughts I had... If you use multiple monitors, if Cave Story isn't using the primary monitor, it would probably appear blank but would play sound.

The data folder is right there and I don't know what to check to see if my graphics card is broken ( I have a Intel Core/ Intel Family something)

Well, you could try running DxDiag (DirectX Diagnostic Tool). Just uh hit Windows key on your keyboard and type in "dxdiag" and it should come up.
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2930974/win32-how-to-determine-if-directdraw-is-enabled
Once it finishes loading, click Display 1 and see if any problems are found. Also, make sure DirectDraw Acceleration is Enabled. (It should also tell you the name of your video card on that screen.)

Assuming everything looks okay so far, the last thing you could try is updating your video card drivers... That usually never hurts.
And if that fails you could try DXGL. (I'll have to write up directions tomorrow.) AND if that doesn't work... well maybe if you have virus protection... maybe it's preventing it from running properly? You could create an exception for Cave Story if you wanted to test that...

All I know is, computers are frustrating when they don't work properly x)

 

I know this doesn't help with the bug, but if you just want to play Cave Story (and don't care about mods) then NXengine might work.

 

Wow! Thanks for all the answers! Ok. So when running CS I don't get an error text doc, and when changing my files I still don't get that error doc... I only have one monitor and just in case I have a Dell Laptop if anyone cares. I went in dxdiag and got no problems, and acceleration is turned on. Oh, and my drivers are Intel(R) HD Graphics Family with a 1366 x 768 (32 bit) (60 Hz) display. I recently updated my laptop and I have no virus protection (The free trial ran out : ^) and if the engines are bad then I think it's best to just ignore them all together. Again thanks for the responses and I hope this issue gets resolved!

 

Looking at DXGL system requirements:
I'm not sure which Intel HD graphics chipset you have, but looking at this page; unless your laptop is pretty old it should be able to run DXGL. (Requires OpenGL 2.0, recommends 3.2)
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000005524/graphics-drivers.html

Also not compatible with Windows 10 S. You can check your Windows edition by pressing the Windows key and typing, "about your pc"; should be near the bottom.

If all looks well, then you can download the Visual C++ 2010 x86 runtime. It should only install if you don't already have it.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=8328

Now onwards to install DXGL!
1) Go to https://www.dxgl.info/downloads/
2) On that page download "Windows Installer" and download "DXGL-0.5.14-win32.exe" for the latest version (or you can try version 0.4.2; I tried that one last night too.)
3) Open and install "DXGL-0.5.14-win32.exe" following the directions until you reach components.
4) Optionally deselect "Fix DDraw COM Registration"; not sure you need that.
5) Finish installing and it should automatically run "Configure DXGL".
6) At the bottom of the DXGL Config, click "Add...", and choose Doukutsu.exe from where you put Cave Story.
7) The following images are pretty compatible settings to use. If everything looks similar, you should be set to hit Apply or OK.

Spoiler

8) If you ever need to open up DXGL Config again, press Windows key and type "Configure DXGL" or go to where it installed. Probably C:\Program Files(x86)\DXGL

Now you *should* be done. But to keep things simple, if you still have the earlier CS-Mod-Loader installed, then open up Cave Story's folder and either rename dsound.dll or move dsound.dll temporarily. That will disable the other mod until you put it back. You should also notice ddraw.dll (ddraw) in your Cave Story folder. That's what DXGL added when you hit Add... Lastly, open up DoConfig.exe and make sure you are set to Full Screen. (Well windowed might work with DXGL, but start full).

... Fingers crossed, start the game and see if anything has changed lol. Hopefully it starts Cave Story with video now.
AND if that fails... Hm...

 

Woo! It worked! Thanks so much for everyone who helped and for X-Calibar for fixing this issue! I hope you guys continue to help others like me, and again thanks.