A rather depressing problem

[Toxicologist]

Well I have downloaded the game and run through the updater, but when I open the game or the game setup all text just appear as... well, you can\'t read them anyway. Can someone tell me what\'s going on, and what should I do to repair this problem? The garphics are fine, by the way... only thing bad is text.

By the way: when I load it, it gives a message saying \"Warning: could not load plugin \'crystalspace.sndsys.manager\'\".

[Karyuu]

Hmm, that message normally appeared when you have the default skin for the game, for some reason - try changing it to stone, from the PlaneShift setup application. But before that so you can read the text - have you made sure that you have the latest drivers for your graphics card?

[Steamwitz]

I have a similar problem, receiving the \"Warning: could not load plugin \'crystalspace.sndsys.manager\'\" message, but for me there are a few different problems:  The login page shows only white background and the shadows of the text;  the character creation page only shows text shadow and actual redered objects (hence, text without shadows doesn\'t show up); and in-game, the textures for the buildings and most everything but specifically rendered objects (i.e. crates, carts, player model) shows up as a black background.
I\'ve downloaded all the updates that the update finder could find, yet it still has this problem.  I\'ve also tried a different skin, and it didn\'t help.

[Karyuu]

Graphical issue - you definitely have to update the drivers for your graphics card. Familiar with how to go about doing that? Just in case you\'re not:

If you\'re using an nvidia card, download the latest drivers from nvidia.com. If you\'re using ATI, try ati.com. Basically find your card model, and download the drivers from the manufacturer\'s website. They\'re free updates :)

Make sure you are downloading the correct drivers, however! For some reason, a few individuals owning one certain model decided to download drivers for a completely different brand. Be sure you know which ones you need.

To check what card you have, on Windows: right-click anywhere on the desktop, hit Properties, move to the Settings tab, and look under Display.

[Kythag]

I was having trouble with VtM Bloodlines not long ago.  I called Nvidia because I had just installed the latest drivers for a vid card.  They told me that the latest drivers support 6000 series cards and can actually create problems because the card tries to implement something it can\'t handle.  In these cases, you have to call Nvidia, determine the best \"latest drivers\" and hope you bought the PC magazine that has them on the CD.

I have a GeForce4 Ti 4400,  and I have been using the 50.x drivers from a PC magazine CD I kept.  If anyone determines they need a certain level of driver and doesn\'t have it, I\'d be willing to try to get you a copy of them so you can run Planeshift.  PM me if this becomes the case.

[Steamwitz]

Well, I updated my video drivers (Intel integrated 845GM, 64MB) and it still didn\'t help -- I still have the exact same problem as before, no texture and the \'crystalspace.sndsys.manager\' error message.  Any other ideas?

[Karyuu]

Intel integrated.. Not the best of choices for gaming :\\ Ultimately, I fear the answer is just to look into an actual video card.