I am a lowly beta tester and consumer, not a Stardock employee, but I will try to help as I can. They have undoubtedly gone home for the day, but you never know when one may be lurking here.
Since your ID shows you as a member for only two days may I ask a few questions:
1). Have you read about and installed SmartException (Called SE by many of us)? See https://www.galciv2.com/Forums.aspx?ForumID=274&AID=72056
2). Located and scanned through the debug file in the GalCiv2 directory for possible clues? You will also need to send this debug file in on some of the problems you uncover. It also contains a wealth of information about your system and drivers. When looking at the information at the top of this file the first time you might want to look for things that are not as you expected (such as the dates of your display driver).
3). Did you download both the base code and the Multimedia files using StarDock Central? I think I recall not being able to even get the first screen of the game without the multimedia (My memory of past problems dims after just a couple of weeks).
The first screen you should see allows you to start a new game, reload a saved game (if you have any), go to the options screen, or quit. For a new game, the next screen allows you to select which race you wish to be and to set some conditions (galaxy size, star concentration, etc.). The third screen allows you to select your apponents. Continuing after selecting your apponents goes (after a few moments to generate your galaxy) to the main game window. How far did you get before you got the black screen?
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