Game won't start - a black screen comes up then goes away. Hello, I got Spore a few days ago, and when I installed it the game worked just fine the first time I played it. Later, the next day when i tried to play it for a second time it wouldn't start, and hasn't since. After starting the game, the screen turns black as if it's going to start loading, but before a logo or anything at all even comes up the black screen goes away and I'm back at the desktop with no trace of the game running. Also, the EA download manager pops up when i start the game and nothing is listed in it. It's just a blank white screen in that box. I really liked the game, so it'd be nice to get to play it again. Thanks!
That happens to me pretty often since I hit the space stage. Your latest saved game file might be corrupted. There's a good explanation for how to test and fix it here.
If you head to your game file C:\programfiles\Ea\Spore\Sporebin and look for an exceptions text file for the last time you logged in I bet you will see that there is a driver error. I had to, and many others as well, go to my system folder and look at the device manager. Under Human Interface Devices, my kid's EasyLink USB internet board needed to be disabled and then the game worked fine. If you start the game while the downloader is up and you see the phrase "command line "something something" prelnit" then you most likely have a USB device that is preventing the game from accessing a driver it needs. Disable it in the device manager and you will profit.
