Hi Craig

This is a very common problem. The issues you are describing are symptoms of a video card problem. Try these steps

1 - Check the website of your video card manufacturer and update the drivers

2 - Go to the video setup on your PC (may be different for different versions of Windows and video card); for most, click on an empty part of the windows Desktop, click on Settings->Advanced->Troubleshoot). Back the accelerations slider to the left, one level each time and see if the problem dissapears

3 - Right click on the wallpaper (look for a place without icons)--> Properties--> Settings--> Advanced--> Open GL--> Compatibility Settings--> Force 16 bits--> Apply--> OK

4 - Set your video color depth at 24 or 32 bits ("true color")

5 - Go to www.microsoft.com/directx, and see what version is current and check if you have this version installed in your computer

6 - Some NVidia card users reported additional problems--> in this case change the color settings from 32 bit to 16 bit

For Windows 7 --> Right Click on your desktop. --> Personalize --> display --> Change Display settings--> Advanced

You'll find several discussions about this here--> search with the keywords "black screen" or "frozen image" or "texture going to the grass" or "texture going to the sky"

If you experience additional problem, send me your file and I'll check it

Patricia