Black screen / game freezes / crash upon loading save file

Issue description

Most recent update, no mods being used. Game will 9 times out of 10 freeze upon loading, maybe 90% through the loading screen, the screen goes black and my entire system locks up. Have to do a hard reset using computer reset button and start over. This happens on auto saves, and manual saves. Video drivers are up to date (latest Nvidia studio drivers), Nvidia app is not installed (thought that was the issue, so removed it, issue still happening). Exception for game is placed in antivirus software (though this has never been an issue before). Steam overlay is disabled. The only way I can get the game to load is a fresh system restart, go directly into COI, attempt to load latest save file, and even then it works maybe 5 out of ten times. Game is set to run as administrator via windows too.

Reproduction steps

Open game via steam, click load button, attempt to load previous save file, system locks up.

Game version and build number

v0.7.7 (b470) update 3

Operating system

Windows

This is most likely a hardware or driver issue. If it is crashing on the loading screen and you have Intel, try to run the game in less parallel but slower mode, which can help: https://steamcommunity.com/app/1594320/discussions/0/4362376451753243478/

A full system lock-up while a save loads points at hardware or drivers rather than the game. On Intel systems, the slower, less parallel loading mode described in this guide can help: https://steamcommunity.com/app/1594320/discussions/0/4362376451753243478/

If it still happens on the latest version, please open a new report here.