I applied "the update only" files exactly as I have done dozens of times [...]
For every NLT game this exact same error (black screen + file not found) only occurs if you use the "update-only" files and do something wrong. Either you skipped one version or mixed the original (uncompressed) and some fan-made (compressed) versions. Either way, as I said before, it's a "
you" error, because
you screwed up. And -- again -- the only way to fix it, is to download the full version.
I am not a newbie on this site (I was even registered before you)
Congratulations! You still screwed up. And the only reason people didn't respond to your original post is that is has been asked many, many times before in literally every NLT thread, and people just get sick of users like you not being able to scroll back like 5-10 pages to see if someone else has posted the same error.
I usually put people like you (and those asking for saves, asking where to find chest keys and so on) on my ignore list without even thinking about it. Which is where you will end up now as well. The only reason I responded to your post is because you then wrote "[...] but nobody seems to have answered a solution", which is not true and pure BS.