I have a feeling it may be a graphics issue, since I'm using the onboard graphics on my motherboard. It also starts sooner when there are animations. I don't have this problem with other Ren'py games, though. Thanks for your reply.
I might be too late but here’s a page about display problems: https://www.renpy.org/doc/html/display_problems.html
I also added a downloadable version based on Renpy 7.5.2 with 32bit support. I'm out of clues if nothing of that works.
I've come across a few other games where I have the same issue. I think it's due to the new version of Ren'Py, they have more stringent video requirements. I guess I'll have to shell out for a video card. Oh well, I wanted one and some more memory (only have 8 gig now), this is just forcing me to do what I wanted anyway. Thanks for all your help.