problems w/ demo

[indigo]

I'm having some problems running the demo, including some minor graphic anomalies such as the white tufts of grass. But the major problem is that it slowly starts to bog down. It will run well for the first thirty minutes to an hour then starts to stutter and finally crash even if I have all the settings turned to low. I just bought this computer at the end of April, so everything should be relatively new. I've not updated the drivers, which I think may be part of the problem. I really don't want to screw anything up by messing around with stuff I know absolutely nothing about (drivers). It's also a Dell system and I was once told that i needed to go through dell rather than the manufacturer when updating drivers... which i have no clue is true or not. Using the dell support application doesn't detect any updates needed to my system, so I'm sort of at a loss as to what to do next. Here is a picture of the error message I see when it crashes and a copy of my dxdiag.


frm the readme.txt:
The Caesar IV Demo does not support Windows(R) Media Center Edition, Windows(R) XP 64-bit Edition or Windows(R) Vista.

Also, as I'm running a version of Windows Media Center Edition I'm concerned that I won't be able to resolve my issues... The final game will support this edition, hopefully.

Thanks for any help you are able to provide. :)

[indigo]

Yikes.. I don't have the money to get a new video card. Though I would like your suggestions on what cards are the best for the money. Thank you for the information on the drivers. Will check that out and get back to you with my questions. I'm sure it will make no sense to me at all. I'm not so much a technical type of person. ;)

Ummm....that's really odd. I went back and checked that out myself as i've never noticed that before. when i ordered the computer that was the os I selected (media center, that is)... i've uploaded a copy of the order details so you can see. My system information is showing as xp pro though but i seem to have all of the functionality of media center so i don't know.

[indigo]

Ok, the nvidia geforce 7300 le isn't listed on keith's list of dx 9 compliant cards, so i'm going to have problems no matter what, unless i get a new card. is that correct?

i've downloaded the 91.31 drivers but haven't installed them yet as i'm not perfectly clear on what needs to be done. What exactly is the procedure? Here is what i know so far:

1. dl driver
2. uninstall old drivers
3. reboot system
4. install new drivers
5. reboot system

is that correct?

re: xp os vs. media center ed. os: you are correct in stating that media center is an application rather than my os, as my programs installed shows that i have windows xp media center edition 2005 and all of the security updates etc. for windows xp. Which is fine with me, really, as i originally was going to get just xp pro to begin with. :D

i would definitely welcome your input on video cards, if you have the time. i'll be researching my options and saving until i can get a new one. it sucks that i'm going to have to upgrade to a new card so soon after buying this computer, btw. So, i'll definitely be looking into one of the top of the line models so i don't have to upgrade again for awhile. I'm also going to have to look into how much it will cost to get this installed for me because i have no hope of installing hardware like this myself.

thank you so much for your help, Phil! I really truly appreciate it. :D

[Reed]

Yeah, DxDiag just reports it like that. I have Media Center too.

(I'm able to run the demo and full game on it w/o any problems - so it's more likely a hardware or driver issue)

[indigo]

Thanks Reed! Very good to know, as i've already pre-ordered the game. ;)

[Keith]

Indigo your video card should not be a problem according to the info on the Nvidia website:

http://www.nvidia.com/page/geforce_7300.html

http://www.nvidia.com/object/7_series_techspecs.html

[indigo]

So! It seems as if the new drivers have indeed done it. the white tufts of grass have disappeared (and the water is displaying correctly now which i neglected to mention earlier: before it was just a plain sky blue.) i'll have to see how it runs once i've got a city well underway.

Thank you so much for your help PHIL! :) and Keith and Reed too. *bakes you all cookies*