Civilizatioin IV uses the same graphic engine as Pirates...

[IroquoisPlisken]

I ran that srtest and my comp is either at the highest or one bar less than the highest on everything for recommended except video card (something called a VIA/S3G UniChrome IGP... ) and my RAM is only 448 MB (above the minimum, but just below the rec.)...

If our card doesn't have T&L, what's needed to emulate it with the CPU? Is it RAM?

 

[Vael]

Which engine games use is less important than how they use it. Pirates is more of an adventure game that focuses on a few things that are more detailed. Civ is a game about a TON of stuff on the screen, some higher quality, some not. My guess is that Civ 4 will be much more taxing on a video card than Pirates.

 

[alva848]

@alva848 - my card is 'borderline' b/c T+L is the only failing component.

I'm very interested to know what card you have that is both borderline but does not have T/L.
Notice I did say card, not integrated graphic chip.
The first card to support T/L was the Geforce1. (32 MB and came in two versions, one with SDR RAM and one with the then new DDR RAM, there was very little defference bewtween the unless you used 32 million colours because then the SDR version would start to brake down).

 

[alamo]

.... I also tried running Imperial Glory which FORCED your card to have T + L but I solved that problem with 3D Analyzer which allowed you to force the software emulation of T+L.

What is 3D Analyzer? That could solve the T+L problem for alot of games!

 

[Comraddict]

What is 3D Analyzer? That could solve the T+L problem for alot of games!

http://www.tommti-systems.de/main-Dateien/files.html

 

[alamo]

Here's the description from the help:

With the help of 3DA you can change different graphic options under DirectX 8 and OpenGL. 3DA changes different CAP-bits for example, if a game requires HW T&L 3DA emulates these bits and the games runs on graphic boards which don't have HW T&L capabilities. 3DA doesn't emulate any features in software(except cube mapping, which is done ith a simple 2D texture), like Pixel or Vertex Shader.

Option: force SW TnL -> Disables the T&L on the GPU and put it back on the CPU.
Option: emulate HW TnL -> Makes an application think, it would run on a 3D card with HW TnL capabilities, even if the card has no hardware TnL.

From beta.txt:

Basic functionality will equip non-T&L cards with a software substitute.

Yet, this is presently achieved not by Emulation but by NUL-Rendering. This means, advanced 3D Features the Card is not capable of, are reported as available in Hardware, but have their calls intercepted and the respective 3D Features will not be rendered.


Looks interesting. This could be my backup plan if Civ4 fails to run.

 

[Flower]

My video card is an ATI RADEON 7200 and I can run Pirates, Age of Empires 3, etc. I don't know if it supports transform and lightning.

Best regards,
FLower

 

[Flower]

Now i know, it does support transform and lightning. See there : Experience the excitement of 64MB of 3D graphics power.
The Radeon® 7200 features rapid 32-bit color 3D graphics, advanced 3D technology and robust T&L engine for graphic realism. ATI's Charisma Engine™, HyperZ™ and Pixel Tapestry™ bring your images to life providing advanced graphics performance and processing capabilities.


At-a-glance
Powered by the Radeon® 7200 graphics processing unit (GPU)
64MB of powerful single data rate (SDR) memory
Featuring ATI's Charisma Engine™, Pixel Tapestry™ and Video Immersion™ technologies
Integrated Transformation, Clipping and Lighting (T&L)
Accelerates today's top 3D games
Industry leading video playback
Supports 3D resolutions (32-bit color) up to 2048x1536
AGP 2.0 Compliant BUS - AGP 2X (3.3V), AGP 4X (1.5V), or AGP2X/4X based systems
Video-out option available for European customers
Designed and manufactured by ATI
Featuring Catalyst™ - ATI's industry-leading software suite with frequently scheduled free updates providing additional features and performance over the product's lifetime

 

[huntunc]

Okay, I am a computer idiot. I was able to find this on my Dell Inspiron 1150. Can someone please tell me what it means?

Name Intel(R) 82852/82855 GM/GME Graphics Controller
PNP Device ID PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_3582&SUBSYS_017F1028&REV_02\3&61AAA01&0&11
Adapter Type Intel(R) 82852/55 Graphics Controller, Intel Corporation compatible
Adapter Description Intel(R) 82852/82855 GM/GME Graphics Controller
Adapter RAM 64.00 MB (67,108,864 bytes)
Installed Drivers ialmrnt5.dll
Driver Version 6.14.10.3889
INF File oem4.inf (iMGM section)
Color Planes Not Available
Color Table Entries Not Available
Resolution Not Available
Bits/Pixel Not Available
Memory Address 0xE0000000-0xE7FFFFFF
Memory Address 0xF6F00000-0xF6F7FFFF
Driver c:\windows\system32\drivers\ialmnt5.sys (6.14.10.3889, 720.58 KB (737,874 bytes), 12/31/1979 10:00 PM)

 

[doronron]

Okay, I am a computer idiot. I was able to find this on my Dell Inspiron 1150. Can someone please tell me what it means?

Name Intel(R) 82852/82855 GM/GME Graphics Controller
PNP Device ID PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_3582&SUBSYS_017F1028&REV_02\3&61AAA01&0&11
Adapter Type Intel(R) 82852/55 Graphics Controller, Intel Corporation compatible
Adapter Description Intel(R) 82852/82855 GM/GME Graphics Controller
Adapter RAM 64.00 MB (67,108,864 bytes)

I have the same integrated chipset in my laptop. This has no HW T&L. It can run Pirates, but has a few glitches. Since your computer's a notebook, you'll have to buy a whole new machine to get a better card.

I would bet that your card will run Civ 4, if you turn all the graphics settings on high, but it'll have problems rendering some of the in-game 3D graphics.

 

[Mr. Hyperbole]

Okay, I am a computer idiot. I was able to find this on my Dell Inspiron 1150. Can someone please tell me what it means?

Name Intel(R) 82852/82855 GM/GME Graphics Controller
PNP Device ID PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_3582&SUBSYS_017F1028&REV_02\3&61AAA01&0&11
Adapter Type Intel(R) 82852/55 Graphics Controller, Intel Corporation compatible
Adapter Description Intel(R) 82852/82855 GM/GME Graphics Controller
Adapter RAM 64.00 MB (67,108,864 bytes)
Installed Drivers ialmrnt5.dll
Driver Version 6.14.10.3889
INF File oem4.inf (iMGM section)
Color Planes Not Available
Color Table Entries Not Available
Resolution Not Available
Bits/Pixel Not Available
Memory Address 0xE0000000-0xE7FFFFFF
Memory Address 0xF6F00000-0xF6F7FFFF
Driver c:\windows\system32\drivers\ialmnt5.sys (6.14.10.3889, 720.58 KB (737,874 bytes), 12/31/1979 10:00 PM)

@ huntunc:


This has the Intel listings:

http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/intel852gm/


This is Intel saying, "you're SOL."

http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/sb/CS-011910.htm?iid=graphics+852main&


You 'should' be able to run Civ IV, but not necessarily smoothly.