Under min specs?

[Funk]

Specs are as follows for the laptop I use to play Civ4:

1.86GHz || 1024MB DDR SDRAM || 100GB (5400 RPM) || Windows XP Home

So with that stated.... could anyone help me figure out why my game runs slow on all low graphics and why it says "Your machine is below minimum specifications. Civ4 will not run on this hardware setup." before the main menu appears. I can still run Civ4, but it's slow as previously stated.. I'm assuming it's something to do with the graphics... any help is appreciated.

 

[Sir Toma]

This happens to me everytime i start up civ but i just ignore it as i have absolutely no problems with running the game (except that the moving animals horses, cows etc. show up as black dots

 

[Genocidicbunny]

What is your graphics card? You can find this out by opening 'run' and typing dxdiag.exe
Then tell us what it says under video card and drivers...

 

[Exavier]

yea alot of ppl are getting this message if their graphics card don't have Hardware Transform & Lighting

 

[Funk]

Under the "Display" tab in dxdiag.exe it shows

Name: Mobile Intel(R) 915GM/GML Express
Chip Type: Mobile Intel(R) 915GM/GML Express
DAC Type: Internal
Approx. Total Memory: 128.0 MB

I'm pretty sure you didn't need all of that, but I want to make sure this is solved. thanks in advance.

 

[Genocidicbunny]

You need to upgrade your video card i think. look for something from at least the 6xxx series from nvidia or radeon x 800 or so cards. try looking around on newegg for these. i cant really tell you which ones are better since i currently dont have the time but that s what i reccomend.

 

[Exavier]

No Intel Graphics cards support Hardware Transform & Lighting... for intel its all done software side. Civ 4 throws fits with this... it will work but you will get graphical glitches... and sadly there is no fix for it

Even in the manual it specifies Hardware Transform & Lighting

 

[Exavier]

You need to upgrade your video card i think. look for something from at least the 6xxx series from nvidia or radeon x 800 or so cards. try looking around on newegg for these. i cant really tell you which ones are better since i currently dont have the time but that s what i reccomend.

Slight problem is his is the Mobile version so i am guessing its a laptop which means he is stuck...

 

[Funk]

Yah, i'm on my laptop. My desktop doesn't feel like connecting to the internet b/c I think something is wrong with my network card. The ethernet cord plugs in and the light shows a yellowish/orangish color. LAN doesn't even show up in my network connections... just 1394 or whatever it is... so sadly I'm forced to play on my laptop. My desktop crushes min specs 2 -_- Actualy now that I think of it... I'll install Civ4 on my desktop then copy the patch onto a data CD and then install the patch on the desktop as well.. ^_^

anyway, thanks for the help and sorry I went rambling on about my desktop, lol

 

[Genocidicbunny]

Oh, i didnt notice the fact that you had a laptop. In that case yeah, im guessing you are pretty much stuck with the one you have. BTW-did you patch the civ 4 installation you have on your laptop. I heard that the patch resolved someissues with the intel graphics chips.

 

[Rince]

Yah, i'm on my laptop. My desktop doesn't feel like connecting to the internet b/c I think something is wrong with my network card. The ethernet cord plugs in and the light shows a yellowish/orangish color. LAN doesn't even show up in my network connections... just 1394 or whatever it is... so sadly I'm forced to play on my laptop. My desktop crushes min specs 2 -_- Actualy now that I think of it... I'll install Civ4 on my desktop then copy the patch onto a data CD and then install the patch on the desktop as well.. ^_^

The symptoms you describe sound like you don't have proper network drivers installed.
Install the mainboard drivers if you are using the network port of the mainboard or the driver for the network card in case you have a separate network card installed.

Rince