Quite a conundrum.

from GalCiv2 Forums
My computer is a 1.7 duo with 2gb and Vista, so it runs DA rather slowly. Any situation that's even remotely graphically demanding (Fleets, planets, asteroids) makes everything get all choppy, and scrolling around became torture. Not only that, but CPU heat makes things get steadily worse until I just have to stop.

So, imagine my glee when I tried TA Beta 1, where the game defaulted to low resolution, and everything had been optimized. Needless to say, Jane and I are both excited for TA (Jane being the name of my computer.) The prospect of leaving the graphics high and still running at nearly 30 fps is just so exciting compared to the effect of Vista upon my other activities.

However, I now find myself in a dilemma. I want to wait until the release or almost-release, when ALL the ship textures have been optimized, all the races have been introduced, and the game balance is at a level that's deemed playable by the devs. I can't stand having GalCiv2 on my desktop and not playing it, but at the same time I don't want to spoil the "wow" effect for myself.

What are your thoughts? While you answer, I think I'll play some more Guild Wars.
3,964 views 7 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
My computer is a 1.7 duo with 2gb and Vista, so it runs DA rather slowly. Any situation that's even remotely graphically demanding (Fleets, planets, asteroids) makes everything get all choppy
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I take it you've got integrated video? That'll be far more germane to your performance than your other specs, which are just fine. If it's not a laptop, you can probably get a 'real' video card to make things go much better.
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Therein lies the rub-- it's a laptop.
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Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
If things still do not work even with the new textures, try installing xp. vista is a resource hog and the validation code for vista should work on xp
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Therein lies the rub-- it's a laptop.
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For many modern laptops, and your specs indicate your's is no more than a year old, you can get a graphics chip upgrade. Check with the chat support at your manufacturer's website.

drrider
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
And make sure all drivers are UP TO DATE!

drrider
Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Well, a friend helped me to disable most of Vista's features-- giving me an fps boost of about 5-10 fps depending on how busy the screen is. This, of course, is tested on guild wars-- I've yet to check my fps with DA.

And, thanks for the tip! I'll definitely check to see if my graphics can be upgraded.
Reply #7 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Well, I'm stuck. There is no way to upgrade my graphics, and the planet/asteroid dense environments I usually play on run so slowly as to be just unplayable. Turning off background stars and planet textures seems to work-- a little. Looks like I'll run with most graphics off until TA.