Usually the most helpful thing is the top portion of your debug.err file which gives your complete system specs along with driver versions and dates.
You definitely need Direct X 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904) to run, see my debug.err below.
Also this game has difficulties with old video driver versions. Mine listed below looks to be older than I thought it was but if you have any problems at all, make sure you have the latest video driver. I used to run the game on a FX 5500 so I know that it should work, but it is a pretty low end video card these days and you probably will have to throttle down video features as much as possible to get any kind of decent performance. Also 512 MB of RAM is very low for this game. It's plently to get a game started but any large or gigantic galaxy game would most likely crash long before you could finish it. Also make sure you have a large page file, 2048 MB is pretty much a minimum.
Anyway here's the top portion from my debug.err file to show you what it looks like.
Debug Message: Version v1.80g Dark Avatar last updated on: Wed Dec 19 15:10:23 2007
Debug Message: Checking DX Version.
Debug Message: *********DXDiag info follows.*********
System Info
Time: 7/8/2009, 18:37:08
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
Machine Name: COMPUTER0
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.070227-2254)
Languages: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: HP Pavilion 061
System Model: RF170AV-ABA d4650y
BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6600 @ 2.40GHz (2 CPUs)
Physical Memory: 2046MB RAM
Page File: 373MB used, 5614MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
Display Info
Display device 1:
Device Name: \\.\DISPLAY1
Card Name: NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip Type: GeForce 7600 GT
DAC Type: Integrated RAMDAC
Key Device: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0391&SUBSYS_040310DE&REV_A1
Display Memory: 256.0 MB
Current Display Mode: 1280 x 1024 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor Name: Default Monitor
Monitor Max Resolution:
Driver Name: nv4_disp.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0010.9371
Driver Date: 10/22/2006 13:22:00
DirectX Acceleration Enabled: Yes