I am running a graphics card that the programs describes as "Old Grandma". I had very dark figures until I turned off "specular lighting" and that improved almost everything. But why are all my Mutant Hulks and Whisker Venomspitters Black?

On the Mutant Hulks the body is totally black, only the protuberances are the proper color. On the Whisker Venomspitters the entire body and the band around the cask is black, but the cask is proper color.

Other whiskers such as Blademasters, and other Mutants including the new ones are fine.

?????

Please list all the information you can give on your graphics card. This will help immensely. Thanks.

Does it look like the problem in this thread?

Intel 82945G Express Chipset
256 mb
Intel Video BIOS

I'm impressed that can run any graphics at all... I'm assuming you have updated your drivers, both chipset driver and display driver? Check you have the latest DirectX 9 next...

Khazandra, I have to get my Son In Law over here to help me open ports.

What sort of a beast might a DirectX 9 be??

;o)

DirectX

Simply put, it's the part of Windows that makes all multi-media happen, including but not limited to games.

Well, I am enjoying the game greatly with my Old Grandma chipset. (see I learned a new buzzword -- chipset). It looks as if it will cost me $150 or more to upgrade to a "gamer's" chip. What am I going to gain from all that?

The characters and monsters look fine to me. I can play at 1024 resolution without problems. I don't seem to get any more lag than anybody else. The fonts are easy to read and the icons are very visible. The action seems fast and furious to me.

Actually it seems to me that one of the big advantages of the game is that you DON 'T have to be a serious gamer to enjoy it.

So somebody sell me on an new chip?

Why? As long as your computer can do everything you want it to do, just as well as you want it to do it, there is absolutely no reason for you to upgrade.

I don't know a lot about this. I think you would get a lot more out of your computer though by maxing the memory it can hold then by buying a new graphics card. Everything on your computer uses memory, or so I am told. Only games and graphics software seriously use a graphics card.

Even just putting more memory in my computer has netted me a sizable improvement in how it works. Only worth it though if you like using computers.

Or if you use it a lot... think of it as trying to research your term paper using a small Starbucks coffee table for everything. Whenever you want to check another source, text book, periodical, what have you, it takes you a few minutes to move what you were doing off the table and put the thing you now want to read up there. More RAM gives your computer a bigger desk to work on.

More memory is the easiest and cheapest way to get more out of your computer, in other words, and honestly, when you can get 2GB for around $30, why not? Regardless of whether you like using the computer or not, there's no reason to keep it moving at the speed of a geriatric slug.