AU 141: Introduction to Civilization IV Coordination Thread

[FrustratedPoet]

I too have a Radeon 7500. It's the "Mobility" variant, though - does that make a difference?

The graphics card issue is the only thing holding me back from buying the game at this point.

(i don't want to threadjack, but since the subject has come up....)*

I really need an entire system upgrade, but for some reason my g/f seems to think that buying a house is a bigger priority.
Women are crazy - throw old graphics cards at them.



* - in other words, it's all nathan's fault

[Aeson]

The mobility is pretty much the same thing I think. (It's limited to 64MB though?)

[nbarclay]

Thanks for the performance info, Aeson. It sounds like my next step may be to pull out the All-in-Wonder and see whether the system's onboard graphics can do the job. (The system I'm using now is only three months old but very low-end, so I have no idea how its built-in graphics compare with the AIW; I installed the AIW because I already had it and wanted to keep its video out capability.)

[Aeson]

What onboard graphics chipset do you have?

[nbarclay]

I don't know what the onboard graphics are, and I'm not sure what I did with my documentation. I tried removing the AIW card, but it's stuck in the slot! (The back of the card is loose enough, but the front won't budge even with a lot of wiggling and pulling hard enough I was a little worried about breaking something.) There's nothing in the BIOS to select the on-board video with an AGP card installed, so I may be stuck with the AIW 7500 for as long as I have the computer.

Aeson, did you try lowering the graphics quality on your 8500 to see whether that would make the performance more acceptable?

[Aeson]

If the back is the end that the monitor plugs in, then the front may have a clip on the AGP slot. There should be a little lever down there if so. The card should come out pretty easy when the screw and clip are both off.

With lower settings the 8500 does have "more acceptable" performance, which IMO still wouldn't be acceptable... YMMV.

[nbarclay]

Thanks for the clip tip. There was a lever on the bottom of the AGP slot where I couldn't see it without a really close look using a flashlight, and that let me get the card out just fine. The built-in video is total garbage - nowhere near as fast as the AIW Radeon 7500 - so I guess I'm about to go video card shopping.

[DrSpike]

I am in favour of the plan to play a few (or at least one) exploratory intro to AU courses. In the meantime publication of AU 141 (the first themed course can start, so we can press on when the patch is released.

Most people have the game now. By the time AU 141 starts I see no need to wait any longer for people to decide to buy the game!

[TomVeil]

I would advocate giving AU space in the top-level hyperlinks at the beginning of every page. I know that I personally would have learned about AU a lot sooner if it were easier to find.

[Arrian]

Sorry to hear about your tech troubles, Nathan. I had some issues early that (with Aeson's help) were fixed by updating my driver. The game isn't exactly greased lightnin' on my machine, but it works.

I'm still not sure how to best set up a scenario for AU100. If I start a new game and find a good start spot we can use the WBquicksave (I'll get that right this time!), but I believe we will be limited to picking from the civs that appear in the game I start. If possible, I'd like to find a good map and have all civs playable, so people would have more choice. Maybe I just don't understand the WB well enough yet...

-Arrian

[DrSpike]

Everyone should play as the same Civ for AU courses and introductions, surely.

[FrustratedPoet]

I agree, but don't call me Shirley.

[DrSpike]

Would you prefer Jezebel?

[Arrian]

Ok, yeah, good point. Hence the thread Nathan set up to discuss which civ/leader to play.

-Arrian