Battlefield 1942 won't work on my laptop.

[gidrah]

The subject say it all. I fairly darn certain my system meets the minimum requirements but at the first screen all I get is a bunch of squares. It's a P3 laptop that has a DVD drive. I know it's not the best system, but it's the best I ever got for free.:)


PS - I can't figure out why I can't google without going to Earthlink and yet I was damn good at my job in the army doing computer repair.

[stereo55]

What video card does your lappy have ? You should also have the latest DirectX installed (9b/c) .
Since you lappy is abit older , the video card installed may not be quite good enough to handle all the 3D textures in newer games .

[TechChallenged]

Be careful before upgrading to DirectX 9. The DirectX 9.0 runtime cannot be uninstalled. If you are not using win2000/XP this upgrade may cause you problems.

[TechChallenged]

Does your laptop sport a 32 MB video card which supports Transform & Lighting (64 MB or greater video card which supports Transform & Lighting recommended)

[polkatese]

Gidrah,
I bought this game over this past weekend, very addictive! the history lessons on WWII battles, along the way, are very informative too. Btw, BF1942 runs fine on my lappy, no choppiness at all (Pentium M, 1.5GHz, 512 RAM), but BF Vietnam, which I just bought and installed last night, is very slow and choppy. Check out gamespot.com for some helpful hints on what to tweak for your lappy. I am thinking of upgrading the RAM to 1 gig to play this more productively.

Btw, anyone have recommendations for a graphic card upgrade on a P4 1.5GHz desktop machine? TIA

[stereo55]

Originally posted by TechChallenged
Be careful before upgrading to DirectX 9. The DirectX 9.0 runtime cannot be uninstalled. If you are not using win2000/XP this upgrade may cause you problems.

Good point ....

If your using win2000/XP do a "restore point" before the DirectX 9 install .

I too just checked the minimum requirements for the game (on the box) and only DirectX 8.1 is only required (so my bad for the DirectX9 recommendation) .

Ive had the game so long , that I forgot the minimum requirements were not quite as demanding .

[dthomps]

This game is friggin awesome. It's very addictive, probably one of my all time favorites.
I tried installing it on my sisters P3 (So when my friends came over we could all play) but it wouldn't run very well. It's not a very fast p3 granted, and it only has 384mb. of RAM.
Good luck with it though, you'll enjoy it.

[stereo55]

Just an added note for any new players of Battlefield 1942 ....

There is a mod for the game called "DESERT COMBAT" (DC , for short) that blows the original game out of the water .
I think you will really enjoy the DC mod , as it adds slightly better graphics , much better weapons: guns/choppers/jets and tanks to the original version . The mod is more like the way the original game SHOULD have been released . I HIGHLY recommend it !!!
(added note: you can still play the original 1942 even with the mod added)

You can get the mod over at planentbattlefield.com LINKY .
( sorry for any dial-up users as its a 600mb download)

;)

[gidrah]

Ooops! Sorry guys. I kinda dismissed this thread when it made it's way down the page without a reply.

I have no idea on what this thing is running other than Windows ME and a Pentium III. Can I upgrade things on a laptop? That would be great. The sound card sucks. I hear a warble when listening to music on it.

[stereo55]

Originally posted by gidrah
Ooops! Sorry guys. I kinda dismissed this thread when it made it's way down the page without a reply.

I have no idea on what this thing is running other than Windows ME and a Pentium III. Can I upgrade things on a laptop? That would be great. The sound card sucks. I hear a warble when listening to music on it.

Well theres the problem .... Windows ME !!!

Windows ME was (is) probably the worst OS that Microsoft ever came out with . Its a basic unfinished product that is between Win98 and WinNT/XP and has no basic driver updates , or any kind of harware support anymore .
Without going into a long explanation here , just ditch ME completely and go for a new compete OS upgrade to XP . WinXP Home version is ok , but I would suggest XP Pro over the Home version due to better security and network features not found in the Home version . An OEM copy will do you fine also and will be alot cheaper than a retail box , (I suggest Newegg.com for the purchase) .

You will really like XP , its easy to use , very stable , much better security (ntfs) and it has some very cool features such as "system restore" , etc .

Run , dont walk and change that ME crap asap ; you'll be glad you did .

[gidrah]

Thanks for the reply. I'm pretty happy right now but if this is the only alternative I'll make it an issue when I finally get a better computer. Until then I'll stick with what I got. Thanks.:)