Pixel Shader 1.1 or better -- help

[jnbblues]

I just purchased RomeTotal War:II and can't play on my IBM T41 b/c I need a pixel shader of 1.1 or better. I've never had a problem with this in the past... as I've been playing Civ IV and simcity IV ( both of which I think are more robust) with no problems.

Any insight on how to fix this problem would be appreciated.

Thank you -

 

[Rik]

Your chances of playing that game on that laptop are zero!!

That game is way to new!!

 

[jnbblues]

So there's no way to upgrade the pixel shading on an older laptop?

 

[Rik]

In a word, nope!!

 

[Mictlantecuhtli]

Software shaders exist, but naturally they require a lot of CPU power.

Maybe you want to check out SwiftShader ?

I'm not sure if the demo works with that kind of games, however.

 

[Ididmyc600]

I always thought that Pixel shading capability was something that the video card had to be capable of, not a software thing you installed.

 

[jnbblues]

aha -- so maybe buy a card. Any idea on what video card to buy? thanks again.

 

[Sharkfood]

Oh hogwash, that laptop has a Mobility Radeon with the correct stuff needed to play that game. It wont be "super desktop" ultra settings, but those T41's have enough muscle to play the game on low/low settings fine.

The problem is- IBM stopped releasing new drivers a long time ago and you need drivers based on the Catalyst 6.11 in order to get new games to see the hardware properly.

Here's what you need to do:
1) Download and INSTALL .NET Framework 2.0 from Microsoft. You can get this through Windows Update (if you don't have it already), or download here:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...CB-4362-4B0D-8EDD-AAB15C5E04F5&displaylang=en

2) Download the Catalyst 6.11 drivers but DONT install yet:
http://ati.amd.com/support/drivers/xp/radeon-prer300-xp.html

3) Download the Mobility Modder tool. This lets you run genuine ATI Catalyst drivers on your laptop. Don't worry, this works great with Thinkpads:
http://www.driverheaven.net/modtool/

4) Control Panel/Add Remove software and uninstall the ATI control panel, and current display drivers.

Read the website on the Mobility Mod tool to learn how to mod the 6.11 drivers so you can install them. It's important you get your OLD drivers cleanly uninstalled then upgrade with the 6.11's. This works for most newer DX9.0 games and your card should have PS 1.4, which is above the requirements for Total War 2.

 

[jnbblues]

wow, thanks sharkfood. there once was a day when I thought I was a bit tech savvy.... that seems like 100 years ago now. without sounding like a *******, can I purchase a video card to avoid these modifications? I guess I should note that this is my work notebook and changing the drivers would probably not be appreciated down the road.

 

[Sharkfood]

Nope, you cannot change the videocard on that laptop (most laptops, actually)... it's built-in and cannot be replaced.

The above isn't a "mod" but instead a temporary stop gap. ATI makes the drivers for your laptop's videocard, which in turn IBM certify them then redistribute them on their website. They just haven't gathered or re-certified drivers in a long while.

The mobility modder tool simply puts your graphic card entry in the ATI driver install so it will install them. This is normally done similarly to how IBM redistributes the same drivers after certifying them.

It's possible your laptop *might* get newer/re-certified drivers directly from IBM as this is a BIG problem for World of Warcraft right now. They patched their game (to suddenly use PS 1.1+ calls) and millions of Thinkpad users suddenly can't even get in to play. Using the Mobility Modder above has made a temporary stop-gap to fix this (and runs great) until IBM gets off their duff and does the same.

 

[Btown24]

Hoping maybe one of you could help!

Here's my problem:
I just bought a new iMac computer; got the Parellels 3.0 and Microsoft Windows XP. I then tried play Midieval II Total War, but it told me i need Pixel Shader 1.1 or better?

So is there anything i can do in order to play the game?

Thanks!