To all:

Thanks.

I'll take a look at the suggestions for improved gameplay, but I don't hold out much hope.

As far as the laptop goes, I didn't actually buy it. My employer bought it for me and then gifted it to me when they upgraded my work computer. At the time (3 years ago) it wasn't exactly cheap. It was about $1,500 new from Dell.

Granted, it was a different era. Full color flat screens and CD writers were all the rage. 256 RAM was recommended (I upgraded myself by adding the 512 strip). A 16 mg graphics card seemed more than enough to run my work applications AND my games. And, to be honest, it has worked for every game I've ever bought (understanding that it was NOT purchased to be game computer -- my employer likes me but not that much). This includes a variety of 3D games (e.g. Morrowind, etc.).

I probably will buy a desk-top machine sometime within the next 6 months. Something with a Pentium 4 3.0, 1 gig of RAM and 128 gig graphics card. But that's about $1,500 that I just don't have today (remember: my entire value was only about $125.00).

It's still a good computer. This is the first program that I've had any difficulty running.

BTW, while I probably do need to have my head examined (for a lot of reasons I won't go into), try finding a laptop without integrated parts. And my work requires a laptop.

But thanks for the comments and, if all else fails, there's still that 7-Eleven on the corner . . .

The Shadow One