Microsoft Zoo Tycoon 2 ruined my kid's Christmas (please help save it)

[Orak Listalavostok]

Q: Can Microsot Zoo Tycoon 2 with with a standard IBM PC?

My kid somehow knew of & very much wanted "Zoo Tycoon 2" from Santa.
So, Santa went out and bought it for forty bucks at ToysRus.
My kid opened it gleefully today & that's the end of the happiness.

I have an 2 Ghz IBM A31p portable laptop running the latest WinXP.
This is a common laptop from as reputable a manufacturer as can be.
I've never ever had any graphics problems. Ever. Until now.

My kid is still crying over this Microsoft fiasco.
Please help me save the day.

Here's the scoop:
My IBM A31p passes ALL DirectX diagnostics (Start->Run->dxdiag)!
I double-click on the "Zoo Tycoon 2" desktop shortcut & get:
- Zoo Tycoon 2 Error
- Zoo Tycoon 2 does not support ATI Radeon Mobility 7500 graphics card.
- 1200Mhz, 1024MB
- 64M ATI Radeon Mobility 7500 (0x4c58)
- SoundMAX Digital Audio (0x2485)
When I run Start->Run->dxdiag, it says:
- DirectX Diagnostic Tool
- Display: Device: Name: ATI MOBILITY FIRE GL 7500
- Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc.
- Chip Type: MOBILITY FIRE GL 7800 AGP (0x4C58)
- DAC Type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
- Approx. Total Memory: 64.0 MB
- Current Display Mode: 1600 x 1200 (32 bit) (60Hz)
- Monitor: Default Monitor

Yet, when we run the Microsoft ZT2 game, we get:
- Zoo Tycoon 2 Error
- Zoo Tycoon 2 does not support ATI Radeon Mobility 7500 graphics card.
- 1200Mhz, 1024MB
- 64M ATI Radeon Mobility 7500 (0x4c58)
- SoundMAX Digital Audio (0x2485)

Since when doesn't the worlds' largest hardware PC manufacturer (IBM)
and the worlds largest software manufacturer (Microsoft) not work
together on something as simple and common as a kid's video game?
QUESTION:
Is all hope of saving Christmas lost?
What are our options?

 

[Patti MacLeod]

Hi Orak,

You could try the fix that was posted in this thread:
http://tinyurl.com/4rqpf
(scroll down to the response posted by laurie)


Merry Christmas!!



Regards,

 

[Paul Smith]

To try and simplfy things a bit, Patti had the solution but I'll just trim
it up a bit:

In the Zoo Tycoon 2 directory there's a file called config.txt open it up
and find the following lines:

0x4c57 = "Radeon Mobility 7500"
0x4c58 = "Radeon Mobility 7500"

Delete them and resave.

This *may* work or may result in unexpected behavourer or may result in the
same thing.

My kid is still crying over this Microsoft fiasco.

Microsoft clearly have the minimum system requirements listed at several
places.

Since when doesn't the worlds' largest hardware PC manufacturer (IBM)
and the worlds largest software manufacturer (Microsoft) not work
together on something as simple and common as a kid's video game?

IBM haven't been the largest PC manufacterer in years, that honour passed to
Dell ages ago. IBM don't even make PCs anymore.

PCs are a tad more complex then you make you, there's no such thing as a
"standard" PC, software requires certain hardware to work, this is a case of
your video card being below the requirements for Zoo Tycoon 2.

--
Paul Smith,
Yeovil, UK.
http://www.dasmirnov.net/
http://windows.dasmirnov.net/ Windows XP Resource Site.

*Replace nospam with smirnov to reply by e-mail*

 

[Chris H.]

While others have offered a "solution" for you, this would be a good point
for all those who purchased or have received PC games for Christmas. Before
opening the box, take a look at the system requirements which are noted on
the outside of the box.

If the machine which is intended for the install doesn't meet the minimum
requirements, don't open the box. Either figure out a way to upgrade the PC
or return the game for a refund or exchange for a game which will work on
the system.

It is a tough lesson to learn, but a little preparation by knowing the
computer system and whether a game can be played on it instead of blaming a
company for minimum requirements can make everything a happier situation.
--
Chris H.
Microsoft Windows MVP/Tablet PC
Tablet Creations - http://nicecreations.us/
Associate Expert
Expert Zone -

 

[Orak Listalavostok]

Thanks for all the quick help in the Christmas spirit!

The good - Removing those two lines from config .txt "seems" to have worked.
- My kid is happily placing fences & animals and feeding them, etc.
- THANKS!

The bad - I read the box BEFORE purchasing the Zoo Tycoon 2 game
- I have it in front of me right now (correct me if I'm wrong)
- There's absolutely NOTHING about the IBM PC or its graphics card!

So, while it's always advisable to spend months researching anything
provided by Microsoft (they make incompatibility a competitive weapon),

there's absolutely no way (IMHO) anyone "normal" would determine the
ATI Radeon 7500 or the IBM A31p laptop PC would be unsupported!

Here's what it says (verbatim) on the Microsoft Zoo Tycoon 2 box:
System Requirements: Windows XP/2000/ME/98SE - 256 MB RAM
Processor: 733 MHz
Hard Drive: 900 MB
Video Card: 16 MB/3D Direct X9.0 or later
Other: DirectX 9.0 sound card & speakers/headphones

MY QUESTION TO THIS GROUP AT LARGE:
Considering dxdiag shows no problems (I can post the complete results),
are you saying a "normal" person should infer that a stock IBM A31p
laptop PC (64M ATI Radeon Mobility 7500) is not supported
from this information provided by Microsoft & printed on the box?

 

[Thomas Kuck]

A similar thing had happened with the popular game 'Rise of Nations'. I have
an onboard video card that was not supported, and the computer is a branded
Compaq! So I got myself a new video card, but it seems that you can tweak
the config file of the game to accept the onboard card. Too bad I read the
article in this news group after I returned the game, would have liked to
play it. Morale: before swearing at MS ask the groups. You can always swear
afterwards.

 

[Mike Hall]

FYI, it is IBM that thrives on making their systems incompatible with
anything else out there.. do not ever believe that products badged 'IBM' are
any better than others..

 

[Steve Sullivan]

I see some people have already thrown out some suggestions and comments, I
just wanted to add:

There are so many different manufacturers and models of things like graphics
cards, plus who knows which cards were manufactured in what order with
respect to when the game itself was published. You would probably find
system requirments looking like this on almost any game from almost any
manufacturer. This was likely nothing more than a compatibility, and
fortunately, others had the problem, which was why the answer was easy for
others to point you to on google.

Steve

 

[Patti MacLeod]

You're welcome for the quick help

Steve Sullivan was quite correct when he stated "You would probably find
system requirments looking like this on almost any game from almost any
manufacturer".....it's certainly not a "problem" that is exclusive to
Microsoft, it's just a "fact of life" that there is not enough room on the
box to list all the possible hardware incompatibilities. It's always
advisable (and especially when it comes to games) to research the
requirements and known issues at the software developer's or software
publisher's websites. Unfortunately, most "normal" (by "normal" I take it
you mean novice or average computer users, as opposed to gamers or power
users) people would not know to do this before purchasing software, they
would simply go by the requirements as listed on the box.



Regards,

 

[hardworking]

I HAD similar problem with my lap top and did the edit to the file and
system now works. What you will notice is that as the zoo get bigger, the
game gets jerky. But hey, I'll accept that over having a game that doesnt
work at all. My guess is that MS did not want to deal with a high end
graphic game being played on low end video cards and hear all the heat on
"you sold me a slide show projector".

For now I'll accept a slide show projector and will zoo on.

 

[Alan]

It is also good to note that video built into the Motherboard and laptops,
unless they specifically say ATI Radeon xxxx or NVidia GeForce xxxx, its
much harder to determine if the video will work with the game.

-Alan

 

[mvandongen]

Hi all,

If you are planning to buy a game then, if possible, you should
download and try the demo first. If the demo works fine on your
hardware, good chance the full game will work too.
(and for some games the demo is quite enough entertainment already, so
you can save yourself a few bucks too!)

Marc