Civ 4: 3D makes me sad

[Carpet_pissr]

edited...see below so as not to spam up the place

[Carpet_pissr]

As a followup to my initial post...now I am fully at the mercy of Civ IV...it's eating into my sleep, I think about strategy sometimes when I am sitting on the john (which really freaks me out when I realize what I am doing), etc. So basically same ol Civ as the past three. Yes!!

But I am still having what I perceive to be performance problems (as stated by someone above).

After a while of playing, and I have no idea what triggers this...I have to zoom in REAL close to get rid of the chop. Otherwise, it's almost unplayable.

Could it be my computer? I always upgrade to a point well below the cutting edge...maybe I went too far down the ladder this time?

Rig:
1 gig ram 3200 (DDR400) (I wonder if 2 gig would help the problem?)
Athlon 64 3500
Geforce 6800 OC
SATA drive

Thanks for additional comments if anyone is still reading this thread.

[Kraken]

EDIT: I forgot to mention that I got the Blue Marble graphics mod, and I love the graphics even more. That little sucker makes all the terrain seem more realistic and lush.

Blue Marble won me over. I disliked the look before that. The 3D graphics engine does nothing to enhance gameplay, it's just about appearance. But it does seem appropriate. I have a fairly average 3-year-old computer and don't have any real display problems, even with all details turned on fully. [EDIT] 2.66 MHz, 1 gig of RAM, Geforce 6800 128-MB graphics card. I DO occasionally have textures disappear completely. Minimize/restore clears that up. Ditto the occasional slowdown. Forcing a refresh usually solves it.

Besides the Blue Marble textures, I turned the "single figure" option on, and I usually play zoomed out to an almost top-down level. It is almost as good as 2D.

My main graphical gripe was with the art style for the icons. Too cartoony, not very distinctive, not especially representative. I can't tell a settler icon from a worker from an explorer from a warrior. But that's just personal taste. As I've racked up the hours of playtime, the icons have stopped annoying me so much, and I've come to recognize them.

There's nothing about the gameplay elements of Civiliziation 4 that requires a 3D representation. Maybe in a space game, or with a different model for say Satellites or something, there could be 3D mechanics at work.

That's what bugs me about it. There was no objective reason to go 3D with this game except the folly of developing a brand-new 2D game engine. Kinda sad.

[Carpet_pissr]

The "single figure" option was the first one I checked...I thought it might help with performance as a bonus, as the group was just a little too..much.. for my tastes.

That ties into the point you make about the lack of definition in the figures as well. At least in the early game, I also have a problem distinguishing some of the units, and I don't know if it's because they are not clearly defined enough against the background (of a city for example), or if the 3D has something to do with that. I wonder if they pumped up the contrast or brightness of the units, would that help.

I play at a lot closer level to the board than you, too, so I can only imagine the problems from "higher up".

3D woes and bitching aside, the game is hands down my favorite of the whole series so far.