Trouble Getting Started

[story keeper]

Hi, I'm trying to get started on the game, but I'm having some trouble.  I registereed an account and activated it, and I downloaded the game [I think] and moved the file entitled: PlaneShift_CBV0.3.016.exe

The trouble is, I can't figure out how to login and create a character. 
Please help.

[Karyuu]

Hiya!

Did you double-click on the downloaded install file to begin the game installation? After the install finishes, you should find PlaneShift on your desktop and under your Start Menu.

[story keeper]

Well I have the icon on my desktop and under the start button, but all it does is show a window with PlanetShift_CBV0.3.016.exe supposedly loading or something.

[Karyuu]

Does that window ever show anything else? :} And does it look something like this:

If yes, it could just be taking a really long time to load. What are your system specs like, primarily your RAM, processor, and graphics card?

[story keeper]

Ok, I figured out why it wouldn't load [i wasn't using bittorent, how embarrassing], but now that I'm in the game, everything keeps changing colors and going really dark.  Is that normal?

[Karyuu]

Not quite, no :} Do you think you can get those system specs for us? If you right-click on your "My Computer" icon and look at Properties, you'll see your processor type and speed, and RAM, in the General tab under "Computer." To find your graphics card, type dxdiag into the Windows Run command, and go to the Display tab. There you will see the name of your card, the approximate amount of memory it has, and your current driver version. This information will help us decipher possible reasons for the graphical issues you're experiencing.

[story keeper]

Intel[R] Celeron[Tm] CPU
1200MHz
1.20GHz, 248 MB of RAM

As for the graphics card:

Trident Video Accelerator Blade 3D/ProMedia
Main Driver:  trid3d.dll
Aprox. Memory: 8.0 MB

[story keeper]

To give you a better idea of what it looks like, look at the pictures from the guy above.  I seem to have a similar problem, but my graphics looked like that the day that as soon as I got on instead of taking a couple of days.

[Idoru]

Intel[R] Celeron[Tm] CPU
1200MHz
1.20GHz, 248 MB of RAM

As for the graphics card:

Trident Video Accelerator Blade 3D/ProMedia
Main Driver:  trid3d.dll
Aprox. Memory: 8.0 MB

Those are well below the required system, do the usual, update drivers, reduce the graphical quality as low as possible, turn off all background apps, and cross your fingers

[story keeper]

I'm sure this will sound stupid, but where do I go to update my drivers?

[Idoru]

im not totally sure if this is the right thing but for your 'Graphics Card' these should be the drivers Here But looking at that page it claims to have not been updated since 2001 so im not totally sure if this will help you.

Or you could try DriverGuide I think they have a helpful site.