My daugther got this game called,
Zoo Tycoon 2, she absolutly loves it.
After playing the game for a few minutes the pictures start to get like pixels in them. Then the game will get so bad we have to exit out and restart the game. I have tried updating the driver to the Video Card, have updated the BIOS but still have the problem. I have played with adjusting the Screen resolution and the color settings but nothing seems to work. I thought I had a pretty good video card because when I got the computer I wanted the best video card at the time so I could play games.

Any body got any ideas or do I need to buy a new video card?

DirectX 9.0c
Display Devices
Card name: RADEON 8500 SERIES
Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc.
Chip type: RADEON 8500 Series AGP (0x514C)
DAC type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
Display Memory: 96.0 MB
urrent Mode: 800 x 600 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor Max Res: 1600,1200
Driver Name: ati2dvag.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0010.6517 (English)
DDI Version: 9 (or higher)
Driver Date/Size: 2/22/2005 18:36:24, 224256 bytes
Gameport Devices
----------------
+ PCI bus
| Matching Device ID: *pnp0a03
| Service: pci
| Driver: pci.sys, 8/3/2004 20:07:48, 68224 bytes
|
+-+ Standard Game Port
| | Matching Device ID: *pnpb02f
| | Service: gameenum
| | Driver: gameenum.sys, 8/3/2004 20:08:22, 10624 bytes

The motherboard is a P4 Titan Series GA-8VT800(-L)

how much system memory do you have?

Make sure your system meets these requirements :Windows 98SE/2000/ME/XP

Multimedia PC with a 733 MHz processor

256 MB RAM

900 MB of available hard disk space

Quad-speed or higher CD-ROM drive

16 MB 3D DirectX9.0 or later

Internet access required for optional downloadable content

Disk Space Disk C: 64156 MB Available, 78152 MB Total, 64156 MB Free
Physical Memory 1024 MB Total, 449 MB Free
Memory Load 56%
Virtual Memory 2462 MB Total, 1958 MB Free
SwapFile 1536 MB
Max used 68 MB
In use 44 MB
Registry Size 5 MB (current), 54 MB (maximum)
Intel Pentium 4 CPU 2.80GHz 2.82GHz, 1.00 GB or Ram

RM 2, thanks

Make sure your system meets these requirements :

1.) Windows 98SE/2000/ME/XP
Yes, I have XP, SP2

2.) Multimedia PC with a 733 MHz processor
256 MB RAM,
I'm pretty sure I do, how do I tell?

3.) 900 MB of available hard disk space, I'm pretty sure I do, how do I tell?

4.) Quad-speed or higher CD-ROM drive, how do I tell?

5.) 16 MB 3D DirectX9.0 or later
I'm pretty sure I do, how do I tell?

Hi,
download everest free edition it will tell you all about your pc
from link
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4181.html

Bob

Im pretty sure this is probably the memory.
Try quitting some programs before using the game.

Is this game and video card on the computer with the specs in your first post?
If it is you more than meet all requirements for the game.

If this game and video card are on another computer:

"2.) Multimedia PC with a 733 MHz processor
256 MB RAM,
I'm pretty sure I do, how do I tell?
3.) 900 MB of available hard disk space, I'm pretty sure I do, how do I tell?"

Start up System Information
Start - Run - type: msinfo32 - click OK
If Windows is able to find it, the speed of the cpu will be in the list on the right.
The free space on each drive is stated - usually it's the amount on C you want to know about.

"4.) Quad-speed or higher CD-ROM drive, how do I tell?"

If the CD drive was made after 1997 or so, it would be at least that.
If the game doesn't require the CD to be in the drive when you play it, this requirement is only for installing the software.

"5.) 16 MB 3D DirectX9.0 or later
I'm pretty sure I do, how do I tell?"

Direct X version
Start - Run - type: dxdiag - click OK
(DirectX Diagnostic Tool)
The DirectX version is stated at the bottom of the first page displayed.

Video card
on the above DirectX screen, choose the Display tab.
Approx. Total Memory (or similar) - the amount of video ram on the card
If there is large white button at lower right "Test Direct3D", the card has 3D capability.
............

Updating your mboard bios will do absolutely nothing for this problem.
You should NEVER update your bios unless you find specific information on the web site for the mboard that says doing so will cure your problem.

Have you tried a different monitor? You should.

Adjusting the screen resolution and number of colors will not help unless they were set to less than is required for the game and you then set them to what is required or more.

If the card only displays these problems in the game and nothing else, un-install the game, re-install it. There should be an entry in Control Panel - Add/Remove Programs where you can un-install it.
If the card displays these problems in other things as well, or if you just want to see if newer drivers cure the problem, you could try installing newer video drivers, but it usually doesn't help.

If the card displays these problems only after the computer has been on for a while and is well warmed up:
- unplug the computer, open up the case, make sure the video card is well seated in it's slot, that is, all the way down in the slot and the bottom of the card is not crooked in the slot. If it looks skewed or you're not sure, remove the screw that retains the card's bracket in the slot, unplug the card, re-insert it, install the screw again.

Take a look at the cpu fan and heat sink. If they have dust and lint on them, clean them off. It is usually just a matter of removing a few screws holding the cpu fan if you need to remove that, and removing the cpu fan is often necessary if the heat sink is dirty.
Plug in the computer, boot it, make sure the cpu fan is spinning at a reasonable speed.

Try the game for at least the same amount of time the problem took to show up before.
.........

If none of the above helps I suspect your symptoms are those of a damaged video card.

- check your power supply voltages - it is best to do this immediately after the video has problems.
Look in your bios Setup at the current voltages (if you have the monitoring chipset for that) - +3.3, +5, and +12 volts should be within 10% of nominal values - your Vcc (cpu core voltage(s)) should be within 5% of nominal value(s). Voltages that are too high can do a lot of damage in a short time.
If you like you could install and load a utility in Windows that constantly monitors your mboard voltages (and temperatures and fan speeds) - there is often one on your mboard CD. That can show you something is wrong without you having to go into the bios Setup, and some can be set to alert you as well.

If your voltages in the bios are too high, your video card may be damaged. If your computer has been exposed to a power surge (e.g. from nearby lightning) or spike, or a discharge of static electricity, and your computer is not protected from that your video card may be damaged. Problems tend to show up first when the card is warmer or being more heavily used in that case, and slowly get worse until it happens in many situations.

Motherboard ram. It is extremely rare for ram to go bad spontaneously - if it goes bad at all it is because something has damaged it, such as caused by the same things as in the preceding paragraph. However, ram compatibilty is a real problem, and if you have ram installed that is not 100% compatible with your mboard you can have all sorts of problems, and if your test the ram in those circumstances, it will give you a false indication the ram is bad.
If you are not having any other problems with your computer, you probably don't have incompatible ram, and testing the ram is a waste of time.

Tubesandwires, great info. When I right click on my ATI button at the bottom, I only have the following options.

Hydravision
ATI Programs
Schemes
Settings
Help
Troubleshooting

I don't know what you are getting at in the last post.
I have a Radeon 7000 card that has the same icon, same selections, if you need to know something about that menu.
.....

Found here:
http://www.microsoft.com/games/zootycoon/zoo2/support.asp#gameplay

Graphics Issues

Corrupted desktop images: When running the game in windowed mode, interacting with the desktop while the opening game movie is playing may result in corrupted desktop images. To resolve, restart your computer and then Zoo Tycoon 2. This may occur more often on computers with ATI graphics cards.

My Note - if you run the game in full screen mode, you will probably not have this problem.

Graphics Card Drivers and Manufacturers

Many video issues will be resolved if you install your graphics card's latest drivers. Video drivers are the software that enables the hardware features of your graphics card. Zoo Tycoon 2 may not properly detect some older graphics cards because their video drivers are not DirectX 9.0 compliant. Without properly updated video drivers, you may not be taking full advantage of your graphics card and its features. Please consult your graphics card manufacturer's website for the most recent graphics card drivers.

My Note - you said "I have tried updating the driver to the Video Card,..." so you've already done that.

ATI Radeon (all cards): After doing a clean installation or updating your ATI drivers, the game may be unstable. To fix this problem, restart your computer and then Zoo Tycoon 2. If you make AGP or PCI settings changes in the Catalyst Control Center, your game screen may become distorted. To fix, reboot your computer twice after making these changes.
........

Game Update available here, but it probably won't affect your problem:
http://www.microsoft.com/games/zootycoon/zoo2/downloads.asp
........

Your Display settings are probably fine as they are.
This game does not display properly if set to 24bit color, but you quoted that it is set to 32 bit (or you can use 16 bit)

A few suggestions.

You quoted your video as being set to 800x600 32bit 60Hz . The 60Hz refers to the vertical refresh rate, and you may be able to increase that if your monitor supports that, making video sequences smoother when they play.

The requirements to increase the vertical refresh rate:
- your monitor must support it
- your monitor settings in Windows must support it.

RIGHT click on a blank area of your Desktop screen - click on Properties
That gives you the Display Properties window.
Click on the Settings tab.
Display should list the brand and model of your monitor, on Radeon 8500.
If it says Plug and Play monitor, or Default Monitor, you monitors driver files have not been loaded.
Click on the Advanced bar lower right.

If your monitor brand and model were correct, click on the Adapter tab - select the highest refresh rate, or Optimal.

If it says Plug and Play Monitor or Default monitor, you could try setting the Adapter to a higher refresh rate, but you may not be able to.
If that is the case and you can't set it higher, you could get the drivers for your monitor from the monitor manufacturer's web site and install them.
Once you have the driver, you click on the Monitor tab here and Update the driver, and point Windows to where the driver is, or if the driver has an install, use that. If it does not have an install, the driver file ends with .inf - sometimes you must extract the driver download first.

.....

If your card has TV out, you should make sure it is turned off if you are not using it. Sometimes ATI drivers turn it on even if you do not have a TV connected, and sometimes it does when you update your drivers.
In the same place (Settings - Advanced) click on the Display tab. Turn off the TV support if it is on and you are not using it or don't have it connected.
Also - the vertical refesh rate the monitor is presently set to is displayed at the bottom under the Monitor graphic (may not be there if the brand and model are unknown).