Hi

In audio options the game won't let me pick the "Hardware Sound" option, how come? I have a Creative X-Fi Xtreme Audio Laptop Edition card hooked up to my Notebook.
I know that Windows Vista does not support EAX, but shouldn't I be able to enable "Hardware Sound" anyway?

Thanks in advance.

I'd guess that the resident PC expert Heimdall G. will want you to run "DXDiag" on your computer and post the entire result here, in order to help you isolate the problem.

Welcome to the Forums!

Yeah, usually I'd want a DxDiag report, but not in this case.

Q. I know that Windows Vista does not support EAX, but shouldn't I be able to enable "Hardware Sound" anyway?
A. No, since the Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) for DirectSound and DirectSound3D is not included in Vista. Hardware-based features like EAX are thus not available in Vista. Bottom line, you can't enable what ain't there!

For background on Vista and EAX, see Creative's ALchemy Welcome page. Note that "...older PC games that support DirectSound3D and EAX technology...will sound empty and lifeless on Vista."

Also note that ALchemy is a free download from Creative (or select your X-Fi product here). Try it - maybe it'll work to enable EAX with your laptop and EoA.

Before you install ALchemy, be certain to update to the latest driver for your X-Fi card.