After seeing the announcement on the Avsim front page, I downloaded Orbiter - I haven't heard of it before. I got the base and standard texture zip files.But, every time I run it (except in RGB emulation mode), it says 'initialising 3d environment using a hardware device failed' and quits. In the list of 3d devices, I have:- RGB emulation- Direct3D HAL- Direct3D T&L HAL- NVIDIA GeForce2 MX/MX... (list too narrow for full name)I have tried full screen and window mode, ticked 'always enumerate devices' and downloaded the patches, but nothing works.Help!

What version of DirectX do you have instsalled? Orbiter requires a minimum version of 7.0 but I do recommend upgrading to DirectX 8.0 or higher. I use DirectX 9.0 and I have no troubles at all running Orbiter. And make sure you have the latest drivers for your graphics card.

I have DirectX 8.1, and I updated my graphics drivers yesterday!

That narrows down the problem area little bit. Do a check in which color depth you're using. Try with 16 bit first as your computer might not handle the more demanding 32 bit mode. If your computer can't handle a specific mode it will give you the error message you posted.

I'm afraid I've tried every 'device', in almost every resolution, windowed, full screen, in 16 and 32 bits. Nothing works! :(

Upgrade to DirectX 9. That MAY solve it but most likely it won't. Anyways, you should have Direct X 9 now anyway regardless of whether it'll help Orbiter or not.What operating system are you using?My suggestion is you pop over to the OFFICIAL Orbiter forum which can be found on the main Orbiter site:http://www.orbitersim.comRegards

Thanks, but I've just found the problem - it was my card drivers! I downgraded to the version 43.45 drivers (http://www.nvidia.com/object/win9x_43.45.html) and now it's working fine.What a great sim! I'll start trying some of the addons soon...