I know, I know, AoW III just came out. I got II because it was cheaper and more likely to run on my laptop (stupid integrated video card). Anyway, I'm having trouble running it. This laptop is only a year old, mind. I started up the game just moments ago and I wasn't actually able to play it. Everything moves in a very slow, herky jerky way. I mean, I got to the start up screen and the mouse cursor wouldn't move for a while even though I was moving the mouse around rapidly. When it did finally move it moved only once, and at that just an inch or two downward. Also, the music to the intro stuff and the start up menu played just fine. What's going on here? Am I running it too high (the game suggested running it on high, for the record)?

Have you tested compatibility and windowed modes?

Oh, jeez, no. I hate windowed modes but I didn't even think about compatibility modes. I'll do that and post the results ASAP.
UPDATE: It was set to run with NT 4.0, so I switched it to run with Windows XP SP 3. That didn't work. Turned off the "Disable desktop composition" and "Disable size scaling" options as they were both checked when I looked at the game. No dice. Same problem with the intro stuff barely moving and the mouse cursor moving only after a couple of seconds and only once when it does. Haven't tried windowed yet.

*chuckles* After I try your other suggestions I'll shoot them a line. Thanks for you all your help. :) Oh, and I run Windows 7 for the record.

UPDATE: Using the Use Direct 3D thing did the trick. Thanks a bunch, man.