It seems that Earth 2160 doesn't support Intel integrated graphics. Which is fine but it would be fair to tell people more about video card requirements, as customers of "old games" are likely to have old computers too.

The GOG Earth 2160 page states the following minimum requirements:

Minimum system requirements: Windows XP or Windows Vista, 1 GHz Processor (1.4 GHz recommended), 256MB RAM (512 recommended), DirectX-7 compatible 3D graphics card with Hardware T&L support (compatible with DirectX 9 recommended), Mouse, Keyboard.

So, the graphics requirements are DirectX-7 compatible 3D graphics card with Hardware T&L support (compatible with DirectX 9 recommended). What are the specs of your integrated card?

Honestly, I have no idea about T&L support. It is called Mobile Intel 945 Express Chipset Family, old and crap but I have DirectX 10 installed and I'm pretty sure that many games I play require at least DirectX 9.

I thought that since my computer met RAM and processor requirements by far, video card won't be a problem either. I guess it's missing some special technology which integrated graphics can't run. The manual says Per Pixel Shader 1.3 is required (whatever it is), so possibly that one.

For $2.5, it doesn't matter but my point is that games should be tested and customers should be warned when integrated graphics (or others) won't work. DirectX compatibility is not enough.

I have a Series 4 Express Chipset with a 4 to 5 year old laptop and I was able to run this ok. How much older would your setup be or is it newer?

It' s a 6 year old laptop and it never was a gaming machine. :) I guess it's missing Per Pixel Shader 1.3. Just for curiosity, I tried Two Worlds demo from the same developer, and it gives the same error.

My desktop PC which is basically a ruin but has a non-integrated video card, is able to run it (though the video card sometimes draws all kind of random 3D objects in games :)).

Anyway, thanks for your help, guys.

If you are still curious

I read years ago, when I was using a netbook with Intel 945 Chipset, that this particiular GPU is unable to process certain shader commands and the intel driver uses the CPU to process those shaders. To DirectX the driver reports it can handle those shaders while in reality the Intel 945 GPU lacks thouse features.
This has two drawbacks, it's slow plus it dosn't work very well.