I can only run the game in software mode. Hardware mode causes glitches. I tried few fixes, but they didn't seem to work (using windows xp).

Anyway, my question is, how do the graphics in hardware mode compare to software? Am I missing a lot by only being able to play in software mode?

Thanks.

Yes - The sky looks a lot prettier, and when you hover over an object, it glows brighter rather than being outlined. Nothing too major though, so if hardware is acting up, just stick with software

Thanks.

Any suggestions on how to run it in hardware mode?

I'm getting graphic glitches just like the ones described here
http://www.gog.com/forum/populous_series/populous_the_beginning_unplayable_graphical_issues

(I know that thread is marked as solved, but if you read the author's post, he simply got it working in software. Any way to get it to work in hardware mode too? Switching off filtering didn't help).

I'm using GeForce 7900 GT graphics card on a Windows XP.

You could try using DxWnd as that is a DirectDraw wrapper, so might be able to translate the hardware Direct3D calls. Haven't tried it myself as I've not gotten around to playing it yet, but it is an idea.

Thanks korell. I'll check it out. I also read a suggestion to try the old nvidia drivers and found a page with drivers from all the way back to 2003. I'll see if any of this works out.

OK, so the old drivers (NVIDIA ver 195.62) did remove the flashing, but they introduced a different type of glitches. Same one as in this thread:

http://www.gog.com/forum/populous_series/populous_the_beginning_minor_but_annoying_graphic_glitches

The solutions in the thread (both BYRNE "cheat" and PopEnhance) worked for me, but:
_BYRNE is slightly tedious.
_Resolution wouldn't be saved and resets to 640x480 everytime I run the game.

Plus I wasn't really happy with using old drivers.

Just switched back to software. The sky in hardware was lovely, but overall the Software mode is just less troublesome.