Alright, I've noticed that my graphics, although on extreemely high setting, do not look as good as those in some of the screen shots i have seen. I figured this was because Full Scene Glow effect was off. I tried to turn it on, clicked the apply button, then clicked okay, and nothing was different. Going back into options I found the full scene glow effect was back to off, this happens every time. Any advice in helping me achieve those crystaline looking graphics that make me salivate would be greatly appreciated. Also, I have noticed a flickering square around stars in the background at some points during flight. This is a particular nuisance especially when there is a big planet in the backgroung which = big flickering black square. Any help here would also be appreciated. I'm currently running off of Windows XP, and seem to have no trouble with the extreemely high graphics setting. Note: the box appears on all graphics settings.

I also have XP and can't replicate your findings.

More important than your OS, What is your video card, and have you downloaded the latest drivers?

I have the same problem in Linux

Linux 2.6.8.1
Gentoo
nvidia 1.0.6111

p4 2.4
512 pc3200
120gb seagate sata
sblive
nvidia gf4 ti4200 128mb

The glow effect is only supported on GeForce FX or higher or ATI Radeon 9200+ in Linux. Not on Radeon 8xxx's or GeForce 3's/4's.

bah well at least i know why now... :P