The usual cause is a videocard that either is too old, or isn't updated with the most recent drivers. Try the following and see if that fixes your problem...

Make sure you have Directx 9.0c installed.

Update your videocard driver to the most recent release. See the card manufacturer's website for support.

Make sure videocard's properties are set to display all 3D effects. Try right-clicking on desktop, select properties, click Settings tab, click Advanced button, click Troubleshoot tab, then adjust the hardware acceleration slider to the right. Your computer might differ slightly from these directions.

Go to the following directory on your computer, Ballerium\datafiles\dump, and run the "delete_tree.bat" program. If that doesn't solve the problem, open a thread on the Ballerium forums with your system specs and the .BLG stack dump.

Usually this is caused because you aren't running Ballerium with admin privileges. Try completely uninstalling Ballerium. When you reinstall the game, right-click on the .exe and select "Run as Admin". After installation, right-click on the shortcut placed on the desktop and run that as admin also. If the game now works, change the properties of the shortcut to always run in admin mode whenever you double-click it. Also make sure you are using the most recent videocard driver your card has for Vista.

That's a way for players to meet each other in the game. A player can only see the chat of other players in their immediate vicinity. Sometimes you'll only see half of a conversation because you are too far away from some of the players. When you see "Home Party" typed in the chat, respond by typing "Home Party" in the chat, then press the "Home" key on your keyboard. That will change the game view to the coordinates of 0,0. Once there, summon a trader caravan at that location and meet other players that do likewise. If everyone does that, you should meet all the players that are online at that time.

You can join a clan in the game or from the ladder webpage. From the ladder page, just click the "Apply to a clan" link and select which clan you'd like to join. Once you apply the request, you should know within 24 hours if you're in or out.

From within the game, locate a player that's in the clan you'd like to join in your contacts window. Open up the diplomacy window by clicking on the icon to the right of the player's name. Click on the "Player Summary" tab and then click on the name of the clan that player is a member of. All you have to do now is click on the apply to clan link and you're all done. You'll find out the good or bad news within 24 hours.

In order to purchase units at the Workshop, the resources must be available in the Marketplace. To view the required resources in-game, open the Workshop interface and select a unit. Now, click the small arrow near the bottom right. The next page that opens in the interface will list the needed resources. Or, you could just check BSanc for what's needed to buy an Outpost Builder or Watchtower Builder. All you have to do is sell the resources to the Marketplace, have enough money, and have enough free control capacity to purchase the units.

Watchtowers and Outposts need to be built with an area of walkability all around them. They can't be placed in cities or next to something that would interfere with this walkable area. You probably are trying to construct them next to a rock, tree, other building or unit. Try moving the builder unit to an area free of clutter.

An Avatar can only chat with other Avatars that they have met in the game. If your contact list is empty, you'll never see any chat. You'll only meet other players that are in the immediate vicinity of your units. Try exploring with some nubis caravans, the world is huge and there might be a war occurring on the other side of Ballerium. Other players could also be in private chat. Maybe give a shout out in the general chat saying hello.

The cities of Ballerium come in five flavors - Hamlet (Level 1), Village (Level 2), Town (Level 3), City (Level 4), Metropolis (Level 5). The max population of those cities are 2k, 4k, 6k, 8k, 10k. In order to raise the population, you'll have to level the city. Let's go from a Village to a Town. Firstly, you must be the patron of that village. Once the village reaches 4,000 population, you'll need to sell to the Marketplace, 10 times the next level (town=3), of each rare resource. That'd be 10x3=30 of each rare. Make sure there is some money in the patron account, better yet, wait until it is maxed. If those three conditions are met, the "Level Up!" button should appear in the City Hall interface. Click that button and your village should change to a town, the rares will be used up, and some money will be taken out of the patron account. The city will slowly start gaining population until it maxes out at 6,000. Then you start all over with 40 of each rare resource to upgrade to a City (Level 4).

Make sure when you interact with the City Hall, that you are opening the interface by selecting a unit and right-clicking on the City Hall building. Otherwise, you're just viewing the stats and the neccessary buttons won't display for you to press.

That's pretty easy. First, make sure you're the patron. Now, go to the City Hall and click on the Defense tab. That tab will show you the levels of the towers, what upgrades are available and their cost in rare resources. All you need to do is sell the proper amount of rares to the Marketplace and then click the upgrade button in the Defense tab at the City Hall. The city will consume the resources and upgrade all the towers.

Make sure when you interact with the City Hall, that you are opening the interface by selecting a unit and right-clicking on the City Hall building. Otherwise, you're just viewing the stats and the neccessary buttons won't display for you to press.

You can run the dxdiag program that comes with Windows to see all kinds of useful information regarding your computer system. To run dxdiag, click START -> RUN -> type DXDIAG -> click OK.