Fur and blooming are disabled on older G/cards.
Look at the graphics.config file (open with notepad) these are the default settings for the G/cards that were around back then.
You can tweak this file at your own risk . But in practice if you want hair you may have to drop resolution or detail.
Your card can only do so much.
I don't think that's capable of showing fur. But you can try altering the numbers of the last item in the Data\Graphics.config file which should be your graphics card.
Fur is something you could still have.
It is all really a balancing act .....
If you reduce one setting that leaves more for another.
Really t the end of the day just go with the settings that work for you and your PC.
For me lower res and higher detail looks better than higher res but lower detail.
I'm having a similar problem
the custom option to have fur is available
and i have it on, but my creature doesn't have fur, even when I use the config fix.
I'ev tried changing all of them
im running xp on my macbook with an intel GMA X3100 processor
does anyone have any suggestions?
I was able to get fur, on my crapy pc.. but.. my pc didn't like moving hairs, so they where all stuck in one place like.. icicles! ^-^
I had to edit graphics.config to show hair though, I didn't have the option, nor had it when I edited the config.. :-/ But I had hair! Made the game look less silly! Mister beardie without a beard is silly! O_O