unable to get it to run using P4 2.8C / WinXP / 9700pro

Strange, I've got a similar system (P4 2.8, P4P800 mobo, WinXP, 9700Pro) and it runs like a charm. But anyway I agree that Rune is a much better game though this is still beta demo. They should have done the controls the same as with Rune but maybe that's gonna improve im the final version.