Try playing in windowed mode:
Put this in launch options:

STEAMMOD=1250740881 - windowed


You may get an error message regarding direct3d being unable to reset, if so, try this:


open this filepath (your drive may not be named the c drive, but the idea is the same:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Star Wars Empire at War\Support\DirectX

move your mouse to the directx setup named:
DXSETUP.exe

this will ensure that the files you need are there

if you try to resize the window, you will have to restart the game to play it


when you're done just clear your launch settings bar and copy/paste this back in:

STEAMMOD=1250740881

Note: This only works for the 32 bit version. The 64 bit patch fixed the underlying issue and you can try playing as normal.