I've downloaded the non-Enhanced Edition of Baldur's Gate II and am receiving an error when I try to launch it, stating that 'DirectPlay' is required to run the program. Attempting to have Windows 10 install DirectPlay fails and using the setup-ddrawfix.exe file that came with Planescape:Torment also does not help.

I've installed the June 2010 DirectX distribution and rebooted my system, but this has had no effect.

Am I doomed to require the purchase of BG2:EE to play the game with Windows 10?

Wow, this needs to be stickied somewhere in big bold letters. I wonder why such thing isn't enabled by default...

Because that's Microsoft for you.

That did it. I had to close GOG Galaxy before DirectPlay would install, but now everything is working fine. Thank you very much!

At first this did not work for me, I was getting the following Windows error when attempting to turn on the legacy DirectPlay:

Windows couldn't complete the requested changes
The function attempted to use a name that is reserved for use by another transaction
Error code: 0x80071A90
'tell me how to solve this problem' (this is a link)

Of course, the link did nothing to help. But, temporarily turning off my AntiVirus did the trick.

Still happens and also does this with Icewind Dale games. Seems strange. Legacy file? Why does need to be on at all to function is a better question? Should be removed feom the game.

The original poster specifically stated this is for the pre-Enhanced Edition version of the game. As far as I know, no publisher is maintaining that one at all, so there will be no fixes like that. It needs to be enabled because, as the original developer wrote the game, that feature is required during startup. Whether that was a good decision is a separate question.

because the game is old that Windows has changed how networks operate

My point was. Its an early form of DRM that should not be required at all to play the game. Drm has been removed from other old games and is kind of how GOG does business.

I shouldnt have to buy a new version of the game because of this. Besides which, my pc is offline only and cant get the package even I wanted to accept it on my machine. Which i dont.

its nothing to do with Drm... when the game was made netork type was 3 and in the years after that Windows changed to type 4

turning on legacy mode tells the computer to allow the old type 3 network rules i.e, let this old game keep working

GOG games (usually) don't have DRM, but sometimes the way in which they don't have them is rather roundabout. I recall at least one game where the original DRM was "Enter a keyword from a manual." GOG's solution was to provide an easy to use reference card so you could find the required keyword quickly. This was easier for them than actually stripping the DRM from the game, and it's sufficient in practice because (1) the game only asks for this very rarely, (2) the reference card is part of the installed game, so you must go out of your way to lose it, and (3) the game predated the craze of always-active invasive DRM, so the game's general usability is not impaired by having this check still present.

Also, as ussnorway says, this was never intended as a DRM measure. It was a multiplayer related feature that, back when it worked, made things easier for the developer than implementing their multiplayer support without it. Now it doesn't work out of the box, and the game doesn't handle that very well. That's unfortunate, but I don't see how BioWare in the year 2000 should have anticipated that 15 years later (when this thread started), the dominant Windows OS wouldn't include by default a Microsoft feature they used.

Doesnt matter. Paid for 3 games i can no longer play. The company is responsible to make them function offline. That is the agreement. Rules changing out of their or my own control is a moot point and doesnt change the deal. Nor the point of the product being able to be installed "offline". Placing the burden on the customer is the part I have a problem with and im done debating with you people. You are not company. You also are making no valid points to solving the problem for which it still stands.

Through no fault of the publisher or the company which sold them to you, yes. So if Microsoft abandoned Intel chips and forced everyone who wants to use Windows to run an ARM chip, would you hold BioWare responsible for providing you with a version of the game that works on ARM, even though at the time BioWare sold you the game, Microsoft had shown no interest in such a course? (This is not as theoretical or silly as it sounds. Apple is actively selling non-Intel hardware, and old Intel-based software works only because of an emulator. Based on Apple's history, I fully expect them to stop offering that emulator at some point.) I suggest you check the EULA. Software companies are infamous for agreeing to almost nothing, and getting your money anyway. Could you elaborate on this? Taken literally, it reads like you believe that it's BioWare's responsibility to keep the game working no matter what crazy hardware or software changes other companies make, decades after the sale. This is inconsistent with the original problem report. Are you sure you actually have a DirectPlay problem? The original poster had no problem installing the game offline. The game just didn't work afterward, until DirectPlay was installed. We were trying to help you. Which the company probably won't. I encourage you to go complain to them instead, though. Since they took your money, maybe they will be more inclined to help you than we were. We don't need to solve the problem, because it was solved 5 years ago, in the response that Hickory posted on the same day as the original question. Enable DirectPlay in the Windows control panel. Did that solution not work for you? How did it fail?