It's really a pain having to switch to 16-bit color every time I want to play the game. Is there any way to force it to run in 32-bit color mode?

If you follow this guide it will make it so 16-bit color mode switch is easy as double clicking the shortcut: (Guide made by me):

SORRY FOR NO LINKS BEING POSTED, I CANNOT POST ANY LINKS

This is a simple fix that will make it possible to run your creatures 2 game without having to always go into your resolutions and change your colors from True Color to High Color every single time.

Things needed before starting:
WINRAR: (pick your relevant computer bit version)
Go to google and type free winrar download (don't forget your computers bit version (32 or 64))

Downloading Qres-src1097.zip:

First go to google and type Qres-src1097 and pick the page from sourceforge the Qres - Windows Screen Mode Changer. (you don't have to save the file you just need to open it). Before downloading make sure you have winrar or any other program like Winrar (7zip, etc).

Now open the Qres-src1097.zip wherever you saved it, unless you didn't save it and opened it with Winrar when downloading. Now after opening this file go into the qrescd folder, then into the sample-cd folder, after that go into the qres folder (the only folder that should be in the sample-cd folder). Once you have the qres folder open highlight all the contents of the folder (qres.exe, quickres.exe, etc.) and drag them into your creatures 2 folder (where ever you selected to save Creatures: The Albian Years should be your C:/Program files or C:/Program Files(x86) unless you installed it into a different folder. Keep the Creatures 2 folder open because we will be returning there soon.

Creating the .Bat:

Open notepad (should be located in your programs folder under accessories if you haven't used notepad ever). After notepad is open copy and paste this into the notepad:

CD C:\Program Files\Creatures Albian Years\Creatures 2
qres.exe c=16
start.exe
CD C:\Program Files\Creatures Albian Years\Creatures 2
::Change 32 on next line to whatever bit depth you normally use (32 for most people these days)
qres.exe c=32
EXIT

This is just a simple .bat file to run that qres.exe u extracted into the creatures 2 folder which allows the file to do its job which is to change the color setting in your resolution (this will also make it change back to the normal bit depth you use when creatures 2 is closed), make sure you replace C:\Program Files\Creatures Albian Years\Creatures 2 in the text you just copied to notepad with the place that you installed your copy of Creatures: The Albian Years (the folder you should still have open from the previous part of this guide, just go to that folder and copy the destination from the address bar and replace the C:\Program Files\Creatures Albian Years\Creatures 2 with what you just copied from the address bar of the Creatures 2 folder). After your done editing what you pasted in the notepad, MAKE SURE in the text you just copied to notepad the part after CD is the location of your Creatures 2 folder (not the folder containing both creatures 1 and 2), if the portion after CD is correct then click file then Save as...

Save the file to your destop, and make sure to name it Run.bat (don't forget the .bat).
The file icon should look like a couple of gears.
After that drag Run.bat to your Creatures 2 folder and Bam, you have now made it possible to run Creatures 2 easily in 16 bit mode without having to go to your resolution and such to change it from True Color to High Color and back again. As you can see it opens a command prompt (black box with text in it), if the command prompt box doesn't bother you you can leave it as it is and you do not have to do the next optional part of my guide, just make sure that you set the start.exe in your creatures 2 folder to run as administrator if your using windows vista or windows 7. Make sure that you go to the shortcut you use to launch creatures 2 and go into the properties and change it from Creatures Albian Years\Creatures 2\Start.exe\ to Creatures Albian Years\Creatures 2\Run.bat\ leave the GOGCREATURES2

Optional:
JS File:

This is completely optional but it makes it so that you run the .bat file hidden so that the only thing that opens is the creatures 2 game.

Make sure you have already done the .bat part and the part before the .bat part before doing this or it wont work at all.

First open notepad again, this time copy and paste this into the notepad:

var WindowStyle_Hidden = 0
var objShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
var result = objShell.Run("run.bat", WindowStyle_Hidden)

After you pasted the 3 lines above into the notepad click file, Save as...
Save the file to your desktop just as you did for the .bat but this time name it Run.js
After you have it saved (it should have a script icon instead of the text icon) move Run.js to your Creatures 2 folder, and once it is in the creatures 2 folder you are done. NOTE: if you haven't already, make sure that you set the start.exe in your creatures 2 folder to run as administrator if your using windows vista or windows 7 because the game will not work properly if you don't (might not even load in general). Make sure that you go to the shortcut you use to launch creatures 2 and go into the properties and change it from Creatures Albian Years\Creatures 2\Start.exe\ in the target field to Creatures Albian Years\Creatures 2\Run.js\

This file isn't a .bat file it is a java script file that runs the .bat file hidden.

Congrats, you no longer have to deal with that annoying Command Prompt in the way! :P

Thanks for reading this guide :) I hope it helps you out and makes you want to play creatures more!

If anyone still needs help with anything just message me and i will try my best to explain it.

ALSO, sorry for bringing up a dead topic, i couldn't create a new topic for some reason :P