For absolutely no reason I can discern (they were working fine before and I didn't change anything at all), both Creatures 3 and Docking Station now give me this error when I try to start them, and if I click "Continue" I just get a black window:

Catalogue Error: CLE0012: Index 3 out of range 0 to 0 for tag app_insufficient_disk_space

Windows NT/2000 5.1 build 2600 (Service Pack 3)
OriginalDisplay DirectX (no modules)
Thu Jun 09 23:31:48 2011 - Jim - 2.296

It's just the default GOG installation. I completely uninstalled and then reinstalled using the GOG installer, and still get the same error.

Still having this issue, tried the DX2010, re-installing to C: instead of D:, changing display modes, resolution, updating display drivers, disabling catalyst AI, running in different comparability modes, running as admin, tried using DDHACK to add the directdraw.dll to the file directory which removed the dd error, but game still crashed with the unexpected error. Running Windows 7 Professional X64 AMD X4 processor 4GB of Ram ATI 4600 HD Graphics Any insight is welcome, i did not find any successful tips for windows 7 other than "It just worked for me" Though what I gather is it is somehow missing the older directx drivers for direcdraw comparability? not certain though.

never mind i realize i have a different error :

The game could not be started due to a direct draw error.

Windows NT/2000 5.1 build 2600 (Service Pack 3)
OriginalDisplay DirectX (no modules)
Sat Oct 20 00:38:18 2012 - icarus - 2.296

I know this is a very old thread, but I have discovered the cause of this very problem. Apparently, it normally writes disk space data in the 'user.cfg' file. If it can't find DiskSpaceCheck and DiskSpaceCheckSystem entries, you will end up with that error.

Only way to fix it is to delete the 'user.cfg' file in the Creatures 3 directory. That way, it will generate a new 'user.cfg' file with those fields/entries intact. Only drawback is you do need to set the executable to run in 16-bit mode.