Alright, started a new thread for DDrawCompat here.

My first guess would be that you should try running the game as an administrator. Please post your feedback in the linked thread.

Just to bring the issue to completion, narzoul figured out the problem and has a ddraw.dll to fix it. I've downloaded it and been playing with it for the past several days with no graphical issues. I don't miss those trailing squares!

You can visit the other thread for the resolution, or find the ddraw.dll on this website:
ddraw.dll

Sorry, complete novice here - how does one use the ddraw.dll file? Trying to open it asks for a programme to run it in.

Yes it works! all you have to do is look up "narzoul ddraw.dll" download use winrar to open the file drag and drop into the shrine wars 2 game files listed under "gog galaxy" as of early 2020 and boom you can play the game. Super easy.

There is a better way: thankfully, the new GOG update enables Windows 10 compatibility. The game runs on W10 now!

Though it STILL does not on W8.1

I have just tried downloading it now, still get NOTHING at all. All black screen. Not even the menus some people describe. But I do get sound.

I bought this way back in 2014, it did not work on Windows XP back then.
Tried it again in 2018, did not work on Windows 8.1 64.
Tried it again now out of curiosity (and I'd been dabbling with Deadlock 1), noticed a new "1.20 hotfix" installer available for download. So tried it again, STILL not working.

I mean, this stinks doesn't it? SEVEN YEARS, and GOG still haven't fixed it. Yet they're still flogging it! Isn't this fraud? It's a welching of their "it works we guarantee" promise at least! Or is that old GOG promise now a thing of the long gone past?

Anyway, I could get access to a W10 system a try it, seeing as centrinox says it works on W10. And I've put another support ticket in.

All the solutions about downloading draw.dll's is just blather to me, just don't understand it!

Can confirm works pretty well on Win 10 (don't ALT+TAB or save before you do, to be fair). Windows 10 has been out for six years and Windows 11 is landing in three days. I don't think you can reasonably expect support for older OSes at this time.

Actually I forgot to mention, I did get this working. eventually. Managed to download that alterate .dll file - which is what the GOG installer should be installing. I'm sure the guy who made the .dll would let them if they asked nicely.

Anyway W11? Oh noes! Not another one....... actually, we got lucky with ME, XP and 8.1, they do seem to be the least evil of the windows curses. The rest stank, or stink in the current sense as with W10. Maybe W11 will be one of the better few?

Things were best when windows was OPTIONAL (3.1) and we all used DOS which didn't cripple our PCs by gobbling 50% of all their resources, introducing draconian system registries, taking over control of our PCs from us, the actual users etc.

Hello all,

This is my first post here, but I post a lot on the Gallius IV Deadlock fansite forums.

I know that many of you have fixed the issues with DL2 using other's ddraw.dlls, but I was still having some issues, so I created my own solution, and I wanted to share it here with everyone.

I'm hoping that it will fix the problems with the game for those that haven't had any luck so far, but I need some help testing it out to make sure it works like it should.

Please take a look at my post on Gallius IV (forum(dot)galliusiv(dot)com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=526) if you're interested in trying it out, and please let me know how it works.

I'm a lot more active on those forums, so if possible, please respond to that post to report any issues as I will see them much faster. I will still try to check here periodically though as well.