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Hey, I don't think this has been done before, so I'm going to try and make a list of all the games that use DirectDraw and a way to fix them.

First off, here are the directdraw dll wrappers which will be used:
ddhack by sol
cnc-ddraw by hifi
Infinity Engine ddwrapper by aqrit
ddwrapper by aqrit
DXGL
yet to do any testing with this, but it looks extremely promising.

Here is a quick bat file I made to toggle the ddraw.dll off and on.

Please feel free to post some of your own results so I can add them or post any errors with the ones currently here.

These were mainly tested on Windows 7, I've left notes at the of each bottom about Windows 8 compatibility as well.

Most of these require having rotating wallpapers.

~~~~Age of Empires & Rise of Rome~~~~
Put ddwrapper in game directory and in aqrit.cfg set:
ColorFix = 1
FakeVsync = 1
ForceDirectDrawEmulation = 1
MAKE SURE ROTATING WALLPAPERS IS OFF IF YOU ARE USING THIS.

Color Fix fixes the water from being the wrong colour, ForceDirectDrawEmulation fixes the rainbow colour right after the starting videos and FakeVsync fixes singleplayer from not being lit up at the start sometimes.

Windows 8
The game should work on Windows 8 (with rotating wallpapers) without this , but if you do use it ForceDirectDrawEmulation will cause a frame trom the video to get stuck on the menu, turning on novideomemory will fix this but then cause videos to be choppy. (and you will need rotating wallpapers off)

~~~~Age of Empires II & The Conquerors~~~~
Put ddwrapper in directory.

In aqrit.cfg set:
ColorFix = 1
MAKE SURE ROTATING WALLPAPERS IS OFF.

Then copy agrit.cfg and ddraw.dll to the age2_x1 directory to make it work for the expansion.

Color Fix fixes the game from having rainbow colours.

Winows 8:
The game will work fine on Windows 8 (with rotating wallpapers) with or without ddwrapper fix above.

~~~~Command & Conquer (95 Tiberian Dawn)~~~~
I suggest updating your game with this.

It includes an optimized CNC draw that should work. This works for Windows 8 too. This will work with slideshow wallpapers.

~~~~Command & Conquer Red Alert~~~~
I suggest using this
as a guide to update to best version. (The 3.03 patch there which will also add fixed network)

Put cnc-ddraw in game directory.

Run the game once then exit to create ddraw.ini.
Run RASETUP.EXE and make sure "Back buffer in Video Memory" is ticked and press OK, this helps fix an issue that causes scrolling speed to be incredible fast. Open ddraw.ini and set these:

Optional
width=0
height=0
Obviously set to whatever resolution you want. this will only stretch it to that resolution. Leaving them as 0 sets it to the games default resolution.
windowed=true
This is if you are like me and don't like a tiny window screen.

Needed
maxfps=60
You can adjust this to whatever you like, I think 60 is the best number though, this is to stop scrolling from going way too fast..
vsync=true
renderer=opengl
This is to stop screen tearing, which I personally got A LOT of without.

This fix should work for Windows 7 and 8 and slideshow wallpapers.

You can also visit here
to get other fixes for the game.

~~~~Dark Reign~~~~
(Yet to try any wrappers on Windows 7)
Works fine without wrappers on Windows 8, the gog version also no longer needs to kill explorer to run.

~~~~Diablo~~~~
Put ddwrapper
in game directory and in aqrit.cfg set:

ColorFix = 1
MAKE SURE ROTATING WALLPAPERS IS OFF IF YOU ARE USING THIS WITH WINDOWS 7.

Fixes colour issues throughout the game.

Windows 8:
Without using ddwrapper the menu has white flashes when transitioning though, the colour will sometimes randomly go bad and you'll get black boxes behind text whilst in the battle.net menu and when naming characters.
Using ddwrapper with color fix on fixes the white flashes on the colour going bad and can still have rotating wallpapers.
Diablo will also crash if you try and tab out of it in Windows 8.

Working Multiplayer:
You can get the IPX multiplayer working with IPXWrapper.
Just extract ipxwrapper.dll, mswsock.dll and wsock32.dll into your Diablo directory and you should then be able to use IPX from the menu. Working on Windows 7 and 8.

Hellfire:
The game will work fine using the same as above ddwrapper settings, you will need to run it in Windows 7 compatibility if you are using Windows 8, though.

Make sure the game is patched to 1.01 using this this manual patch.

If you want to unlock untested content use [url=http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~spaz/downloads/hellfrui-15.zip]this[/url].
Remove or add from the below code in command.txt to use unlocked content:
cowquest;theoquest;bardtest;multitest;barbariantest;
~~~~Fallout 1~~~~
The gog edition comes with a ddraw.dll to fix it, but apparently it has lots of issues with mods.

A better alternative may be to use cnc-ddraw. This will also work on the non gog version.

put it in the games base directory, run the game once to generate ddraw.ini and optionally edit these:
Optional
width=0
height=0
Obviously set to whatever resolution you want. this will only stretch it to that resolution. Leaving it as 0 sets it to the games default resolution.
windowed=true
This is if you are like me and don't like a tiny window screen.

This works with the Hi-res patch if you don't use Direct Draw 7 on it.

You can leave slideshow wallpaper on using this.

Windows 8:
The above fix should work for Windows 8 and with slideshow wallpaper.

~~~~Fallout 2~~~~
I don't have the GOG edition of this so I'm not sure ddraw.dll it uses.

An alternative may be to use cnc-ddraw. This will work on the gog and non gog version.

put it in the games base directory, backup and delete ddraw.ini if it's already in there, run the game once to generate a new ddraw.ini and optionally edit these:
Optional
Obviously set to whatever resolution you want. this will only stretch it to that resolution. Leaving it as 0 sets it to the games default resolution.

This is if you are like me and don't like a tiny window screen.

You can leave slideshow wallpaper on using this.

Windows 8:
The above fix should work for Windows 8 and with slideshow wallpaper.

~~~~Killing Time~~~~ 1. Install DXGL
and follow this guide by Expack:
http://www.gog.com/forum/general/directdraw_fix_configurations/post16]
Windows 8:
Although I've yet to test it I assume this works the same on Windows 8.

~~~~Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds & Clone Campaigns~~~~
Put ddwrapper in the Game subdirectory.

In aqrit.cfg set:

The game works with slideshow wallpapers on.

Color Fix fixes the game from having rainbow colours.

Winows 8:
The game will work fine on Windows 8 (with rotating wallpapers) with or without ddwrapper fix above.

~~~~StarCraft and Broodwar~~~~
Put ddwrapper in the Game subdirectory.

In aqrit.cfg set:
ColorFix = 1
Windows 8:
This will work with Windows 8.

~~~~Stronghold HD & Crusaders HD~~~~
Have yet to try it in Windows 7
Windows 8:
On Windows 8 the game will have a slight lag, to fix this add ddwrapper.

In aqrit.cfg set:
ForceDirectDrawEmulation = 1
~~~~Tzar The Burden of the Crown~~~~
If you untick DirectDraw whilst in setup the game will work fine, but if using multiple monitors, the mouse will not stay inside the game window. To fix this make sure you have ran Setup.exe once and then open Tzar.ini and set this:

This will make the mouse stay inside the games window, if you run Setup.exe again you will have to redo it, though.

this fix works with slideshow wallpapers, and Windows 8.

~~~~Warcraft II Battle.net Edition~~~~
Put ddwrapper
in the Game directory.
In aqrit.cfg set:

MAKE SURE SLIDESHOW WALLPAPERS ARE OFF.

The Blizzard logo at the start will have the wrong colours but this makes the rest of the game work.

Winows 8:
The game will work fine on Windows 8 with (if with, turn off rotating wallpapers) or without ddwrapper fix above.

Will be adding more as I troubleshoot, please help by testing these yourselves and posting feedback.
Post edited February 21, 2013 by Rhiyo
You spent a lot of effort doing this by the look of it - that itself deserves a +1 !

Might try C&C and AoE once I find my discs... somewhere...
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KylieM: You spent a lot of effort doing this by the look of it - that itself deserves a +1 !

Might try C&C and AoE once I find my discs... somewhere...
Thanks :) I have a strange hobby of getting older games to work on newer hardware/software haha.
Post edited January 10, 2013 by Rhiyo
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KylieM: You spent a lot of effort doing this by the look of it - that itself deserves a +1 !

Might try C&C and AoE once I find my discs... somewhere...
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Rhiyo: Thanks :) I have a strange hobby of getting older games to work on newer hardware/software haha.
Heh, you should get a job on the GOG team! :)
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Rhiyo:
I'll have to check out ddwrapper when I get some time.

I've been using Ithis method to get DirectDraw games working, but a proxy DLL sounds fine to me.
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KylieM: Heh, you should get a job on the GOG team! :)
That'd be my dream job :)

I've updated the current games in the list with a bunch more info.
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KylieM: Heh, you should get a job on the GOG team! :)
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Rhiyo: That'd be my dream job :)

I've updated the current games in the list with a bunch more info.
Removed the nocd links.
Post edited January 11, 2013 by JudasIscariot
Sorry, I assumed because C&C and RA were released in future updates without a CD they'd be legal, and because AoE 2 was just editing the registry and not implementing any files it'd be fine and I though Diablo would be abandonware by now.

I should have probably looked this up before posting, my apologies, and thanks for the warning!
avatar
Rhiyo: Sorry, I assumed because C&C and RA were released in future updates without a CD they'd be legal, and because AoE 2 was just editing the registry and not implementing any files it'd be fine and I though Diablo would be abandonware by now.

I should have probably looked this up before posting, my apologies, and thanks for the warning!
AFAIK, Diablo is most definitely NOT abandonware. It's old, yes, but the rights holder is still around and it's still being sold last time I checked :D
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Rhiyo: Sorry, I assumed because C&C and RA were released in future updates without a CD they'd be legal, and because AoE 2 was just editing the registry and not implementing any files it'd be fine and I though Diablo would be abandonware by now.

I should have probably looked this up before posting, my apologies, and thanks for the warning!
avatar
JudasIscariot: AFAIK, Diablo is most definitely NOT abandonware. It's old, yes, but the rights holder is still around and it's still being sold last time I checked :D
Ah okay, that makes sense. I have the CD but I find it annoying that they don't sell it on the Blizzard online store.

I thought atleast Hellfire would be abandonware by now because it's not supported by anyone at all anymore, but looking further into it that doesn't even seem to be abandonware yet.
Added more and adjusted some.

If people could test the Fallout 1 & 2 one with mods that'd be great!
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Rhiyo: Ah okay, that makes sense. I have the CD but I find it annoying that they don't sell it on the Blizzard online store.

I thought atleast Hellfire would be abandonware by now because it's not supported by anyone at all anymore, but looking further into it that doesn't even seem to be abandonware yet.
The fixes are nice and you definitely should put them to the games on the gogwiki.com to have everything in one place :)

About abandonware: There is nothing like abandonware. It is just a term that has been made up. Most right holders of really old titles do not care, but this does not make it legal to get rid of copy protections (altering the original files of the program wihout written approval of the company or person who owns the rights of the game/software) or download the games from the internet.
Thanks for the knowledge on abandonware.


I'd love to put them on GoGWiki, but as I'm the only one who has tested these I'd much rather wait and see others results just in case some are wrong. Also what section what I put it on?
I'd like to point out the existence of a very nice DirectDraw-to-OpenGL wrapper called . While it's very much in an alpha state, with the most common problem I've seen being the cursor not working, DXGL will let you play such games as [url=http://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/killing-time]Killing Time on Windows XP and higher with no difficulties.

Note that, aside from the build requirements listen on the website, if you want 3D graphics, you'll need to download the source code and build the code in its DEBUG version. Also, the code seems to have an issue where it does not pass the version number to NSIS during the build process; this can be fixed by hard-coding the number.
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Expack: I'd like to point out the existence of a very nice DirectDraw-to-OpenGL wrapper called . While it's very much in an alpha state, with the most common problem I've seen being the cursor not working, DXGL will let you play such games as [url=http://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/killing-time]Killing Time on Windows XP and higher with no difficulties.

Note that, aside from the build requirements listen on the website, if you want 3D graphics, you'll need to download the source code and build the code in its DEBUG version. Also, the code seems to have an issue where it does not pass the version number to NSIS during the build process; this can be fixed by hard-coding the number.
I wish you didn't show me this. I'm going to be up all night testing games now!