Dungeon Keeper II Fix for XP

[Froberg]

Here's a hopefully helpful and not too confusing information thread for Dungeon Keeper II fans. If you post this elsewhere, please credit me(By a link back here..) as I've spent quite some time getting this together. Specifically, you should link to http://dk.404forums.net as that URL will always link to this thread - regardless of the way the forum structure changes.

LAST UPDATE ON June 9 - 2010.

While some parts of this thread may work for Windows Vista & Windows 7, specifically the updated .dll's there's a rather thorough guide located here, pictures and all.

Fully install Dungeon Keeper II.
Apply the 1.7 patch:

Here are some mirrors:
GameSpot
Dungeon-Keeper.net You can get patches for ALL languages here as well. Highly recommended.

Mirrors on my server.. please don't abuse and at least try the alternatives first - spare me some bandwidth!
File names are self-explanatory, really.

http://404forums.net/filedump/dk2/DK...50_English.exe
http://404forums.net/filedump/dk2/DK...61_English.exe
http://404forums.net/filedump/dk2/DK...70_English.exe
http://404forums.net/filedump/dk2/DK...51_English.exe
http://404forums.net/filedump/dk2/DK...61_English.exe

These are exclusively for the English version of the game.

Consider the v. 180 fan-made patch.

There's a fan made patch for the game, results are not guaranteed, nor is it supported. Either it works, or it doesn't - give it a shot.

DOWNLOAD HERE!


Please don't use this link if at all avoidable.. my poor bandwidth..

Remove the damned copy protection
Copy protection is one of the main reasons for this game crashing and bugging up. Who'd have thunk it?
A relatively easy way of getting around this, is to follow these steps:

* Download UnSafeDisc
* Unpack the file, anywhere and launch the .exe file. (No worries, it's not bad or nothin'. Tested with F-Secure Client Security 9.0 and various online-scanners and anti-trojans.)
* Click on 'Decrypt Game' and a window will pop up.
* Locate the DKII.icd file in your game install directory, and apply. You'll get a message if it was successful or not.
* Delete the following from your installation directory: "DKII.exe", "DKII.icd", "dplayerx.dll", "clc32.dll" & "clockspl.exe" and rename testme.exe to DKII.exe

Movies not working.
This is a very easy fix. Copy the movies directory from your CD to the game directory.

My game crashes every xx minutes.
Try disabling hardware acceleration. (Display settings, troubleshoot)
Putting " -32biteverything " after your shortcut.
as so; target: "C:\Program Files\Bullfrog\Dungeon Keeper II\DKII.exe" -32biteverything
Also, remove the copy protection as described at the start of the tread.
Also; See the "Sound Problems" chapter further down.

Screen goes black and only menu titles and the hand appears.
Go to Options>Graphics>Disable Hardware Acceleration.
Or go to Run > DXDiag and disable hardware acceleration. You may also have luck with: http://404forums.net/asylum/showthread.php?p=38301
Can also be related to "sound problems"

I can't attract higher-level monsters from 17+ levels.
Download this file.
And copy it in to your maps directory, and over-write. This has been reported to solve this issue every time.

Sound Problems.

Go in to your DXDiag audio settings and disable hardware acceleration. (Start > Run > DXDiag)
There's also a sound update for Dungeon Keeper II be warned that this might ruin your game, so make backups. However, it should improve sound, maybe even fix some crashes.
Basically it's an update of Qmixer, and there's an alternate one by darky available as well. Some have better experience with the v5, some with darky's version. Darky's is an updated version 4, and the game ships with version 4. Select one, and try them out seperately if you feel up to it.
You'll also need an updated SFman dll file.
So get either QMIXER v5 or Darky's Qmixer v. 4 alternative along with the SFMAN32.dll

Get nicer graphics in-game.

Edit your shortcut to the game, right click and select properties. In the "Target" field you have to enter the following trickers, as listed after the quotes.
I.E: "INSTALLDRIVE:\INSTALLDIR\DKII.exe" -variable - variable2

The following are available to use:
-softwarefilter
-32biteverything
-enablebumpmapping
-enablebumpluminance

A game installed to the default directory would look like this:
"C:\Program Files\Bullfrog\Dungeon Keeper II\DKII.exe" -softwarefilter -32biteverything -enablebumpmapping -enablebumpluminance
Complex Fixes.

Complex Fix v.1:
1. Install Windows Application Compatibility Toolkit 3.0. ( http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...DisplayLang=en )
Run the program and create a new database.

2. Click Fix.

3. Program to be fixed: Dungeon Keeper II.
Name of the vendor for this program: Bullfrog Productions.

4. Program file location: Browse for the location of “DKII.exe” in the game directory.

5. Operating System Modes: None - Click Next.

6. Compatibility fixes: Select “EmulateSlowCPU” and click next.

7. Click Finish.

8. Choose File > Install and then exit the program.

9a. Create a shortcut for Dkii.exe, choose properties and add -32biteverything in the Target commandline
(it should look something like this: "C:\program files\Dungeon Keeper 2\Dkii.exe" -32biteverything).
Run the shortcut to start the game. The game might still not work if you use any other shortcut.
If the game doesn’t work with this fix either, try to enable “compatibility mode” which can also be found under properties for the shortcut.

9b. Try using a cracked EXE with the application toolkit instead of the custom shortcut.

Complex Fix v.2:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtualpc/default.mspx

This let's you install an OS like windows 98 without using anything but a little spare RAM and some hard drive space. Very effective.
This has the added bonus of giving you playability for all your old games!
The new OS will boot up in a new window, and you can chose to view it either full-screen or in windowed mode.
Note: You’ll need an installation CD for whatever OS you’re going to use. I recommend Windows 98SE. It may degrade actual performance of the game. If you have the option to do a new partition and dual boot, that's certainly recommended.

The odd fix:
Right. On some systems version 1.61 of the game actually works better than the 1.70 version. I suggest you try this if you absolutely cannot get the 1.7 version to work! So try with the 1.61 patch, and disable visual themes in the program properties.

The Last Resort fix:
If you still can’t run the game, try putting –nosound in the command line of the shortcut for the game, this has been reported to work for many people. Something about the soundcards being too new for Dungeon Keeper II to keep up. Apparently.
Granted, the game loses a lot of it’s appeal without the sounds, which are some of the most entertaining I’ve ever heard in any game. But you can play it!

I hope you get your game fixed, if not - feel free to post any questions and I will answer as best I can.

I am using windows XP with Service Pack III installed, and my keeper game is working fine.

Best of luck!

Other Keeper Files:
You can find a whole crapload of hilarious, interesting or downright silly items in THIS thread.

Report Broken Link.

[Froberg]

The discussion over the last couple 'o years has been removed from this thread and archived in this thread:

http://404forums.net/showthread.php?t=3879

I will prune this thread regularly in the future. If your problem is NOT listed in the post above, do a search of the above thread first, before asking a question.

Thank you.

[Froberg]

Merged again. :-)

[Unregistered]

Sorry mate,but you miss the main and really workin fix usable for everything.First and only problem with DK II are outdated dlls for WIN 98 presented in main folder...QMIXER,etc.Replacing with new solve crash every xxx minutes,various sound problems,black screen and also let u use hardware acceleration.And after all u didnt need 1.7 patch...if u want for some reason.

This solution and core of problem was posted and solved on Keepers clan forum maybe in year 2005,strange none of "helpwith" sites never find out.Unfortunately site was canceled in end of 2009 and all of these new and updated dlls are gone.

So if u wanna do a little bit better (and also useful) job,find these dlls and upload them somewhere please.Because for example -32biteverything fix work maybe for 1-2 of 1000.If even work

[Froberg]

Actually, we've had those before at some point if I recall correctly.

You're welcome to e-mail them to me, froberg @ 404forums.net and I'll get them added to the files thread.

[Froberg]

Sorry mate,but you miss the main and really workin fix usable for everything.First and only problem with DK II are outdated dlls for WIN 98 presented in main folder...QMIXER,etc.Replacing with new solve crash every xxx minutes,various sound problems,black screen and also let u use hardware acceleration.And after all u didnt need 1.7 patch...if u want for some reason.

This solution and core of problem was posted and solved on Keepers clan forum maybe in year 2005,strange none of "helpwith" sites never find out.Unfortunately site was canceled in end of 2009 and all of these new and updated dlls are gone.

So if u wanna do a little bit better (and also useful) job,find these dlls and upload them somewhere please.Because for example -32biteverything fix work maybe for 1-2 of 1000.If even work

I finally got around to looking at the damn thread, and they were there, but with odd names. I have cleared up any misunderstandings now.

[Froberg]

Thread's been updated today. More fixes!

Big monsters, big prizes! I LOVE IT!

[Helpful?]

Hi, first time i'm using this site, and I must say thank you for all the hard work going into these fixes, just thought I would throw one in there myself. I was running DK2 with sound problems, tried doing the sound fixes on this site but did not seem to help me out. So I went searching about and someone had suggested fiddling with the Dxdiag sound accelerator bar, so I ran that and slid the accelerator from full to none, and that seemed to fix my sound problem.

[Froberg]

Actually, that was there before I did my whole "clean up" the other day.. *sigh*

Must have inadvertently deleted it.

I'll re-add it.. oh, I just looked and it is in-fact under the graphics option. I shall re-add it to the audio portion.

[Hache05]

I have tried running DKII on my HP laptop that is on windows vista! Whenever i try to run DKII with the 1.7 patch and without the patch. Also have tried various mix's of different compatibility modes and with the visual themes and desktop composition checked. When i try running the prog it just doesn't even load up. The error message from microsoft windows is: "A problem cause the program to stop working correctly. windows will close the prgram and notify you if a solution is available" Please help cause i love this game!!!!!

[Froberg]

Maybe you could look in the Vista/win7 thread.

[notargets]

Hi!

I've manage to find out that there's a possible way of getting Dungeon Keeper 2 to run with modern video cards with hardware acceleration ON without the black background issue. It's about using an older driver.

Firstly, I would like to point out that I have an ATI Radeon HD 3650 (AGP) and an AMD Athlon XP 3200+ CPU. I tried using a glide wrapper on my old OS (Windows XP) and I was surprised to see that the game runs much smoother, plus the textures and shadows are filtered. But then I found out that it was nothing to do with the glide wrapper but the fact that I was using the latest Omega driver released in 2007! I wanted to test if there are other drivers which the game is also "more friendly" with, but my Windows is now so messed up that Direct3d or OpenGL mode don't work in any game.

Unfortunately, even though the game looked nicer and the performance became better I could still hear glitches with the sound and the game would crashed eventually, during the final battle of one of the campaign levels.

Anyway, I'm not fond of drawing back with the drivers, and I don't know if it's worth in this case. (I mean it's simpler to play with software mode, isn't it?) I just thought I would mention my "findings" here.

[Froberg]

Ultimately rolling back drivers is pointless though, unless the only game you play is DK2.

Thank you for throwing in your two cents though, more advice is always welcome.

[Sethiel]

I hope you don't mind if I just copy and paste the text I already posted elsewhere, trying to solve my Dungeon Keeper 2 problems. Here it goes:

Hi guys,

I tried pretty much every advice how to make Dungeon Keeper 2 work on my Windows XP (which took about three days, btw), without success ... it always crashes after random time. Seeing how many people have this problem and thinking it may never work, I gave up and decided to create virtual machine with Windows 98 to completely solve the problem.

Wrong.

1) First I tried VMware. I installed VMware Workstation 7.something, created a virtual PC, installed Win98, installed sound drivers (this was the hard part) and then installed Dungeon Keeper 2. Thought it will work flawlessly now, just maybe a bit slowly. It doesn't work at all. When I run the game, it crashes immediately, before the intro movie, with the message "Program performed illegal operation." Does the same with and without the patch 1.7.

2} When I gave up on that, I tried Microsoft Virtual PC. The process was pretty much the same, just the sound worked fine without any effort. I install and run (!!!) Dungeon Keeper 2 1.7, everything looks good. When I try to start a new game, after the loading screen, the whole screen goes black and it freezes. Some people talk about "black background" or "black screen, just the hand-cursor visible". This is not the case ... it was all black, without any sign of doing something. I then noticed that the "emulated" graphic card has about 8 MB of video RAM ... I think it might be the cause - too little of video memory - but I do not know how to change it.

I will appreciate any advice that will help me run this great game at least one of these ways. I'm getting desperate here, having tried plenty of both reasonable and obscure ways to make it work. Thanks in advance.

Sethiel

[Froberg]

I've just about given up on the whole Win98 emulation. I find the Win7 Emulator to be damn excellent.

[Sethiel]

I've just about given up on the whole Win98 emulation. I find the Win7 Emulator to be damn excellent.

What do you mean? You mean some kind of emulation that Windows 7 includes as default? Please describe that in more detail. I'm very much willing to buy more RAM and install Windows 7 if that will allow me to play this game.

[Froberg]

Win XP just offers excellent compatibility in my experience. I haven't had anything not-run in this system yet. DK2 included.

Go for the ultimate edition. You can check out http://www.microsoft.com/windows/vir.../download.aspx for info on the XP mode. Haven't had a need for it yet though. =)
Win7 is certainly worth the upgrade from XP.

[Sethiel]

Win XP just offers excellent compatibility in my experience. I haven't had anything not-run in this system yet. DK2 included.

Go for the ultimate edition. You can check out http://www.microsoft.com/windows/vir.../download.aspx for info on the XP mode. Haven't had a need for it yet though. =)
Win7 is certainly worth the upgrade from XP.

I'm sorry, I don't understand. When you say "Win XP just offers excellent compatibility", you mean the WinXP mode from Windows 7? Or did you mean Windows 7 in the first place, instead of XP?

And second thing ... do I understand it right that you can run DK2 under Windows 7 without crashes? (if that's the case, it still may work for you and not for me, though ... DK2 is kinda random in this) Would you say it's easier to make it work under Win7 than under WinXP? (because I know people do have problems with DK2 under 7)

[Froberg]

Err, first sentence was supposed to be Windows7.

Well just look at the statistics.

My Vista/Win7 fix thread has vastly fewer hits than the XP one. I take this to mean that most people experience little issue running this game in Win7, myself included.m

[Max]

I have tried everything except the Vitrtual PCbut I can't do anything against the random crashes. In the best case I can play 10 mins in a row before the game crashes. Any idea how to solve that?