I had this error before. I am using Windows XP SP2 and all I did was uninstalling the game and installed the game into my C Drive instead of D. It's becoming my habit to install games into D drive since it has a lot more disk space than the C drive.

So if anyone having this problem install the game into the C Drive. Works for me. Hope this helps and have fun, guys ! :)

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.