Apologies if this was asked before, but I did a quick search and there is some conflicting information regarding this. There really should be a sticky post with definitive info

_Could anyone confirm whether DK1 GOG come with the DOS or Windows version? What is the difference between the two?

_Regarding DK2, I found this thread:
https://keeperklan.com/threads/2957-Have-GOG-DKII-which-patches-would-work-best

Now:
1.6 this version introduces the elite creatures.... and breaks the AI to the level beyond retarded. AI no longer attacks or defends.
1.7 [...] It completely destroys the game, by destroying the last more or less workable game aspect - the multiplayer.
1.7 GOG edition is a very good patch for 1.7 that eliminates most of the graphical glitches from the game.

From the above it seems that the GOG version is one with the elite creatures but "beyond retarded" AI that neither attacks nor defends. If this is the case, is the GOG version even playable? I mean what's the use of playing the game if your opponent is this bad? And there seems to be no fix:

1.8 was a fake patch that claimed to fix stuff, but failed. The person creating it had no idea what he was doing, and though the effort is appreciated, the output is very poor. This "patch" was simply a copy/paste of other patch versions making a separate "version". In reality it has a base of 1.73, with a few files copied over. While some people claimed that this worked for them, it broke the game for others.

From what I read all that Windows offered is better graphics, but gameplaywise it's same. Is that correct? So a the single player campaign is playable, only skirmishes are not?

DK1: Gameplay is the same yes, only very low resolutions are supported. Main thing is compatibility.

DK2: Campaign levels where you face rival keepers have the same problem. Downloadable levels without keepers also work fine. The problem is that keepers never think your attack is dangerous, so when you attack he won't respond with his creatures and just lets you do whatever you want.

Like I said, the 'General Improvement Mod' fixes this by allowing you to play the game in version 1.3/1.5 with the additional features of 1.6 and 1.7.

Thanks. Didn't notice that post. Cheers.

Sorry to bother you again, but I just went through the mod and it contains lots of other improvements, with no apparent option of installing them separately. Is there any way of getting *only* the "good" AI without any other changes. Basically what I want is the 1.7 GOG version with a working AI from 1.51 but no other changes or improvements.

I don't think so no, unless you can find another version of the MOD. Wyrmcast started out with making a MOD that gets the 1.7 features but non of bugs of that version. However, he made more and more crazy changes which people didn't liked. He resented that and had his account deleted and removed the mod.
When it happened I just happened to still have version 1.05 of this MOD in my temp folder, which I uploaded to Keeperklan. I believe it is one of the better versions, but there may be others around if you search for it.

OK, thanks. I guess I'll look around. For the moment, I'll be playing DK1 anyway.