Installing the older components of DirectX 9 could solve the problem.
Download the
DirectX End-User Runtimes (June 2010).
Run the file and extract it to a separate folder when asked.
Then go there and run the file DXSETUP.exe to start the installation.
If it still doesn't run, try starting the game directly with ..\Dungeon Keeper 2\DKII.exe and not the Desktop shortcut or any other executable (like DKII-DX.exe).
If the game starts with DKII.EXE, but you get a black background in the main menu or a crash, hardware acceleration might not work properly, so we switch to software mode.
- Quit the game and open regedit (press Windows-Key + R to open the run dialog and type in
regedit)
- Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Bullfrog Productions Ltd\Dungeon Keeper II\Configuration\Video
- Set "Engine Id" to "4"
- Set "Screen Hardware3D" to "0"
- Restart the game with ..\Dungeon Keeper 2\DKII.exe and check if it's running.
It's important not to run the game as another user, e.g. as administrator or in compatibility mode, because the registry key won't have any effect then. Just double-click DKII.exe within the \Dungeon Keeper 2\ folder.
If you already experience problems during the intro movie, try deactivating it. Simply rename the "Movies" folder in ..Dungeon Keeper 2\Data\ to skip it.
