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Stronghold seriesFix for Stronghold HD on WIndows 8(14 posts)(14 posts)
(14 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted November 11, 2012
high rated
So Microsoft finally removed DirectDraw from Windows 8. Honestly you can't really blame them, it's been deprecated since DirectX 8.

But that means games like Stronghold crash or run slowly out of the box on Win 8.

BUT! There is a fix.

Download this, extract it into the main Stronghold directory (C:\GOG Games\Stronghold HD or wherever you installed it to) and edit the config file to set 'ForceDirectDrawEmulation' to 1.

Start the game up and it will work. It will flash the screen a few times, and it will take a minute, but it will come up and it works A-OK. Tested this on 2 different Windows 8 boxes so far.
Post edited November 11, 2012 by phanboy4
Posted November 14, 2012
Thank you very much for that tipp! I hadn't played Stronghold in years and thought the choppy performance under Windows 8 was just how it ran back in the day.
It's so smooth now. :D
Posted January 07, 2013
Have been looking for something like this but not for stronghold.

I have to say stronghold hd works (didnt actually play) just fine on 8 just as long as you dont run fraps because then it just crashes.

DirectDraw maybe deprecated but its still very much in windows 8 and there are plenty of games that use it and it works better then in 7 where you get rainbow colours everywhere.
Posted July 17, 2013
Thanks a bunch for this man. Thought I was going to have to reinstall Windows 7 to play it alright :D
Posted August 12, 2013
I did what you said and i do get the flashes for a minute and then it will crash... can you plz help
Posted January 04, 2014
I followed this guide and it still wan't working for me, but I managed to fix it.
The missing step for me was to set the executable compatibility mode to WinXP SP 3.
Now it works perfectly!
Posted April 23, 2014
I purchased both Stronghold HD and Stronghold Crusader HD today.

Thing is... I didn't need the DirectDraw wrapper at all.

Actually, I used the wrapper at first when Stronghold Crusader Extreme HD refused to run. It fixed the problem /so thanks to the original poster for this/.

Then I downloaded and installed Stronghold HD vanilla and forgot to copy the wrapper to the installation folder.

The game refused to run, as expected. BUT since I didn't wanted to be bothered with copying/pasting the wrapper files once again, I decided to try just changing the Compatibility settings to Windows XP Service Pack 3 and .... voila!

No wrapper needed for me (this might not work universally, and the wrapper method is fully functional, but I just wanted to point that out)

This simple method (changing the compatibility mode to Windows XP SP3) works for both Stronghold HD (2001 game) and Stronghold Crusader HD (2002 game). The OS in my PC is Windows 8.1 Update 1.
Post edited April 23, 2014 by Grintiff
Posted April 29, 2014
avatar
phanboy4: Download this, extract it into the main Stronghold directory (C:\GOG Games\Stronghold HD or wherever you installed it to) and edit the config file to set 'ForceDirectDrawEmulation' to 1.
I'm using steam and I don't really know how to change the config file.

Would you know how to do that?
Posted February 14, 2015
avatar
phanboy4: Download this, extract it into the main Stronghold directory (C:\GOG Games\Stronghold HD or wherever you installed it to) and edit the config file to set 'ForceDirectDrawEmulation' to 1.
avatar
Honeycombe: I'm using steam and I don't really know how to change the config file.

Would you know how to do that?
Simply right-click on the shortcut (or game .exe) and select the "Compatibility" tab. Check the "Run this program in compatibility mode for:" box, underneath that select the down arrow and select "Windows XP (Service Pack 3)".

Now you're all set. Sorry for the necro, but I've recently re-downloaded on a new computer and had this issue. Googled it and then came across these posts. Fixed my own problem and hopefully everyone else who ends up doing the same thing as I did.
Posted July 24, 2015
I followed all procedures before ..but flashes once and then me error
Posted November 07, 2016
avatar
Grintiff: I purchased both Stronghold HD and Stronghold Crusader HD today.

Thing is... I didn't need the DirectDraw wrapper at all.

Actually, I used the wrapper at first when Stronghold Crusader Extreme HD refused to run. It fixed the problem /so thanks to the original poster for this/.

Then I downloaded and installed Stronghold HD vanilla and forgot to copy the wrapper to the installation folder.

The game refused to run, as expected. BUT since I didn't wanted to be bothered with copying/pasting the wrapper files once again, I decided to try just changing the Compatibility settings to Windows XP Service Pack 3 and .... voila!

No wrapper needed for me (this might not work universally, and the wrapper method is fully functional, but I just wanted to point that out)

This simple method (changing the compatibility mode to Windows XP SP3) works for both Stronghold HD (2001 game) and Stronghold Crusader HD (2002 game). The OS in my PC is Windows 8.1 Update 1.
this worked also fine for me on windows 10. thx for the tip!
Posted January 23, 2019
avatar
phanboy4: So Microsoft finally removed DirectDraw from Windows 8. Honestly you can't really blame them, it's been deprecated since DirectX 8.

But that means games like Stronghold crash or run slowly out of the box on Win 8.

BUT! There is a fix.

Download this, extract it into the main Stronghold directory (C:\GOG Games\Stronghold HD or wherever you installed it to) and edit the config file to set 'ForceDirectDrawEmulation' to 1.

Start the game up and it will work. It will flash the screen a few times, and it will take a minute, but it will come up and it works A-OK. Tested this on 2 different Windows 8 boxes so far.
Works as expected also on Win10 x64 1803. Thank you!!
Posted March 15, 2019
This helped me fix my tearing issues I had when scrolling. Maybe it's just an unfortunate side effect, but this wrapper made the game finally playable again. Slight tearing is still present, but way more managable. Neither vsync in the drivers configuration, nor compatability mode helped. Using Windows 10 with an RX 580 8GB.
Posted May 02, 2019
Thank you very much for fix, this helped me a lot with tearing problem i had while scrolling!
Windows 10, RX 470 GamingX 8GB is my graphics.
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Stronghold seriesFix for Stronghold HD on WIndows 8(14 posts)(14 posts)
(14 posts)