Okay so here is my last idea for you to try.

Run the Aow Setup, go to settings and change the Startup Video Mode to Window.
Then run the game and hit Maximise.

I've had that problem too. Sometimes I have to reboot to fix it, occasionally even more than once.

I know that on at least one occasion, it happened when my virus checker was grinding away overtime, and another when java was uploading an update in the background (java is the absolute worst at this -- it sucks up a lot of memory or system resources or something, but can bring anything I'm doing to a halt or cause weird things to happen).

So my guess is that the program is especially vulnerable to background system-hogs and tends to go on the fritz when too many/much cpu cycles or memory are getting used somewhere else.

Enable direct 3d and the flicker should go away. I found it in the game folder for AOW Shadow Wars as an executable icon

I am having the same problem, and there is no Direct 3D option for the first Age of Wonders.

I am now using this utility to run the game in a fullscreen borderless window, which seems to have fixed the flickering problem. It is not an ideal solution as I would rather play at 1600x1200 than my desktop resolution, but it works.

i had same problem as well, it was not only AOW but also some other games bought on GoG .
i think it's something related with background programs, all games which had flickering solved problem after i disabled some motherboard apps such as AI suites ( Asus's one).

I just purchased AoW from gog yesterday and immediately installed it on my 64-bit Win 7 Pro machine. Ran the setup program and then the game started up fine and I worked through the tutorial (since I hadn't played the game since Win95 days).

The game played fine without any problems except for the regularly irregular flashing that is quite irritating. The game is otherwise quite playable, but that flashing (as one poster said it may not happen for some seconds and then you get a couple of quick flashes in a second or less). It's enough of a distraction that it really interferes with my enjoying the game.

I'm trying different combos of compatibility/admin permission, but no luck so far.

Now that I've played the game again for a few minutes I'd say there is a semi-regular pattern, at least on my machine. It seems to flicker steadily maybe 3 times in 2 seconds and then it will sort of "hiccup" and the middle of the screen in particular seems to flash a couple of times and then it's back to flashing 3 times every two seconds or so for a bit and so on.

Most of the games I've bought from GOG have run fine or needed minimal tweaking. Hope there's a fix for this.

I've installed this on five different 64-bit Win 7 machines over the past two years and been able to solve graphical issues by tweaking the AoW config choices. Not once have I messed with the compatibility/admin permissions. I currently have the "use direct3d" activated and English selected as the language. I vaguely recall that these two things can cause issues... (Either the game or the 1.4 patch leaves the language not selected which caused the issues I think.)

It does use the integrated graphics on my laptop which leads to heat issues, but I don't play for more than an hour at a time anyway.

Right it might not be to everyones taste playing a game in windowed mode. But I can tell you that works. Not flickering at all.

THANKS guys that worked. I couldn't play on my steam version of the game. But the got this version works by making it a window! Awesome!

Switching into windowed mode does stop the flickering, but when I switch back into full screen it comes right back. Is there any way to get rid of the flickering in full screen?

Moved the post to a separate topic as it does not relate to AoW 1.

AoW2 Shadow Magic: Flickering screen problems