Like the title says, I can't even get the game to launch. I click "play" on the GOG client and it flickers on my windows bar a few times, then nothign happens. Please help.

I can.

Check if you have DirectX 9.0c installed manually. (Guide)

works great for me

I clikced the link followed all the steps, tried it in a bunch of compatability modes with and without 3d analyzer, still exact same thing, cant launch.

Since when EE1 uses DirectX 9?
It uses DirectX 7 or older "DirectDraw".
Those .dlls are included in every modern OS, so shouldn't be needed to install them (unless it's Win98 or maybe XP). As it was mentioned several times in other topics - download the game installer without the Gog Galaxy client.

DirectX 9.0c includes DirectX 8 and lower. And these DLLs (apart from DirectDraw) have never been shipped with any OS.

Windows 10 - 1809 .iso: https://i.imgur.com/HHAZ7pL.png
Windows 8.1 .iso: https://i.imgur.com/x8bVxNA.png

DirectX 8 .dll file is clearly present and no additional installation of DirectX redistributable is required. Besides that, EE1/EE2 folders contain required .dlls, and they're read in priority, before SysWOW64 folder (for 32bit games).

What's the next step after downloading the installer without the client?

Please try to uncheck all compatibility settings from the game .exe file. If doesn't work, then play with different compatibility settings, disable full screen optimizations, enable compatibility with Windows 7 (or XP), etc.

I tried everything but still no luck.

Tried NeoEE but still the same.

Windows 10, Nvida 640 here.

The only way, I could run this game without any special patches was to set the compatibilty mode to Windows 8.

Funny, but for whatever reason this does work.

Could you please upload a screenshot of files which are present in your game folder? I have some thoughts, but would like to verify before providing potentially false tips.

Bumping this because I had the same problem and found a fix. This is a resolution issue. You need to first set your desktop resolution to 1024x768 (or 800x600), then the game should start. Next, get into the game settings and set it to your native resolution. Finally exit the game and reset your desktop resolution back to normal. The game should launch fine now.

Took me hours to figure this out.

I had the following issue: Every time I start the game it freezes at start menu and its all black, cant even alt-tab, so only option was to ctrl-alt-del and sign out. Im using windows 10 and I have Nvidia 1060 3GB. The game couldnt run because default video settings are 800x600x16 which and graphic card is running on 32 bit color. My screen resolution is 1920x1080 so I will enter my numbers in the solution below (check your desktop resolution and use those numbers).


- Open the registry editor (Windows key + R, type 'regedit' and Enter)
- Go to Hkey_current_user/Software/SSSI/Empire Earth
- Double click on Game window height and change the decimal value to 1080 (438 in hex)
- Double click on Game window width and change the decimal value to 1920 (780 in hex)
- Double click on Game bit depth and change the decimal value to 32 (20 in hex)
- Exit the registry and run the game WITHOUT compatibility mode
- In the game settings menu, the selected video card should be your graphic card, not Primary display driver
- In the 3D Acceleration section select Direct3D

I hope this fix helps someone as it works now like a charm for me. Good luck