Hi! I've been trying to run Dawn of Magic (2007) on Windows 7, and I've hit a block. I can't get it to run in Compatibility Mode, and "Run as administrator" just makes it harder to shut down when it locks itself. In both cases it goes black immediately, sometimes with choppy music from the intros.

Would appreciate any help or tips with this!

* My setup:
CPU: Intel Core i5-4430 3.0 GHz
RAM: 12 GB
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960
DX: DirectX 11
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit

* Recommended for Dawn of Magic:
CPU: Pentium 4 2.0 GHz or Athlon XP+ 2500
RAM: 1 GB
GPU: GeForce 6600GT or Radeon X800
DX: DirectX 9.0c
OS: Windows 2000 / XP

Have you tried to install DX 9?

Oh, isn't DirectX backwards-compatible?

Well, it should, but it isn`t. You should instal DX 9 besides DX 11/12, to ensure that older games run properly.

So I did some more testing yesterday night and found out that if I let the game run through the black-on-primary-screen/flickering-on-secondary-screen-phase for five minutes or so, the game got to the main menu, and I was able to play through the tutorial without issues. I have no idea if this was the case from the beginning, and I was just bored or scared by the flickering into trying to shut it down prematurely.

Thanks for the tip about DirectX 9.0c, Maxvorstadt. Currently the game is running with DirectX 9.0c (installed from the game disc even), and in compatibility mode for Windows XP (SP3).

Not sure if it applies to this game, but is your CPU on 100% when trying to start the game.
This might be worth a look.
https://www.gog.com/forum/general/old_games_not_launching_and_eating_100_of_the_cpu_on_windows_7/page1