Hi there!

Like everyone else, i messed with different "Summoner" bugs, trying to run it on a modern machine with discrete videocard and Win 7 | Win 10. What i found - there is no way to make "Summoner" running with D3D normally even with wrapper - game even doesn't detect that kind of renderer, and if you try to start it without setup - error appears (or black screen).
Then i found that using DGVoodoo there is a way to make game run perfectly with 3dfx Glide renderer. It solved all known bugs as overspeeding after cutscenes, unhidable Windows panel, broken camera, craches to desktop, and more. The only found problems with this renderer is strange working textures (some problems with lights, textures with shadows may flicker sometimes) and forced 16-bit color (because of Glide). You don't need to be worried about 16-bit color since "Summoner" was designed to work with this palette, and textures with broken brightness will be seen no more (just check any brickwall in Lenele Docks to understand).

So, what do you need to do to make "Summoner" run on modern systems?

1. Go to http://dege.freeweb.hu/ (malware free) and download latest stable version (today it's 2.62.3 - 20.11.2019);

2. Unpack it's contents somewhere;

3. Copy/paste "dgVoodooCpl.exe" to "Summoner" root folder (where sum.exe is);

4. Copy/paste .dll's (Glide, Glide2x, Glide3x) from "x86" folder in "3Dfx" to "Summoner" root folder (where sum.exe is);

5. Run "dgVoodooCpl.exe", go to "Glide" tab and configure as follows:

3dfx Card: Voodoo 2
Onboard RAM: 12 MB
Resolution: Unforced
Enable Glide gamma ramp: check
Force vSync: check
Antialiasiing: (set as you prefer, to me it's "app driven")

Go to "General" tab and configure as follows:

Appearance: Full Screen
Scalling mode: Unspecified
Miscellanneous:
Keep windows aspect ratio: Check
Capture mouse: Check

6. Launch "Summoner" and go to "setup";

7. Make sure "Detect Glide" is checked;

8. Click "Detect Available Cards";

*** Wait till wrapper is detected ***

9. Make sure "3DFX Glide" is in "Currently selected";

10. Set resolution as you please;

11. Don't forget to click "Detect" on "Speed" tab to make sure that wrapper is on the go;

12. Click "OK" to close launcher, then start the game;

P.S: There is slight problems with resolution scaling - since internal resolution of the game is 4:3, on 16:9 monitors you'll see that picture is a little bit stretched. For now, i don't have any solution for this, since you can only set "keep 4:3 aspect ratio" in "scaling mode" in dgVoodoo settings to make game running with black borders from left and right side of the screen, then it'll be unstretched. But for me there is no problems with stretched picture at all - spend a little time in game, and you'll forget about this.

Enjoy!

Thank you :)

I didn't have any bugs with the standard 3D renderer on Windows 10. But I'll just say that I recommend just using the highest 4:3 resolution that fits on your screen with dgVoodoo. Usually the best thing to do with old games that were not made for widescreen. I personally hate the stretched look of old games. Using the largest 4:3 makes games look as crisp as if you were using the native resolution of your monitor, just with black bars on the sides. The game only allows you to use 1024x768 max by default. So instead of using "Unforced" resolution in dgVoodoo, my recommendation is:

1920x1080 display - use 1440x1080
2560x1440 display - use 1920x1440
3840x2160 display - use 2880x2160

But Glide has some problems. The main one is the lighting and shadows (mentioned in the OP), where when you are moving in or out of an area with shadows, they keep adjusting around you somewhat frequently and I found this somewhat distracting on the eyes. Another thing is that some textures may flicker when the camera is moving and in cutscenes, close objects have a tendency to at least partially disappear when too close to the camera.

EDIT:
The normal Direct 3D renderer also has some issues. I don't mind the resolution limitation. but in some cutscene conversations or under certain angles, some characters have visible black lines on polygon edges, especially in the face, when they are moving their mouth, eyes etc. It was extremely visible on the 2nd character that joins your party and was quite distracting. There are also problems with some textures blinking if the distance from them is too high when in large open areas Hard to pick which renderer is "less bad" :/

EDIT 2:
Also, with Glide, you have to force VSync. Otherwise, after the first cutscene you encounter, all the animations will be sped up. This will probably happen only if you have a refresh rate higher than 60, but definitely worth mentioning.

EDIT 3:
Finally stuck with Glide. Once I left the first city, the shadow issue became much less noticeable. And the crispness of 1920x1440 compared to 1024x768 is a very nice bonus.