Is this game gonna work in windowed mode on a widescreen monitor without raping my desktop colours or whatever? I.e is it an option in the game or an easily tweakable config file or would I have to jump through a bunch of hoops? Just asking because I was really sad about Alpha Centauri for this reason even though it looks like a great game, don't want to have the same thing happen twice and google didn't leave me with much confidence.

There is a keyboard shortcut for windowed mode. Just press F5 and it switches to windowed. Don't know if there's and option in the config files or not.

Ok, I got it on this advice, but the game is essentially unplayable because the mouse is like a centimetre and a half lower than the one on screen, making it an exercise in frustration as you click around at the bottom trying to hit the tiny correct spot without going out of the window. Do not recommend to anyone who intends to play this way.

I have played the CD version of Zeus in windowed mode on Win 7. I had the cursor problem but I think I fixed it by changing the window size. Maybe Maximise then Restore, or Minimise then Restore. Sorry can't remember exactly.

I can vouch for this, I've been using Maximise/Restore to re-align the mouse so that I can play in windowed mode. It's worked great so far. I'm on the GoG.com version btw.

Simply resizing the window also works, but it makes it harder to get it back to a 'real' resolution again.

So, it does not need to have the color at 16bits to windowed to work like Pharaoh?

If you have a laptop or 4K monitor or TV.
Scaling (text and elements) over 100% (125% or 150%) is often used at high screen resolutions.
(this is to make the elements larger and the text to be readable)
Because of this, the picture or buttons are displaced, the mouse click does not fall. To run Windowed Mode, it is very important:
1) To lower the Color Rendering to 16bit
2) Scaling equal 100%

For Windows 10, it is possible to set options only for the Game
(to avoid changes to the entire System)
Right click on the .EXE
Properties =>Compatibility =>LowColorMode =>16bit
Properties =>Compatibility =>HighDPISettings
check the box OverrideScalingBehaviour and "Application"

For Windows 7, you will have to set options of the entire System
Start =>ControlPanel =>Screen =>Resolution =>AdvancedSettings =>Monitor =>Color Quality =>16bit
Start =>ControlPanel =>Screen =>EaseScreenReader =>Small-100% Screen settings saved in .INF
But they are presented in binary form, you can’t edit them in a regular notepad.

www.nexusmods.com/zeusmasterofolympus/mods/1?tab=files
"Display option patcher scripts"
Change display settings outside game.
"Resolution Switcher EXEs"
"Windowed mode On or Off EXEs"