cnc-ddraw

cnc-ddraw can fix compatibility issues in older games, such as black screen, bad performance, crashes or defective Alt+Tab.

 

Features

• Supports Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10, 11 and Wine
• GDI / OpenGL / Direct3D 9 renderer (With automatic renderer selection)
• Upscaling via glsl shaders - https://imgur.com/a/kxsM1oY | https://imgur.com/a/wjrhpFV
• Windowed Mode / Fullscreen Exclusive Mode / Borderless Mode
• Alt+Enter support to switch quickly between Fullscreen and Windowed mode
• Automatically saves and restores window position/size/state
• FPS Limiter
• VSync
• Optional mouse sensitivity scaling
• Preliminary libretro shader support - https://github.com/libretro/glsl-shaders
• ...

 

Instructions

1. Download cnc-ddraw.zip and extract it into your game folder
2. Start the game

Wine (Linux/macOS) only: override ddraw in winecfg

 

If you use cnc-ddraw with a game that got its own windowed mode built in then make sure you disable the games own windowed mode first.

If you want to play in windowed mode then start the game once in fullscreen and then press Alt+Enter to enable the cnc-ddraw windowed mode (Or enable windowed mode in the config program without using Alt+Enter).

 

If the game starts but it doesn't work perfectly then open the config program and check the Compatibility settings. Alternatively you can also open ddraw.ini with notepad and modify the Compatibility settings in there.

 

cnc-ddraw does not support Direct3D/Glide, it will only work with games that use a DirectDraw (Software) renderer. Usually you can tell by the look of the game if it's a 3D game or not, but you can also let cnc-ddraw generate a debug log and search for "IDirect3D" - Link: https://github.com/FunkyFr3sh/cnc-ddraw/issues/44

 

Some games may require additional steps before they can be used with cnc-ddraw, please check the wiki for more details.

 

Compatibility settings in ddraw.ini

• If there are problems on Alt+Tab then try to set noactivateapp=true - If it still doesn't work also try renderer=opengl or renderer=gdi.

• If the game is running too fast then try to set maxgameticks=60 - If it's still too fast, try a lower value.

• If windowed mode or upscaling are not working properly then try to set hook=2 and renderer=gdi.

• If videos or other UI elements are invisible then try to set nonexclusive=true.

• If the game is stuttering on a Freesync/G-Sync monitor then try to set minfps=-1.

 

If the game doesn't start at all or it's crashing, then please generate a debug log file and upload it.

 

Hotkeys

• [Alt] + [Enter] = Switch between windowed and fullscreen mode
• [Ctrl] + [Tab] = Unlock cursor
• [Right Alt] + [Right Ctrl] = Unlock cursor
• [Alt] + [Page Down] = Maximize window (Window borders must be disabled in config)

 

Supported Games

• Command & Conquer Gold
• Command & Conquer: Red Alert
• Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun
• Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2
• Carmageddon
• Carmageddon 2
• Warcraft 2
• StarCraft
• Diablo
• Diablo 2
• Age of Empires
• Age of Empires II
• Theme Hospital
• Populous: The Beginning
• Outlaws
• Dungeon Keeper
• Dark Reign: The Future of War
• Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds
• Atomic Bomberman
• Dune 2000
• Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee
• Commandos
• Red Baron 3D
• F-16 Multirole Fighter
• F-22 Raptor
• Nox
• ...

There are a lot more games supported but I don't usually update the list, just give it a try and if it doesn't work then check the instructions above.