DW install and play
 

I tried the following:
I copied the d2d8.dll file to the main DW folder ..... then I extracted to the madl DW file.

Right clk on exe file ... ran as admin, (also tried reg without admin) selected XP service pak 2... received messs.. "failed to initialize the graphics display"

I also receive response.... "it appears DW is not installed on this computer.

I also tried with patch 1.04 same results... I have read everything I can regarding this problem'

Roland

the problem with the graphics layer is because you are running the game in XP SP2 mode. change it back to nothing or windows 8 and it should run. make sure you are running the newer version (v.02 or whatever it is) should be dated 8/3/2015

for me, after putting the wrapper dll (d3d8.dll) in the folder, I run the EXE with the following settings:
compatibility mode windows 8
disable scaling for high DPI
run program as administrator

when you need to change resolution, change it through the INI file, don't bother going to the options menu. changing it via options menu = CTD.

DW
 

Thank u I will try now

Followed instructions and still receive FAILED TO INITIALIZE GRAPHICS DISPLAY

Zero: I tried as per your instructions.. no go. I just went back to my 30" Dell monitor 2560 x 1600.

Is the wrapper d3d8 ziped or rar... maybe I am using the wrong unzipping program.... even Notepad++ does not list the items one per line?

Roland

Window mode
 

After reading through the threads and posts here (many thanks for the helpful info) I was able to install from my original CD's to a Windows 10 machine, dropped a copy of the wrapper DLL into the DW folder and the game runs.

Sweet!!

But now I'm being picky and want to run it in a window instead of full screen. I know right?!

I edited the compatibility properties of the shortcut:
- Run in Windows Vista SP 2 (tried Win 8 too)
- 16-bit color mode
- Disable scaling on high DPI
- Run as Admin

And then changed the ModeID and RunInWindow settings in the INI but after starting the game I get the blacked out window and two error messages:

- Failed to initialize the graphics display
- Context Create Error: -2147467259

Looking in the wrapper.log file I see:

029746f8:emu::Direct3DDevice8Emu::initialize windowed mode is currently not supported

Is there anyone that is able to run DW on a Windows 10 machine in window mode?

nope - not that I am aware of, without using a virtual machine. its a limitation of having windows 8/10 and having to use the wrapper. what the wrapper is, is essentially a Direct3D 8 (super old) emulator. D3D8 is from 2000.

i've tried running the game on a side-loaded linux with wine, still no go for me. best case scenario for me (in windows) is I can play the game for about 5-15 minutes, then get a random CTD.

my last option is a Windows XP virtual machine, but I'm not really sure that's going to work either.

Just like to post again here. for me, the wrapper is a very imperfect solution. it works, but is very unstable for me and my system. occasionally i'd be able to get some of the lighter missions to run for about an hour. usually I end up having issues in less than 15-20 minutes.

my best solution so far has been to run VMWare (free version) loaded with a free copy of WinXP SP3. this works fantastic, although the FPS aren't exactly stellar and i've had to turn the graphics down, it runs pretty much like it would on a machine from 2004. I'm getting a solid 20-30 frames.

now, if we could get a wrapper that functions similar to however VMWare is doing it, I think we'd be golden. but that's probably a pipedream.

the only issue i've run into is if I accidentally resize the VMware window (wish there was a way to lock it, i'm not that familiar with it) it crashes the game. you can even run the game windowed, however its still limited by the 16-bit color depth, which makes it IMO pointless, besides the fact that you can just run the game "fullscreen" in the VM, which can be a window by itself, so its not like you absolutely need windowed mode, as the VM is functioning as such.

if anyone is interested in this and doesn't know how to get started, I can provide help.

There's this Voodoo Wrapper that allows DW to work in window mode on win10.

Link here: http://dege.freeweb.hu/temp/dgVoodooWIP35.zip

Just copy all files from the MS folder plus dgVoodooCpl.exe folder to DW root.
Set the Dangerouswaters.exe to run in 16bit color mode and edit dangerouswaters.ini to run in window mode.

Game also crashes with this wrapper when changing resolution and window mode in the game settings, so same rule of changing in the dangerouswaters.ini file also applies here.

Komat's wrapper works but it takes some hit on performance as it's constantly doing regex operations on the background to intercept graphics calls.
Don't know about the performance on this one.


EDIT: Looks like this wrapper only works with DW on window mode...

Hi folks,

I recently decided to resurrect my old copy of DW and am running it in Win10.

I am also using the above wrapper DLL to get glorious 1600 x 1200 resolution on my 1920 x 1200 monitor which IMO looks fine and seems stable.

However..... I am having an issue with the messaging text at the bottom of the screen and the data in the top left of the navigation screen, being corrupted. All other text is fine.

(Sorry - how do I add an image to this post??)

The only way to fix it is to change the ini file ModeID value back to 1, in which case I lose the nice resolution and go back to ugly graphics.....

I tried running the windowed mode fix above, but whilst it allows me to run in windowed mode it does not fix this problem (unless I revert back to ModeID 1).

I can't seem to find any mention of this in this forum but I'm sure I can't be the only one to have this issue!

Any suggestions would be gratefully received :salute:

RBG


Never mind......all fixed - did a complete fresh install! Why didn't I think of that in the first place?! :doh:

Hi Guys.

I post to point an alternative about how to run DW and Sub Command in Windows 10 without the need of the known wrapper.

Of course If the wrapper d3d8.dll works for you there is no need to use my solution. It is just an alternative. The wrapper worked great for me but gave me some graphical glitches like garbled sonars in some russian subs.

Sub Command

-Use DGVoodoo2. There is an advantage of using this because you can configure details like VSync, Anisotropic Filtering and Antialiasing options and it looks great.
-In subcommand.ini Change "SoftwareCursor" to "Yes" if your mouse cursor in game dissapears erratically and flickers.

Dangerous Waters

-Use DGvoodoo2 as well but now the game must be 16 bits windowed, so you need to change this in the exe compatibility.

One thing to note is that the wrapper dll and the dll used in dgvoodoo2 are named the same "d3d8.dll" so they seem incompatible.

I hope it is useful as an alternative. Greetings

EDIT: One more advantage I have noticed using dgvoodoo2 in DW is that now the 3D graphics render as expected, without the common color banding typical in 16 bit color.

Unfortunately you can't adjust gamma with the voodoo wrapper so you're stuck at hunting for ghosts on the sonar screen. With the regular wrapper you put gamma to 0.8 and everything is nicely visible.

DW Help with resolution issue
 

Hello all, I ran DW on my laptop with this fix for a long time. Recently my laptop crashed I fixed it and have gone through all the steps to fix it but cannot get it to work like it did before. It will run and play fine but I am getting 3/4 black screen and then the program itself. Any help would be great. I have also tried the DWXnd program I saw from FPSchazly's video but the current version of that file differs from his video and so some of the input parameters are not the same as his video. Thanks!

welcome aboard!
 

Yeah, I'm having no luck either. I can use the Voodoo method described above to get it to run in a teeny little window, but that's not going to fly on my 4K screen. If anybody knows how to get it to stretch out, I'd be grateful for further suggestions.

Try to set: 90% contrast, 110% brightness - it works for me (I used windowed mode with ModeID 3)

Flickering
 

Hello again, people.


I cannot seem to get rid of the flashing problem for the RH-60 HUD, the fact that the digital map in RH-60 cockpit is missing, the software mouse "trails", and the fact that no lines show up on the FFG TMA even after the wrapper has been installed.


Any news on this? I don't care much for graphic issues, but the FFG motion analysis is something I want to be functional.


Running through bootcamp on a AMD R9 M370X, win 10 and vanialla DW.