You have troubles running the game?
You get a crash while playing the game?
You get dark zones or have graphical glitches?
Then it's your lucky evil day!
The goal of that topic is to store all the useful information to install Dungeon Keeper 2 correctly, how to play the game without troubles and solve any glitches or crashes occurring in-game.
Q. How to install Dungeon Keeper 2 correctly?
First, it depends on which DK2 edition you have:
- If you have a single CD, then you have the English version of the game. You can't play the game in any other languages. Simply insert the CD into your CD-Rom Drive and install the game by following the instructions.
- If you have 2 CDs, then you have the multilingual version of the game. If you want to install the game in English, insert the first CD into your CD-Rom Drive and follow the step above. Otherwise, if you want to play the game in any other languages, you must insert the second CD instead and start installing the game using that CD by selecting the corresponding language you want to use. During the installation, a window will appear to tell you to insert the first CD to finish the installation.
Once the game has been installed, you are free to patch the game if you wish to. Visit Dungeon-Keeper.net to get the different patches available (there are 2 pages).
Then, download the "DK2 Bonus Packs" to get additional levels and stuff.
Finally, download the unofficial DK2 Patch 1.70 to 1.73f to improve the game a bit. You must have the 1.70 patched version of DK2 to use it.
Note: If you get an error message while you install the game mentioning that you can't run a 16-bit application because it is impossible to find a certain file, follow these steps:
1. Select "Start", then "Run".
2. Type in "regedit" (without the quote marks).
3. Go there: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\FileSystem
4. Set the value of NffsDisable8dot3NameCreation to 0.
5. Restart the installation.
If you get any other problems in the steps above, it's the good time to post now.
Q. How to run Dungeon Keeper 2 under Windows?
To run the game to its best capacity, you must first remove SafeDisc copy protection. The reason why is because SafeDisc is generally the main source of crash that you get during the game. It seems that when you run the game over today's computers and OS, SafeDisc becomes unstable with that new environment and causes DK2 to crash during the game.
To remove SafeDisc, follow the steps below:
1. Download UnSafeDisc v1.5.5 included at the end of the post.
2. Unzip everything on your hard drive at any place.
3. Launch "UnSafeDisc.exe".
4. Click on "Decrypt Game", a window will pop-up.
5. Go find "DKII.icd", select it and click on "Open".
6. If everything goes well, you should get a message that it has been decrypted successfully.
7. Go into where Dungeon Keeper 2 is installed and delete the following files: "DKII.exe", "DKII.icd", "dplayerx.dll", "clcd32.dll" and "clokspl.exe".
8. Finally, rename "Testme.exe" by "DKII.exe".
You're done!
If, however, UnSafeDisc is crashing during the operation, set its compatibility mode to "Windows 98" by right-clicking on "UnSafeDisc.exe", selecting "Properties" in the menu and clicking on "Compatibility" tab. Then, click on the check box and select "Windows 98" in the drop-down list. Click "Apply" and "OK".
Next step is to use command lines to use better graphics. Before trying the command lines, run the game to see if there's no graphical problems on the main menu or in the game. If everything is fine, try to add the command lines. Follow these steps:
1. If you already have a shortcut for Dungeon Keeper 2 on your desktop, skip to step 4.
2. Go where you have installed Dungeon Keeper 2. By default: "C:\Program Files\Bullfrog\Dungeon Keeper 2". Be sure that your desktop is also partially visible.
3. Click and hold the right mouse button on "DKII.exe" and drag it over the desktop. Select "Create a shortcut here".
4. Right-click on the shortcut and select "Properties".
5. In the window, find the "Target" box. At the end of that box, add the following words after the quotation marks:
-softwarefilter -32biteverything -enablebumpmapping -enablebumpluminance
So that it gives:
Code:
"C:\Program Files\Bullfrog\Dungeon Keeper 2\DKII.exe" -softwarefilter -32biteverything -enablebumpmapping -enablebumpluminance
6. Click on "Apply", then on "OK".
Now and furthermore, run the game by using that shortcut. If you get graphical problems, remove the command lines in the shortcut. You can get more informations about command lines here.
Q. I'm encountering problems with Dungeon Keeper 2 (crashes, error window, sound bugs, graphical glitches...)
Solutions:
- Be sure that your drivers (sound card, video card...) are up to date.
- Be sure that you have removed "SafeDisc" copy protection like explained above. This is generally the main source of crash on today's computers.
- If you get black pixels, areas or blocks in the game or in the main menu, try with or without the command lines I explained above. Something that generally works is to remove the "Hardware acceleration". To do so, go into the "Graphics Options" of the game and uncheck "Hardware acceleration".
- Try to run the game by using the "Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit" available for free on the Microsoft website. Once it is installed, run the program and follow the steps below:
1. Create a new database.
2. Click on "Fix".
3. Enter "Dungeon Keeper 2" (without quotes) into "Name of the program to be fixed".
4. Enter "Bullfrog" (without quotes) into "Name of the vendor for this program".
5. Enter the location of the "DKII.exe" file into "Program file location".
6. Select "None" for "Operating System Modes" and click on "Next".
7. Select "EmulateSlowCPU" for "Compatibility Fixes" and click on "Next".
8. Click on "Finish".
9. Select "File" and "Install" and quit the program.
10. Run the game.
- Avoid running the game using a compatibility mode. This is because it constantly resets the options of the game and can cause graphical problems. However, if you try and the game seems to run better, then you'll have to change the Options each time you start the game. To apply a compatibility mode to the game, follow these steps:
1. Right-click on "DKII.exe" and select "Properties" in the menu.
2. Click on "Compatibility" tab.
3. In "Compatibility mode" frame, check the box and select "Windows 98" from the drop-down list.
4. Click "Apply" and "OK".
- For those that use Windows Vista or Seven, note that it is much difficult to run the game on such recent computers. A solution to run the game is to partition your hard drive and install Windows XP or, even better, Windows 98 on the other partition. You can also use "Virtual PC", but it's not guaranteed it's gonna work well.
- If you're using a computer with multiple cores (Dual Core, Quad Core), you must know that Dungeon Keeper 2 dislikes that. You'll have to temporarily disable some of your cores to allow the game to run better. Follow these steps:
1. Run DKII like as usual and then, press simultaneously on ALT+TAB (or Windows key if it doesn't work).
2. Once on the desktop, press simultaneously on CTRL+ALT+DEL to open the "Task Manager".
3. Click on the "Process" tab and right-click on "DKII.exe" into the list. Select "Set Affinity".
4. Uncheck all the boxes EXCEPTED for "CPU 0". Then, click "OK".
5. Close the "Task Manager" and press ALT+TAB to return back to the game (or click on its button into the task bar).
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I hope these useful informations will help you to run the game without any problems. If you still get problems, then it's the time to post something. I will also do my best to keep this page up to date.
Have fun, Keepers!