Dungeon Keeper 1 on Windows 10

[nommy210]

So, I've been playing Dungeon Keeper 1 & 2 for over 20 years now, and I'm trying to give 1 another playthru because I recently completed DK2. Now, I own both DK1 and DK2 on both CD format and on GOG. The problem I'm having is that I don't like the DOS version. The visuals are ugly, the gameplay feels clunky and even when I adjust the resolution, the game slows down and the AI stops performing certain actions (i don't recall which actions off the top of my head, but it did cost me my initial attempt to play thru the game via DOS).

I don't know where my original copies of DK 1 & 2 are, and I'm hoping they're tucked away somewhere on a CD spindle I have in my closet, but i went ahead and bought yet another DK1 CD copy off ebay. I don't know if it's a problem, or not, but it's the EA Classics copy and I cannot get it to install on my PC (Win10). Moreover, I used to have a copy of my original CD files saved onto an external HDD that a friend rerouted the directories to read off the HDD instead of the CD so I could play without the CD because the CD-R in my current PC makes a highpitched wirring sound any time I use it and I fully expect to get back any inserted CD full of scratches or... for the CD-R to effectively self destruct. I've tried running the installer in compatibility mode with no success except that it created conflicts with some of my other, clean playing, games (which I've resolved).

I'd really like to play the game, again, but I don't know what else to do.

I'm also trying to edit the Creature file, but that'd be pointless if I can't even install the game.

Please tell me there's still hope.

[YourMaster]

What you can do is install keeperfx. It will then copy some files of your CD to make sure you own it, but you do not need to install it. Afterwards you can take out your cd and never need it again.

For gog you could speed it up with Ctrl+F12, pressing it multiple times. But KeeperFX is the much better alternative.

[nommy210]

It worked. I actually wasn't sure if I had a legit copy of the "EA Classics" version because I bought it off ebay.

I will say that I don't think keeperfx was designed with dual monitors in mind. For a minute, I thought for sure it wasn't gonna work, but I just kept tabbing back in and sure enough, it loaded up. I just need to slow the gameplay down a bit. It's a little faster than I remember. Or maybe I'm slower than I used to be -_-.

[YourMaster]

Go for the latest alpha of KeeperFX, the 0.4.9 test build, it recently had new features for multi-monitor support. When you update to 2521, be sure to rename the _keeperfx.cfg to keeperfx.cfg, and there edit the settings you want, and you may want to run the game with -altinput (in that version).

Also, the game is not faster than before, 20fps is what it is. If you want to play in slow motion that works though, also with the launcher you can set it from 20 to any other framerate you want, and the game speed follows that.

[nommy210]

Actually, I noticed that KFX was supporting the resolution on both my monitors so I turned off the support for the 2nd monitor and that cleared up the issue. I may need to test more to make sure it works properly. While I dont like having to tab in 3-4 times to get to the game, I'll definitely take it over not playing the game at all...

[DelbertKorte]

Sorry for replying so late, but I couldn’t resist chiming in. As a fellow Dungeon Keeper fan, I can definitely understand your frustration with trying to get the game to work on Windows 10. Have you tried using a virtual machine to run the game? That could potentially solve the compatibility issues. Additionally, you might want to check out the windows 10 sale reddit. They often have discussions and helpful tips from other users on how to get older games to work on modern systems, including fan-made patches that can improve performance and visuals or some latest software updates. Best of luck in getting Dungeon Keeper 1 up and running again!