Creatures 2 DirectX bug

Problem

Creatures 2 won't run

A messagebox is shown, the game seems to be starting then it quits.

The error [DDERR_INVALIDPARAMS] has been detected when attempting to draw game sprites.
Please check that your desktop is in 16-bit video mode, Microsoft DirectX is correctly installed and
that you have the latest driver software for your graphics card.
Extra information: [Creatures path]\dung.S16

Known errorcodes the solution applies to

DDERR_INVALIDPARAMS

Affected systems

Windows XP, Windows 7,[1] Windows 10[2]

Workaround

Go to start->run, type regedit, and hit OK, then go to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\CyberLife Technology\Creatures 2\1.0

find Loading Flags entry and modify it from 0 to 1.

Note: This entry will be created after running the game for the first time.

Effect

The game should now tell you it's renaming some files and run after a while. It may run slower, than normal, as I suppose.

Known exclusions

This fix works unless all the addons installed, it seems one of them modifies the entry back to 0 when the game is starting.

Possible reason for the workaround working

The game might be running without 2D hardware acceleration.

Goodies

Copy this to Notepad and save as "fix.reg", then run whenever you want to apply the fix.

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\CyberLife Technology\Creatures 2\1.0] 
"Loading Flags"=dword:00000001

See also

• DxWrapper

External links

• Creatures 2 - Win7 Fix - has discussion of various hex editing codes to help.