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Has DirectDraw support ceased in Windows 10?

Bruce 1 Reputation point
2021-07-25T11:46:59.933+00:00

Just re-installed an old Microsoft PC game (Age of Empires 2 on CD) on my Win10 PC (recently bought), but when I try to run it (in compatibility mode) I get "Could not initialize graphics system. Make sure that your video card and driver are compatible with DirectDraw". My graphics card is one of the latest from nVidia and I have contacted them. Apart from telling me to make sure I have their latest drivers, they told me that DirectDraw is no longer supported in Windows 10. Correct? Any chance Microsoft have some way of making this work?

Windows API - Win32
Windows API - Win32
A core set of Windows application programming interfaces (APIs) for desktop and server applications. Previously known as Win32 API.
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  1. Castorix31 85,136 Reputation points
    2021-07-25T12:20:59.62+00:00

    DirectDraw still works on Windows 10
    I just tested on my OS (Windows 10, 1909, no graphic card) (DirectDrawCreateEx and so on, it works but animations are less smooth than with Direct2D

    But MS says at DirectDraw :

    DirectDraw is no longer recommended for use. With the release of Direct3D 9.0, all two-dimensional functionality is contained within Direct3D, its associated helper functions in D3DX, and the DirectX 11 technology Direct2D. However, the DirectDraw reference documentation is still available in this section.

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