Jazz Jackrabbit 2 on Windows 8/8.1/10 DirectDraw issue

[Alberto]

Hello

I installed Jazz2 a few days ago on my laptop with Windows 8 and I noticed it just ran as on my old Packard Bell desktop computer from 1998 :)))

Apparently, older versions of DirectDraw are broken on Windows 8, 8.1 and the Windows 10 Tech preview. So I assume it will be broken on the retail version of Windows 10 as well.

I didn't find any answer about this on the Jazz Jackrabbit 2 faq so please close this in case a solution has been provided already.

There's a small utility called ddwrapper on http://bitpatch.com/ddwrapper.html to solve this problem. It works by intercepting calls of applications and games just like the real DirectDraw library. And this should work for other old games too. You just need to download the package on the site and unzip it on your Jazz2's folder and edit the "aqrit.cfg" file.

This is my config
;;; www.bitpatch.com ;;;

RealDDrawPath = AUTO
BltMirror = 0
BltNoTearing = 0
ColorFix = 1
DisableHighDpiScaling = 0
FakeVsync = 0
FakeVsyncInterval = 0
ForceBltNoTearing = 0
ForceDirectDrawEmulation = 1
NoVideoMemory = 0
SingleProcAffinity = 0
ShowFPS = 15

After that, start Jazz2 and it should work as speedy as on Windows 7 and earlier.
The sourcecode is included with the tool.

-Alberto

[ShadowGPW]

As always, good guy Alberto!

I've made this a sticky topic. Since I can confirm that my Win 8.1 laptop can actually play JJ2 now.

[Alberto]

Great! I see you are still around!

[Slaz]

A.. Ma.. Zing! My earlier workaround involved disabling hardware accel for DirectDraw as a whole, which brought on some different complications but made it run smooth at least.

This actually makes it run the way it should! So thanks a ton and welcome back Alberto The Great! 8D

[SAMI]

Thanks a lot!!!! Finally I can run JJ2 on my new PC. Was going to quit JJ2 and other DDraw games. Not anymore.

[Alberto]

Thanks Slaz!
You are welcome SAMI

I suppose for more advanced settings you can use dxwnd (http://sourceforge.net/projects/dxwnd/)
It's an utility mainly designed to run old games on windowed mode. But it has other series of tweaks that might be useful. Will work in full screen mode too.

Take care

[Gamerz31w]

Ban is awaiting for me.So my problem is i can't select home cooked levels i'm redirected to storyline levels not custom ones?I have Windows 10.

[Violet CLM]

You're probably running a particular pirated copy of JJ2 that managed to break home-cooked levels somehow.

[Gamerz31w]

when i about 8 or 10 years old i played legit copy of jazz jackrabbit 2.

[Violet CLM]

And HCL probably worked in it.

[Gamerz31w]

HCL?

[Treylina]

HCL = HomeCooked Levels.

[Gamerz31w]

thanks i found legit version and it works

[Superjazz]

For me the problem is a little bit different, I believe. I am using Windows 10. The game runs smooth enough as long as I don't switch to full screen while I'm in game. Whenever I join an online game in windowed mode and switch to full screen, I stop receiving game-packets. I still receive chat and can use commands etc. normally, but all incoming game-related traffic stops for my client. Other clients can still see me in-game but my client will eventually timeout from the server and all servers become unpingable as well, until I restart my client. These pictures should show the issue pretty well.

http://i.imgur.com/K2SOtC3.png
http://i.imgur.com/zKPSpQU.png

Also this does not happen when I switch to full screen in the menus and join a game already in full screen mode. Switching back to windowed mode does not bring any problems either. But everytime I do it from windowed to full screen, this happens. I have tried the fixes here in this thread, and while they nicely improve my fps in full screen mode, they still don't fix this problem. For me it might take a while to get used to the windowed mode, since I've always played full screen and I am likely to accidentally turn on full screen mode at any time, due to my key-preferences.

[Slaz]

For me the problem is a little bit different, I believe. I am using Windows 10. The game runs smooth enough as long as I don't switch to full screen while I'm in game. Whenever I join an online game in windowed mode and switch to full screen, I stop receiving game-packets. I still receive chat and can use commands etc. normally, but all incoming game-related traffic stops for my client.

I confirmed this over a year ago in the old JJ2 on Windows 8 thread, but never looked into it further as I was more baffled by the FPS problem at the time, and learned to prevent switching in and out of fullscreen while in a game.

MasterSven also confirmed it a while ago. I don't exactly have a clue about what happens, but I believe it's Windows's 8/8.1/10's Window manager being always on while programs are running fullscreen to keep listening to and displaying notifications. Somehow the 'initialization' of this feature (after switching to fullscreen in-game) interferes with JJ2's netcode, but as long as you go into (and stay into) fullscreen mode before starting the in-game server browser you can play fine.

[Ninja]

..............wtf?! Alberto? :O

[proud2beamerican]

Seriously, who uses Windows?*

*sorry for this Linux geek spam, but I have 2 good reasons:
1. Windows sux
2. There are some weird settings on this forum. As a new user I can't post a new thread unless I have posted 2 posts in existing threads... :(

[Love & Thunder]

1. A matter of opinion. I tolerate Windows because it runs every game in existence, and it's good enough. I tried Linux a while back, and while I did like it, I moved back to windows because of gaming. Anyway, that's just my thoughts; opinions are like armpits, everyone has them, and they all stink.
2. That's an anti-spambot measure. Should be gone now. Welcome to the JCF! :)

[CoaldustPony]

Never mind - figured out my error. I had hardware acceleration enabled in my settings Disabled and the game runs fine!

[Sal]

Hi,
I just want to say the game works great in windows 10 with Voodoo 2 wrappe better than before :)

[SAMI]

Hi,
I just want to say the game works great in windows 10 with Voodoo 2 wrappe better than before :)

Yeah, it also fixes the black screen issue while alt tabbing and lets Nvidia Shadowplay record the game.

But, I get these weird ass errors, like JJ2 can't set 640x480 etc etc.

[Lansie]

We're having a problem on windows 8 as well, but the above fix doesn't work so it's probably unrelated (but restrictions on creating new threads when you haven't replied yet, yada yada). Basically: the left arrow key (and maybe up as well?) is permanently pressed even though we're not doing anything. Makes it impossible to play since the menu is just a game of roulette (and makes a lot of noise) and if you happen to be lucky enough to start a game, you run headlong into the cliff on the left and it refuses to ever go right.

We've tried on two different laptops, both windows 8, with a bunch of different versions. All show the exact same problem. Is there anyone who knows a fix for this?

[Treylina]

We're having a problem on windows 8 as well, but the above fix doesn't work so it's probably unrelated (but restrictions on creating new threads when you haven't replied yet, yada yada). Basically: the left arrow key (and maybe up as well?) is permanently pressed even though we're not doing anything. Makes it impossible to play since the menu is just a game of roulette (and makes a lot of noise) and if you happen to be lucky enough to start a game, you run headlong into the cliff on the left and it refuses to ever go right.

We've tried on two different laptops, both windows 8, with a bunch of different versions. All show the exact same problem. Is there anyone who knows a fix for this?

Are you using a controller? Because I know something like that has happened before with one.

[Lansie]

Are you using a controller? Because I know something like that has happened before with one.

No, though we did briefly try with a controller to see if that would fix it (it didn't).

[anhhung01]

I am using win 10, this article is very useful to me

[poseidon]

Hello

I installed Jazz2 a few days ago on my laptop with Windows 8 and I noticed it just ran as on my old Packard Bell desktop computer from 1998 :)))

Apparently, older versions of DirectDraw are broken on Windows 8, 8.1 and the Windows 10 Tech preview. So I assume it will be broken on the retail version of Windows 10 as well.

I didn't find any answer about this on the Jazz Jackrabbit 2 faq so please close this in case a solution has been provided already.

There's a small utility called ddwrapper on http://bitpatch.com/ddwrapper.html to solve this problem. It works by intercepting calls of applications and games just like the real DirectDraw library. And this should work for other old games too. You just need to download the package on the site and unzip it on your Jazz2's folder and edit the "aqrit.cfg" file.

This is my config
;;; www.bitpatch.com ;;;

RealDDrawPath = AUTO
BltMirror = 0
BltNoTearing = 0
ColorFix = 1
DisableHighDpiScaling = 0
FakeVsync = 0
FakeVsyncInterval = 0
ForceBltNoTearing = 0
ForceDirectDrawEmulation = 1
NoVideoMemory = 0
SingleProcAffinity = 0
ShowFPS = 15

After that, start Jazz2 and it should work as speedy as on Windows 7 and earlier.
The sourcecode is included with the tool.

-Alberto
Thanks a lot man! It worked even worse on my Windows 8.1 laptop, and now works smoother than I expected! You a genius!!

[burnout92]

For those people to can't be run smoothly Jazz 2 in DDraw mode:

1.Download DXWrapper from here: https://github.com/elishacloud/dxwrapper/releases
2.Copy to Jazz Jackrabbit folder these files: dxwrapper.asi, dxwrapper.dll , dxwrapper.ini and from the Stub folder ddraw.dll
3.Open dxwrapper.ini with any editor and look like this:

;; Config file for DirectX DLL Wrapper
[General]
RealDllPath = AUTO
WrapperMode = AUTO
LoadCustomDllPath =
ExcludeProcess =
IncludeProcess =
RunProcess =
WaitForProcess = 0
DisableLogging = 0

[Plugins]
LoadPlugins = 0
LoadFromScriptsOnly = 0

[Compatibility]
Dd7to9 = 0
D3d8to9 = 0
DDrawCompat = 0
Dinputto8 = 0
DisableGameUX = 0
DxWnd = 0
EnableDdrawWrapper = 0
EnableDinputWrapper = 0
EnableDsound8Wrapper = 0
HandleExceptions = 0
SingleProcAffinity = 0

[DDrawCompat]
DDrawCompat20 = 1
DDrawCompat21 = 0
DDrawCompatExperimental = 0
DDrawCompatDisableGDIHook = 0
DDrawCompatNoProcAffinity = 0

[ddraw]
ConvertToDirectDraw7 = 0
ConvertToDirect3D7 = 0
DdrawOverrideBitMode = 0

[Dd7to9]
AutoFrameSkip = 0
DdrawEmulateSurface = 0
DdrawWriteToGDI = 0
DdrawLimitDisplayModeCount = 0
DdrawUseNativeResolution = 0
DdrawClippedWidth = 0
DdrawClippedHeight = 0
DdrawOverrideWidth = 0
DdrawOverrideHeight = 0
DdrawOverrideRefreshRate = 0
DdrawIntegerScalingClamp = 0
DdrawMaintainAspectRatio = 0

[d3d9]
AnisotropicFiltering = 0
AntiAliasing = 0
EnableVSync = 0
EnableWindowMode = 0
ForceVsyncMode = 0
FullscreenWindowMode = 0
WindowModeBorder = 0

[FullScreen]
FullScreen = 0
ForceWindowResize = 0
WaitForWindowChanges = 0

[dinput8]
FilterNonActiveInput = 0

[dsound]
Num2DBuffers = 0
Num3DBuffers = 0
ForceCertification = 0
ForceExclusiveMode = 0
ForceSoftwareMixing = 0
ForceHardwareMixing = 0
ForceHQ3DSoftMixing = 0
ForceNonStaticBuffers = 0
ForceVoiceManagement = 0
ForcePrimaryBufferFormat = 0
PrimaryBufferBits = 16
PrimaryBufferSamples = 44100
PrimaryBufferChannels = 2
AudioClipDetection = 0

I hope to work this for you. :)

[hexaae]

Alternative solution for fast and smooth DDraw on Windows 10 using Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit (AKA Compatibility Administrator) 32bit. No 3rd party wrappers required.

1. download and install MS-ACT from https://docs.microsoft.com/it-it/windows-hardware/get-started/adk-install. Don't worry, you can download and install just MS-ACT (less than 10MB), not the entire 6GB package!

<img src="https://i.ibb.co/D5tz93p/1934864423-preview-App-Comp-Toolkit.jpg" alt="1934864423-preview-App-Comp-Toolkit" border="0">

2. download and Load with MS-ACT this .sdb (https://1drv.ms/u/s!ApMUGr0cuN39getMLBd8_lXuJ2LL4g?e=4bYKui) and Save + Install (use right mouse button) it.

<img src="https://i.ibb.co/hxGPxyC/image.png" alt="image" border="0">

(You can uninstall the patch from Installed programs. MS-ACT is not required to be installed for the patch to work after you applied it, so you can uninstall it if you want)

[PeterPham]

Hello

I installed Jazz2 a few days ago on my laptop with Windows 8 and I noticed it just ran as on my old Packard Bell desktop computer from 1998 :)))

Apparently, older versions of DirectDraw are broken on Windows 8, 8.1 and the Windows 10 Tech preview. So I assume you tried viasil (https://ncaids.org/viasil-review-and-results/) it will be broken on the retail version of Windows 10 as well.

I didn't find any answer about this on the Jazz Jackrabbit 2 faq so please close this in case a solution has been provided already.

There's a small utility called ddwrapper on http://bitpatch.com/ddwrapper.html to solve this problem. It works by intercepting calls of applications and games just like the real DirectDraw library. And this should work for other old games too. You just need to download the package on the site and unzip it on your Jazz2's folder and edit the "aqrit.cfg" file.

This is my config
;;; www.bitpatch.com ;;;

RealDDrawPath = AUTO
BltMirror = 0
BltNoTearing = 0
ColorFix = 1
DisableHighDpiScaling = 0
FakeVsync = 0
FakeVsyncInterval = 0
ForceBltNoTearing = 0
ForceDirectDrawEmulation = 1
NoVideoMemory = 0
SingleProcAffinity = 0
ShowFPS = 15

After that, start Jazz2 and it should work as speedy as on Windows 7 and earlier.
The sourcecode is included with the tool.

-Alberto

I had hardware acceleration enabled in my settings Disabled and the game runs fine!

[HildegardBlank]

A.. Ma.. Zing! My earlier workaround involved disabling hardware accel for DirectDraw as a whole, which brought from phen375 official website https://www.coastandards.org/phen375-reviews-results/ this phen375 review helped. on some different complications but made it run smooth at least.

This actually makes it run the way it should! So thanks a ton and welcome back Alberto The Great! 8D

Had some nostalgia while playing my favorite game, Jazz Jackrabbit 2, and made this.

[Libra Hot]

Alternative solution for fast and smooth DDraw on Windows 10 using Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit (AKA Compatibility Administrator) 32bit. No 3rd party wrappers required.

1. download and install MS-ACT from Don't worry, you can download and install just MS-ACT (less than 10MB), not the entire 6GB package!

(You can uninstall the patch from best fat burner for men (https://www.outlookindia.com/outlook-spotlight/best-fat-burners-2023-for-men-women-unbiased-reviews-of-six-top-notch-supplements-out-there--news-250488) installed programs. MS-ACT is not required to be installed for the patch to work after you applied it, so you can uninstall it if you want)

I want to install it but the given link is not supporting installing.
I don't know that there is a problem in my system or in the link. Can ypu plz help me?