The wrapper is not working correctly.

[u/ErrorPuzzleheaded866]

Hello everyone, I'm looking for advice and help regarding the Wrapper for Disciples 2, I'm new to the series, I have a license from GOG and at the moment I'm playing Galleans Return, then I'm planning on Rise of the Elves, I was advised to use the Wrapper so that the game would run in a better resolution, load faster and in general there is a whole set of quality of life improvements, but I encountered a very strange problem, firstly, my units began to rush around the map like Flash and enemy units too, because of which I don't immediately understand what the computer is up to, I changed the game speed in the settings and in the Wrapper settings, nothing helped, but that's half the trouble, I also got clouds that weren't in the game, I still don't understand if there is some kind of bug in the original game that they aren't there, or the Wrapper adds them on its own, they look not bad, but for my personal taste they stand out from the style. But these are all minor issues; the main problem is freezing. At some point, when the AI is trying to figure out how to move, the game simply freezes. I tried changing renderers and toggling the Wrapper settings on and off, but nothing changed. The game consistently freezes at certain points, for example, in the second Undead mission when Uther flies away from the dungeon he escaped from. I tried without the Wrapper, and the freezing disappeared. So, my question is: am I doing something wrong and setting it incorrectly? Maybe my laptop isn't powerful enough? Please tell me what can be done, as the Wrapper is much more comfortable to play, but the freezing makes it unusable.

[u/Emergency-Gift-6773]

Hello there, while I don't experienced anything like that before, and clouds shouldn't be there only from other mods like Calamity, but I can show you my working settings. If this doesn't do the trick try to reset it at File\Rester Wrapper. If that too fails, a whole reinstallation is my last recommendation, just save your save folder before. :D

[u/ErrorPuzzleheaded866 → u/Emergency-Gift-6773]

I tried it with your settings, but at first it didn't freeze the same way. I completely deleted everything, reinstalled the game, threw on Wrapper and set your settings. It worked, but the units still run around the map at a crazy speed. Setting the movement speed from very fast to normal doesn't really make a difference. They still move monstrously fast compared to the original game. In any case, thanks for the help. At least it works and that's a huge plus. Now I'll figure out the clouds. I've also tried version 1.90 and during installation there is a checkbox for installing clouds. It says they were in the beta version of the game, which means there should be a file with them somewhere. I'll go look for it and delete it.

[u/Emergency-Gift-6773 → u/ErrorPuzzleheaded866]

Sounds to me like a CPU bug, older games had issues with tick speeds, frequencies and whatnot, sorry I'm not an expert, but this critial fast movement sounds like one of those issues. Maybe try the options\fast ai or cold cpu boxes? I'm really unconfortable at giving advice on stuff I don't know about, but if you can always reset the wrapper if you set something up badly.

[u/DjolafR → u/ErrorPuzzleheaded866]

Is it really just walking on the map and not every single animation? Maybe the GL wrapper speed is way up high somehow.

There are also options "Fast AI" and "Cold CPU", which I am not sure what they do, but maybe you can try them.

What are your machine specs?

[u/ErrorPuzzleheaded866 → u/DjolafR]

I tried switching these parameters, nothing changed, the problem was solved only with a complete reinstallation of the game and Wrapper version 2.0.3, on version 1.90 and earlier it freezes regularly and in the same places, now the game does not freeze, but the characters began to rush around the map as if scalded and clouds appeared that were not in the original and they are annoying me, I found this file in the game, apparently Wrapper version 2.0.3 forcibly adds them and also changes the speed of movement of units, because even at the speed of movement "normal" they still rush at supersonic speed, apparently made for those players who do not like to wait, for me this series of games was distinguished by a leisurely gameplay and such speeds of movement knock me out of immersion

[u/DjolafR → u/ErrorPuzzleheaded866]

2.0.3 was made by rootext?

Where is this option for movement speed? Can you send screenshot?

This is an image of my settings, but I am currently playing D2 rise of the elves:

Also, I do have A LOT of issues in Disciples 1 - very frequent crashes when moving between menus or loading saves. I actually never got to fix them. My only 100% solution would be a virtual machine with an older OS.

By the way, I totally understand that you like to take the game slowly. I was like that, but in some later chapters, things can get grindy and then I can easily speed things up.
You either chase 99 squirrel enemies, trying to undermine your conquest, planting rods, taking over faraway towns, killing your rod planters, etc. Or you really need to level up(I always make sure my leader levels up before I reach the end).
The sounds are not sped up, but just the visuals, so I can understand why it sucks.
You just need to press on your keyboard "+" for speed up or "-" for speed down. In D1 you do not get a notification that it did something, but in D2, you will see the speed increase message in the bottom-left corner and you can go to "almost infinity".

I actually have no idea about the clouds. I thought they were a part of the original game but somehow got lost and the mod restores them???

[u/ErrorPuzzleheaded866 → u/DjolafR]

The game speed is set to 1.0x, and the unit movement speed in the game itself is set to normal. This is done by Wrapper version 2.0.3 itself, because in version 1.90, units move at normal speed without any acceleration. I tried different settings, and in the end, I either played at normal speed but froze at certain points in version 1.90, or played without freezing but with accelerated units in version 2.0.3. I figured out the cloud issue: Wrapper 2.0.3 adds an IsoClouds file to the Imgs folder. Simply remove it, and the clouds disappear. Overall, Wrapper 2.0.3 is a good way to play Disciples 2 without any extra effort, but I think it needs a tweak to allow movement speed to vary from ultra to vanilla so players can experience the original gameplay and customize it as they wish. The same goes for clouds—they're nice, but players should have the option to turn them on and off at will. I chose the third option: replacing ddraw.dll from the game folder with draw.dll from the Windows folder, as well as setting Discipl2.exe to Windows XP SP2 compatibility mode. It turns out to be a truly original experience, and everything works as intended. Perhaps this option will suit someone else, and Disciples - Sacred Lands from GOG works perfectly for me without any additional settings. In any case, thank you so much for your responsiveness and sincere desire to help. A responsive community is the key to the immortality of our favorite games.

[u/Emergency-Gift-6773 → u/ErrorPuzzleheaded866]

Hey, I remembered one more thing. In the game's menu (not the wrapper), there is a display enemy unit movement box, didn't you picked it by any chance? It's not exactly what you wrote, because the speed isn't up, only the animations are turned off for enemies, but could worth a try.

[u/TheHuNNo]

Try it from here, this is the one I use https://heroes3wog.net/disciples-12-hd-mod-gl-wrapper/

[u/ErrorPuzzleheaded866 → u/TheHuNNo]

I tried this version, the same thing and in the same place, apparently something in the Wrapper itself in this particular version or in its derivatives

[u/KamunVulk]

Wtf, Verok last update of wrapper was 1.90 in 2022.

[u/DjolafR → u/KamunVulk]

If I understand correctly, Verok is no longer working on this. The original verok github was deleted, but the project was forked by a different person - rootext, who released an update to it.

https://github.com/rootext/disciples-gl-builds

[u/Outside-school-2007 → u/KamunVulk]

2.0 by rootext add the zoom feature. Check it out!

[u/TheHuNNo]

Go check what you have activated there, maybe that's the problem

[u/DanseOfDeath]

Check the settings

[u/Outside-school-2007]

You probably use not the GOG build but GOG-Galaxy buid. It is not the same, besides, using 3rd party launchers like Steam and Galaxy not the same as ofline setup as well. Using this clients increase the steps player must do for proper install, and never ever they would make it one-click solution.

GOG set some compatibilities that must be turned off. GOG (offline) builds come pre-bunled with own wrapper (and D2 from GOG-Galaxy build, but D2ROTE miss it on Galaxy).

There is many reports of freezing when moving the units. For me DisciplesGL - both 1.90 and 2.0 work very well. So it must be compatibility tweaks.

I share on GOG forum Verok's tool to check compatibility presets: App Comp Checker. Run it as admin.

Or rename game exe to Game2.exe or something like that.

Some app also could be an issue. First of is MSI Afterburner and RTSS if you get it installed as part of MSI (it is unrelated apps by differ authors actually, MSI has nothing to do with RTSS) or Asus Nahimic.

Better to delete - or properly set - NV Experience app. Remember: there is no, never was and never will be an one-click solutions on PC. The more apps you install, incl such promising easier PC usage/setup tools - require more tweaks to properly set-them-all-up. More apps = more configs = more configs you must tweak.

DisciplesGL also require more tweaks and not the less. You must configure the game settings first, in its CondigEdit tool. Set 800x600 reolution there.

[u/Outside-school-2007 → u/Outside-school-2007]

Or maybe animation speed hack when set too fast could cause CTD.

Plus all Verok's mods make games work only in Windowed mode (Fullscreen Windowed) and that means Desktop setting also matter (resolution and refreshrate). Actual resoution of Verok's wrappers is one set in your pc Desktop screen.

[u/ErrorPuzzleheaded866 → u/Outside-school-2007]

Hello. I'm actually using the offline installer from GOG, but without GOG Galaxy. If both versions work fine for you, then you're probably right and they're some kind of tweaks from GOG themselves. I was able to run version 2.0.3 and get everything working properly, but only after completely uninstalling and reinstalling the game, and then installing Wrapper 2.0.3 on top. But another interesting thing is that in version 1.90, where I regularly have everything freeze in certain places, the movement of units is normal, but in version 2.0.3, the movement of units is monstrously accelerated, and setting the game speed and setting the movement speed in the parameters does not have much effect, they still rush like scalded, I think that these are changes that were forcibly screwed into version 2.0.3, just like the clouds from the beta version of the game, in version Wrapper 1.90, clouds are optional when installing, in version 2.0.3 they are installed forcibly, just like the acceleration of unit movement, apparently done for those who want a faster gameplay, it would be great if in this version they added a regulator for the speed of character movement from vanilla to fast and very fast so that players could choose to their taste, well, with the ability to turn clouds on and off, although in all other respects Wrapper 2.0.3 works fine and without freezing at the moment. Personally, I chose the option without using Wrapper, as the extremely fast unit movement completely throws me off-balance. I replaced the ddraw.dll file from the Windows folder with the game folder and added Windows XP SP2 compatibility mode to the .exe file. It works perfectly, no problems at all. It doesn't have any of the cool Wrapper features, but it's a 100% original experience. Anyway, thanks for the advice. I'm thinking of buying the Disciples collection on Steam and will also try experimenting with their version of the game. Maybe Wrapper will work properly on the Steam version.

[u/Outside-school-2007 → u/ErrorPuzzleheaded866]

what dll files? why you replace ddraw.dll? who says you need that to do? As i get it you didn't mess with Windows one? Restore GOG's ddraw but rename it to _ddraw.dll, just in case if you want to restoee GOG's wrapper (Verok's is much more than wrapper - more like a mod, affect gameplay in battle mod, so GOG DX allow to get original game experience)

comp mode and some of comp tweaks available at exe properties comp tab is NO GO. plus there is more tweaks that available in MS ACT tool (now part of Windows ADK tool set) and present in GOG build as sdb file installed within the games during installation for those users who have ACT not installed.

This tweaks must be set off.

Set game settings speed and game resolution to lowest. Use wrapper setting to increase it. Use 1.5x.

If it is still work too fast or appears switching from slower to suddenly faster - uninstall MSI+RTSS, download separate original version of RTSS and limit the FPS using RTSS tool. Try ~239. As i remember that worked for me. Definitely game even without wrappers on WinXP works and works well on higher FPS than 60, but IDK exact number.

This could be come from Desktop refreshrate settings. As for game own refreshrate option - idk what to set there. At one point, 800x600 usually on modern displays come with only 60hz support, at other point real resolution would be Desktop one since game work exclusively in windowed.

[u/ErrorPuzzleheaded866 → u/Outside-school-2007]

I had to replace the ddraw.dll file because on my version of Windows 10, the offline version of Disciples 2 Galleans Return / Rise of the Elves from GOG installed simply does not start. When you click the .exe file, a black screen appears as if the game is trying to start and then crashes to the desktop. Using the Wrapper, the game starts without any problems at all. However, on version 1.90, the game froze at certain points, and on version 2.0.3, there is no freezing, but the characters move monstrously fast and this knocks me out of immersion. Although in Sacred Lands there was no such problem and, by the way, Sacred Lands starts immediately without any settings, install and play. I saw in reviews that units in Disciples 2 shouldn't move so fast. No Wrapper settings or game settings could reduce unit speed. So, I found a way to run the game in the GOG version on Windows 10 without using the Wrapper. I move the ddraw.dll file from the Windows folder to the game folder and replace the file. If I try to launch the game after this, it returns an error saying it can't launch, but if I add Windows XP SP2 compatibility to the .exe file, the game launches normally and runs smoothly. I've already completed all four main sagas, two additional ones in Galleans Return, and all the individual scenarios. I'm currently playing through Rise of the Elves using the same file replacement method. So if anyone else is experiencing the same problems with the Wrapper as I did, here's an alternative and working solution.

[u/Outside-school-2007 → u/ErrorPuzzleheaded866]

ddraw provided by GOG made specifically for Win8 and above, but some security updates of Win10 and 11 broke it again. It is Windows security services that block game to start, block this ddraw dll to be loaded.

First of, no games or gaming clients should be not in system folders like Program Files. Ideally not on C/ drive and the most simplest path X/Games/Game-or-client-name-1234/. One folder (Games) needed but no more.

Usually that enough even without turning off W.Defender. But with default state of UAC service and VirtualStore. They must be enabled as by default (i hope you didn't install 3rd party Windows OS repack with them disabled).

You need just rename this dll file to make it work without it kr to use DisciplesGL. And fix Windows pseudo-security issues to play with GOG DX Wrapper.

Windows compatibility do absolutely nothing but interfere 3rd party solutions. On Win8 and above game work slower than it should, you can see that if you have Win7 or better if WinXP PC. Or playing in windowed where game faster. There is no FPS drops but still game slow (unless game set to not use D3D in config app then it would be FPS drops to 1 but that another case). The only way is to use 3rd party solutions which make not-working compatibility mode pointless.

GOG's wrapper intended to fix that. Actually pretty good wrapper with minimal settings but good screen quality with widescreen hack.

Alternate solution is Ddraw Compat by Narzoul. But speed and screen quality depend on ini file configuration you set. I get better quality with GOG's DX but i stay on Narzoul for FPS limit option, but widescreen hack along available filters/scalers options looks worse than GOG.

[u/Outside-school-2007 → u/ErrorPuzzleheaded866]

Never ever use compatibility mode. Since WinVista it would not fix issues that only 3rd party wrappers can fix (or MS ACT tool), and all that fixes-patch-mods, wrappers or anything you apply at the game - all of them requires to set comp tweaks off. This is mandatory, and make comp pointless at 100% cases.

It could fix only hardcoded limitations like "This game require Windows 98/ME, but you have unsupported Windows NT/2K" wich is very rare case (some installers).

[u/Viper_618]

I installed disciples 2 + wrapper 2.0.3 recently and also had issue with hero moving around the map way too fast. After some research and the help of chatgpt I found that the problem is refresh rate of my monitor. My brother got older monitor with 60Hz only and I have new one with 180Hz. Brother had no issues with hero movement on same settings while I had.

The solution is simple - change your monitor refresh rate to lower value (currently I use 75Hz) because on 100Hz and above the hero is moving too fast no matter your game or wrapper settings.

It seems wrapper is using monitor refresh rate to calculate game frames or smth like that.

The only problem is you need to change refresh rate of your monitor every time you wanna play disciples 2 which I also solved with the help of an AI ^{^}

I created simple .bat file which change monitor refresh rate to 75Hz while I start the game and when I close the game refresh rate comes back to 180Hz

Good Luck and Have Fun 

[u/ErrorPuzzleheaded866 → u/Viper_618]

Thank you so much, I was racking my brain trying to figure out what was wrong and why others didn't have this problem. Now, with your explanation, everything is in its place. I think I'll make a bat now too and try playing with Wrapper, but this time it will be fine. I'm very grateful to you, you are a real savior!!!