RRT3 1.05, 106, and Windows Vista... a Fix

[sbaros]

What ended up working was deleting d8tx.dll, taking a straight copy of "D3D8.dll" that dgVoodoo 2.54 (latest version at time of writing) uses, then renaming the copy to "d8tx.dll", and the GoG executable is working under dgVoodoo

Mate, this was really cool! Hitherto, I had to move the dgVoodoo dll's in and out of a spare directory whenever I switched my USB installation between my laptop and my desktop, since the laptop refused to cooperate with them. Since you reminded us of this advise, I followed it and the laptop is forced to employ dgVoodoo too when I run the Tycoon from the stick.
IMPORTANT NOTICE:
Actually, doing the above enables you to run any Tycoon installation straight off a USB stick even on PC's where no Tycoon setup has ever been performed. In other words, it is the way for a 100% portable installation. I verified this today on a friend's laptop.

[sbaros]

Serious problem after yesterday's Windows 10 update
One of my laptops has begun to fall into hibernation within minutes (sometimes even seconds) from starting RRT3 (any version from any drive, both in full-screen and windowed mode). I eliminated all power-saving bullsh** from the settings and rebooted, yet the issue persists. No other application encounters any similar problems so far.
Any idea what might be happening? I guess un-updating Windows 10 is something impossible, right ?

[Gumboots]

As far as I know you can't fall back to an earlier version of W10. You could load a complete backup from before the upgrade, if you have one, but then W10 would obviously want to upgrade again anyway. I'm not sure how long you could block that.

Is the laptop that is causing trouble the only one you have running W10? IF RT3 still runs on other W10 devices you have, then I would guess that it isn't W10 as such that is causing the issue.

Have you tried the no-cd version of RT3? Are you running dgVoodoo?

If you are still running the old "Vista fix", which is the topic of this thread, I would suggest ditching it and trying dgVoodoo instead. The "Vista fix" should probably be removed from the site's downloads. I added a warning about it to the downloads page when I recoded that a while back.

[sbaros]

I've never touched the "Vista fix" thing. Generally, RRT3 presents different behaviours on different PCs in various aspects, even under the same -supposedly- Windows version. I say 'supposedly' because I don't know if Windows Update sets up some things differently according to the hardware it detects.
In the case I mentioned, dgVoodoo made no difference. For the time being, I have mothballed the laptop in question. Before that specific update, it ran RRT3 flawlessly, no hibernations whatsoever.
Despite being unfamiliar with the internal working of the operating system, I wonder: Automatic hibernation would be expected to occur whenever the computer remains inactive. For some reason after the update, Windows probably considers RR Tycoon as "non-activity" and proceeds to hibernation even amidst trackbuilding, train routing or some other intense activity. Strange...

[Windar]

A lover of Sid's RT and Civ games, I've tried rt3 on a couple previous computers. Mainly windows 10. With nothing working.

After reading Sid Meier's memoir, I thought I'd give it another go, even with a brand new laptop. Even if it is only $10 I was worried that I would be unable to play the game.

I installed a game through GOG, before running it I ran it with Windows XP service pack 3 compatibility. I don't know how or why, but I was able to play with no problems. Granted, I only started a new campaign and laid down a station and a couple of tracks, before I had to go to work. But so far everything seems to work fine.

Fingers crossed!

[Gumboots]

The GOG version has a couple of minor fixes to make it compatible with later version of Windows.
Offhand I don't know what those fixes are (I don't use the GOG version) but somone else might know.

I run an installation from original RT3 disc, along with dgVoodoo to handle some of the graphics, and a custom engine.cfg to give the game native 2560x1440 resolution on my monitor. This is an excellent combination, IMO.

[AT41B]

Windar: & Gumboots: I am running Windows 7 Service Pack 1 on this computer with original AMD High Definition controller. I am running the original RRT3 game pack since 1999 and the only changes I have made to that is the added versions taken off this forum. I have also have incorporated the Trainmaster program . My only problem with my computer at this time is when I get a high number of locos, it start to slow down a lot.
The computer I have is a XPS-8300 with a 24" flat screen.
I guess I am bragging, but that is what GOD has blessed me with.

[RulerofRails]

Known fixes for the GoG version: the so-called "Vista Fix"* is applied out of the box in the GoG version and there is a dll file/wrapper that should take care of blurry textures issues. The game should work on any PC like this.

*This is simply a config file that disables Hardware Transformation & Lighting. It appears that with this setting applied the game then doesn't interact directly with your graphics card at all. It's obvious on decent settings that apperance in the game suffers. Especially when looking at the price map gradient detail and water reflections.

dgVoodoo is a better option. This is a wrapper that "fixes" communication between the game and your graphics card. With the right configuration options dgVoodoo doesn't have the blurry textures issues either. Just set the right amount of RAM. If you install dgVoodoo with the GoG version you will need to rename/replace the GoG wrapper with the dgVoodoo one. I wrote instructions in a handful of places, just search it up.

PS. I had a Windows 7 laptop with AMD integrated graphics. Worked fine with default settings. There are other reports of Windows 7 AMD systems working. thietavu is one to suggest that Nvidia cards are to blame, and I happen to think this is a relevant theory. At least with Windows 7. There is no information for WIndows 10, it seems that people are avoiding AMD cards recently. If I look at potenial laptops I would get in the future, none of the manufacturers seem to be using AMD cards as an option. Their reasoning is probably justified, but that's another topic.