BEFORE READING !
This is not my fix solution, Thrawn wrote this, i'm just making sure it stays alive so everyone can fix it.
http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197983716155

Cossacks 2 Fix
So I have had a ton of trouble since buying this game on a whim. Didn't know anything about it. Suffice it to say, the Steam version does not work on all PC's. I've got a Gateway FX gaming laptop and can run any game on the market so my specs are fine.

Here is my work around for Cossacks after much finagling. I hope this helps you guys.

1. You need the C2_Patch_v1_2.exe (google that exact thing and download it)
2. Download Universal Extractor (google it and download it
3. Use Universal Extractor to extract the C2_Patch_v1_2.exe patch into any file you want on your desktop
4. Copy and paste extracted patch into the root folder for Cossacks 2 c:/programfiles(x86)-Steam-steamapps-common-Cossacks II Napoleonic Wars
5. Run game using startengine.exe button in root folder

This may be all you need to get it to work. However if you get the error
'Engine.exe has detected, that video memory is not configured properly. Please restart computer and set AGP Aperture size-256 Mb or more in BIOS configuration program."
you need to do another couple of steps

6. Download the c2-hoae-3d-patch.zip and copy and paste its contents into the same root folder the first patch went in and run the game using the startengine.exe button


O.k. now the game works but I can't save a file (smh why would steam allow this to be sold when its so broken?)

1. Go to the root folder.
c:/programfiles(x86)-Steam-steamapps-common-Cossacks II Napoleonic Wars
2. If there is no folder named 'Save' then create a folder named 'Save'
3. If there is a folder named 'Save' open it and delete any folders inside it (possibly says 'camp' not sure)
4. Remove the "Read-only" status from the Cossacks II Napoleonic Wars folder
-Do this by right clicking on the folder, select properties, deselect 'read-only' and hit apply (may need to do this every time you play the game...I have for some reason.)


This helped me for now. If I find other bugs and work around I'll post them here. But this is seriously pathetic and I'm filing a complaint to Steam. A game that does not work shouldn't be sold.


Edit 1:
The "Too many handlers" error seems to happen only on certain missions. My only work around is save often and beat mission as fast as possible to continue playing.

Edit 2: (omfg)
Some of the text in the game is German. Specifically building/unit names and descriptions while everything else is in English. To fix this
1. Go to root folder
c:/programfiles(x86)-Steam-steamapps-common-Cossacks II Napoleonic Wars
2. Open 'Text" folder
3. Delete file mdlist(2).txt (make sure its the one that says (2))

This fixed the problem for me. Apparently some German language files may find their way into your text folder through the screwy patch system. If this file does not exist you will have to just look through every file till you find the German stuff and delete it.

!!!Important!!!

This is a great game but the "Battle for Europe" contains this game and the expansion as well and the price is the same! You dont want to buy this!

Lets be honest. is this a famous game? no. but yes the series is awesome anyone who has taste in strategy gemes will like this yes the camera sucks, so does the first strong hold games! this is historicaly accurate and realistic, ur men get shot they die thats realistic i pesonally love this game

Nostalgia brought me here, and nostalgia will stop me asking for a refund. This was a great game, this version is very buggy, but can be made marginly less buggy! Due to tips from users (bless you all), rather than the people I threw my money at. The game should not be for sale in this state. If I was a New player I would'nt bother. With my rose tinted spectacles on, im still playing, curses upon you steam.

I haven't had a change to play a game yet, but I managed to get it working on W7. I realised you needed DirectX 9 which is quite old. So went to MS website, downloaded and installed DirectX 9 and voila, the game launches. I hope this works for you as well.

Its like a Napoleon Total war with age of empires 2 graphics.

I loved this game.

The only problems are that you need to go to the game folder and create a folder inside it named: saves. To be able to save your game and play the campaign (atleast in win7).


I liked the game but it crashes a lot and there is a patch to correct this that steam doesnt put here.
Without this patch its really unplayable because of the freezes and crashes.

So your thinking of buying Cossacks 2?

Well do it. Sounds like Shia is writing this review but he wouldn't be wrong this game is awesome. The game is fun and user friendly and although dated I kinda still like the style. Now you may see many reviews saying stuff along the lines of "the first one was better" or "down with the patriarchy" ignore those. The only way to see whether or not you will like this game is to try it, go and pirate it and try the game out. Then, if you are a good person and like the game you can buy it.

Anyway on to the actual review.

The game itself is nice and has a bunch of different nations to chose from (being from the UK I play British) but there are many other good nations to chose from such as France, Poland, Austria, Spain, Rhineland, Russia and a bunch more! Each one has strengths and weaknesses, such as the British have great infantry and rifleman squads but lack great cavalry.
The game-play plays out like any generic RTS, build a base and all that until you realise you cant get all the resources yourself...
There are towns located across the maps that you must capture to gain the resources such as gold, food, iron and coal.
Without these you will lose, for example with no coal you will not be able to shoot. At all. So its rather important that you keep a stockpile and don't shoot unless you need to. The towns also make the combat more centralised which can lead up to some cool big battles.
The only gripe I have with this game is that the multiplayer is dead as it is an old game so unless you know some people who own it you will have to play single player which while fun for a while, you will bore after a while.
There is also a very limited amount of maps, and they can get boring after a while, especially if you are playing with multiple players as they are even more limited.

All in all I like this game and you should too (and if you don't its Obama's fault)

I grew up play this game and loved it. It is a really great game. Some of the best features being the absolute control of your men and the way you can arrange them to your satisfaction and they don't run everywhere like some other games. Looking at you AoE III and Battle for Middle Earth.

But I cannot recommend it. The one sold through steam crashes constantly and is basically unplayable. Don't waste your time or money on this. You will only get frustrated and mad that a great game is ruined.

Good game, Steam version sucks.

Constantly crashes.

Fix the game Steam. Please? Merci.

This is a great game and in my view much better than the more recent Cossacks 3, which is lacking some key aspects like artillery crew and roads. The skirmishes can be really fun. Steam version worked fine on Windows 10.