[Solution] Poor performance in Windows 8+ (Nvidia/AMD)

[Toff]

Update (26/11/18):
This solution no longer works (at least until new WineD3D releases address this issue), follow my new guide to restore game performance.

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Original post:

Edit: Newer WineD3D Builds can now be downloaded from here[downloads.adolfintel.com].

Copy the files ddraw.dll, libwine.dll and wined3d.dll from the downloaded archive into the game's installation directory.

Nvidia owners can use 1.7.x version (I recommend version 1.7.52) or the older one from the link below.
AMD owners should try version 1.8+.

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The lack of proper hardware acceleration for DirectDraw in Windows 8 causes the game to work extremely slow in this operating system while in full screen. Here's how to solve this annoying issue:

1. Download this archive[sdrv.ms] (mirror[mega.co.nz]).
2. Unpack the files into the game's installation directory.

Enjoy you speed.

Files in the archive are taken from the latest WineD3D DirectDraw Library. This is essentially a DirectDraw emulator that translates DirectDraw calls to OpenGL.

[ketaro_su]

So annoying because I can't get this to work with fullscreen mode, then...

[ketaro_su]

Huh, some how I completely forgot Compatibility Mode was a thing.
Running this game in Compatibility Mode with this fix fixed my problem of not being able to play in fullscreen lol. Alright~

[Toff]

Weird, it should work without Compatibility mode, but glad you finally got it working. :)

[Le Yisus]

Well for AMD the solution is, Wined3d 1.5.22 and in the compatibility mode use the 8 bit color and Win XP service pack 3 mode... and in some integrated GPUs function perfectly without wine, only using the compatibility mode .

[Gemini]

On Windows 8.1 Pro x64 with a GTX 660 video card, using the Wine build provided by eNgiNexXx did the trick. The one provided by the OP just caused crashes. No major issues so far, but I'm not too far into the game yet.

[midtown96]

I have got a new computer. And Midtown Madness 1 lags on the new computer. It works fine on the menu but it lags when I start a race.
I have:

Windows 8.1 64-bit
12 gb ram
Intel core i7-4700HQ CPU 2.40 GHz
GeForce GTX 860M

I am able to select hardware mode but the game lags if I use hardware mode. It works fine if I use software mode. On my old pc can I run the game even in hardware mode and the game works fine. But I want to play the game in hardware mode on the new pc without lag. I wonder what the problem is because the new pc has better cpu and video card than the old pc. I dont know if the problem is windows 8 or the video card. Please help!

[midtown96]

I have tried all the files I can download from the forum and no one of them works. If I have a direct draw emulator, the game doesnt works at all. I have tried the compatibility mod and it deosnt works. Can anyone give me more links for direct draw emulators?

[graylyshelf4]

+1 Worked great, Thanks! Windows 8.1, NVIDIA 720M

[midtown96]

graylyshelf4, what do you mean by +1?

[LemonRush7777]

Originalmente postado por midtown96:

graylyshelf4, what do you mean by +1?

Its a way of showing approval / saying thanks to a post. People say that in forums that lack an upvote / karma / thumbs up / whatever-you-wish-to-call-it distribution system.

[midtown96]

Who created the ddraw fixes which I can download from the forum?

[Toff]

midtown96
It's a component of Wine[www.winehq.org].

[midtown96]

What can I do if the components of Wine doesnt works for my games?

[Toff]

midtown96
This is not the generic "Poor performance in Windows 8 fix" thread. This thread is about fixing Fortune Summonners specifically, you came here asking about Midtown Madness. It never said anywhere that this fix would work for any other game besides Fortune Summoners (even though it does help some other games as well). I don't have Midtown Madness so I can't tell you why it lags and how to fix it, and this is just a wrong place to ask about your game, sorry.

[MicahDS]

SUCCESS! Many thanks!

This worked perfectly for me.

I have Windows 8.1, Nvidia GTX 760, and everything else my in computer is simply too good for this game to run so badly; it's not capping in any way on PC resources, so I knew there had to be some software problem.

This solution also fixed the problem where menus would lag terribly very quickly and menu controls became pretty unresponsive. The previous fix to this would be by disabling my other 2 monitors (I have 3 monitors), making only 1 monitor active. Disabling all but 1 monitor has worked for a lot of people, but not for everyone.

The thing was that, even when I disabled my other monitors, I still had to run the game with low graphics setting AND in windowed mode. ANY other combination would result in pretty nasty lag, rendering the game nearly unplayable, especially if I wanted to not die all the time, lol.
This meant I couldn't even play the game in full screen. It sucked. I was using the windows magnifier program to double the size.

Since I applied the DLLs, I can have all my monitors active and I can run the game on any settings I want. Zero problems now.

So THANK YOU. I can now enjoy this game on my new computer and not have to dig up an older PC some place.