My Guide for getting Beyond Divinity to run if it normally fails to launch

[thelovebat]

This thread will show what you can do to get Beyond Divinity to run on your gaming PC with a program called DXWnd[sourceforge.net]. I'm doing this while using Windows 11 with a single monitor and an AMD graphics card and CPU. I'm sure this should work for Windows 10 as well, and for those on Windows 7 or 8 who have the GOG version of the game.

I've used DXWnd in the past since it can force older games into running in windowed mode, which can make them much easier to play in higher resolutions and easier to record gameplay footage for (like with OBS Studio). In this case DXWnd is going to function more as a compatibility program to get Beyond Divinity running in the first place, as when I first tried to start up the game it simply wouldn't run at all.

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Steps to run Beyond Divinity with DXWnd


Step 1:

Install Beyond Divinity as normal.


Step 2:

Run the Beyond Divinity configuration tool that is named configtool in Beyond Divinity's install folder, or Settings if running it from Beyond Divinity's start menu folder. Set the game's resolution to the resolution you would like to play in the resolution click menu. I would choose 1280x720 (720p) or 1920x1080 (1080p) in most cases. If wanting to play the game in windowed mode you could stick with 800x600 resolution to play the game in an HD resolution using a 4:3 aspect ratio if you wish.

When you choose your desired resolution, click the Apply & Close button. Normally, it should start up the game after clicking that option much like with Divine Divinity's configuration tool. However in my case the game fails to start up after briefly showing a black screen.


Step 3:

Download DXWnd[sourceforge.net] from its Sourceforge page and use a Zip program like 7-Zip[7-zip.org] to unzip the DXWnd rar file you downloaded.

My recommendation is to put the DXWnd folder in a convenient spot somewhere on your computer and then to make a shortcut of the program's exe file so you have easy access when wanting to use it with relevant games.


Step 4:

Open up DXWnd. You can either manually add the Beyond Divinity exe titled div.exe to the DXWnd game list clicking the Edit tab and then clicking on the Add button, or you can open up the Beyond Divinity install folder and drag div.exe into the DXWnd window and it will open up the Add menu automatically having the Path field already filled in with the exe's install location. If doing it manually, you'll have to find and select the exe yourself for the Path field clicking the ... button next to it and navigating to the game's install folder to select it.

The Path field should read:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Beyond Divinity\div.exe

Or for the GOG version:

C:\GOG Games\Beyond Divinity\div.exe

Change the Launch field to be exactly the same as the Path field in this menu. Then fill in the Name box with div.exe.


Step 5:

Once you've added Beyond Divinity to DXWnd's game list, it will show up as div.exe. Right click on it and select the Modify option. It'll bring up a menu with 8 different tabs, though only 1 or 2 will be relevant here.

While in the Main tab go to the Generic section and de-select the Run in Window option. Run in Window will end up causing issues with the game's display if you forget to de-select it.

While in the Main tab, find the Position section and look to the lower left portion that says Window initial position and size. Set the X and Y boxes to 0 for playing the game full screen (these positionings are mainly for windowed mode boxes). Then set W (width) and H (height) to the relevant numbers for your resolution. 1920 (width) and 1080 (height) for 1080p, or 1280 (width) and 720 (height) for 720p.

One other setting you should make sure to have de-selected for playing full screen is Keep aspect ratio, which you can find in the Position section.


Step 6:

For playing full screen, you should be done with tinkering with DXWnd at this point. When running DXWnd and Beyond Divinity's exe, I would have them both set to run as an administrator to be safe. Right click div.exe in DXWnd's game list and select the Run option. The game should run now.

If you still experience issues, make sure to check the following settings in DXWnd after going to the Modify menu for div.exe.

* Go to the Video tab and then look down at the Window size & position section. Make sure the Floating setting is selected.

* Go to the DirectX tab and find the Renderer setting. Make sure the Renderer setting is set to primary surface.


Step 7 (for windowed mode):

For playing in windowed mode, you should keep the Run in Window option selected, and you can adjust the initial position of the game's window as desired (position goes from left to right, top to bottom).

You'll also need to go to the DirectX tab while modifying div.exe. For the Renderer setting, make sure OpenGL is selected. The game should now run in windowed mode. I do experience an issue with a black box surrounding the mouse cursor though, but the game runs and at least appears to be playable.

If wanting to play in HD resolution using a 4:3 aspect ratio, then you can choose either 1440 (width) and 1080 (height) for 1080p, or 960 (width) and 720 (height) for 720p, and you should make sure that the Keep aspect ratio setting is selected so that the 800x600 resolution from the Beyond Divinity configuration file scales up in DXWnd.