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I have tried using administrator and compatibility modes, but the game is just a black square in the lower right corner of the screen. I don't see a sticky but I can't possibly be the only person having this problem, so I thought I'd ask here before I do a whole lot of digging.
Good news everyone! I checked back on this thread and someone had bumped a thread directly above it that detailed how to fix it! This thread is available here: https://www.gog.com/forum/icewind_dale_series/icewind_dale_2_crashes_on_start_in_windows_8/page2

The gist of it was:

1. Disable run as administrator and DPI scaling options.

If that doesn't work, then try going into your Icewind Dale 2 installation directory; locate and delete DDraw.dll.
Then set the program to "Windows XP SP 3" compatibility mode with Run as Administrator enabled.
I had the same problem and when I followed the instructions, the game started and ran mostly fine but there were some graphical glitches with the fog of war.

I tried narzoul's DDrawCompat github.com/ narzoul/DDrawCompat/tree/master/DDrawCompat and it fixed the Fog of War problems. I ran the game for only about 10 minutes, so I don't have any info on long-term stability, but the first impression seem better than when ddraw.dll was simply removed.
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tramman: I had the same problem and when I followed the instructions, the game started and ran mostly fine but there were some graphical glitches with the fog of war.

I tried narzoul's DDrawCompat github.com/ narzoul/DDrawCompat/tree/master/DDrawCompat and it fixed the Fog of War problems. I ran the game for only about 10 minutes, so I don't have any info on long-term stability, but the first impression seem better than when ddraw.dll was simply removed.
Windows10x64, build 17115, version 1803, (beta of the soon-to-be-released rs4 version of Windows 10), and several other, earlier versions of Win10x64 , RX-480 8GB, Adrenalins 18.3.1, and no problems at all. But..I'm running the ddraw fix from Aqrit configured as follows:

;;; www.bitpatch.com ;;;

RealDDrawPath = AUTO
BltMirror = 0
BltNoTearing = 0
ColorFix = 0
DisableHighDpiScaling = 1
FakeVsync = 0
FakeVsyncInterval = 0
ForceBltNoTearing = 0
ForceDirectDrawEmulation = 1
NoVideoMemory = 1
SingleProcAffinity = 0
ShowFPS = 0

Also the widescreen fix, as well as the CDTweaks mod:

http://www.bitpatch.com/

http://gibberlings3.net/tweaks/

http://gibberlings3.net/

Good luck...;)
Post edited March 12, 2018 by waltc
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tramman: I had the same problem and when I followed the instructions, the game started and ran mostly fine but there were some graphical glitches with the fog of war.

I tried narzoul's DDrawCompat github.com/ narzoul/DDrawCompat/tree/master/DDrawCompat and it fixed the Fog of War problems. I ran the game for only about 10 minutes, so I don't have any info on long-term stability, but the first impression seem better than when ddraw.dll was simply removed.
Using this ddraw.dll fixed my buggy fog of war and lag. Thanks for posting the solution.
Found this thread while looking for the answer to the OP's question, and it looks like he was also able to get it fixed, but I thought I'd toss in how I fixed it, since I also fixed a couple other issues too.

Running the in-folder "setup-ddrawfix.exe" and telling it to force DirectDraw, then setting the "iwd2.exe" program itself to run in Windows XP SP3 compatibility mode. This allowed it to launch correctly, without the black box in the corner. Next problem was the game crashed when I made a party, and I fixed that by going to the included "Config.exe" file and set the "General, Graphics, Audio" all the way up, on the "Game" tab I set "Cache Options -> Cache Size" to '999MB', and "AI Options -> Frame Rate" to '30 AI Updates per Second', and on the "Graphics" Tab I set the color to 32-bit.

All of my previous crashing and visual issues went away, and the game runs good. Hope this helps someone else.
Thanks everyone for contributing their findings!

When I got it fixed for myself, I actually still had problems with my laptop. The desktop ran it fine, but the laptop would refuse to scale the image properly, so I had to play with the tiny 800x600 game window in the corner of my 1080p desktop (changing the resolution settings in config had no apparent effect). I'll try out some of the other solutions put forth in here and see if I can achieve a greater modicum of success.
every other game i've downloaded and played on GOG has worked fine. this is one of their selling points. I should not have to find out on my own how to make this game work. It looks like GOG cannot fix this issue.
deleting DDrawdll.exe solved for me starting issue
and installing IE games widescreen patch
solved resolution issue, i am running it in 1080p or 1440p no problems so far
1080p looks better regarding reading parts
its old game but very playable with like 3 mins of tweeking how much it takes to install IE widescreen exe

hope it helps, cheers
Can confirm, simply deleting the DDrawdll.exe file fixed all issues for me.
I played through half the game. I changed the configuration, and then restored it, Now I can't access the individual characters abilities via the letter "H" key. The "H" key no longer toggles to the individual characters abilities. Anyone know how to restore this feature?
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JonMaxReger: I played through half the game. I changed the configuration, and then restored it, Now I can't access the individual characters abilities via the letter "H" key. The "H" key no longer toggles to the individual characters abilities. Anyone know how to restore this feature?
You changed which configuration, where?
Because the obvious answer is: change it back.

;-P
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jinxvorheeze: Found this thread while looking for the answer to the OP's question, and it looks like he was also able to get it fixed, but I thought I'd toss in how I fixed it, since I also fixed a couple other issues too.

Running the in-folder "setup-ddrawfix.exe" and telling it to force DirectDraw, then setting the "iwd2.exe" program itself to run in Windows XP SP3 compatibility mode. This allowed it to launch correctly, without the black box in the corner. Next problem was the game crashed when I made a party, and I fixed that by going to the included "Config.exe" file and set the "General, Graphics, Audio" all the way up, on the "Game" tab I set "Cache Options -> Cache Size" to '999MB', and "AI Options -> Frame Rate" to '30 AI Updates per Second', and on the "Graphics" Tab I set the color to 32-bit.

All of my previous crashing and visual issues went away, and the game runs good. Hope this helps someone else.
I am having the issue of it crashing after making a party. I am not really a technical expert. Is there a place I can find an idiot's guide to the solution you posted?
I can play it just fine, although adjusting the resolution on the congif program that comes with the game helped a bit. Set it to 1024x768 which is good because i'm on a laptop.