Thread:Deathstalker666/@comment-26005008-20160407215658/@comment-3547390-20160508015543

I don't have DirectDraw issues, so this might not be a solution to the problem. The reason I use the workaround is to record DirectDraw, the problem of most pieces of recording software is that they require either Direct3D or OpenGL, meaning games using DirectDraw or other such modes result in them being uncapturable. The solution I use still results in smaller resolutions in the menus than the actual game, which means Dxtory breaks it apart into sections which I am able to combine and edit in post-processing.

All I do is use a wrapper that takes the DirectDraw based portions of a program and converts them to Direct3d. I have used this method in my early Stronghold videos, where I was using the non-HD re-release since I was trying to be vanilla before realizing how little it actually mattered (a big change is that it all functions properly with recording software without such a wrapper). The problem I found with Stronghold was that it caused scrolling text to not appear, so some visual anomalies may happen from game to game. Note this was before I started playing around with the wrapper, meaning I hadn't set it up exactly to what I want, so it might have been possible to fix. I have encountered no problems using Thief with this wrapper, though I haven't been seriously playing that game since I installed the wrapper.

Still, as I said, it converts everything... so if the problem is DirectDraw for whatever reason, this should be quite a viable solution. - http://dege.freeweb.hu/dgVoodoo2.html

All you need to do is put the DgVoodooSetup file in the game folder, then go into the MS folder and transfer the few DLL files into the folder as well. Upon putting these four files into the game folder, it should automatically recognize Direct3d, meaning there isn't much setup needed to get it working (note I like to tinker with things, so I have played with the various settings in the executable). There is also a Glide wrapper, I haven't used this portion with any game so I don't know if it functions well, everything I have bothered with has been DirectDraw.

I forget what the defaults are, I think everything is stored in my AppData folder so that even a new executable is using the parameters I set. I would definitely recommend going into the executable and making sure that Anti-Aliasing is turned off, for some reason that seems to cause a severe amount of anomalies, including blurry text. When I picked up Thief again for that test in OBS (that was a test to see if I could record menus like I could in Dxtory, which I could not manage to get functional, meaning that in streams I would just be showing off gameplay footage), I rambled about it being weird looking to my eyes and how it must have something to do with the lower resolution. It turns out that this actually was because DgVoodoo had Antialiasing turned on which decreased the quality (funny when it is supposed to make it more detailed) of the DirectDraw elements. Most of the other settings can be turned on or off, they supposedly add more detail but it is hard to see much difference with 2d menus, but I recommend heavily ensuring that Antialiasing is turned off under the DirectX section.