MW4 Mercs error: attempt to read from NULL in DDRAW

[lolingdevil]

i've been trying to get mw4 mercenaries (MekTek) to work for the past couple of days with no luck, as soon as i launch it crashes and comes up with this error. Does anyone know what's wrong/how to fix it. Also i think it's  worth noting that somehow MW4 Vengeance works but Mercs doesn't

[elf25s]

ok first off what are you running as your os? what type of machine is under the hood?
these are important things to know also what error if any pops up?
it could be something stupidly simple to make it work but we DO need more information to help.
also there are at least 6 to 7 threads dedicated to mektek mercenaries you may want o check in this section of the forums that are specifically dedicated to problems and olutions

BTW welcome to BTU!

[lolingdevil]

ok first off what are you running as your os? what type of machine is under the hood?
these are important things to know also what error if any pops up?
it could be something stupidly simple to make it work but we DO need more information to help.
also there are at least 6 to 7 threads dedicated to mektek mercenaries you may want o check in this section of the forums that are specifically dedicated to problems and olutions

BTW welcome to BTU!

Windows 10 Home
Geforce GTX1060 6GB


I've already checked most of the other threads for MW4 mercs and it seems they all have seperate problems. This error only just started popping up recently before it worked fine, and when i say fine i mean a couple of months ago. i suspect it has something to do with updating my graphics card, that's the only thing i can think of anyway

[lolingdevil]

Also don't know if it makes a difference or anything but if i remove DDraw.dll from the game directory the game will boot up but soon after it comes up with the error saying

"your current hardware or driver setup is not compatible with Mechwarrior 4"

[pensiveswetness]

the farther you get from Windows 2000, the more likely older games won't run. you really need a rig that was built with Win2000 on it (any CPU built before 2005 +/-). I know our youngsters will suggest to run a program that smurfs the capabilities of older OS's but unless you truly understand how it works, just put the disc away. its just memories now...

[Empyrus]

You could try some old version of Ddraw.dll (like something from DX9-era) though i'm not sure which one. Also not sure it will work with such a modern GPU.
Do you have any other MWIV contemporary games you could copy a Draw.dll and paste it to MWIVmercs folder?

Most likely culprit are newer drivers for the GPU since you indicate you updated it recently. Unless you installed a whole new GPU?

Either way, as noted, getting old games work on modern hardware can be impossible even. At least old DOS games can be run with DOSBox... Unfortunately there's no old Windows emulator.
(Technically you can run DOS-based Windows with DOSBox and you could theoretically run something on that emulated Windows but... well, i'll leave potential troubles up to your imagination.)

I'd recommend asking from some suitable tech help subReddit, with such large volume of users finding a solution there might be quicker or easier.