xDuke 19.7.1 and 19.8 have had issues in windows 7 as well as some other older games.
With xDuke 19.7.1 I had to run it with compatibiliy mode as 'Windows XP SP2" or it would crash. However was not needed on v19.8.
These methods are known color fixes to have worked when I have tested in Windows 7 64 bit Ultimate and should work for 19.7.1 & some other old games.
I don't recommend trying Method 2 unless absolutely necessary because it can be inconvenient.

Please read this method completely, it does not work just by changing the theme.

• Step 1
  
  Open Control Panel and choose the option "Change the theme"

 

 

• Step 2
  
  Change to the theme as shown in the screenshot "Windows Classic".
  Make sure you don't choose basic.

 

• Step 3
  
  Open the screen resolution window in control panel shown in the screenshot.
  Now you must keep this window open at all times.
  You can minimize it if you want! But you *MUST* make sure this window stays open.

 

 

• Step 4
  Disable any demo recorders for xDuke. You must make sure demo recording is not on when you run xDuke 19.8.
  Or the game will crash. You must right click on your game 'exe' and choose properties and choose "Run this program as an administrator" if you want to record demos in v19.8 in Windows 7.
  *IMPORTANT STEP* - Right click also on the "YANG.EXE" and change the properties of the file so that you run "YANG.EXE" as an administrator as shown here http://yang-online.com/images/runasadminwin7.jpg
  Or you most likely will get the problem where xDuke says 'not an allowed player'.
  This is because it can't update a file used to store IP address's and Ports of the players inside the room.
  
  
• Step 5
  Run xDuke 19.8 as normal making sure you are set on the "classic theme" and the "screen resolution" window is open!
  Now the game colors in Full Screen mode should be fixed.

 

xDuke - 19.8 - Method 2

• Step 1
  
  Download "DukeFixer.exe" and save it to the same folder that your "duke3d_w32.exe" is in.
  
  
• Step 2
  
  Configure "Yet Another Netplay Guider (YANG)" and change your path to your "DukeFixer.exe" instead of the xDuke "duke3d_w32.exe" shown below.

  

• Step 3
  
  Play Duke as normal and it should correct the color issue when playing with Windows 7.
  You also should set your "duke3d_w32.exe" xDuke game file to be ran as an administrator if recording demos by right mouse clicking on the file in Windows Explorer and going into the properties for that file to avoid crash when recording a demo.
  
  
  How method 2 works
  
  Has been tested on "Windows 7 64 Bit Ultimate".
  
  It uses the Windows "taskkill.exe" to close "explorer.exe" just the same way as killing an application that you can do in Windows Task Manager when you end a program.
  Once xDuke has crashed or exited from the game "explorer" will start again and you will be able to see your desktop and taskbar again. The closing of "explorer" seems to fix color problem.
  It will pass on the parameters to the game executable that gets loaded.
  If you need to use it for something else you are welcome to try. For example rename your game executable to "duke3d_w32.exe" or make your own .bat file.
  
  This program may have problems and explorer might start up again.
  
  If the colors are still messed up.
  Best thing to do is ALT+TAB to minimize your game.
  Press CTRL+ALT+DEL and run "Task Manager"
  Look for explorer.exe and end the program then click back into your xDuke game and the colors will be fixed.
  
  I have also made a .bat file if you have problems with the exe.
  Use this in your YANG path instead.
  http://yang-online.com/files/xduke.bat
  
  You can right click on the above link and save file as.
  If you need to edit the file for something else, you can do so in notepad for Windows.
  
  The file has the following lines that are ran,
  
  @echo off
  taskkill /F /IM Explorer.exe
  duke3d_w32.exe %*
  start %windir%\Explorer.exe

*IMPORTANT* - I recommend right clicking also on "YANG.EXE" and change the properties so that it can be run as an administrator shown here http://yang-online.com/images/runasadminwin7.jpg.
Or you might have problems launching games on YANG as it will say "not an allowed player".

 

xDuke 19.8 - Other helpful information

If your xDuke v19.8 mouse seems to be sluggish on Windows 7.
Try pausing the game for a moment and press "CTRL+ESC" to minimize the game to your desktop.

*WARNING* - Do not close anything related to the game.

Then hold down "ALT" then keep pressing the TAB key to select the xDuke game again to get back into the game.
The icon should look like this
You should now find the mouse movement is smoother.



Email : replica@yang-online.com