Links Corner Forum

Sage, I sent you a PM.

Pinseeker wrote: ↑February 15th, 2026, 12:55 pm I'm not a designer so forgive my ignorance, but I have a question. Is there any way to submit a course with no crowds and a tournament version with crowds and how much time is involved in that. I just find crowds add to the experience when playing career. Thanks again to all the designers who take the time creating these amazing beautiful courses. Hats off to you fellas............

Thanks for that. You would have to release 2 versions of the course. Back in the day, we'd see a "Tournament" version of a course released (tournament objects and crowds) and then a stripped out "Sunday Morning" version.

Colin,

It seemed to really pop once I installed the new wrapper though. Have you and Sage tried it yet?

No I haven't. I am not very tech savvy and unless I have line by line instructions I tend to leave well alone. (It's the pessimist in me, if it can go wrong, it will.)

I do all the APCD work, and some test playing, on a laptop:
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-10750H CPU @ 2.60GHz (2.59 GHz) running windows 11 24H2
The Links is installed in "C:\Program Files (x86)\Links 2003" and I run it with DGVoo..

My reference and test play computer is an All in one:
AMD Ryzen 5 5500U with Radeon Graphics (2.10 GHz) running windows 11 24H2
The Links is installed in "C:\Program Files (x86)\Links 2003" and I run it with AMD Radeon Graphics

Any help will be gratefully received.

Ian

Ian,

The new wrapper DDrawCompat is a direct replacement for dgVoodoo.

I've done a lot of testing with dgVoodoo and found a number of problems, including about a dozen courses that would hang or crash when dgVoodoo was used, especially on machines with embedded Intel GPUs.

I installed DDrawCompat and retested the same courses I saw problems with dgVoodoo, I had no problems at all. I've also gained back the ability to have translucent golfer shadows and I think the displayed images are better with the new wrapper.

I am in two minds about using the wrapper on a machine with Nvidia or Radeon graphics. On my desktop with Nvidia I have tried both with and without it, On my machine it ran better without the wrapper. It could well be configuration dependent.

See if this helps.

You need to remove the dgVoodoo files from the Links program Directory. I just created a folder to hold them elsewhere and moved them all into it. To reinstate dgVoodoo you then just remove the DDrawcompat files from the directory and copy the dgVoodoo files back.

It is really not the best of ideas to mix wrappers (take that to mean it is a bad idea).

There are 6 files that make up the dgVoodoo wrapper.

The first 2 may or may not be in the Links program folder, it does not matter if they are left in any case. These are the configuration program and the configuration file:

dgVoodoo.conf
dgVoodooCpl.exe

The next 4 are significant and should be removed, these are the actual wrapper files.

D3D8.dll
D3D9.dll
D3DImm.dll
DDraw.dll

The real significant ones for Links are D3Dlmm and DDraw.

So if you remove at least these four files if not all six from the Links program folder to the folder you have created you have removed dgVoodoo.

For the new wrapper download the zip file from:

https://linkscorner.org/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=2605

and unzip the contents to the links program folder.

This will place two files in the folder:

ddraw.dll
DDrawCompat.ini

T & W has provided a setup that should work for all Links users out of the box.

Start Links, now the first time Links will crash, do not be alarmed this is normal anytime you change the video, Links really does not like it, it stores the Video adapter info in the registry. When you start Links again it should start normally i.e rewrite that registry key.

You should note a difference when starting. With dgVoodoo installed Links reports dgVoodoo’s pseudo video card, with DDrawCompat installed it will report the real video hardware.

Any problems yell.

When you get more confident you can, if you wish, see if you can improve on the settings, for example I have upped my AA and AF settings to x16.

I have seen no downsides with the new wrapper only multiple upsides.

Des,

On the laptop I finally got there, I think.

After following you procedure, I opened Links, but it did not crash? However It did not have the DGvoodoo emblem in the bottom right hand side. Is that OK?

The all in one has AMD graphics card, so is the new wrapper needed and if so how,

That is enough excitement for one day.

Thank you for your patience.


Ian

The easiest way to see if DDrawCompat is loaded is to use the key sequence Shift-F11.

If it is loaded the DDrawCompat overlay should display.

A wrapper will certainly be needed with an Intel GPU. For an AMD graphics chipset the answer is not clear cut. It really is a case of try it and see.

The way to try it is to place the same two DDrawCompat files in the Link's program folder, the same as you did on the Notebook. DDrawCompat's installation is the same on any Windows platform.

Des,
On the laptop when in Links and I press shift F11 I get this:
I have looked at Spring Hill hole 9 on the two screens, and I must say that the AMD card looks better/more clear/sharper. (The screen for the AMD is 1920x1080 and for the laptop it is 1680x1050.)

Thanks,
Ian

That is the overlay I was referring to.

1680 x 1050 is an old 16:10 resolution, that suggests an older system.

Given the resolutions I would expect the AMD to look a little sharper, it simply has more pixels. You can always try upping AF ad AA to 16X and see if it helps, but it looks like you have the wrapper installed correctly. I think you will see improvements over dgVoodoo.

I have an older notebook with the same physical size screen as my newer but a lower resolution and I can see the higher res screen is much sharper, the older system's screen has a certain softness to it.

Des

Thank you for your help Des.
Ian

You are very welcome Ian