Access Violation WORKING FIX
 

For all of those getting Access Violation errors , the fix is simple.

After extensive testing my origional assesment was incorrect.
Running in Shader 2.0 mode only delayed the inevitable.

Here is the proper fix:

1. Launch Nvidia Control Panel
2. Open 3D Settings tree
3. Select Adjust image settings with preview
4. In the main window select "Let the 3D application decide" (use the default settings here, Restore button if not sure). DO NOT use "Use the advanced 3D image settings"
5. Apply
6. Play

Short explaination: The Nvidia control panel improperly detects RW2NC's engine.exe as Cossacks II ,
and applies a ddraw.dll hack to fix mouse overlay detection on newer video cards (8800 and up).
Force Nvidia control panel , not to use this profile , and the game runs fine.

Not sure how far from the end of the game I am, defending Thristburg from a massive army of 40+ units,
but havent had a single crash 10 hours of playtime.

Tested on:
WinXP SP3 32bit / Win7 Ultimate 64bit
NVidia 8600GT / GTX560 driver ver. 301.42

Nice shot!

Before when you had the access violations?

I assume the same goes for ATI cards as well, as I have one. I've reformatted since, but I'll test it again sometime.

Although that patch must be "right around the corner" still! Yeah, right. The simplest form of damage control. Although maybe they just didn't get the permission to release the patch.