Running old games in newer versions of Windows

[Thedudely1]

I've been trying to run Raymond 3: Hoodlum Havoc from GOG on my Windows Server 2012 R2 PC, but every time I launch it I get an error saying "Check your version of DirectX. Version 8.1 or higher is required." I know I'll get someone saying that it doesn't work because I have Windows Server, but I've tweaked Windows a lot and everything else works, so I don't think that's the issue. I have a 290x, so yeah I don't think it's a problem with my graphics card running a game from 2003. I checked my dxdiag and it says I have the feature levels support of DirectX 11.1,11.0,10.1,10.0,9.3,9.2,9.1. It doesn't however say DirectX 8.1, so maybe my OS supports everything from 9.1- 11.1 and nothing before, but I don't know. I've tried compatibility mode with everything from Windows 95 to Windows 7 and It's the same error every time. I don't know if maybe it just can't find my DirectX install or what. What can I do to fix this? I'd prefer to not install a VM just to run this game, but I guess I will if that's all I can do to get it to work. I'll be happy to provide you guys with any more info to help, thanks!

[glitchmaster0001]

set the game to compatibility mode in windows 

[Thedudely1]

5 minutes ago, glitchmaster0001 said:

set the game to compatibility mode in windows 

You mean a different Windows version in comparability mode? Like it said, I've already tried that.

[HPWebcamAble]

You could try running it as an administrator, but other than that looks like a VM is your best bet.

[Thedudely1]

8 minutes ago, HPWebcamAble said:

You could try running it as an administrator, but other than that looks like a VM is your best bet.

Yeah, running as admin doesn't work either. Thanks though.

[levibaker88]

Does Server have Direct Play? It's a legacy Windows setting.