Having purchased the original Dungeon Keeper for $89.95 in 1997, I finally got around to finishing it a few weeks ago. Each of its twenty single player levels lasted about 45 minutes. I saw it in the shops on a budget label the other day for only $4.95, which is a definite bargain. The graphics look a bit blocky, but once you get used to that it's a fine game. And it works perfectly well under Windows 2000.
I then saw Dungeon Keeper 2 for only $10. After checking reviews on the Internet I purchased said product. However, trying to run it on Windows 2000 resulted in the message 'Please insert key cd-rom'. I then tried on a different machine running Windows 98. That came up with the same message. Doing a little research on the Internet came up with this page about DKII's copy protection. Using the unsafedisc tool mentioned got me past that 'insert key cd-rom' message. However, more troubles followed.
Under Windows 2000 the game died before starting. I then checked for any patches. The CD came with the patch to version 1.6. However, the EA web site had a later patch, to v1.70. Amongst its changes were Windows 2000 compatability. That sounded promising, though the 30MB patch would take a while on a 56k modem. I obediently downloaded the patch, wondering why my CD, made this year, did not include the patch from 3 years ago.
Aha, with the patch installed the game finally started in Windows 2000. Alas, a high-pitched screech also started. Fiddling with all of the sound settings would temporarily stop the screech, but the sound would still come out too garbled to understand. After some valiant minutes, I gave up and tried on the same PC but under Windows 98. Success! All was working.
I have now played through the first few levels, and I am very impressed. The graphics and sound are marvellous, and the gameplay seems just as good as in the original. I am only left to wonder why it is such a difficult game to get running, compared to the original, and to every other game on the planet. For a Windows game made in 1999 to not work on my system under Windows 2000 is unique. From reading Usenet, it sounds like it's a problem for many other people too. However, it is worth the effort.