Too lazy to download and check, but options that can have an impact on performance:
* General/Output API (try Direct3D11 and Direct3D12)
* DirectX/Fast video memory access
* DirectXExt*/Batched update for primary surface
And the obvious ones (antialiasing, resolution, fps limit, vsync).

* Right click tabs bar to get this.

Well I tried and none of these options work. It seems like it's possibly CPU limited? Have you run the game without dgVoodoo and got a better framerate?

As far as I can tell the game doesn't even properly support 4K in the first place (garbles text)?

I already fixed the text. AoW38.ILB in fonts should be overwritten with AoW28.ILB.

It works with Direct3d 11 lev 11 in windowed mode set in game set-up (I think - you tried fullscreen). Yep I can run it without dgvoodoo, but it doesn't support 4k then - it should work better but there's no way you can run it 4k.

Also don't forget to set exe compitiblity to 65000 colors, or rendering doesn't work.

As for CPU - on the screens above I see it's not using it full-power. Also overclocked it a bit - it doesn't have any impact on FPS.

Triadasoul wrote on 2022-04-09, 12:49:

As for CPU - on the screens above I see it's not using it full-power.

Then I think you're not reading it correctly. Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic was released in 2003, predating multi core processors as such it likely can only use one CPU core at the same time, so for it to be struggling with CPU all it would have to do is max out 1/16 of your processor. 100/16 = 6.25, your screenshot shows 6.90... So yeah. It doesn't necessarily mean that's the problem (some old games just used 100% of thread CPU regardless of what they were doing), but it certainly isn't unlikely.

Triadasoul wrote on 2022-04-09, 12:49:

it should work better but there's no way you can run it 4k.

Should or does? Pretty important distinction. I tried it and when I zoomed out really far it lagged just as much as running it fullscreen with dgVoodoo (which is the only time it lagged with dgVoodoo too).

Also why can't you run 4K that way? Certainly seems to work here.

Could be that way. But fullscreen performance tells me it could be otherwise also.

Yep it does - it runs even more smooth then with dgVoodoo, also AI thinks about 5 times faster when alt-tabbed. Believe me I'm AoW - unofficial patch 1.6 team coordinator and modding this game for 2 years. ))

It's strange to say, but I see the difference - effects flowed smoother, idle animation of units flowed better. I bought a new screen and if I don't use it's max resolution everything looks a bit blurred and less crispy.

Just a pic to bless this thread, may be it helps )

Also I think it's not CPU - because overclocking doesn't affect anything.