Hello, this is something you may check/take into account. Recently, after wrangling with trying to get the game work on hardware mode, and following every possible guide out there, I discovered that you DON'T want to install the Collective Populous Patch. What I did to get the game run perfectly, along with being able to establish high resolutions in hardware mode: - Download and install the GOG version. - Create a shortcut for the D3D .exe file. - Right-click on shortcut, select "Properties" then add the line <space>/allres. - Start the game using edit shortcut.
That's it. No additional patches, no external software, nothing. All that the "unofficial patches" and "Voodoo wrappers" do to the GOG version is cause crashes/glitches/lags, and since every single guide out there recommends external software, this may be the reason the game is notorious for its instability.