Super Taxi Driver

Game title: Super Taxi Driver
Developer: King Cab Team, Microforum Italia
Publisher: Aludra Software, Hemming AG
Released: 2000

Originally developed for: Windows 95/98, DirectX 5
Bent into shape for: Windows 7 64-bit, DirectX 11
Result: Working

Problem: Windows reports the game could not be started because it lacks the required d3drm.dll library.

Solution: Download the missing d3drm.dll library here and save it to the main game folder (where you installed the game to, and where you will also find the game’s main executable stdriver.exe).

Background: In its Direct3D graphics library, DirectX initially provided both a  low-level Immediate Mode giving direct access to functions of the video card, as well as a higher level Retained Mode. D3DRM is short for Direct3D Retained Mode. Retained Mode was rarely ever used in commercial software and games, as developers preferred to have direct access and control over the graphics card. Thus, Retained Mode was discontinued (no longer updated) after DirectX 3.0, in 1996.

Citing security reasons, in 2007 Microsoft removed Retained Mode altogether from versions of DirectX provided for Windows Vista or later. For that reason, new versions of Windows fail to run applications and games that require Direct3D Retained Mode. Find more information at Microsoft’s Knowledge Base, article KB969150. Manually providing applications the d3drm.dll runtime library from an older version of DirectX should restore their functionality.