Hi Steve. I bought a lap top in Sept of 2015 as a backup and loaded Links on it. First off, here is what I have here: An HP Pavilion, 17.3" screen, 5th generation Intel Core I7-5500u CPU @ 2.4 GHz, with 6 GB of Memory, 750 GB hard drive and it has the integrated graphics - Intel HD Graphics 5500. Cache Memory: 4 MB.
This was Windows 8.1 when I bought this and last July, I had it upgraded to Windows 10.
When I first loaded Links, I had problems with it, in that it crashed on me, and there was no sky showing, only a black or dark green background. I read up on all the forums posted on this stuff and talked with Mark via email about it to get insight.
To condense this reply to you, I ended up REINSTALLING links a 2nd time, doing all the patches from where I had them on a disc that I made in 2010, and I got the sky back this time and the game plays great. The only thing that it doesn't show is some of the trees on the overhead view, but the main screen shows everything.
Under properties, when you right click on the Links Icon, I have the Compatability mode set to Windows 7 and I have check marks in both, the Disable Display Scaling on High DPI Settings and Run Program as Administrator.
In the Intel HD Graphics Control Panel for 3D, here's the settings I have:
Application Optimal Mode: Check mark is on Enable
Multi-Sample Anti-Aliasing: Check mark is on Turn Off
Conservative Morphological Anti-Aliasing: Check mark is on Turn off
General Settings: Check mark is at Custom Settings
Anisotropic Filtering: Check mark is on Application settings
Vertical Sync: Check mark is on Driver Settings
These settings above are what I put them on when it was Windows 8.1 and with that 2nd Install, everything worked for me. I checked the settings on the lap top, since having it upgraded to Windows 10 and before sending this to you, and the settings are the same.
Anyway, the game plays great on it for me. I hope this helps you out. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
I saw this post and fortunately, I found my correspondence with Mark, via email, in a file, and took a look at it before sending this response to you.