Can some directX/x11drv guru help me find and fix the problem, I assume it is something that either is stubbed or doesn't check the wine config correctly....
Well, you need first to do a '+ddraw' trace (I suppose these are DirectX < 8 games, it not, you will need a '+d3d' trace). Then check for anything unusual in the trace.
To the risk of repeating, making games start and love our DirectX implementation is often the hardest thing there is... After, once they are happy, it's just implementing the missing stuff.
For example, I had to disassemble some checking routines at least 4 or 5 times to see which bit in the caps was not set or which enumeration was missing which makes the game not start. Not with a lot of success though (oh well, it did help on 2 games, so it was not entirely in vain :-) ).
Lionel