Hey all,
I have the GOG version and had this issue as well, but I figured out a feasible (at least to me) workaround until the game is patched. Assuming you have Windows 7 (which is what I have), here's what I did, step by step.
1.) Go to: Documents > Larian Studios > Dragon Commander > Savegames; back-up your save games (I simply dragged them to a folder on my desktop)
2.) Uninstall the game
3.) Re-install the game; DO NOT install the patch
4.) Drag your save games back to the savegame folder
5.) Voila; you should be back to the state the game was in before the patch.
Hope this helps. If you have Windows 8 (which I've never used or seen in person), sorry but I have no clue, though the principle should be the same (in theory).