Master List to Running Old MechWarrior Titles
Dec 30, 2016 22:38:06 GMT
AncientxFreako and StoneWall like this
Post by StoneWall on Dec 30, 2016 22:38:06 GMT
by HattedSandwich via /r/MechWarrior
https://www.reddit.com/r/mechwarrior/comments/5jec72/how_to_run_old_mechwarrior_games_on_windows_10_78/
https://www.reddit.com/r/mechwarrior/comments/5jec72/how_to_run_old_mechwarrior_games_on_windows_10_78/
Good morning bondsmen,
I had a member of our community ask if I could make a guide for Mechwarrior compatibility this morning so I'm going to go ahead and do just that. Some of these games take a decent amount of fiddling around with, and a few require publicly available downloads. As a disclaimer I will say that I don't endorse file sharing; I have my old discs still so I'm going to assume we're all on the same footing. For some strange reason, however, installing from a legitimate game disc will not always work, while these ISO copies run beautifully. It's a strange situation and serves as my justification for posting these links.
Mechwarrior 2: Probably the easiest one to get running, you will need the free MechVM program here, choose the option at the top of the page for the win32 executable. MechVM is a self contained dosbox program with a simple gui that lets you pick between DOS and Windows versions of the older Mechwarrior 2 games. I recommend DOS in all cases except Mercenaries, that game is a buggy mess in DOS.
Next you will need an image file of the Mechwarrior 2 game you want to play, you can find those here, choose the preinstalled ISO file.
Apparently Windows has an ISO feature built in but I've always used PowerISO to unpack these file types, you can snag it for free here, I recommend older version because they aren't bloated with stupid ads.
Mount the .bin file to a virtual CD drive with your ISO software, this will be used for installation. Here's a demonstration in case this is new to you.
Open MechVM and at the top right choose Install+Import. The option to install the game should reflect your current ISO image directory. Hit install, and when it asks for a CD image file, navigate to where the .bin is located and instead select the .CUE file. The .CUE file contains all of the amazing music for the game, it is a must.
If done correctly it should import all of the game's mech models. Click the top left tab labeled "Play Game" and you should now see different versions of the game. I recommend clicking the top DOS version and hitting "Start Campaign". There may be a short delay as DOSbox initializes but the game will run perfectly.
This is the same process for both Ghost Bear's Legacy and Mercenaries, so if you can successfully install Mechwarrior 2 you are good to go with the others. One thing I want to mention now is that if you plan on moving the MechVM folder to a different part of your PC you should install the games AFTER. Moving anything after setting it up will break it and you will lose your save files.
Round two for compatibility PSAs, this time focusing on Mechwarrior 3 and Pirate's Moon. These are without a doubt the hardest to get running properly. The biggest culprit is the strange usage of z-buffer in the games that doesn't play nicely with our modern hardware. To tackle that obstacle I recommend you use the free dgVoodoo2 plugin. This program will emulate an older GPU and even let you play these games in your native resolution (3440x1440p widescreen in my case).
To begin you will need to install Mechwarrior 3 and/or Pirate's Moon, and ideally both install to the same default directory. I recommend this because the folder structure is important to keep intact, I've inadvertently broken it 4 or 5 times myself.
If you don't have a functioning disk anymore/hate slow install speeds you can get an ISO for Mechwarrior 3 here, and Pirate's Moon here. Make sure to download any applicable patch files. If you need imaging software for the ISOs you can grab PowerISO here, for those new to ISOs here is a demonstration about mounting.
Once everything is installed (you may need to use administrator rights to do so) patch the games with any applicable fixes. 1.2 is the current official build of the game, the patch is available in the download link above, as well as here (credit to u/Plokite_Wolf)
Next you'll want to grab dgVoodoo2 from here. Grab the 2.53 release about halfway down on the lefthand side. Once it is downloaded copy everything from the MS folder (3 files) to the folder where your Mechwarrior 3 executable is, AS WELL AS where your Pirate's Moon executable is. Critical step, also copy the dgVoodoo2 configuration executable to both of those places.
Next you need to apply a framerate limiter to the game, or else it will run super fast and APCs will literally bounce into orbit. Rivatuner is my goto, you can get it here. Rivatuner is bundled with MSI Afterburner, install both then specifically launch Rivatuner (start menu > search bar > rivatuner).
Once it opens you should see a list of programs on the left, find the executable for Mechwarrior 3 and select it. In the right hand side at framerate limit set it to 60 (maximum I recommend). Here is a demonstration of this process.
Now before you play the game go back to your install directories and launch the dgVoodoo2 config executable. Click the directx tab on the top right, from this menu set your resolution and force AA. Also uncheck the watermark if it bothers you.
You should be ready to play at this point if all steps were followed correctly. If the game runs wildly fast ensure that rivatuner is open, it has to be running in the background everytime you play. If you get weird graphical anomalies ensure you patched the game and that dgVoodoo2 and the 3 MS files were correctly copied to your installation directories where the Mechwarrior 3 executable lives. If that is correct make sure that in the in game options menu in the display device section that it says dgVoodoo2. Lastly music doesn't seem to work for me, I recommend you use a youtube looper to play the soundtrack. It's a very simple OST, but the music does add good ambiance.
Lastly Mechwarrior 4 Vengeance/Black Knight and Mercenaries.
You can get the first two here. Just download and install the games and then patch them to the current 3.0 version, there's a mirror for the patch over at fileplanet.
All you have to do now is repeat the dgVoodoo2 fix by copying the 3 MS files and the config tool to your installation directories, easy day. Run the config, adjust your resolution, and play. Might require admin rights.
Mechwarrior 4 Mercenaries is available through this thread from our own sub.
Simply install and do the same dgVoodoo2 fix and you're solid.
If you need any more help this seems to be the goto sub, so post in the comments. Myself or someone else can try to provide some more help. I'd love for everyone to be able to replay these gems over Christmas or whatever holiday you freebirths celebrate. Cheers
I had a member of our community ask if I could make a guide for Mechwarrior compatibility this morning so I'm going to go ahead and do just that. Some of these games take a decent amount of fiddling around with, and a few require publicly available downloads. As a disclaimer I will say that I don't endorse file sharing; I have my old discs still so I'm going to assume we're all on the same footing. For some strange reason, however, installing from a legitimate game disc will not always work, while these ISO copies run beautifully. It's a strange situation and serves as my justification for posting these links.
Mechwarrior 2: Probably the easiest one to get running, you will need the free MechVM program here, choose the option at the top of the page for the win32 executable. MechVM is a self contained dosbox program with a simple gui that lets you pick between DOS and Windows versions of the older Mechwarrior 2 games. I recommend DOS in all cases except Mercenaries, that game is a buggy mess in DOS.
Next you will need an image file of the Mechwarrior 2 game you want to play, you can find those here, choose the preinstalled ISO file.
Apparently Windows has an ISO feature built in but I've always used PowerISO to unpack these file types, you can snag it for free here, I recommend older version because they aren't bloated with stupid ads.
Mount the .bin file to a virtual CD drive with your ISO software, this will be used for installation. Here's a demonstration in case this is new to you.
Open MechVM and at the top right choose Install+Import. The option to install the game should reflect your current ISO image directory. Hit install, and when it asks for a CD image file, navigate to where the .bin is located and instead select the .CUE file. The .CUE file contains all of the amazing music for the game, it is a must.
If done correctly it should import all of the game's mech models. Click the top left tab labeled "Play Game" and you should now see different versions of the game. I recommend clicking the top DOS version and hitting "Start Campaign". There may be a short delay as DOSbox initializes but the game will run perfectly.
This is the same process for both Ghost Bear's Legacy and Mercenaries, so if you can successfully install Mechwarrior 2 you are good to go with the others. One thing I want to mention now is that if you plan on moving the MechVM folder to a different part of your PC you should install the games AFTER. Moving anything after setting it up will break it and you will lose your save files.
Round two for compatibility PSAs, this time focusing on Mechwarrior 3 and Pirate's Moon. These are without a doubt the hardest to get running properly. The biggest culprit is the strange usage of z-buffer in the games that doesn't play nicely with our modern hardware. To tackle that obstacle I recommend you use the free dgVoodoo2 plugin. This program will emulate an older GPU and even let you play these games in your native resolution (3440x1440p widescreen in my case).
To begin you will need to install Mechwarrior 3 and/or Pirate's Moon, and ideally both install to the same default directory. I recommend this because the folder structure is important to keep intact, I've inadvertently broken it 4 or 5 times myself.
If you don't have a functioning disk anymore/hate slow install speeds you can get an ISO for Mechwarrior 3 here, and Pirate's Moon here. Make sure to download any applicable patch files. If you need imaging software for the ISOs you can grab PowerISO here, for those new to ISOs here is a demonstration about mounting.
Once everything is installed (you may need to use administrator rights to do so) patch the games with any applicable fixes. 1.2 is the current official build of the game, the patch is available in the download link above, as well as here (credit to u/Plokite_Wolf)
Next you'll want to grab dgVoodoo2 from here. Grab the 2.53 release about halfway down on the lefthand side. Once it is downloaded copy everything from the MS folder (3 files) to the folder where your Mechwarrior 3 executable is, AS WELL AS where your Pirate's Moon executable is. Critical step, also copy the dgVoodoo2 configuration executable to both of those places.
Next you need to apply a framerate limiter to the game, or else it will run super fast and APCs will literally bounce into orbit. Rivatuner is my goto, you can get it here. Rivatuner is bundled with MSI Afterburner, install both then specifically launch Rivatuner (start menu > search bar > rivatuner).
Once it opens you should see a list of programs on the left, find the executable for Mechwarrior 3 and select it. In the right hand side at framerate limit set it to 60 (maximum I recommend). Here is a demonstration of this process.
Now before you play the game go back to your install directories and launch the dgVoodoo2 config executable. Click the directx tab on the top right, from this menu set your resolution and force AA. Also uncheck the watermark if it bothers you.
You should be ready to play at this point if all steps were followed correctly. If the game runs wildly fast ensure that rivatuner is open, it has to be running in the background everytime you play. If you get weird graphical anomalies ensure you patched the game and that dgVoodoo2 and the 3 MS files were correctly copied to your installation directories where the Mechwarrior 3 executable lives. If that is correct make sure that in the in game options menu in the display device section that it says dgVoodoo2. Lastly music doesn't seem to work for me, I recommend you use a youtube looper to play the soundtrack. It's a very simple OST, but the music does add good ambiance.
Lastly Mechwarrior 4 Vengeance/Black Knight and Mercenaries.
You can get the first two here. Just download and install the games and then patch them to the current 3.0 version, there's a mirror for the patch over at fileplanet.
All you have to do now is repeat the dgVoodoo2 fix by copying the 3 MS files and the config tool to your installation directories, easy day. Run the config, adjust your resolution, and play. Might require admin rights.
Mechwarrior 4 Mercenaries is available through this thread from our own sub.
Simply install and do the same dgVoodoo2 fix and you're solid.
If you need any more help this seems to be the goto sub, so post in the comments. Myself or someone else can try to provide some more help. I'd love for everyone to be able to replay these gems over Christmas or whatever holiday you freebirths celebrate. Cheers