MechVM-2009-02-07

[Skyfaller]

Although MW2 texture import is not quite complete, there are enough new features to justify an update.

• Another fix for replacing files in MW2.PRJ
• MechVM will now import mechs from all supported installations
• MechVM will unpack the MW3 files from CD and import MW3 mechs (details)
• There is now a separate command line version (PRJPP), useful to distribute MW2 patches (details)
• Linux Support: you can compile this version for Linux (Related info)

Download Link, changes in the previous version

[Col.Kell]

I still see the previous version. How do I refresh the page again?

[Skyfaller]

F5 should do that. When I find the time, I'll have to find out if there's some HTML magic that prevents having to do that.

[Kamicrazy]

Hi,

I can't download your mechvm zip file because both my security gateway (a sonicwall) and trend micro WFBS both detect it as containing a virus.

You might want to get it checked out.

[Sir MMPD Radick]

False positive I think.
I just scanned it with NOD32 which is one of the better AV/s on the market and there is no threat detected.

[Skyfaller]

Avira Antivir doesn't detect a virus either. I don't know what caused this, but I can assure everyone that MechVM is not intended to spread malware.

[Monk]

This fills me with sadness.

Well, ok, this project makes me VERY HAPPY. But the UI seems unresponsive and there's no feedback on clicking anywhere.

Vista, I couldn't get the Battlepack install to work. Just randomly quits. So I start lookin' around. I find this which is neat but looks like a work in progress. But then when I go to install (yay!) it doesn't let me actually change any paths and wants to "import" from drive D:, which is my OEM data recovery drive. It installed to where I unextracted the ZIP, which was the rather inelegant F:\download\MechVM-win32-2009-02-07\ and it did pick up that the Battlepack CD was in E:\, but I have no idea where the D:\ came from. And after it finished installing, the DOS-ish window showing the progress (and a bunch of errors and file not founds that scrolled by too quickly to read) stayed open. In hindsight, I probably could go back and take a look since the window stayed open.

When I try to play, I get a flat-shaded set of bumps and an error in the box like:

Loading mech models
Could not open F:\download\MechVM-win32-2009-02-07\mechs.xml: : The system cannot find the file specified.
Error loading F:\download\MechVM-win32-2009-02-07\mechs.xml

Odd, because there's mech2 and mech3 XML files. Were you going to somehow import the original Mech 1 stuff, too? Just wonderin'.

When I click on View File, it pops me into my "Documents" folder. It should probably default to the path of the currently running program, in my case F:\download\MechVM-win32-2009-02-07\ or F:\download\MechVM-win32-2009-02-07\games\ and have the default filter/filetype be *.prj, *.mw2 files.

Ok, only NOW do I realize that the "Install MW2 from drive E:" is actually a big BUTTON. And the Import is a separate function. Again, non-intuitive but that's a UI design issue.

Doing the install again, I get stuff like:

Completely imported Victor
Could not open mechs\mw2-Victor\VTR-9B Victor.mek: : The system cannot find thepath specified.
Could not open mechs\mw2-Victor\Victor.mvmk: : The system cannot find the path specified.
Error opening file
Found no match for BMID=496
Found no match for BMID=496
...
BMID 304 -> BMPJ 1068: 1 times
Completely imported mw2-Zeus
Could not open mechs\mw2-mw2-Zeus\ZEU-6S Zeus.mek: : The system cannot find thepath specified.
Could not open mechs\mw2-mw2-Zeus\mw2-Zeus.mvmk: : The system cannot find the path specified.
Error opening file

Unless you notice that the other non-DOS window says Done, you kind of sit there and look at the last error and think the installing process froze or got stuck on an error. You should throw in a "Done" in that window, too. Also, when starting the install process, it just kinda sits there in the DOS window. Maybe a blurb like:

MechVM-2009-02-07, built with 155 weapons and equipment types
GL Vendor: NVIDIA Corporation
GL Renderer: GeForce 9600 GT/PCI/SSE2
GL Version: 2.1.2
Installing MW2: 31st Century Combat (Battlepack/Titanium 8-bit)
PLEASE WAIT WHILE WE PREPARE THE FILES --- or something like that

I have never really played Mercs or MW3 so I'm guessing the errors are related to you just running one ginormous installer script that accounts for a few versions of MW2/MW3 and it's erroring on the stuff it can't find on my disc?

Also, the install process didn't ask me for my second disc. So it's non-intuitive if I have to put the second one in separately and then run the installer again. Maybe something on the install screen like, "run the installer separately for each disc in your pack" or something.

I'm still sorting out how to actually play MW2 in Vista and it looks like it did install, it was just kind of unclear to me that it did. I just wanted to give some feedback for you so please take this as constructive criticism, not as whining.

Thanks for doing this project in the first place! This game is wonderful and I'm glad someone is trying to keep it going!

[Skyfaller]

Thanks for taking the time to write such extensive feedback.

I'll admit the GUI isn't as nice as a normal Windows GUI. It is based on OpenGL, which has the advantage of running under Linux and Windows without changes. You should be able to edit any paths, but clicking into the edits does not change the cursor position. Simply not implemented yet, however, the cursor keys work.

About the messages, I'll see if I can add some messages and clarify the existing messages.

MechVM is clearly a work in progress, but some people find it useful already, so I didn't wait until it is by any means complete. After installing, MechVM imports mechs to display in the Mech Lab. The import process admittedly generates a lot of (debug) messages.

Battlepack GBL isn't supported yet. Apparently, you installed MW2:31stcc (Battlepack) into the games folder. Just run it from there using Windows Explorer. If you install any other MW2 games, install them into a subfolder. We have been discussing installing into subfolders of the games folder automatically, but I didn't come around to doing that just yet.

[Monk]

I think doing your own UI with OGL is great for portability and it seems like it's going for a MW2-style feel too, the kind of 16 or 256 color pallet and a bit bulky 320x200-ish look. And honestly, that's not meant to be a slam, I think it's neat from a look-and-feel standpoint. Though I can see that it would be a bit more painful to reimplement effects and abilities that are probably already there as premade templates in Visual Studio or something you can just use in MFC or whatever. But hey, I know another programmer who is doing basically the same thing for portability and because he wants to force himself to learn how to do it.

I do understand it's a work in progress, but hey I figure any feedback is a good starting point!

I was too lazy to look, but is there a way to dump all those messages to a logfile? Maybe a commandline switch or something since the DOS-ish console window has a limited buffer. I figure that might be useful to have for further debugging from blokes like me who randomly test this stuff out.

Also, in the "install" folder, everything starts MW2 except for "_MW2-31stCC-Battlepack". Why the underscore? Typo, or on purpose? Seems odd.

And yeah, the lack of cursor focus feedback also let me believe that I couldn't edit anything. I'll try to pop here from time to time and give more humble advice, oh ho ho!

[Skyfaller]

I can deal with constructive criticism, but mockery isn't welcome here.