MechWarrior 2: Resource Forum

Hey all! I recently had to make the Mac-Windows migration for my MechWarrior 2 needs since my new computer doesn't run Classic. So I recently got MW2, GBL, and Mercs for DOS and found a few guides for setup. I browsed the forums here and watched simxMMPD's YouTube tutorial, and I've got it pretty much 99% working with two problems - one common and one less-than-common. I'm running Windows XP with service pack 3, which I understand makes the resolution patch not work but that's fine by me.

EDIT: I'm not sure how (maybe mounting the .cue in MagicDisk?), but now the music is working when run through MechVM. Music in DOSBox runs as well but with weird skipping. Keeping this here anyways just in case.

First, the common one. The music isn't working. As per sirxMMPD's instructions, after installing using DOSBox, I downloaded CloneCD which created the files MW2CD.ccd, .cue, .img, and .sub. They are currently in c:/DOSBOX. My DOSBox configuration currently reads:

[autoexec]
# Lines in this section will be run at startup.
mount C C:\DOSBOX\MECH2
C:
imgmount D "C:\DOSBOX\MW2CD.cue" -t iso

From what I understand, this should get the music running, but so far it hasn't. I think I may have done something wrong either in the prefs or in CloneCD since MW2 won't play without the CD inserted (this should allow it to run sans-CD, correct? Being new to Windows I'm not too sure on the subject.) I also installed MW2 under MechVM and ran it, and while I got music at the various mission screens (Trial of Grievance, Clan Halls, etc.) it sounded very odd and cut again during missions.


Second: the mouse. This one's odd, since the mouse responds just fine until I get into a mission, after which it does nothing; no torso twist and no weapon fire. Because I haven't been able to find any similar problems I'm inclined to think this may be due to my using a wireless mouse, but the fact that it works at title screens makes that seem less likely. Also, they mouse does work fine in GBL and of course it may work in Mercs but I haven't gotten that to run properly yet (see below). If this has anything to do with drivers, I'll have to be walked through pretty thoroughly since, as I said, I know next to nothing about Windows.

As an aside, I did try using the Mac DOSBox, but that gave me some serious trouble; whatever key I used to advance the DOS startup would repeat continuously, so I just gave up and switched to the Windows version since more people are familiar with it.

Anyways, thanks in advance for the help (and for keeping one of the greatest sims ever alive!) and look forward to hearing back!

[edit]Also I'm using the IBM cd and patched it to 1.1 without any trouble. Further, I can play the music just fine in iTunes.



EDIT #2

So I installed Mercs while typing this up (MechVM again), and now I have a different problem. Everything seems to run fine up until I try to launch a mission, at which point I get a "fatal error #53" and I get dumped back to Windows. I suspect I must be doing something wrong with the mounting, but again, I've had the .cue of the Mercs CD mounted as a virtual disk under MagicDisc and Clone Drive. Are there further steps I need to take to get Mercs to recognize the virtual disk?

I would advise against mounting CD images in DosBox.conf. Instead, create a BAT directory to launch your applications, put the launcher .BAT files into that directory, and include that BAT directory in your path variable, the way MechVM does. This prevents problems with MW2 misdetecting CDs, and you can still launch DosBox with a special parameter to lauch with that batch file upon startup.

The mouse must be mapped during missions to control something. You can do this by right-clicking the shell screens and select "Control Configuration" and activate the mouse. Normally, upgrading to 1.1 fixes this for me.

Link to patch:
download/file.php?id=1328

All right, I'll give that a shot, but be advised that I'm going to have to look up what about half of what you just said means, so there's a 50-50 chance I'll be back.

Thanks for the pointer (eh, no pun intended) on the mouse too. I thought I'd checked the control settings thoroughly, but apparently my refrigerator blindness was at an all-time high that day.

Sorry for double-posting, but just wanted to let you know that I've got it working now (well, with the weird little inverted mouse problem but that's negligible). Turns out there was something bad in one of the image files; I just re-wrote them and everything's hunky-dory!

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go grab an Atlas with a few Victor Lance-mates and kick some Clanner butt!

sky faller has not been on in a while
but ill try to help as much as i can