MechWarrior 2: 31st Century Combat/Installing

While the MS-DOS versions will install fine under Windows XP, the other versions will not work without patching.

Installing
With some editions the installer may load to 99% and get no further, or have other errors. To resolve this you will need to set Windows 95 Compatibility Mode for the installer. To do this, do the following: The installer should now run correctly. Here you can choose whether or not to install the movies to your hard drive (this will make them load faster). You can also choose whether to have software-rendered or hardware-rendered graphics. The software-rendered graphics are not as detailed. In the case of Ghost Bear's Legacy the hardware-rendered version has incorrect insignias and buggy AI.
 * 1) Double-click on the My Computer icon on the desktop.
 * 2) Right-click the drive the MechWarrior 2 disc is in (it will have a mech icon).
 * 3) Click on Open.
 * 4) Double-click on the Install folder.
 * 5) Right-click the SETUP.EXE icon.
 * 6) Click on Properties.
 * 7) Click the Compatibility tab.
 * 8) Click the checkbox beside "Run this program in compatibility mode for:"
 * 9) Click on the menu and choose Windows 95 (if it is not already selected).
 * 10) Click OK.
 * 11) Double-click SETUP.EXE.

During installation the installer may say that some of your hardware does not meet the minimum specifications (e.g. a 2X-speed CD-ROM drive). This error can be safely ignored.

Patching
Download the appropriate patch from this forum thread. You can also follow the instructions for creating your own. The patch comes with its own readme which fully explains how to use it. Note that the Titanium Edition patches below will perform this changes automatically.

Titanium Edition
First do a full install and then run the appropriate patch. These patches include mini-ISOs to be mounted with a program such as Daemon Tools in place of inserting the CDs every time you play. Note that the mini-ISOs do not include music, so the music will not play even if you fix this problem. You will have to either play with the original CDs or make full ISOs. Additionally, they do not contain movie files; if you do not do a full install the movies will not play and this will cause some minor graphics glitches in the halls.
 * XP patch for 31st Century Combat
 * XP patch for Ghost Bear's Legacy
 * XP patch for Mercenaries

3Dfx vs. DirectX
Windows versions of MechWarrior 2 support both DirectX and 3Dfx rendering. The Titanium Edition patches default to 3Dfx. If the game crashes due to an "unknown error" while using 3Dfx rendering you will need to either change to DirectX mode or else experiment with DGVoodoo.

Missing music
If the disc is in a drive other than D: (or whatever your first optical drive is) no music will play during missions. If you want to use a different drive for playing MechWarrior 2 you will need to disable all optical drives Windows has assigned earlier letters to. To do this, do the following: If done correctly there should be an x on top of the drive icon. Repeat this for any other drives in this list (including virtual drives) that have earlier letters than the drive you wish to use, finishing with the drive MechWarrior 2 is to be played from. Now re-enable the drive the MechWarrior 2 disc will be used in by repeating the above steps, this time choosing Enable from the right-click menu. If done correctly that drive should be assigned to D: (or whatever is available for the letter of the first optical drive). Now repeat the steps to re-enable the other optical drives, which should receive the letters E:, F:, and so forth.
 * 1) Right click the My Computer icon on the desktop and choose Properties.
 * 2) Click the Hardware tab.
 * 3) Click the Device Manager button.
 * 4) Click the + beside DVD/CD-ROM drives.
 * 5) Right-click on the first of the drives that comes before the one you want to use.
 * 6) Click on Disable.

Doing this will also eliminate the "there is no disc in drive D:" error that occurs if D: is empty and the MechWarrior 2 disc is in another optical drive.

Note: other software may rely on files being in a particular optical drive; if changing the drive order causes errors with other software, these programs will need to be reconfigured to use the new location.