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. Be sure to choose hardware-rendered graphics (the software-rendered graphics do not work with the Windows XP patch and are also not as detailed).
 * 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.

3Dfx support
If you have a Titanium or 3Dfx version of MechWarrior 2 and it crashes with an "unknown error" after following all the instructions in the patch you will need to either experiment with the DGVoodoo settings or else go back to using DirectX mode.

Missing CD audio
CD audio will not play under Windows XP if your computer is configured with more than one optical drive (this includes virtual drives). To enable CD audio you will need to disable the other drives whenever you want to play MechWarrior 2. 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, leaving only the drive the MechWarrior 2 CD is in. Any time you want to use these drives you will need to re-enable them using the same process, this time choosing Enable from the right-click menu.
 * 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 one of the unused drives.
 * 6) Click on Disable.

If MechWarrior 2 says to insert the disc you have disabled the wrong drive; repeat the steps above, this time choosing Enable from the right-click menu, and then disable the other drive.