-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- (Part 2 of 2) The Unofficial, XXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXX XXX XXXXXXXX XXXXX XXXXX XXXXXXXXX XXXXX X XXXX XXXX XXXXXXX XXXX XXXXXXXXX XXXXX XXXXX XXXXXXXXXXX XX XXXXX XX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXX XXXXX XXXXX XXXXXXXXXXX XXX XXXXX XXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXX XXXX XXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXX XXXX XXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXX XXXX XXXXX XXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXX XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX XXXX XXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXX XXXX XXXXXXXXX XXXXX XXXXX XXXX XXXXX XX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXX XXX XXXXXXXX XXXXX XXXXX XXXXXX XXXXX XXX XXX XXX X XXX XXXX XXX XXXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXXX XXX XXXXX XXX XXXXX XXX XX XXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXX XXX XXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXX XXX XX XXXX XXX XXXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXXX XXX XXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXX XXX XXX XXXX XXX XXXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXXX XXX XXXXX XXXXX XXXX XX XXX XXX XXXX XXX XXXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXXX XXX XXXXX XXXX XXX XX XXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXX XXX XXX XXXX XXXX XXXXX XXXXX XXX XXX XXXX XXXX XXX XXXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXXX XXX XXXXXXXXXXX XXXXX XXXX XXX XXX XXXX XXX XXXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXXX XXX XXXXXXXXXXX `XXX 'XXXX XXX XXX XXXX XXX XXXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXXX XXX XXXXXXXXXXX ### # # ### ### # # # # ### # ### ## # # ### ## # ## # # # ### ### ### # # # ## ### FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS LIST PART 1 =-=-= Unofficial Mechwarrior II FAQ Part 2 (of 2): Playing the game!!! compiled by Will Day Version 2.0 8/9/95 This is a Frequently Asked Questions list compiled for the new game _Mechwarrior II_ from Activision. We were lucky to have several members of the MW2 programming team posting to the newsgroups and answering questions, so many of the answers you see here come directly from them. The FAQ is split into two parts: Part 1: a re-hash of the Pre-release FAQ, providing mostly descriptions of the game. This would be most useful for those who haven't bought the game yet, and want to know "What is it like???" Part 2: addresses specific topics relating to playing the game, like cheats, bugs, and general questions of the type "How do I do _this_ in the game???" =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Revision history 2.0 8/9/95 - Reorganized Pre-release version into a Post-release version, split into two parts =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Table of Contents Section 1: The Game Shell 1.1 Why doesn't Alpha Attack use his PPCs on the 2nd enemy mech in the intro? 1.2 How many cut-scenes are there? 1.3 Can I read the greyed out information in the Archive Holoprojector? 1.4 Can I change the name of my custom mechs from "User variant #X"? 1.5 Nice music; what was used to create it? 1.6 What music in the game is GMIDI, and what is from the CD? 1.7 Can I listen to a different CD during missions? 1.8 Can I play the game without the CD in the drive? Section 2: Cheats and Codes and Neat Things 2.1 What cheat codes are there? 2.2 I can't get the Enzo cheat to work. 2.3 It won't let me use the BattleMaster. 2.4 How do I modify the cheat mechs (Elemental, Tarantula, Battlemaster)? 2.5 What other easter-eggs are in the game? Section 3: Control Configuration 3.1 How do I get my 2-joystick setup to work? 3.2 I assigned a key to a function, and now it's performing TWO functions! 3.3 Pressing the "firegroup-2" key also centers my torso. - Or, the FireGroup-2 doesn't work from my Thrustmaster. 3.4 The jumpjet rotate keys don't work on my FLCS. 3.5 I'd really like a key to move to the next weapon group. 3.6 Why does the torso always center itself when controlled with a joystick? - Or, why is it so hard to aim with the joystick? Section 4: The Simulation 4.1 The mech won't ever come to a complete stop. 4.2 If I have no ammo, do I have to worry about overheating? 4.3 Sometimes my jumpjets don't lift me up at all. 4.4 Why do the enemy mechs pick on me specifically? 4.5 Why is my right torso/arm ALWAYS the first thing to be destroyed? 4.6 Does the enemy AI have a sense of self preservation? 4.7 When I press 'm' to recenter the torso to the legs, why does it jerk? Section 5: Problems 5.1 I don't get music in the game. 5.2 The CD only works in first slot of my multidisk CD drive. 5.3 The game crashes, and I get page frame errors. 5.4 I get a "critical write error on drive c:" 5.5 The game keeps locking up when I'm calibrating my joysticks. 5.6 How much memory can the game make use of? 5.7 How can I improve the speed of the game? Section 6: Complaints 6.1 Why do the stars only have 3 mechs? They're supposed to be _five_. 6.2 I'm limited to only 10 weapons on a mech? 6.3 The mechs don't fall down when they lose a leg. 6.4 Why is the ER PPC shorter range than the ER Large Laser? Section 7: Network and Multiplayer-Gaming 7.1 Do I need more than one copy of the game to multiplay? 7.2 Will the full network version directly support IPX, rather than requiring NetBios? 7.3 Can I netplay between the demo and full version? Section 8: Extras 8.1 Where's the DEMO? Is it OUT YET?? 8.2 I never saw the canyon wall that was shown in one of the screen shots. Did I miss something? 8.3 The computer has a nice voice. 8.4 What machines/configurations were used for testing? 8.5 What programming platforms did you use to write the game? 8.6 The credits mention"Special thanks to...Tim Morten (for the Second Coming)". 8.7 What's taken so long? Section 9: The Future 9.1 Is there a level editor? Or, What add-ons are planned? 9.2 Will the M&T disk work with the NetMech add-on? 9.3 I'm a CLANNER! I want to invade the Inner Sphere! 9.4 Will there be a port of the game? 9.5 Will there be an upgrade path from the DOS version to Win95/NT? 9.6 Any plans for MW2 on Sony's Playstation? 9.7 Will Activision be doing a future Mechwarrior game? 9.8 What about a MW2 movie? Section 10: Net References 10.1 What Activision people involved with Mechwarrior are on the net? 10.2 Where do Activision-Mechwarrior people usually read and/or post? 10.3 On what ftp sites can I find Mechwarrior II info? 10.4 What web pages are there about Mechwarrior II? =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Section 1: The Game Shell 1.1 Why doesn't Alpha Attack use his PPCs on the 2nd enemy mech in the intro? From: Will Day Date: 9 Aug 1995 10:06:28 -0400 I dunno. Maybe, ah, maybe he took splash damage from the explosion of his starmate. Yeah, that's the ticket. And, ah, it took out his PPC's. Okay, yeah. 1.2 How many cut-scenes are there? From: Will Day Date: 9 Aug 1995 10:06:28 -0400 There are a total of five cut-scenes: the main intro, the two clan intros, and the two clan endings. 1.3 Can I read the greyed out information in the Archive Holoprojector? From: Tim Morten Date: 27 Jul 1995 07:00:39 GMT I actually didn't notice the greyed out entries until I read a post earlier today. I guess we'll have to fill them out in the add-on! 1.4 Can I change the name of my custom mechs from "User variant #X"? From: Will Day Date: 9 Aug 1995 10:06:28 -0400 You can change the name: (a) when you first create the custom mech; (b) by clicking customize again, in which case it'll be save _in addition to_ the previously-named mech. I also have a little DOS command line utility that'll show or set the variant name. It's at: http://rom.oit.gatech.edu/~willday/mw2/mekname.zip ftp://rom.oit.gatech.edu/pub/mw2/mekname.zip 1.5 Nice music; what was used to create it? From: Tim Morten Date: 31 Jul 1995 05:32:08 GMT It was a Roland JV series rack mount. 1.6 What music in the game is GMIDI, and what is from the CD? From: Will Day Date: 9 Aug 1995 10:06:28 -0400 I've never really made any definite determination, but I believe that the mission music is spooled from the CD, whereas music in the shell is GMIDI. At least, the Trials/IA setup screen plays GMIDI music. 1.7 Can I listen to a different CD during missions? From: Tim Morten Date: 28 Jul 1995 08:17:54 GMT Yes; our testers did this all the time. 1.8 Can I play the game without the CD in the drive? From: Tim Morten Date: 27 Jul 1995 03:29:23 GMT The game expects to play CD-audio off the CD. Several other assets, including the training instructor's voice, are not copied by the full installation. The game looks to the CD to find these things. It will not run without them. From: Tim Morten Date: 28 Jul 1995 09:41:22 GMT Even with the full install, much of the art for the shell is read explicitly off the CD. Also, there are 26 tracks of CD audio that the game expects to find on the CD. Sorry; we actually meant it when we said 2X CD-ROM required! Seriously though, I do apologize for the inconvenience. The CD-audio can't reside on a hard-drive, so we designed on the assumption we'd always have access to the CD as a repository for art as well. From: Tim Morten Date: 31 Jul 1995 06:50:04 GMT MechWarrior 2 expects to play CD audio off of your CD drive (not MIDI or digitized audio, real CD-audio you can listen to in your stereo's CD player). Also, it expects to play the 40MB plus movie sequences from the CD. Also, it expects to find a number of other art resources on the CD. In short, no. Sorry! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Section 2: Cheats and Codes and Neat Things 2.1 What cheat codes are there? From: Will Day Date: 9 Aug 1995 10:06:28 -0400 These codes work in the simulation, by holding down CTRL-ALT-SHIFT and typing: blorb Toggle invulnerability cia Toggle unlimited ammo coldmiser Toggle heat tracking hangaround Toggle mission time-limit flygirl Add jumpjets to mech mightymouse Toggle infinite Jumpjet juice gankem Destroy targeted mech enolagay Explode an atom bomb (killing everything?) michelin Toggle bounding spheres on debris and mech parts tinkerbell View battle from free-floating camera. Turn off with "c". ctrl-left to turn left ctrl-right to turn right ctrl-up to increase altitude ctrl-down to decrease altitude z to move forward shift-z to move backwards front Toggles mini-front-view, shown in place of mini-rear-view xray Enhanced imaging with see-through. Turn off with "w". dorcs view the MW2 Sim Programmer Dorcs Web pages icanthackit End mission successfully idkfa End mission as a failure zmak Toggles Time expansion (?) meepmeep Time compression key enabled (?) unmeepmeep Time compression key disabled (?) lairdo "ATTENTION ENEMIES: Don't mess with the blimp." (?) dei "F E I F". (?) (Maybe Michael Douglas knows what this does.) sh*t "Freebirth vulgarity will not be tolerated!" f*ck "Freebirth vulgarity will not be tolerated!" These codes work in the Trials of Grievance instant-action missions, by changing your name in Star Config to: Calvin Adds Elemental between Dire Wolf and Fire Moth (1 of 3) Hobbes Adds Tarantula between Elemental and Fire Moth (2 of 3) Enzo Adds Battlemaster IIC between Tarantula and Fire Moth (3 of 3) This code works in the campaigns, by registering with the name: FREEBIRTHTOAD Lets you pick and play any of the 16 missions 2.2 I can't get the Enzo cheat to work. From: Will Day Date: 9 Aug 1995 10:06:28 -0400 It only works in the Trials of Grievance, not in the Wolf or JF campaigns. Be sure the E is capitalized. 2.3 It won't let me use the BattleMaster. From: morgan@sneezy.cc.utexas.edu (Matt Morgan) From: morgan@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Steve Chauvin) Date: 8 Aug 1995 20:41:43 -0500 Someone was in a hurry at ship-time at Activision, and made 2 careless mistakes. To fix the battlemaster problem: In file MW2.PRJ -- change byte at offset 3206200 from 0x0B to 0x11 and change byte at offset 3206752 from 0x0B to 0x11 Someone converted to decimal when they shouldn't have ;) In file MW2SHELL.EXE -- Search for string "btllmstr" and replace with "bttlmstr" That should do it, it did for me. Please use this mech's powers for good and not evil. From: Will Day Date: 9 Aug 1995 10:06:28 -0400 I was able to get the BattleMaster to work with only the string change to MW2SHELL.EXE as described above, at offset 537782. From: louish@mhv.net (Louis C. Hendricks) Date: Thu, 10 Aug 1995 02:30:39 GMT I threw together some code I had lying around to patch the right bytes in both files that need fixing. You can get it at my web page: http://www.computer.net/~louish/bttlmstr.zip 2.4 How do I modify the cheat mechs (Elemental, Tarantula, Battlemaster)? From: Shane Hudson Date: 8 Aug 1995 16:39:26 GMT You have to USE an elemental in a ToG/Mission first. When you return to the builder screen, you will be able to modify the elemental. From: Will Day Date: 9 Aug 1995 10:06:28 -0400 It IS possible to get the Customize button on the Elemental, Battlemaster, and Tarantula without having to go into a mission. I haven't worked out all the variables, but what appeared to work for me was: (after applying the Enzo cheat, and going to the IA screen) - pick a mech you can customize - go to the mech lab (ie click on the mech outline) - exit back to the IA screen - pick the elemental (or BM or Tar) - go to the mech lab again, and you should be able to customize Sometimes I had to go down two or three mechs into the list (ie the Jenner) because sometimes when I'd just choose the Firemoth, I'd go into the mech lab and be unable to customize _it_. 2.5 What other easter-eggs are in the game? From: Will Day Date: 9 Aug 1995 10:06:28 -0400 In the archive holoprojector, some of the periods after the heading numbers are buttons. Click on them and you'll a few interesting screens. Check both clans. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Section 3: Control Configuration 3.1 How do I get my 2-joystick setup to work? From: Will Day Date: 9 Aug 1995 10:06:28 -0400 The "CH Flightstick Pro" joystick input option will allow you to assign the rudders (X-axis of joy2) and the throttle (Y-axis of joy2) to game functions. I'd also suggest: (1) _DE-SELECT_ "2-button" joystick. This is very important, as the two will conflict with each other and you'll get some screwy results. (2) Delete all the calibration files (*.cal) in the mech2 directory. Then, the next time you enter the simulation it'll ask you to recalibrate. Having old or spurious calibration files seemed to cause hanging during calibration on several occasions. (3) Remove the FSPro-specific controls from the custom config, for instance "hat-right". I did this just to make sure it didn't try to interpret any of my "normal" buttons as those special FSPro inputs. 3.2 I assigned a key to a function, and now it's performing TWO functions! From: Will Day Date: 9 Aug 1995 10:06:28 -0400 The config screen allows you to assign _four_ different inputs/keys to the same function. Click on "Primary Config" to cycle through the four pages of assignments. It could well be that the key is assigned to perform that extra function on one of the secondary-quartinery config pages. 3.3 Pressing the "firegroup-2" key also centers my torso. - Or, the FireGroup-2 doesn't work from my Thrustmaster. From: Will Day Date: 9 Aug 1995 10:06:28 -0400 I got around this problem by changing the custom config to have firegroup-2 be (-) on the keypad, rather than (/) on the keypad. Then, sending "KP-" from the FLCS worked also. 3.4 The jumpjet rotate keys don't work on my FLCS. From: Will Day Date: 9 Aug 1995 10:06:28 -0400 It seems to have some problem with the concept of the "grey" keys, or something. I redefined the custom config to use j/k/-/= to be left/right/down/up. And of course, deleted - and + from controlling the throttle. From: aslagle@mindspring.com (Adam Slagle) Date: Wed, 9 Aug 1995 16:38:27 -0400 The solution is to use RAW keyboard scan codes....with the RAW codes MW2 can't guess wrong about which INS or PGDown key you're pressing. (by the way, the scan codes are all in back of the manual.) One line of my .B50 file looks like this: BTN H3L /P RAW (#E0 #70) /R RAW (#F0 #E0 #70) rem JUMP LATERAL LEFT (I think that those are the right scan codes....I don't have my new .B50 file on this machine....) 3.5 I'd really like a key to move to the next weapon group. From: Will Day Date: 9 Aug 1995 10:06:28 -0400 Although it doesn't appear to be documented anywhere, the apostrophe key (') will move to the first weapon of the next group, without firing anything. 3.6 Why does the torso always center itself when controlled with a joystick? - Or, why is it so hard to aim with the joystick? From: willday@rom.oit.gatech.edu (Will Day) Date: 27 Jul 1995 09:50:38 -0400 It's tying the torso _directly_ to the stick axis (centering the torso when the stick centers), rather than interpreting the stick movement as delta-change in movement. From: Tim Morten Date: 27 Jul 1995 04:08:14 GMT MechWarrior 2 uses the joystick in a unique way. Rather than just reading 'left' or 'right' from the joystick and adding up values, MW2 turns your torso to the exact coordinates the joystick transmits (much like using a mouse). This technique allows for more precise aiming, and lets you hold your joystick in position to stay aimed. From: Will Day Date: 29 Jul 1995 16:41:41 -0400 See, I read it differently. To me, this technique requires more difficult aiming, because it forces me to hold my joystick in position to stay aimed. From: Tim Morten Date: 31 Jul 1995 07:14:37 GMT Sorry you're unhappy with the joystick autocentering; this is not a bug. I recommend using a mouse if you don't like the feel of joystick play. I understand that you are very unhappy about this, however many users are using joysticks and prefer autocentering. We also had specific requests for autocentering in the design phase. I really wish we could make everyone happy; I'll certainly look into offering both choices. However I am familiar enough with our joystick code to know that this is not trivial addition. From: Will Day Date: 31 Jul 1995 11:19:17 -0400 Not a bug, just a poor design decision. I tried using the mouse for torso control and targeting, and it worked like a dream. Why is wanting the same level of targeting control with the _joystick_ such a far-fetched concept?!? Besides, suggesting I use the mouse rather than the joystick for torso/targeting is, at best, an inadequate solution. My two hands are already engaged with the joystick and throttle, and reaching for the mouse during battle will get me killed. Interpreting the joystick in a delta-change manner isn't a non-standard method of control. (1) The chassis movement is done this way. (2) Both EarthSiege and VWE control their torsos in this manner, with no forced-centering. In any case, now you're getting specific requests for non-autocentering. Providing a choice for the gamer sounds like it's in order. From: "Tim Morten" Date: 3 Aug 1995 22:59:12 -0800 We are now actively looking at making the centering optional based on yours and others suggestions. It pains me to hear frustrated users . From: Will Day Date: 7 Aug 1995 00:01:14 -0400 It pains me to be frustrated, too. :-) I hope this does indeed make it to a patch. I would suggest anyone else who would like this fixed to send a note to Tim (tmorten@activision.com) to show as much support as possible for a patch. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Section 4: The Simulation 4.1 The mech won't ever come to a complete stop. From: Tim Morten Date: 27 Jul 1995 05:29:01 GMT If you turn, the mech automatically powers up to enable motion (otherwise you could only turn torso while standing still). From: Will Day Date: 9 Aug 1995 10:06:28 -0400 If you're standing still, and cause any left/right movement on the joystick, the mech will speed up to about 10kph or so for a couple of seconds, and then drop back down to 0, assuming you stop moving the stick. :) Also, if there's noise in your joystick card, it could be registering left/right movement to the game, in which case you'll always be slightly turning, and moving. 4.2 If I have no ammo, do I have to worry about overheating? From: Tim Morten Date: 28 Jul 1995 09:22:44 GMT If things get warm enough, you should eventually suffer pilot death. From: Will Day Date: 9 Aug 1995 10:06:28 -0400 If you stay overheated for long enough, your mech _will_ explode, regardless of ammo. 4.3 Sometimes my jumpjets don't lift me up at all. From: Tim Morten Date: 28 Jul 1995 07:50:52 GMT Some planets have such high gravity that you can't get off the ground. 4.4 Why do the enemy mechs pick on me specifically? From: Tim Morten Date: 31 Jul 1995 04:56:31 GMT They target the leader of the star. 4.5 Why is my right torso/arm ALWAYS the first thing to be destroyed? From: khill@cts.com (Kevin Hill) Date: Tue, 8 Aug 1995 17:08:10 GMT I sent a message to Tim Morton the other day about the frequent (read always) destruction of a mechs right arm. He said that they are working on it and the technical explanation was because there was a problem with the random number generator. From: Will Day Date: 9 Aug 1995 10:06:28 -0400 An obvious suggestion to get around this until a patch is released is to always use customized mechs that have NO weapons, ammo, or critical systems in the right torso/arm. Place everything in the left/center torsos and arm, and anything you can fit in the legs. You rarely get hit in the legs. :) 4.6 Does the enemy AI have a sense of self preservation? From: Tim Morten Date: 31 Jul 1995 03:35:31 GMT Yes; they will either flee or kamikaze if they have lost all weapons. 4.7 When I press 'm' to recenter the torso to the legs, why does it jerk? From: levram@engin.umich.edu (Michael Hardy) Date: 9 Aug 1995 17:14:43 GMT The legs are re-centering while your walking, so the legs have to turn while the torso re-centers, several times for the full re center. Press "C" for external view to see what's going on. It makes much more sense than what you see in the cockpit. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Section 5: Problems 5.1 I don't get music in the game. From: Will Day Date: 9 Aug 1995 10:06:28 -0400 Most of the game music is spooled directly off the CD, as regular (redbook) audio. You'll only hear the music if you have the CD wired to a speaker in some manner. (1) With most of the recent sound cards, you can connect the CDROM drive to the sound card via an internal cable. (2) Or, you might be able to run a cable from the head-phones jack on the front of the drive into an input jack on the back of the sound card, if your card has one. (3) Plug headphones or speakers into the CDROM drive's headphone jack. Also, if you connect your CDROM audio into your sound card, be sure to check any mixer settings on the card, and make sure the CD-in is set to a reasonable volume. For instance, on my SB Pro, the CD-in volume defaults to 0, and I have to raise the level at bootup time. 5.2 The CD only works in first slot of my multidisk CD drive. From: Tim Morten Date: 31 Jul 1995 05:03:56 GMT We query the Microsoft CD extensions for the CD-ROM drive. It only reports back one letter, and that's the first drive. Sorry; I hope it's not a major inconvenience. 5.3 The game crashes, and I get page frame errors. From: Will Day Date: 9 Aug 1995 10:06:28 -0400 Try booting your machine without an expanded memory manager like QEMM or EMM386 loaded. The game doesn't need one to run, and it's also been known to slow the game down a little bit. 5.4 I get a "critical write error on drive c:". From: Tim Morten Date: 31 Jul 1995 06:36:41 GMT Turn off SMARTDRV. 5.5 The game keeps locking up when I'm calibrating my joysticks. From: Will Day Date: 9 Aug 1995 10:06:28 -0400 I had problems with calibrate locking up on me many times. I did three things to help alleviate this: - Delete all the *.CAL files in the mech2 directory. When you enter the sim next time it'll ask you to recalibrate. - Make sure you only have one joystick type defined, as they tend to conflict with each other. For instance don't have "2-button joystick" and "Flightstick" both selected. - Boot up with a very minimized setup, long enough to calibrate the sticks, and then return to your normal boot setup 5.6 How much memory can the game make use of? From: Tim Morten Date: 27 Jul 1995 03:58:15 GMT RAM will provide a marginal improvement in frame rate, as less things will have to be swapped in and out at run time. Anything past 12MB has no benefit. None of the missions has more than 12MB total, so anything above won't really get used. 5.7 How can I improve the speed of the game? From: Will Day Date: 9 Aug 1995 10:06:28 -0400 Some ideas are: In the game: (1) Run at a lower resolution (2) Turn off details in the Combat Variables screen (3) Turn off the enemy damage display (4) Use a larger installation on the hard drive, so it doesn't have to load as much from the CDROM drive. In software: (5) Load as little as possible in autoexec.bat and config.sys (6) Use smartdrv to cache your HD. (7) Use smartdrv to cache your CDROM drive. Be sure smartdrv loads _after_ MSCDEX in your autoexec. (8) Don't load an expanded memory manager (EMM) like QEMM and EMM386. Despite what some of the documentation says, the game does not require EMM. You'll often get faster performance without it. (9) Load UniVBE. In some cases it includes a newer and better VESA driver than what comes on your video card. You can get it from SciTech software (http://www.scitechsoft.com/) at: ftp://ftp.scitechsoft.com/uvbe51a.zip (10) Get a copy of video benchmark programs like VidTest and 3D-Bench to see how your system rates. They're available at: http://www.dfw.net/~sdw/3dbench.zip ftp://oak.oakland.edu/SimTel/msdos/screen/vidspd40.zip In hardware: (11) Get a faster processor. :) (12) Get a faster video card. PCI is best, VLB next, with at least 2meg onboard. Some good choices might be Matrox Millenium, cards based on the ARK2000 chipset like the Hercules Stingray 64, cards based on the ET4000/wp32 chipset, and cards based on the S3 968 chipset like the Diamond Stealth 64 VRAM (NOT the Viper!) Check out the benchmarks for some of these cards at: http://www.dfw.net/~sdw/bench.html (13) Get at least 16meg RAM. Use EDO memory if you can. (14) Get a recent PCI motherboard without VLB. Having the VLB slows down the PCI. In addition, some older VLB-PCI boards had the PCI bus wired incorrectly, and were slowed down even more. Early OPTi pentium chipsets also had performance problems. (15) Optimize settings in your motherboard's BIOS. Be careful not to screw anything up, or put your machine in state where it won't even boot. :O Read comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.chips for some information. Also check out: http://www.dfw.net/~sdw/bios.html http://www.metronet.com/~rcollins/mrbios =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Section 6: Complaints 6.1 Why do the stars only have 3 mechs? They're supposed to be _five_. From: Tim Morten Date: 28 Jul 1995 09:14:06 GMT We wanted to ensure performance on 486 computers. The add-on will allow 5 mech stars. 6.2 I'm limited to only 10 weapons on a mech? From: Tim Morten Date: 28 Jul 1995 08:14:09 GMT The add-on will address this limitation. 6.3 The mechs don't fall down when they lose a leg. From: Tim Morten Date: 31 Jul 1995 04:05:59 GMT We may do this in the add-on; it's a bit more complicated since we have to worry about falling on hills. 6.4 Why is the ER PPC shorter range than the ER Large Laser? From: opus@marconi.ih.att.com (Robin Kim) Date: Mon, 7 Aug 1995 16:40:22 GMT Despite what the game manual says, the ER PPC in actual play has a range of 1.25 km. You can tell because the retical will turn red as a target enters this range. I have hit and damaged targets this far away. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Section 7: Network and Multiplayer-Gaming 7.1 Do I need more than one copy of the game to multiplay? From: Tim Morten Date: 31 Jul 1995 03:57:02 GMT The current demo (on the game CD) requires two disks. However, the full version of NetMech (coming this October), will support up to 8 players with only one CD. 7.2 Will the full network version directly support IPX, rather than requiring NetBios? From: Tim Morten Date: 31 Jul 1995 04:45:42 GMT IPX will be the norm for the full NetMech version. TCP/IP will be available in the Windows 95 version this Christmas. From: Tim Morten Date: 31 Jul 1995 07:44:17 GMT The current demo require NetBios running on top of IPX. The real NetMech version due this October will support IPX and (presumably) Kali. 7.3 Can I netplay between the demo and full version? From: Tim Morten Date: 28 Jul 1995 08:14:09 GMT No mixing I'm afraid. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Section 8: Extras 8.1 Where's the DEMO? Is it OUT YET?? From: Tim Morten Date: 25 Jul 1995 05:20:55 GMT We are still in the process of trimming down MechWarrior 2's hefty 30MB worth of art resources into a reasonable size for the downloadable demo. Thank you to all those who have taken the time to flame me for not having the demo out; trust me: it's not my fault . I want everyone to like my game! In any event, the director of the game says we will definitely get the demo out this week. I apologize for the delays, and I encourage everyone to go check out the game, WHICH SHIPPED TODAY!!! I'll be posting here and everywhere else I can think of when the demo is available, so hang in there. In the mean time, see if you can't grab a few minutes on your local software store's computer. From: Will Day Date: 9 Aug 1995 10:06:28 -0400 No, it's not out yet, we're still waiting. And no, that "mw2demo2.zip" file you found on an ftp site is not the new demo, it's the one from a year ago - check the file dates. 8.2 I never saw the canyon wall that was shown in one of the screen shots. Did I miss something? From: Tim Morten Date: 28 Jul 1995 09:38:21 GMT The canyon wall got cut because it was too slow on 486 machines. It might show up in the add-on if we do any Pentium specific stuff. 8.3 The computer has a nice voice. From: goffman@rain.org (Scott Goffman) Date: 5 Aug 95 05:28:00 GMT BTW, for those who are wondering about the woman who did the computer voice in Mech2: Yes, she is as good looking as she sounds. :) 8.4 What machines/configurations were used for testing? From: Tim Morten Date: 26 Jun 1995 06:28:08 GMT The testers have everything from 486-50 computers (not officially supported) to Pentium 120's. We test on as many machines as possible, and there are a number of people areound the country beta testing as well. I have a 486-66 and a Pentium-90. 8.5 What programming platforms did you use to write the game? From: Tim Morten Date: 20 Jun 1995 23:41:48 GMT Oh no, now you've done it. Given me an excuse to ramble endlessly that is . We started using Borland's 16-bit real mode compiler, but about a year ago myself and another programmer here converted the program to use Watcom's 32-bit protected mode compiler (that is actually part of the reason we had to delay shipping). The game is written in a mixture of C and assembly for optimum speed. 8.6 The credits mention "Special thanks to...Tim Morten (for the Second Coming)". From: goffman@rain.org (Scott Goffman) Date: 27 Jul 95 17:21:05 GMT Tim was instrumental in convincing Activision to NOT cancel the project after the first production team fell apart. In fact, the game would most likely not exist if he had not stepped in at a crucial time. 8.7 What's taken so long? From: Scott Goffman c/o umbles@mcl.ucsb.edu (Sergio Martin) Date: 18 Mar 1995 08:06:32 GMT Oof. This is a tough one. There are many factors that have led MW2 to this state. Here are a few: a) over-eager PR people hyping a game that was not even close to being done. This led to forced promises of release dates that were IMPOSSIBLE to make. b) lack of a design. There was no clear direction for the first year and a half on the game, and no solid style. c) Featuritis: A disease that often afflicts game developers, causing them to want to keep adding more and more features to a game, rather than debugging and shipping what they already have. d) Morale. As they fell further and further behind schedule, the programmers and artists felt less and less inclined to produce. This led to departures. The fact is that not ONE of the original mech team members was ever fired by Activision. They all left of their own accord to go to other companies. I'm sure the Activision management has no interest in dispelling this particular myth. :) From: Tim Morten <72623.467@CompuServe.COM> Date: 14 Jun 1995 22:02:25 GMT The code for MechWarrior was never 'scrapped.' It was converted to protected mode so we could access more memory. We have been developing non-stop for 3 years (and trust me, I'm tired ). From: Tim Morten Date: 24 Jun 1995 07:23:31 GMT We had to convert the engine to protected mode before we could even begin to design missions. Protected mode allowed us to access all available memory in a computer rather than just 640k. In the words of that lame wine commoercial: 'We will serve no wine before its time.' On July 24th, it's time. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Section 9: The Future 9.1 Is there a level editor? Or, What add-ons are planned? From: Tim Morten Date: 2 Jul 1995 23:34:26 GMT After we ship the main release the team will be splitting up to work on various projects including: Missions & Technologies add-on - New story, new mechs, new missions, more equipment options. - Also, possibly an enhanced mech editor and possibly a level editor. Multiplayer add-on - Expands the head-to-head play in the initial release to accomidate 8 players. - Specially designed missions for multiplayer play. - Allows for cooperative campaigns. - Possible support for TCP/IP. Windows 95/NT port - Support for Windows sound cards and video drivers. - Ability to run in a scaleable window. - Multi-threading. PowerMacintosh port - Support for Mac sound cards and video drivers. - Ability to run in a scaleable window. Foriegn Language versions - Translations into several languages and who knows where else MW2 will show up. A game console? A hardware accelerated 3D graphic card? You just never know... From: Tim Morten Date: 6 Jul 1995 03:56:25 GMT Narc beacons are slated for the add-on. From: Tim Morten Date: 28 Jul 1995 08:30:38 GMT The NetMech version this October will have around 10 new missions for multiplayer, and the 'Missions & Technology' add-on this Christmas will have around 15 new single player missions. In the mean time, we'll be releasing a mission editor sometime around October. From: Tim Morten Date: 31 Jul 1995 07:42:04 GMT There will be: October: - NetMech - Level Editor November: - Win 95 version (discounted upgrade to DOS users) - Add-on #1 Jan/Feb: - Add-on #2 9.2 Will the M&T disk work with the NetMech add-on? From: Tim Morten Date: 31 Jul 1995 05:23:13 GMT Undecided as of yet. 9.3 I'm a CLANNER! I want to invade the Inner Sphere! From: Tim Morten Date: 4 Jul 1995 19:14:53 GMT Going back in time to the inner sphere invasion has been a popular request. We're considering waays we might work this into the add-on. From: Tim Morten Date: 6 Jul 1995 03:56:25 GMT This seems to be the number one request, so I have a feeling that's the way we'll go. We have to have some design meetings next month to kick off the add-on, so we won't be deciding for sure until then. 9.4 Will there be a port of the game? From: Tim Morten <72623.467@CompuServe.COM> Date: 16 Jun 1995 02:06:18 GMT You asked about a non-mac PowerPC version. We will support Windows NT, which runs nicely on PowerPC's. This will be part of the Win95/WinNT version of the game that ships later this year. OS/2 has a lot of loyal followers, but the regrettable fact is that there is not a big enough game market for OS/2 to rationalize budgetting a port. Perhaps this will change over the next year, but in the mean time Windows 95/Windows NT is going to be our focus. From: Tim Morten <72623.467@CompuServe.COM> Date: 16 Jun 1995 09:34:39 GMT There will be a Mac-OS PowerPC version of MechWarrior II available later in the year. From: Tim Morten Date: 25 Jun 1995 05:15:27 GMT We will be releasing a Windows 95/NT port later this year. My personal goal is to get this version running on both SGI/MIPS R4x000 machines as well as DEC Alpha machines. This version would be multi-threaded, and therefore capable of utilizing multiple processors. (I spent a summer at Microsoft working on Windows NT, so this is a bit of a pet project of mine.) From: Tim Morten Date: 2 Jul 1995 22:28:50 GMT It's my understanding that there will be a coupon for a discounted upgrade to the Windows 95/NT version in the box with the DOS version. We'd release them simultaneously if we could; we just don't have the resources to complete both at the same time. Incidentally, multi-threading won't buy you anything unless you have multiple processors, so functionality-wise, the only difference between the DOS and Win 95/NT version is the host operating system. It's not like you're getting a lesser product if buy the initial release. From: Tim Morten Date: 2 Jul 1995 23:34:26 GMT After we ship the main release the team will be splitting up to work on various projects including: Windows 95/NT port - Support for Windows sound cards and video drivers. - Ability to run in a scaleable window. - Multi-threading. PowerMacintosh port - Support for Mac sound cards and video drivers. - Ability to run in a scaleable window. From: Tim Morten Date: 2 Jul 1995 23:42:55 GMT We won't be starting on the PowerMac port until after the initial release. We're hopeful that we can finish before the end of the year, but if we hit any technical snags, it could take until January or February. Sorry to keep you waiting. I'd rather set a realistic timeframe than create disappointment over missed release dates (not that the MechWarrior team has had any experience with that .) 9.5 Will there be an upgrade path from the DOS version to Win95/NT? From: Tim Morten Date: 23 Jun 1995 19:40:11 GMT Yes. People who purchase the original product will not have to pay for a completely new copy for Windows. Pricing for the upgrade has not yet been determined, but it will be considerably less than the full price. From: Tim Morten Date: 31 Jul 1995 05:46:02 GMT The Win95 version will be discounted to registered owners of the DOS version. From: Tim Morten Date: 31 Jul 1995 05:55:52 GMT MW2 for Win95 (discounted upgrade for registered users of DOS version) will definitely take advantage of accelerated blitting. It isn't determined yet whether we'll support 3D acceleration, but I hope so . 9.6 Any plans for MW2 on Sony's Playstation? From: Tim Morten Date: 4 Jul 1995 20:54:02 GMT I'm hopeful that Activision will decide to port MEchWarrior II to a console such as the PlayStation. If this were done, it would be modified somewhat to make it more arcade-like. One note about the PlayStation though: although it has a very good ability to push around flat-shaded polygons, it's texture mapping abilities are inferior to what we can do on a Pentium-90 with 16 megabytes of RAM. 9.7 Will Activision be doing a future Mechwarrior game? From: Tim Morten Date: 19 Jun 1995 21:07:06 GMT I wish we could do MechWarrior III. I'm afraid the 'Missions & Technologies' add-on will be the last BattleTech product from Activision. FASA has teamed up with Spectrum Holobyte. I am hopeful that FASA will reconsider and let the MechWarrior II team put out a sequel when they hear from people who have played the game, but we'll have to wait and see on that one. From: Tim Morten Date: 22 Jun 1995 16:39:31 GMT I don't have e-mail addresses at FASA, but after people have had a chance to play the game, perhaps FASA will let us continue the series. In the mean time, we will do some good add-ons that focus on filling out more aspects of the BattleTech universe and fixing any problems that people notice. From: Tim Morten Date: 24 Jun 1995 07:23:31 GMT I'm sorry to say that FASA has teamed up with another game company for future BattleTech products. I'm hopeful that enough people will enjoy MechWarrior II for FASA to consider letting Activision do a sequel. From: Tim Morten Date: 26 Jun 1995 06:38:46 GMT Actually FASA is involved in a lawsuit with Dynamix over EarthSiege. We have a very good relationship with FASA. Although we may apply our 3D technology to other games, they won't have anything to do with fighting robots. 9.8 What about a MW2 movie? From: eastham@dseg.ti.com (Gary Eastham) Date: 29 Jun 1995 13:33:19 GMT Multiple screen plays have been submitted to New Line Productions. Supposedly, the lawyers are now doing their thing (whatever that would be...). =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Section 10: Net References 10.1 What Activision people involved with Mechwarrior are on the net? From: Will Day Date: 9 Aug 1995 10:06:28 -0400 I've seen the following Activision people post to the newsgroups, or had their names/addresses mentioned by other Activision posters. Josh Resnick (Producer) jresnick@activision.com (Production: Producer) Tim Morten, programmer tmorten@activision.com 72623.467@compuserve.com (Programming: Simulation Programmers) Scott Goffman 3-D Animator Activision Studios Los Angeles, CA goffman@rain.org OR sgoffman@activision.com (Art: Shell Stills and Animations) (Packaging and Promotional Materials: Additional Cover Art) Ken Maxwell Hullett Associate Game Designer MechWarrior 2 hullett@usc.edu khullett@activision.com (Production: Associate Game Designers) Sean Vesce, lead designer sean_vesce@activision.com (Production: Lead Game Designer) Dan Kamins dkamins@fas.harvard.edu (Programming: Programming Interns) John Keating, enemy logic john_keating@activision.com (Programming: Simulation Programmers) (Audio: Voice-Over Talent) J.J. Franzen, 3D geometry & mech designer jfranzen@activision.com http://isp.usc.edu/anim/myhome.html (Art: 3-D Simulation Models and Animations) John Mamais On-Line Rep actsearch@aol.com From: Tim Morten Date: 28 Jun 1995 02:33:38 GMT Several member of the MechWarrior II team have also agreed to respond to e-mails from anyone with questions. We're in the last few weeks of production, so be patient with us in terms of replies. We will try to answer every e-mail though. game logic - tmorten@activision.com -- THAT'S ME! enemy logic - john_keating@activision.com movies and still art - sgoffman@activision.com level designer - sean_vesce@activision.com 3D geometry & mech designer - jfranzen@activision.com From: Will Day Date: 9 Aug 1995 10:06:28 -0400 These members of the team included their email address on the Dorcs Web Pages: John A. Clarke 75022.43@compuserve.com (Programming: Simulation Programmers) Michael H. Douglas mdouglas@activision.com (Programming: Simulation Programmers) Scott Etherton s.etherton@genie.com (Programming: Simulation Programmers) Sverre H. Huseby sverrhu@ifif.uio.no Wrote the 'gifsave' routines used in the game Dan Kamins dkamins@husc.harvard.edu (Programming: Programming Interns) Wrote the netdemo network shell John Keating marshall1@aol.com (Programming: Simulation Programmers) Tim Morten tmorten@activision.com (Programming: Simulation Programmers) David White dwhite@activision.com (Production: Associate Game Designers) (Programming: Additional Programming) 10.2 Where do Activision-Mechwarrior people usually read and/or post? USENET newsgroups: rec.games.mecha comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action alt.games.mechwarrior2 alt.mechwarrior2 CompuServe Game Publishers B Forum, Activision section America Online's Activision area 10.3 On what ftp sites can I find Mechwarrior II info? Screen shots from the game: ftp://ftp.csua.berkeley.edu/pub/btech/incoming/ Filenames: SIM*.GIF, MW2SIM*.GIF Screen shots, quicktime files, and FAQ: ftp://rom.oit.gatech.edu/pub/mw2/ 10.4 What web pages are there about Mechwarrior II? Activision's Official Mechwarrior II web page http://www.activision.com/mech/home.html Gamewave's MW2 Pre-release Info http://wantree.com.au/gamewave/m2.html This FAQ, screen shots, and quicktime movies http://rom.oit.gatech.edu/~willday/mw2/ Lou's Mech Warrior Info Page w/ BattleMaster patch http://www.computer.net/~louish/mech.html ______________________________________________________________________________ Will Day http://rom.oit.gatech.edu/~willday/ =-> Mechwarrior 2 FAQ: http://rom.oit.gatech.edu/~willday/mw2/ <-= The thunder of their BattleMech's feet, the lightning - From their weapons, and the blood spilled in their name Created the Clan Spirit - The Remembrance, Passage 98, Verse 24, Lines 13-15 -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 Comment: http://rom.oit.gatech.edu/~willday/pubkey.asc iQCVAwUBMFRoBBDHlOdPw2ZdAQE7kgP/X8Ea9YvZUc+VUtYUGPZ6nAFISHEHcwhX r9xgLkdoc2n6hE46SZJuGAW/aXVrPzW3rVXrMd5kghF10Xq7DQsYG4pTxBFicd5c hfIdC5Zpf7FeKayZ0vZLX9EzhgoK+oTxtOKqBZp0KpSeAPHOdQwBslHdao0jn4+o UNtnGMAkfoM= =1gDg -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----