And what specific driver versions are you using?

The #1 web page for comparing MW2 editions. Lots of info.
http://reocities.com/Area51/Shuttle/5151/

It sounds like a Rage Pro should be able to run it somewhat well but I don't have any experience with that edition.

Jorpho wrote:

And what specific driver versions are you using?

How are they identified?

The first one I tried was the original installation CD that came with the ALL-In-Wonder Pro. The CD is labelled version 535 of the ATI software release. Before I uninstalled it I looked in the device manager and believe I saw that they were from 1999. I didn't write down the version info.

The second and currently installed set is from an installation package I found online; "w82411en.exe". It's even older than the installation CD version, from 06/29/1998. The device manager shows 4.10.2411 for MACXW4.DRV.

Does this help?

swaaye wrote:

The #1 web page for comparing MW2 editions. Lots of info.
http://reocities.com/Area51/Shuttle/5151/

It sounds like a Rage Pro should be able to run it somewhat well but I don't have any experience with that edition.

Oh man I'm so glad you found the archived version of that site! It's been my MW2 resource for so long but then Geocities closed and I kicked myself for not saving a copy of that site.

Did this Reocities archive just surface? I swear I looked for that very page only last week and found just the one on Oocities (which did not archive images).

Anyway the site is amazing but it mentions nothing of the issue I have. I'm not even sure if what I'm experiencing is typical of the ATi Rage version of MW2. I sure hope someone who's played this version can tell me more.

http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/Pages/legacy-98me.aspx
The last version from ATi site is 4.13.2655. Published in 2002.

YCH wrote:

Did this Reocities archive just surface? I swear I looked for that very page only last week and found just the one on Oocities (which did not archive images).

I don't know what the deal with "Reocities" is. I just did a google search for "kanajana mechwarrior" and it came up. 😀 Bizarre, for sure.

It can probably be found in the Internet Archive too if you have the geocities URL.

I don't even have any ATI Rage hardware in my collection of junk. I wouldn't mind having the full lineup. 😁

BTW, I found another Geocities site years ago that has lots of info about Rage Pro drivers.
http://web.archive.org/web/20060427060938/www … hosein/rpro.htm

Aha!

I found a fix! It is due to the amount of ground texture tiling that slows things to a halt. I had to open up the "skygnd.par" file, empirically find the offending map, and reduce the tiling factor.

Details:

For example, the Rolling Hills map in Trials of Grievance ran at sub 10fps by default...AND missing sky textures. The ground looks like a peppering of noise. The sky is plain yellow. So I looked up my 3Dfx version's "skygnd.par" file and added some of the missing lines. Lo and behold the rolling sky works now in this map (cannot believe how shoddy the work was for these early 3D stuff). After some trial and error (by massively reducing the tiling factor until I saw a difference in the map I was playing) I settled on a modified tiling factor. What used to be <10fps now feels so smooth it must be at least 40+fps. The side effect is a slightly "magnified" looking ground texture but I'll gladly take that over unplayable framerates.

So, what used to be a missing entry in the ATi version of "skygnd.par" now reads:

mission=goud tile_sky=8.0 tile_ground=10000.0 anim_rate=0.00024

FYI, the original entry in the 3Dfx version reads:

mission=goud tile_sky=8.0 tile_ground=60000.0 anim_rate=0.00024

Can confirm that Mechwarrior 2 doesn't run very well on the ATI Rage Pro. While it doesn't run sub 10 FPS, it is within 12-20 according to FRAPS. I've tried with 4mb PCI and a 6mb AGP card. I haven't tried the skygnd.par mod that YCH is suggesting, but running the game on a ATI Rage II card will sort out these problems and present the game as it is supposed to. If you also have the +DVD version with SGRAM the framerates should be 30-40 all the time. The original ATI Rage (ATI Xpression) also runs the game at a good framerate on a 1ghz P3, but since it lacks Z-buffering it doesn't look as good.

This site is a good help for getting ATI drivers:
http://gona.mactar.hu/ATI_3D_CIF/

The best support for this game I've found with 4.10.2278. 4.10.2420 also works, but has some glitches on the ATI Rage Pro.

3DFX "skygnd.par" file mission ID code linked to respective mission name ingame. The missionIDs should be the same in all versions (ATI might be missing some, which can be manually added)

F = Jade Falcon
T = Trial of Grievance
W = Wolf clan

Great for the ones who want to activate the framecounter or fix the ATI Rage version (or just cheat):

pink = silent thunder (F)
gree = arkham bridge (F)
red_ = mirror cage (F)
fuch = bone machine (F)
rust = bouk obelisk (F)
puce = armor veil (F)
blon = iron piston (F)
bron = bronze anvil (F)
umbe = umber wall (F)
tan_ = rogue chariot (F)
plum = plum wine (F)
whit = rust heart (F)
prov = Ice plains (T)
edam = canyon (T)
colb = ice desert (T)
whiz = Rocky Highland (T)
heid = trial 2 (F)
cind = trial 1 (F)
jill = trial 3 (F)
mary = trial 4 (F)
rico = Enclosed Arena (T)
tnj1 = Training mission 1 (F)
tnj2 = Training mission 2 (F)
tnj3 = Training mission 3 (F)
tnj4 = Training mission 4 (F)
tnj5 = Training mission 5 (F)
tnj6 = Training mission 6 (F)
siou = error
terr = error
osag = error
tabb = error
pers = error
siam = error

cyan = cold crescent (W)
taup = temper edge (W)
gold = golden spade (W)
yell = pyre light (W)
sabl = sable flame (W)
oran = flame tongue (W)
brow = scorching sand (W)
grey = burning chrome (W)
jenn = trial 1 (W)
kim_ = trial 3 (W)
iren = trial 4 (W)
amy_ = trial 2 (W)
aqua = aquiline fire (W)
teal = blade splint (W)
tnw1 = Training mission 1 (W)
tnw2 = Training mission 1 (W)
tnw3 = Training mission 1 (W)
tnw4 = Training mission 1 (W)
tnw5 = Training mission 1 (W)
tnw6 = Training mission 1 (W)
maro = velvet hammer (W)
jack = MESA desert (T)
silv = silver staff (W)
coll = error
apac = error
cali = error
husk = error
iroq = error
misc = error
nava = error
dobe = error
shep = error
goud = rolling hills (T)
goat = Cratered vacuum (T)
swis = Enclosed Trial Area (T)

How to activate built-in frame counter
Edit the shortcut or the .bat file (if you are using a Voodoo2) to the following:
MECH2.EXE userstar.bwd ****scn1 -x

Where **** is the 4 letter mission code
When ingame press ALT+F and it should show up in the top left corner.

Hey vetz

Could you post some pics from the game running on your ATI Rage II?

Curious to see if you get proper mipmapping etc

See my video (click link in sig)

Thanks, man! Great videos.

I see that even with the "proper" video card running it, the ATi rage version looks kinda crappy. Ah, for the longest time I was fooled into thinking it was the best looking version - courtesy of one small screenshot included on an old ATi 3D Xpression box.

On the upside, when I first ran the PowerVR version a couple years back, I was extremely pleased to find that it looked so nice. So I agree with you that it's overall the best looking version of 3D accelerated Mech2 out there.

vetz wrote:

I've tried with 4mb PCI and a 6mb AGP card.

There's such a thing as a 6mb Rage? I'm pretty sure you're wrong about that. The only machines I have ever heard of that had Rage graphics that could have 6mb were PowerMac G3's and that was through the VRAM slot on the motherboard and they weren't AGP. As far as I know Rage cards were only available with 4mb or 8mb for PC. A Google search also doesn't turn up anything about a 6mb Rage card for PC.

As a matter of fact, the onboard Rage cards in my Dell Optiplex GX1's are AGP and I have the memory expansion SODIMMs installed in them and they are 8mb up from 4mb not 6mb.

It's a 4MB Rage Pro with the 2MB RAM upgrade.