VOGONS


First post, by w0lf42

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I've recently installed MechWarrior 2 Pentium Edition (which I believe is identical to the Windows 95 version).

Hardware

  • Mainboard: Gigabyte Desktop ATX Motherboard- GA-6VX7B-4X
  • CPU: Pentium III 933
  • RAM: 256MB
  • Video Card: GEFORCE 2 GTS AGP NVIDIA ASUS V7700 TI DELUXE 64MB

Software

  • MechWarrior 2 Pentium Edition
  • Windows 98 SE

After playing for a bit, I noticed that my jumpjets were not recharging.

My understanding is, according to PC Gaming Wiki, that the jumpjet recharge rate is based on the system's framerates.

Jumpjet recharge rate is dependent on framerate and often do not recharge at all unless the framerate is low.

I thought a good solution to this would be to install a screen recording utility and when I needed recharge my jumpjets, I could begin recording (through a shortcut-key). When my jumpjets were fully charged, I could stop recording.

I found three programs that will install on Windows 98 SE

I installed the K-Lite Codec Pack. According to the Wiki, 3.4.5 is the most current version supported on Win98:

The last version officially supported on Windows 98/ME is K-Lite Codec Pack 3.4.5 (17.September.2007).

Here is my problem. Neither of these programs start recording while I am in MechWarrior 2. Though, I've gotten Fraps to work in Need for Speed Porsche Unleashed.

Any suggestions to either make either of these (or other) programs record video or another option to temporarily lower my framerates? Thanks.

Reply 1 of 6, by w0lf42

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I have another option that I've been investigating. I discovered a program called HotkeyP that allows me to assign a hotkey to an EXE. I can also include parameters. So, I wondering if there is a Win98 program that (1) will consume a lot of power (perhaps Prime95) when running and (2) allows one to trigger an "on/off" state via a parameter.

Reply 2 of 6, by BinaryDemon

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w0lf42 wrote:

My understanding is, according to PC Gaming Wiki, that the jumpjet recharge rate is based on the system's framerates.

Jumpjet recharge rate is dependent on framerate and often do not recharge at all unless the framerate is low.

I have nothing to add, except to say: That has to be the crappiest way to implement a game mechanic.

Check out DOSBox Distro:

https://sites.google.com/site/dosboxdistro/ [*]

a lightweight Linux distro (tinycore) which boots off a usb flash drive and goes straight to DOSBox.

Make your dos retrogaming experience portable!

Reply 4 of 6, by w0lf42

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I managed to get HotkeyP working. I was able to pause/play a 1080P video in Window Media Player Classic while playing MechWarrior 2.

I loaded up a mission with a mech that was equipped with jump jets. I had zero refresh until I played the video in the background.

Since I'm already using AutoHotKey, I'd like to make this work with that program. Though, currently, I'm unable to play/pause a video when it's not the active window.

So, it's a success. But, I'll see if I can integrate this solution better.

For those who are curious, here is how I configured HotkeyP.

Command: Send window command
Parameters: 887 MediaPlayerClassicW

Reply 5 of 6, by BinaryDemon

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I would see if there are any 3rd party utilities that work on Win98 which support limiting FPS. I think some versions of Rivatuner do.

Check out DOSBox Distro:

https://sites.google.com/site/dosboxdistro/ [*]

a lightweight Linux distro (tinycore) which boots off a usb flash drive and goes straight to DOSBox.

Make your dos retrogaming experience portable!

Reply 6 of 6, by s997863

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This problem seems to be affected by high framerates, and the only solution until now was to either cheat with unlimited jump jets, or to keep adjusting dosbox cycles up & down to balance a smooth framerate and re-charge your jump jets when needed.

There was a patch on GitHub a few years back that didn't get much attention because it only seemed to work on the exact same CD version that the author was using, and crashed otherwise.

I recently found that CD version, patched mw2.exe as instructed, and played through the patched game with no problems (DosBox cycles set to "auto"). Details are here:
http://www.mech2.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6353
The game also ran fine with my own different version CD in the drive (mech2, Dos only), so long as my install folder "mech2" was based off the dos/windows95 1.1 CD version.

The original page for the patch is here, with details on what he changed in the binary mw2.exe file with a hex editor:
https://gist.github.com/anpage/9b5ec3d7220011 … 24b2e696e8b4280
I had also tried the mw2.exe command line FPS limited option mentioned there, and the game's internal 45fps cap felt smoother and more satisfying than any other option I've tried until now, including the patch.
But this option is not viable because you have to load a mission directly, without being able to set any options or choose your mech ... etc.
Unfortunately, that page has been inactive for years. If someone more tech-savvy here knows how to hex edit the mw2.exe to apply a permanent FPS limit to the game (e.g. 45fps), I would really appreciate it. Would it be possible to check the mechwarrior-2 mercenaries binaries for a similar solution?