It's possible there's some other version, but the copy that came with my Diamond Monster 3D back in the day was DOS for the gameplay but used a Windows program that was the menu and let you choose missions, etc. So I don't know if there's a pure DOS-only version that supports 3DFX.

If you go to Archive.org and search the software section, you can find most every version of MechWarrior 2 ISO. Look for "Orchid."

It doesn't appear on this pretty reliable list of DOS Glide games: Revised list of Voodoo games for DOS.

If there's a way to make it happen I'm all ears though. Will look into that Orchid version for science.

I still have my original copy of MechWarrior 2 for the Orchid Righteous 3D. It's for Windows 95, not DOS.

Well, that solves it!
Thanks, downloading the image at this very second from archive.org
Thanks for the help everyone!

I have installed the game in win98, so far so good.
But when I start the game, The intro plays bu I have no sound not anything but the midi menu music. And when I try to start pyre light, it fails without even loading.. is it mandatory to burn the cue to disk? Could this be the issue?
My system specs are the signature mmx233

If the music is redbook audio, you need to have the disc in the physical CD-ROM. Turok, for example, won't play back the music because it is streaming off of the disc (but you can hear the various sound effects from the weapons, levels, and so on because there are loaded from file(s) on the HDD.) If you're using Daemon Tools, it won't play back this type of music in Win9X. However, I think if you are using WDM drivers for your Sound card instead of VXD, Daemon Tools will play back the music. I'm not sure, though.

I am talking about actual sounds ingame, cinematic sounds, menu sounds etc and the complete lack of it.

Aebtdom wrote on 2022-01-24, 13:55:

I am talking about actual sounds ingame, cinematic sounds, menu sounds etc and the complete lack of it.

Burn the disc. If sound doesn't play normally, we will know there are other issues at hand. All of those sounds/music could be actual audio tracks on disc.

I have burned the image to CD and reinstalled it on full blown installation of 150 MB.
No change.
I've made a video with a bit of comment.
Hoping it helps.

https://youtu.be/B9JKnZhSalk

What is your soundcard and what drivers are you using? Just guessing but perhaps MechWarrior 2 doesn't like WDM drivers and needs a VXD driver to work?

Aebtdom wrote on 2022-01-24, 20:12:

I have burned the image to CD and reinstalled it on full blown installation of 150 MB. No change. I've made a video with a bit o […]
Show full quote

I have burned the image to CD and reinstalled it on full blown installation of 150 MB.
No change.
I've made a video with a bit of comment.
Hoping it helps.

https://youtu.be/B9JKnZhSalk

I'm sure you thought of this, but I'm tossing it out there just in case; while you're using the physical disc, do you have the audio cable connected from the CD to the soundcard? You aren't using a digital cable since the AWE64 doesn't have digital in from the CD player. Are you using the "Creative" IN (white connector) or the "Standard" IN (black connector) for audio from the card to the player? You can't use digital audio without WDM and it wouldn't work without the digital cable, so the "use digitial" sound or {whatever it's called} tick box is grey out, right?

Well, the point is... the msdos software rendered version, including in Windows98, works flawlessly.
And I have tried the 3dfx version multiple times and one time the sound worked just fine, but after the launch -> mission failed moment the sound seized to function all over again, while being in game. And the sound hasn't worked since.

Well, I'm stumped. Other than checking your autoexec.bat and config.sys to make sure they are empty when running windows, I'm out of ideas. I've never encountered a game in Windows 9X where the sound wouldn't play unless it was a Daemon Tools vs. Physical disc streaming audio problem. I'm sorry I can't offer any additional help at the moment.

Could it be that I need the Orchid driver to make the game work?

Aebtdom wrote on 2022-01-24, 21:50:

Could it be that I need the Orchid driver to make the game work?

I'll tell you what. I'm about to reinstall Windows 98SE to test a number of Voodoo cards I recently picked up. None of them are Orchid cards. I'll install MechWarrior 2 3dfx version, and I'll let you know what I come up with. I have an AWE32, for the soundcard, however, and I don't have access to an AWE64.

Well, keep me posted. And thanks for the effort 😀

Aebtdom wrote on 2022-01-24, 22:20:

Well, keep me posted. And thanks for the effort 😀

I should have something for you later tonight.

Solved! I ran the game with the original orchid drivers! No sound nor any other issues.
I'll be darned