First post, by SpeedySPCFan
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Greetings. I've been trying for a few months now to get MechWarrior 3 working on Windows 7 to no avail, but I finally found/sort of made a solution that works with my i7 and dual 770s. This fixes physics and most rubberbanding issues.
(NEW METHOD, MINOR APC BOUNCING, NO RUBBERBANDING, EVERYTHING ELSE WORKS)
!IMPORTANT! MAKE SURE YOUR SETTINGS MATCH THIS (resolution does not matter) OR THE GAME MAY BE UNPLAYABLE! http://puu.sh/gnsgm/00e0cd5291.jpg
(DirectDraw HAL MUST be select as it is the DirectDraw emulator for WineD3D)
1: Get WineD3D 1.1.14.
2: Let it finish downloading, but do NOT install it. Open it with 7zip and go into the directory "$SYSDIR" from inside the archive.
3: Copy every file ending in .DLL from that folder into your MechWarrior 3 install folder.
3.5 (Extra Nvidia Step): Go to your Nvidia Control Panel, Manage 3D settings, and go to Mech Warrior 3 (Mech3.exe), and change Threaded Optimization to Off.
4: Download ImageCFG.
5: Open a new explorer window, and in the directory bar, put this in: "%systemroot%\system32" without quotes
6: Place ImageCFG in there.
7: Open up a Command Prompt window (you may need to run as admin) and input this (WITH quotes): imagecfg -a 0x1"[MECHWARRIOR3DIRECTORY]\Mech3.exe" Replace "[MECHWARRIOR3DIRECTORY] with the installation path of the game.
8: You're done! You may optionally want to get a program to limit the games framerate, but I found it runs stunningly well at 60FPS. Can't believe it was this simple to fix the game, and I spent 3 months on this! :3
(ALTERNATE METHOD, USE THIS IF THE PREVIOUS ONE DOES NOT WORK)
(I'm not sure if this bit is required. Feel free to try the game without it, but I'm using it with no issues.)
1: Get dgVoodoo, the latest version. Most earlier versions are missing the D3D wrapper we need.
2: Put the dgVoodooSetup.exe, D3DImm.dll, and DDraw.dll files in your MechWarrior 3 directory.
3: Run dgVoodooSetup.exe and match your DirectX settings to this.
4: Open up MechWarrior 3 and set your Video Device to dgVoodoo, and your Video Memory to 2MB.
(Required bits now.)
1: Get some sort of FPS limiter (Most recording software has this, there are also dedicated programs. I recommend Bandicam)
2: Set it to 20 frames per second.
3: Start Mechwarrior 3. The game MIGHT work now. If it doesn't, proceed onward.
4: Close MechWarrior 3 and download CPU Grabber (set to run on one CPU).
5: Put it where you have MechWarrior 3 installed and run it.
5.5 (Extra Nvidia Step): Go to your Nvidia Control Panel, Manage 3D settings, and go to Mech Warrior 3 (Mech3.exe), and change Threaded Optimization to Off.
6: Download ImageCFG and put it in your MechWarrior 3 directory.
7: Open up a Command Prompt window and navigate to where you installed MechWarrior 3.
8: Type this into the window: imagecfg mech3.exe -a 0x1 - and press enter.
9: Set CPU Grabber to 85% for i5/i7s. You may need to toy around with lower values if you have a weaker CPU or want to record the game.
10: You should be good to go. I finished the first mission with no bouncing APCs or any of that crap.
Side notes for both methods:
The game seemingly freezes during loading screens when loading some maps. But WAIT! IT'S NOT ACTUALLY FROZEN! Press Crtl + Alt + Del and go to Switch User. Once your monitor is done finishing resolutions, click on your user again. The map will be fully loaded. Wait 5 seconds in the Switch User screen to prevent any issues like below.
Windows 8/8.1 users:
wrote:As mentioned in this topic: Universal fix for DirectX 7/6 games running slow Windows 8.1?
I also noticed that the FPS limiter, for example in MechWarrior 3, can be deactivated by pressing Alt + Tab and (instantly) switching back into the game. Unfortunately, the HUD and mouse positioning is messed up then. Weird.
The game sometimes runs in a small window after switching users. No fix for that as far as I'm aware, I guess just get really close to your monitor? If you're recording for a review or something, you can crop the video later I presume.
Running the game in 1024x768 seems to cause a small delay with the game when it loads. This may require alt-tabbing out in some way and then going back in. The framerate also turns in to a "silky smooth" 37 FPS. :P
For some reason, some missions seem to have rubberbanding. It's not like it was before, but it's a bit noticable. Buuuuut, the physics are working fine. You can probably just limit the game to 30FPS and it'll be almost totally gone.
Musician & music gear/game reviewer.
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