24 replies to this topic

[R3b3lliousOne]

OK, So about a month ago I bought the original MechWarrior 4 mercs game on Ebay.
The game came within a few days and so I proceed to install it onto my windows 8 laptop.
It installed It fine (as far as I know) and had no problems. BUT, when I started the game up, it would go though its usual screens and whatnot, ounce it got to the menu, IT WAS A MESS!!!!
There where white triangles all over the place, half of the buttons/icon where missing and when I some how got onto the instant action it was even worse. Huge letters, shapes, colors, and other weird things where blocking any view what so ever. Tried everything to fix it, even contacted MWO
but they simply refused to help. BUMMER!!!!!
Then I get wind that my parents are getting rid of their old XP machine.
I guess my first ????? is will the game run on xp better than 8?
If so great!!! if it does, how do ( if I can) install the mekpak 3.1 that was on the mektek version when these jerks actually supported it?
Thanks for any help you can provide me with.

ps.
I don't mind MWO, but I really want to play the ones that started all this
Its stupid and ignorant what these guys are doing going to Heavy Gear or whatever its called.
Mw was such an awesome game back then, I really wana see a come back.
What do you guys think?

I also have vengeance, and it is doing the exact same thing.
So its probably something to do with my laptop.

[Pht]

R3b3lliousOne, on 23 April 2014 - 12:52 PM, said:

OK, So about a month ago I bought the original MechWarrior 4 mercs game on Ebay.
The game came within a few days and so I proceed to install it onto my windows 8 laptop.
It installed It fine (as far as I know) and had no problems. BUT, when I started the game up, it would go though its usual screens and whatnot, ounce it got to the menu, IT WAS A MESS!!!!
There where white triangles all over the place, half of the buttons/icon where missing and when I some how got onto the instant action it was even worse. Huge letters, shapes, colors, and other weird things where blocking any view what so ever. Tried everything to fix it, even contacted MWO
but they simply refused to help. BUMMER!!!!!
Then I get wind that my parents are getting rid of their old XP machine.
I guess my first ????? is will the game run on xp better than 8?
If so great!!! if it does, how do ( if I can) install the mekpak 3.1 that was on the mektek version when these jerks actually supported it?
Thanks for any help you can provide me with.

I would have had THE answer for you - I would have told you to search the mektek forum archives for an answer, and ask if you couldn't find it... however, the MT forums are down and the archive can't be accessed (at least as far as I know). I hope they keep the old MT archive accessible; a lot of that stuff is/was very useful information.

As I don't have or use windows 8, I sadly can't help you.

Yes, MW4 will run just fine on an XP box.

Under windows 8, if you know what it is, a virtual machine might work for you. Others who use 8 and VM's could probably help you more there.

As for the Mektek patches - microsoft is no longer allowing anyone to distribute them. If you don't already have them, you're out of luck. PGI would be the people in the right position, as far as I know, to ask MS to re-support the MT and mw4 content. If you get the mektek content anywhere now, you'll be doing so illegally.

It's not like MW4 is going to tear a chunk of to MWO's hide at this point, so I don't see ( I mean, besides being busy as all get out and still wanting to have SOME real life) why PGI wouldn't ask MS to re-allow the mektek MW4 free release as the "last official release" on mw4 or something like that. MS has already given us the Mech commander stuff.

Quote

ps.
I don't mind MWO, but I really want to play the ones that started all this
Its stupid and ignorant what these guys are doing going to Heavy Gear or whatever its called.
Mw was such an awesome game back then, I really wana see a come back.
What do you guys think?

I also have vengeance, and it is doing the exact same thing.
So its probably something to do with my laptop.

Um ... MW 1 ... from 1989 ... "started all this."

"stupid and ignorant"

... it's stupid and ignorant to presume you have any idea why the guys decided to do heavy gear, unless you happened to have known them well enough to know exactly why they moved to HG. If you don't/didn't know why ...

HG, btw, isn't all that bad. HG2 is a pretty neat game.

Vengeance and black knight - there are not MT patches for them. Probably your best bet is the XP box.

Edited by Pht, 23 April 2014 - 05:17 PM.

[pbiggz]

You CAN run mechwarrior 4 on windows 7 in all its iterations. The primary issue is procuring the files for the free release, which is technically speaking, illegal.

[S3dition]

Marack Drock, on 23 April 2014 - 05:44 PM, said:

Because you are running a 16/32 bit game on a 64 bit processor. Normally it cannot be done without an emulator of some sort.

PHT- You cannot use a Virtual Machine because it requires full use of the Hardware Drives like the Video Card. VMs do not have the ability to do that. You can run any game in VM as long as it doesn't require Direct 3-D Acceleration.

You have to run it on Windows XP or before because Windows 7 and 8 are 64 bit units.

This is incorrect. 64 bit architecture is backwards compatible with 32 bit. This is why there are both "Program Files" and "Program Files (x86)" directories in a 64 bit version of windows.

The problems come from dramatically different API's for things like DirectX, Direct3d, OpenGL, etc which no longer support the functions or libraries that the game is trying to access. There are other issues with older games as well, such as the GUI being designed for a single screen size, or set of screen sizes, which are far below what the standard is today.

Almost all issues with running old games can be traced to driver/api incompatibilities or missing/changed libraries. Emulators are used because they create a fake environment that the game was designed for, such as DOS or Windows 9x. This environment will have the correct api's and libraries.

But 32bit software DOES run on 64 bit computers. In fact, a large portion of the software you're running right now is compiled for 32bit systems. A big complaint from Unity users is that the editor is strictly 32bit. Sketchup has been 32bit forever. 32bit software is still pervasive.

Also, most VM's support 3d acceleration now, so yes, you can run 3d applications and games using a VM, so long as your hardware has virtualization extensions: http://www.howtogeek...-in-virtualbox/

Edited by S3dition, 23 April 2014 - 09:15 PM.

[Madw0lf]

S3dition, on 23 April 2014 - 09:12 PM, said:

This is incorrect. 64 bit architecture is backwards compatible with 32 bit. This is why there are both "Program Files" and "Program Files (x86)" directories in a 64 bit version of windows.

The problems come from dramatically different API's for things like DirectX, Direct3d, OpenGL, etc which no longer support the functions or libraries that the game is trying to access. There are other issues with older games as well, such as the GUI being designed for a single screen size, or set of screen sizes, which are far below what the standard is today.

Almost all issues with running old games can be traced to driver/api incompatibilities or missing/changed libraries. Emulators are used because they create a fake environment that the game was designed for, such as DOS or Windows 9x. This environment will have the correct api's and libraries.

But 32bit software DOES run on 64 bit computers. In fact, a large portion of the software you're running right now is compiled for 32bit systems. A big complaint from Unity users is that the editor is strictly 32bit. Sketchup has been 32bit forever. 32bit software is still pervasive.

Also, most VM's support 3d acceleration now, so yes, you can run 3d applications and games using a VM, so long as your hardware has virtualization extensions: http://www.howtogeek...-in-virtualbox/

Id like to add on this, to help educate him, that there are also indeed 64 bit versions of XP

[S3dition]

Madw0lf, on 24 April 2014 - 05:10 AM, said:

Id like to add on this, to help educate him, that there are also indeed 64 bit versions of XP

It should also be known that Windows 7/8 come in 32bit flavors as well. Just because it's post XP does not automatically make it 64bit.

[Madw0lf]

S3dition, on 24 April 2014 - 11:25 AM, said:

It should also be known that Windows 7/8 come in 32bit flavors as well. Just because it's post XP does not automatically make it 64bit.

I learned something today

[CeeKay Boques]

pbiggz, on 23 April 2014 - 05:53 PM, said:

You CAN run mechwarrior 4 on windows 7 in all its iterations. The primary issue is procuring the files for the free release, which is technically speaking, illegal.

Whaaa.... was the right to release revoked?

[Egomane]

Technoviking, on 24 April 2014 - 01:04 PM, said:

Whaaa.... was the right to release revoked?

Technically next to Microsoft only Mektek had that right for their special version of MW4 and the extra content they provided. Because it was technically free, no one cared about it being distrubuted by other means, though it still wasn't legal to do so.

With Mekteks decision to stop their MW4 support and to create their own game instead, the only one with distribution rights is once again Microsoft. Because of that, we can not allow alternative sources to be posted to the MWO forums.

[R3b3lliousOne]

Well for an update, I just got the game to run on the xp machine. So now im blasting away and reliving some childhood memories.
BUT, when I first played mechmercs I had the mtx thing and it came with the AWSOME mekpak that gave you soooo many more mechs. So now that im playing the original im a little bummed that's there is not too many to chose from. Its kinda like they gave me a bole of mass_D candy........then took it away.
But I GARUNTEE that if someone takes the MechWarrior franchise and makes a modern full fledged game, it would be worth it.
I think MW has way better sellability than Heavy gear. And there's already so much they could use instead of starting with nothing.

Is it even possible ( if I was to get the mekpak somewhere) to put it on the original game?

[R3b3lliousOne]

If Microsoft has the rights for the game, why waste it?
Do they know how much they would get If the released it with even like $5 price?
It would be a GOLD MINE.

oh well.

[Pht]

Egomane, on 24 April 2014 - 01:12 PM, said:

Technically next to Microsoft only Mektek had that right for their special version of MW4 and the extra content they provided. Because it was technically free, no one cared about it being distrubuted by other means, though it still wasn't legal to do so.

One thing I can tell you for a fact is that Mektek actualy went to the trouble of getting permission MS to do the MW4 free release. You can confirm this with any of the MT staff. Remember, the free release was DRM-less. All of the previous MT content up to the point just before the MW4 free release were add on patches, and you had to have the game off of the CDs to use those patches, with the DRM and all that jazz intact and functioning.

So MS actually did give them permission to distro the free release; there was no "looking the other way because it was free of charge."

I am not sure about the exact details about how the free release and the patches became illegal to distribute, but that sadly *is* the condition the content is in ATM; this having been borne out by the MT dev team in multiple threads.

[Egomane]

That's correct Pht and I didn't say otherwise.

But... only Mektek was allowed to distribute the free release. No one else! So all the alternative sources for the files where essentially illegal. Any download source, that was not the Mektek server, was a license violation. That's where they looked the other way.

[Pht]

Egomane, on 25 April 2014 - 03:29 PM, said:

That's correct Pht and I didn't say otherwise.

But... only Mektek was allowed to distribute the free release. No one else! So all the alternative sources for the files where essentially illegal. Any download source, that was not the Mektek server, was a license violation. That's where they looked the other way.

Ah. You meant something I didn't see.

Point taken.

[Madw0lf]

Marack Drock, on 28 April 2014 - 06:13 AM, said:

PHT knows everything. He knows about games that were cancelled that were supposed to be sequels but had worse graphics them the predecessors and games that were never made known to the public. If you ask him he may know the meaning of the universe. Think of him as another Domonkey (did everything and knows everything). Except that MW4 doesn't run on Win 7 without patching.

Gives me one more reason to want to track down my disks and install....

[Alaskan Nobody]

Marack Drock, on 28 April 2014 - 06:13 AM, said:

If you ask him he may know the meaning of the universe.

42!

Marack Drock, on 28 April 2014 - 09:20 AM, said:

It may work for you but every time I run it on my 7 I get a runtime error and its not a missing file or something similar (I know cause I checked and all my discs are in pristine condition).

I cannot install Firefox on my fathers work PC without crashing the whole thing.

Same model as my old gaming PC - I went to the store to pick one up, he went with me and bought the same model "If it works for you" kinda thing.
First thing we did when we set them up was try to install Firefox.

My PC? Went fine.
His? Had to call a real computer expert in to be able to uninstall Firefox to get the PC to run right again.

Ya never know sometimes.

PS: All those MW2 fixes to get it to run on newer computers? Still don't have it running on mine - Mech4 runs unpatched fine though.

[Pht]

Marack Drock, on 28 April 2014 - 06:13 AM, said:

He knows about games that were cancelled that were supposed to be sequels but had worse graphics them the predecessors and games that were never made known to the public.

I guess the game developers who worked at fasa studios posting that said game was the sequel and it got cancelled - who used it as references for their work in their public resumes had and have no idea what they were doing... nor had or have they any right to say what they did.

Quote

If you ask him he may know the meaning of the universe.

God gets the glory. That's the meaning of the universe. Romans 11:36.

Hey, if I'm going to get called a thing regardless if I'm being civil or not, ... why not?

Quote

Think of him as another Domonkey (did everything and knows everything). Except that MW4 doesn't run on Win 7 without patching.

Because I really said that windows 7 will run MW4 without patching... when i said I have no idea how to get it to run on windows 7, except maybe (indicating that I didn't know) it might work on a VM.

---

I guess it's too much to expect people to thank you for pointing out errors in a civil manner... or at the very least to expect them to not do the sort of thing you're doing.

Edited by Pht, 30 April 2014 - 03:26 PM.

[Impyrium]

I have MW4:Mercs + MekPak working fine on my Windows 7 64-bit. Have both the Mercs discs, and also the free version that was distributed over a PC Powerplay magazine disc. Have the MekPak files downloaded from ages back.

However, I can't run it fullscreen; my graphics drivers seem to hate it. Have to Alt-Enter into windowed mode, works fine there, performance isn't great but still playable.

[Kashif]

S3dition, on 23 April 2014 - 09:12 PM, said:

Also, most VM's support 3d acceleration now, so yes, you can run 3d applications and games using a VM, so long as your hardware has virtualization extensions: http://www.howtogeek...-in-virtualbox/

I tried VirtualBox, VMWare both. Got a hardware incompatibility error on both when I tried to run MW4 Mercs. So no. VMs might be able to run Aero, and some games, but MW4 Mercs definitely isn't one of them.

[Redmoon11523]

You need to turn on or install Direct play, It will be in your control panel on the left side when you go in to uninstall programs.