61 replies to this topic

[frozenreddy]

I'm running windows 7 64 bit, I did everything in the instructions.
when I try to run mercs.exe from windows, it says the program is not compatible.
when I try to run it from dosbox, it tells me the CD is not found.

Can you help me out?

[80sGlamRockSensation David Bowie]

Artifice, on 17 February 2012 - 05:27 AM, said:

Alright everyone. You want this, you need this. It can be yours - if you really want it. There are some challenges to overcome, but you are worthy. The windows version of MW2 Mercs does not run on XP, you have to use the DOS installation to run it in XP (Hilarious!) So pay attention. Here's the rough guide, Mechwarrior :

Edit: Please see the posts below for help with Windows7 architecture. I can't guarantee that you'll get it working as I don't use this system.

1: Go to [redacted] Register for their forums. Edit: They appear to have funding problems, and the ads on the site are really annoying now. Sorry.

2: Go to the Forums > ISO Cellar - under the M's. Mechwarrior 2 Mercenaries, this is what you're here for. Download the .ZIP's, they will decompress to a .IMG file . While those are on it's way, move to the next step.

3: Download and install DosBox - You'll only need this for the installation step. If you're a fan of games this old, you may already be familiar with this program - Good for you! If not, the site has plenty of troubleshooting tips - Abandonia also has the forum thread you've already seen.

4: Once downloaded - Burn the .IMG to a disk as a Disk Image(if you want the awesome in-game soundtrack, you'll need a hard copy) - Ensure that you've burnt a Disk Image, and not just a data copy. The disk should autorun when you put it in the drive - DO NOT INSTALL FROM THE AUTORUN!

5: Load up DosBox. Type the following lines into the command prompt, press enter after each line (If you know DOS and or DosBox, you'll understand whats going on here):
mount c c:\ *Ok, this will give you a warning not to mount your c: - ignore it and continue
mount d f:\ -t cdrom *f:\ in this case is whatever drive the disk or mounted image is in
d:
cd dos
install

6: You are running the install program for the DOS edition. I had issues if installing it anywhere but C:\MERCS, which is the default. Do it. Test your sound settings, fiddle if necessary. In WinXP, my settings auto-detected just fine.

7: Close Dosbox. In windows explorer, in the directory you just installed the game (Which should be C:\MERCS) - find MERCS.EXE. Right click, properties, compatibility tab - set for compatibility in Win 95.

8: With the disk in the drive, double click on MERCS.EXE.

9: You are victorious. Enjoy.


Feel free to use the rest of this thread to troubleshoot, send me a message if you really want. The important points are 1: Do not use the windows installation. 2: You need a hard copy of the disk 3: You have to install through DosBox. Don't blame me, blame the world. Damn you World! Deal with it and move on - You are now playing arguably the best Mechwarrior game yet released.

Q: Why do I have to download it from this stupid site?
A: No torrent I've found has the Dos install, I uploaded the .IMG from my personal disk. As no company lays claim to the title, it's officially Abandonware. That's what the site does, and they host the file.

Thank you so much man, but there is a typo in your input command.

It should be mount d D:\ -t cdrom, not f.


Oh and btw I was using an original Dos compatible Cd rom to install for anyone who was curios.

Edited by Egomane, 02 December 2013 - 07:12 AM.
Edited quote - Abondonware sites are not welcome on the forums

[Darkon Blood]

Ok I don't know why, but I can't even get the files to decompress. I got all of them to downloaded (the files came out with names like blah blah.zip.001) and have tried win zip, win rar, and everything else. all they programs want to do is compress them. And if you try deleting the .00# off the end, winzip say the file doesnt work and to try redowloading it. please help me out guys, i love this game and have been wanting to play it for a long time.

[JuhisXD]

Megaupload is down...

[BulletSponge997]

All this trouble to play some good ol' fashioned mech-***-whooping.

I wish there had been a MW5. You guys are fun, but tonight I got bitched at for capping because my HUD was down the whole round (yes, tried rightshift-F11 to turn it back on).

And I miss shooting 4 PPCs at a locust and watching it fall over because I blew its legs off.

[Claydo]

Skipping the abandonware hunting process: I just picked up a used copy of Mech 2 Mercs off Amazon for like 6 bucks including prime shipping. Was able to get it running in Windows 8 using MechVM (and selecting the DOS version). Also the DosBox that is built into MechVM prompts you to select an image file, so you'll need to copy the CD to an image file.. One tricky part there is you have to be sure to create a 'cue sheet' when you're creating your image (I used clone CD for this). I didn't select the cue sheet my first try and DosBox crashed at mission launch.

Also completely unexpected I got some OEM version of Mech 2 with the Mercs that I ordered. It's Windows 95 only (no DOS) so I think it might be a longshot to get that version to work, but I'll try after I get done playing Mercs (as it's my favorite and I got it working on Win 8 I'm not touching anything until after the battle of Luthien=-) The disk says "optimized for Matrox Millenium" I think it must have originally been packaged with a Matrox graphics card.

Edited by Claydo, 17 January 2013 - 10:17 PM.

[Matchstick]

if anyone is still having problems installing MW2 on win7 try out MechVM from mech2.org its a installer that works with all but dos ver of the game. so far i've been able to run MW2/bear/mercs titanium plus the 3DFX ver of MW2.

[Kidd Sykes]

now, what if one were to still own an original copy of the game... i've tried using the disc (which is in suprisingly good shape for its age and usage) but in dosbox after mounting the drives, i go into the disc dir. and into the dos dir. then type install. it begins, gets to the dos loader for mercs then says i need to put the disc in the drive. end of install, epic fail. what am i doing wrong?

for xp, not win7 or vista or anything like that

Edited by Kidd Sykes, 24 January 2013 - 11:25 AM.

[Kidd Sykes]

irony1999, on 22 February 2012 - 07:48 AM, said:

Only problem with running through dos box is that you don't get all the improvements in v1.1, which are only in the windows version of MW 2 mercs (which doesn't work on my XP or Vista systems)

before sp3 came out, i was able to get all the mech 2 mercs to work with update 1.1 i also had mech 2 3050 titanium edition working on that build. mind you, other than xp, i built that computer around those games... i had mech 2 mercs, 3050, gb legacy, mech 3 and pirates moon, mech 4 vengence and mercs running on the same computer it was awsome! lmao

[HellShredder]

I've used mechvm to install MW2. Whenever it asks me to select an image burn file and I click ok, mechvm crashes. Can anyone help?

[Roachburn]

Man i was so excited I thought I had finally got it to work. First I had problems extracting the img file from those seven files with winrar. I was able to extract it with 7zip. Then tried to burn the image but windows disc image burner says "the selected disc image file is invalid" I then installed mwvm and was able to install from the image. loaded the file "mw2: Mercenaries (Dos, Dos Box)" with mwvm and it opened up. Watched the intro and I was stoked! I was surprised that I still remembered every word in the intro and found my self repeating it lol. Started a new carrier and everything seemed to work fine. grabbed the first mission and boarded the drop ship When I launched the first mission the screen went black for a second and then went to the mission failed screen. I even tried aborting mission and loading the second mission and the same thing happened. I read somewhere that the fisrt mission does not like a commando so i sold it and bought a jenner. Still no luck. Does anyone know a workaround for this or what is causing this? I am running this on windows 7 x64. Please help!

[Artifice]

Darkon Blood - I think the program for those stupid things is 7zip.

Claydo - I've never used this MechVM thing, good work getting it happening! Please help these other guys, Cheers!

Roachburn - No idea when it comes to win7 or 64 bit for that matter. I still have the occasional bug where that almost happens, except that I end up with a Mission Success! screen. That one got me through the bondsmen mission My weak advice is to try it several times, as if you haven't already! Ensure your compatability settings are on. Sorry I can't help more!

Apologies to everyone for the sheer stupidity of some of the steps and my lack of troubleshooting help - Under those steps, my version runs just fine but for the odd bug.

[Roachburn]

Well I finally got it to work. I actually had downloaded several copies of mercenaries and non of them worked say for the one i got from a torrent sight I believe. I can't remember for sure but I am pretty sure it was from a torrent sight. The zip file was named "Mech Warrior 2 Mercenaries (1996)(Activision)" for those who cant get the one from abandonment to work I recommend finding this file. unzip it and there is no need to install. Use dosbox to open the setup and then configure the sound. Then you are good to go. Although there were a few bugs with the training missions I was not getting the mission failed crash with this version. The trainer voice is missing from the first mission and the sound track is also missing but other than that it works great! This is by far the best MW game ever in my opinion. I will have to find a way to upload this file for others to play because I know that alot of people have difficulty getting the many versions to work correctly on newer systems.

[Artifice]

Good for you dude!

The soundtrack is straight up cd audio - if you burn a disk, put that in a cd drive and skip to track 2 onwards, you can listen to it.

To play the soundtrack in game, try just putting the disk in the drive. If it's a D: and not some other one, the game should pick it up automatically.

[Badconduct]

Chilly, on 17 February 2012 - 08:35 AM, said:

Hello folks...
As I've been readhing these forums, a couple of weeks ago I dug out my old Mech 2 games (I have all three) and installed D-Fend Reloaded on my Win 7 Home 64 bit system. I have Mech 2 installed, and it runs great. The only problem is that I cannot seem to get the joystick to work. I have an old MS Sidewinder Precision Pro that I am trying to use, but the control config interface is a bit confusing. For example, when I go into the config and the throttle to the throttle control on my joystick, then click Accept, it tells me that I have two settings mapped to the throttle control. I have seen that there are four pages in the config settings, and have gone through and made sure that only page one has the settings for the joystick, but still no dice. If anyone has any pointers or tips specific to the config of controls in the Mech 2 game series, I would be very grateful!

Sounds like what-ever program you are running MW2 in does not have the proper JS drivers running. (little late)

[SASkievua]

thanks for topic starter instructions i'm finally get mw2-mercs (dos version) working on my win7 x64.
big thanks for TS for idea and algorithm!

than i try MechVM and it's great and runs all possible versions of MW2 on my machine.
BUT
only dos-versions runs really smooth and clear!
all win95, 3dfx anf titanium versions looks good with all their textures and effects, but runs with terrible stutters and even without hud (titanium versions)
so i stays on dos-versions

Edited by SASkievua, 30 June 2013 - 11:34 AM.

[Chikote]

I'm running win 7 64 bit. I followed the instructions, and everything seemed to go smoothly(ish). However, when I try to run the game, I get "The version of this file is not compatible with the version of Windows you're running. Check your computer's system information..."

Now I'm not overly tech savvy, so this could be some simple fix. But I already selected to run it win95 compatible. Any ideas?

Also, I tried MechVM. Again, it seems like things go smoothly(ish). But I try to run the dosbox version and after starting up, it just crashes back to my desktop before even the intro video loads. If I run it as the win95 version, it loads up fine, but then I get the auto fail issue when I try to run a mission. I have no idea why multiple versions show up as options, I got the game from the link provided here, but that is beyond me and I don't know if it is relevant.

Thanks for any help.

[Adridos]

Which version of the game do you have, Chikote?

DOS or Win 95 called Platinum?

[Chikote]

DOS, unless I made a wrong turn in albuquerque. Maybe the issue is I used the instructions here (download, burn image to disc, dosbox install, run) and when running didn't work I swapped to using the disc I burned to do the mechvm process? Or maybe its as simple as mechvm says I have to direct to the .img file on the disc for dosbox to work and I frankly have no idea which is the correct file on the disc its talking about.

[Chocolater]

Same problems as above. When I try to click on mercs.exe in windows explorer I get the incompatible error. Also if I try and launch the game through dosbox I get the unable to find CD error...I am on windows 8.1. I am wondering if anyone has gotten this to work with windows 8. I have the win95/DOS 3d enhanced edition. I tried mechvm and it is very promising but CTD at mission start. Both the win 95 and dos versions boot up and I can navigate menus with sound and everything but crash when game attempts to load. Any ideas? Did I get the wrong version? Or am I just hosed....so much for nostalgia lol