31 replies to this topic

[cazidin]

Greetings Mechwarriors. Today I have a simple question. Is there a way to digitally download the old MechWarrior titles and do you need a patch for them to work on Windows 8/10/11?

[Mcgral18]

I've gotten most working on Windows 7 at one point or another, but I can't answer for 8+

There's a "Quadrology" which has 1-4, which is a good start.

Linking it is a no-no, IIRC, but search for "Mechwarrior Quadrology", use common sense for bad links, and you'll find it.
See if it works or not.

Edited by Mcgral18, 23 February 2016 - 02:20 PM.

[MeiSooHaityu]

Although not a Mechwarrior title, you can get Mechcommander Gold from the NGNG forum. NGNG also made a small tutorial on how to get it working in Windows 7+ on YouTube.

[Rhaythe]

I have physical media for MW2:M and MW3. Both run fine in Win95 emulation mode on Windows 10.

[LordNothing]

i tried getting mechwarrior to work on 8.1. i got 3 to work. 4 probibly works. i got 2 to work in a win98 virtual machine in software mode (dos version in dosbox supposedly works too). i had it working in 7 under glide but i havent been able to get that to work on 8. ive been trying to get mechwarrior 1 to work in dosbox, but it crashes when i die (i might try it under freedos or msdos in a vm).

i only have physical media of 3 and 4 (though i think i still have the mektek edition). i gave my titanium collection to a nephew after virtualizing the cds, i still have the images. ive never owned 1, what i got i downloaded from an abandon ware site.

Edited by LordNothing, 23 February 2016 - 01:25 PM.

[Kumakichi]

GBL was the best and I still get misty when I think about it. Btw, when do we get our Stone Rhino's?

[cazidin]

Why haven't they been released as a digital download by whomever holds the license? None of them would compete with MWO... infact, it'd very likely make the company more money.

[shaterbane]

cazidin, on 23 February 2016 - 02:51 PM, said:

Why haven't they been released as a digital download by whomever holds the license? None of them would compete with MWO... infact, it'd very likely make the company more money.

Probably because the current licenses are a mess? Combined with the various Unseen issues for some of them.

You've got license holders who claim parts as wholly owned IP from the following companies.

FASA
Activision
Dynamix (defunct but...),
Microprose,
Zipper Interactive,
FASA Interactive (not to be confused with FASA)
Microsoft,
Wizkids,
Catalyst Games Lab,
Etc.

[Impyrium]

Not sure on the legality of everything at the moment, nor am I sure whether it's cool for me to post links... but I'm going to discreetly leave this here if you want to grab the last/best version of MW4:Mercs and the MekTek packs. Have run it on both 7 and 10 without issue, although you might have to run in windowed to get it to render right (Alt+enter).

[SpiralFace]

cazidin, on 23 February 2016 - 02:51 PM, said:

Why haven't they been released as a digital download by whomever holds the license? None of them would compete with MWO... infact, it'd very likely make the company more money.

I can't find a good article that Kotaku wrote about this issue when Simposons and X Men arcade got pulled from the digital market from Konami.

Short answer is that licensing can be a *****.

You see, the "Battletech" cresent hawk games where published by Westwood studios. MW 1 and 2 where published by Activision. MW3 and the Mech Commander series where published by Micropose, and it was only then that Weismann sold the license to Microsoft which published every MW game since.

So the issue is that Microsoft is the only one allowed to use the license, but technically speaking, the original publishers still hold the rights to the physical games that where made.

So as the owners of the games, the original publisher would have to be the ones to re-release them..... Only they can't.

Because Microsoft holds the license for the series, and as a result, the other companies can't re-publish their games without microsoft's explicit permission to do so. Which typcally won't happen given that negotiating revenue sharing between multiple publishers is a nightmare, and its the main reason you sadly won't see things like Capcom's Alien vs. Predetor arcade game (As Sega owns the Alien license for digital publishing right now.) And its why the simpsoms and X-men games where pulled from the stores even after release. (because their current license holders didn't have any say in the games despite them being 20 years old.)

[Aetes Nakatomi]

I just want a working copy of MW2:Mercs, MW3 and MW3 Pirates Moon. I got MW4 and MW4:Mercs working, along with MCG and MC2.

[sycocys]

3 was probably my favorite, but I remember pushing out the MW2 install to all of my college's computers so I could play it during class no matter which computer I ended up getting stuck with.

[Bilbo]

It still pains my heart remembering the day I came home from work to find that my dog had decided I no longer needed to play anything that required a cd to play. Found a used copy of MW4 at a game store once after that but it became a pain to get running. After a couple of moves I've lost even that.

[Spam Lanwalker]

3 words .. kik *** orrens .. EDI: keyboard jus broke

Edited by Spam Lanwalker, 23 February 2016 - 03:57 PM.

[Thorqemada]

They should have made a deal with GoG.com and release all the old MW Games and make some extra money as well reaching out to the unaware crowd.

Edited by Thorqemada, 23 February 2016 - 04:31 PM.

[sycocys]

Was just playing some MW4 - amazing how those old maps absolutely destroy what PGI has done.

The trees look about the same to possibly better on MW4. XD

[Kira Onime]

Got MW4 mercs from mektek working on Win10

[Burktross]

Rhaythe, on 23 February 2016 - 01:16 PM, said:

I have physical media for MW2:M and MW3. Both run fine in Win95 emulation mode on Windows 10.

I can't even get my Mech 3 disk to install let alone run! What sort of black magic dost thou possess?

Kira Onime, on 23 February 2016 - 05:18 PM, said:

Got MW4 mercs from mektek working on Win10

This I can offer a ditto on.
If you have a mektek copy of mercs, you might need to do a graphics card fix in the config settings, but that was just me.

[Rhaythe]

Burktross, on 23 February 2016 - 05:20 PM, said:

I can't even get my Mech 3 disk to install let alone run! What sort of black magic dost thou possess?

Oh? Try DOSBox if emulation mode doesn't work for you.

[Kira Onime]

Burktross, on 23 February 2016 - 05:20 PM, said:

This I can offer a ditto on.
If you have a mektek copy of mercs, you might need to do a graphics card fix in the config settings, but that was just me.

Had to change something from 0 to 1 *or vice versa* to get everything to work otherwise it's fine.