5 replies to this topic

[nice but dim]

Hello fellow Mechwarriors!

There are numerous fixes and tweaks posted around here on how to run Mechwarrior 3 on modern systems but the simplest way in my experience has been using a program called DxWnd. I did not find this method mentioned on these forums so I thought I would make this little tutorial on how to set up and run Mechwarrior 3 with Dxwnd.

First Installing Mechwarrior 3:

1. If you are running Mechwarrior 3 from a CD make sure you install it using the CUSTOM option and include the AVI Files. You can also manualy copy the video folder from the CD to your Mechwarrior 3 installation folder (the Campaign.avi file is the important one). This will fix the issue with the Campaign.avi streaming poorly from the CD at the start of the Campaign and a possible crash. The installer may also suggest you to install DirectX 6.1 just Ignore/ unselect it.

2. Install the official 1.2 patch for the game.
http://www.sarna.net...rior_3/patches/

3. Make sure you do NOT have any compatibility settings enabled for Mech3.exe! This is important since dxwnd won't work correcly if you do. (Right click Mech3.exe -> Properties -> Compatibility.)
3b. If you have been using some other program like dgVoodoo to run Mechwarrior3 make sure you do not have any wrapper dll files in the Mechwarrior3 directory (e.g. D3D8.dll, D3DImm.dll, DDraw.dll, ) since they will conflict with dxwnd.

Now for the DxWnd part:
Download dxwnd from this site:
https://sourceforge....projects/dxwnd/
(version 2.03.91 as of writing this)

1. Extract dxwnd into some folder on your hard drive like C:\Dxwnd for example.
2. Start dxwnd.exe and choose Edit -> Add.
(it is recommended to run dxwnd with admin rights)
3. In the "Path" field click on the "..." icon and navigate to the folder where Mech3.exe is located and select it.
4. Uncheck the "Run in Window" option to run the game in full screen instead of a window.
- You may also keep running the game in a window if you like. In this case it might be a good idea to tweak the window resolution options to match your game resolution. (Window initial position & size)
- You can use the dxwnd option bilinear filter to imporve the image quality. ["DirectX" tab -> Filtering -> "Full Bilinear"] In order for this to have any effect the game must be running in a windowed mode.

5. Go to the Dxwnd "Timing" tab and set the "Frame per Second" option to "Limit" and a value of 30.
- This option will fix the bouncing APC's and other timing related issues that Mechwarrior 3 has on modern computers.
UPDATE:
If this does not work you may also need to enable the option "optimize CPU" in the "Main" tab. And also the option "Set single core process affinity" in the "Compat." tab.


6. Hit OK and start the game by doubleclicking on the new Mech3.exe entry.





How to fix the crash when targeting enemies that are close by on 1024x768 or higher resolutions:
1. Navigate to the Dxwnd "DirectX" tab and select the option "Force clipper"
(The option "Suppress DX common errors" might also help)
2. Navigate to the Dxwnd "Compat." tab and select the option "Handle Exceptions".





Optional:

Some computers may have issues with the actual 3D rendering in the game. This may be fixed by tweaking some additional settigns in Dxwnd:

step 1 (Try this first.)
Direc3D -tab
Direct3D tweaks > try all the checkboxes here.

step 2 (Try this if step 1 did not work.)
DirectX(2)
Ddraw tweaks > "Set minimal caps"

step 3. (The last resort.)
DirectX -tab
Emulation > "Locked Surface"

Edited by nice but dim, 11 December 2016 - 02:15 PM.

[nice but dim]

Running Mechwarrior 3 at higher than 1024x768 resolutions using the options in Dxwnd.

The game can be made to run at higher resolutions by copying one of the following registy values into the Virtual registry of Dxwnd. No need yo edit your real Windows registry!

Navigate to the Dxwnd "Registry" tab and copy paste one of the following registry values in the text field depending on what resolution you want:

...for a 1152x864 resolution copy paste the following:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\MicroProse\MechWarrior 3\1.0]
"InGameVMode"=dword:00000008

...for a 1280x1024 resolution copy paste the following:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\MicroProse\MechWarrior 3\1.0]
"InGameVMode"=dword:00000009

...for a 1600x1200 resolution copy paste the following:
Warning: If your display can support only a max resolution of 1920x1080 then it is best not to use this!

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\MicroProse\MechWarrior 3\1.0]
"InGameVMode"=dword:0000000a


You will also need to go to the "Compat." tab and make sure the options "Emulate Registry" and "Override Registry" are selected.

[Sylonce]

Just wanted to say: Thanks for your time in posting this.

I tried running MW3 with dxwnd as per your instructions here. It seems to run stable, but the frame rate cap does nothing to stop the APCs from launching into space. I even had an fps counter to verify that I was making less than 30 fps, and yeah.... them APCs can fly.

Any ideas?

[nice but dim]

Thank you for the feedback!

I am sad to hear that the frame rate limiter did not solve the APC bug on your system.

Another thing that you could try would be the "CPU slow down" option. The problem is that this option depends on the CPU power of the system so there is no one correct value to use. You will need to experiment to find the correct amount of slow down to use on your system.

If the slow down value is too high the game will start to stutter. If the value is too low it will have no effect. For example on my computer the ratio of 1:15 seems to fix the APC bug but this could be higher or lower on your PC.

Also make sure you disable the Frame per Second Limit option since this will not work well together with the CPU slow down option.



Some other things to try would be the "Main" tab the option "optimize CPU" and the "Compat." tab option "Set single core process affinity".

[Sylonce]

Success. I left the frame per second to 30 fps, but tried selecting the optimize CPU and set single core process affinity. My APCs are no longer flying.

The only issue remaining is that my music sometimes gets choppy when playing. Other than that, everything seems to work.

[nice but dim]

Quote

The only issue remaining is that my music sometimes gets choppy when playing. Other than that, everything seems to work.

The music is coming from CD audio tracks (a.k.a. Redbook audio) and the support for this kind of music playbak in games has gone downhill since Windows Vista.

For me the music plays fine on the first mission but when I get to the second one it starts to skip. To fix this I need to restart the game. This happens even without Dxwnd and unfortunately I have not found any better fix for this issue.


P.S.

Another thing you may notice is that adjusting the MUSIC VOLUME and SFX VOLUME options does not work as it was originally intended. This can lead into a situation where it is difficult to find a good balance between music and sfx volume levels.

I found that adjusting the music volume bar very low and keeping the SFX volume bar at full produced the best result:


EDIT:
With Dxwnd it is also possible to disable the CD music with the "Libs" tab option "Bypass MCI calls". This might be useful if you wish to play a custom soundtrack.

Edited by nice but dim, 22 November 2016 - 06:14 AM.