Difference between revisions of "MechCommander 2"

Revision as of 11:24, 15 August 2023

MechCommander
Subseries of BattleTech
MechCommander	1998
MechCommander 2	2001

MechCommander 2 is a singleplayer and multiplayer first-person and third-person strategy game in the MechCommander series.

The game was re-released as a free download as part of the Shared Source Release.

General information

BattleTech Wiki - A massive wiki for everything BattleTech related

Mechcommander 2 on TheGameEngine.org - solving some technical issues.

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SafeDisc v2 DRM^{[Note 1]}.
Official website		Shared Source Release, includes the full game in its `FinalBuild` folder.

SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see above for affected versions).

A free demo version is available from Archive.org.

The freeware version of the game is missing cinematics.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\options.cfg^{[Note 2]}

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\data\savegame^{[Note 2]}

Video

Video settings.

Graphics feature	State	Notes
Widescreen resolution		4:3 and 5:4 resolutions only.
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)
Windowed		Toggle with `Alt`+`↵ Enter`.
Borderless fullscreen windowed
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Vertical sync (Vsync)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
60 FPS and 120+ FPS		No frame rate cap.

Input

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support

Controller types

Audio

Audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Music, Sound Effects, Radio Chatter, Computer Message.
Surround sound
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
LAN play		8
Online play		8	The official MSN Gaming Zone service has been shut down.

Issues fixed

Very poor performance, blocky textures, grey colors / distortion, poor particle effects

Move, delete or rename files^{[citation needed]}
Move, rename or delete any copies of the files `vidcard.csv` and `badcard.csv` in `<path-to-game>`. (Original CD version only): Move, delete or rename the file `imagehlp.dll` in `<path-to-game>\assets\binaries`. This should start the game in 3D mode.

Game is unable to launch

Launch the game with the `/gosnojoystick` command line argument^{[citation needed]}

Missing mouse cursor

Disable Hardware Mouse Update under Graphics^{[citation needed]}

Mouse cursor trails in Encyclopedia

Launch the Encyclopedia from within the game instead of directly^{[citation needed]}

Other information

API

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Cutscenes	Bink Video
Multiplayer	MSN Gaming Zone

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum
Operating system (OS)	98, ME, 2000
Processor (CPU)	266 MHz
System memory (RAM)	64 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	400 MB
Video card (GPU)	SVGA 2D video card 8 MB of VRAM

Notes

↑ SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows 10^[1] or Windows 11 and is disabled by default on Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 when the KB3086255 update is installed.^[2]
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below %PROGRAMFILES%, %PROGRAMDATA%, or %WINDIR% might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore on Windows Vista and later (more details).

References

↑ Not Loading in Windows 10; this will break thousands of - Microsoft Community - last accessed on 2017-01-16
↑ Microsoft - MS15-097: Description of the security update for the graphics component in Windows: September 8, 2015 - last accessed on 2018-02-16

[3] SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows 10^[1] or Windows 11 and is disabled by default on Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 when the KB3086255 update is installed.^[2]

[gamedir-4] 2.0 ^2.1 When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below %PROGRAMFILES%, %PROGRAMDATA%, or %WINDIR% might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore on Windows Vista and later (more details).

[1] Not Loading in Windows 10; this will break thousands of - Microsoft Community - last accessed on 2017-01-16

[2] Microsoft - MS15-097: Description of the security update for the graphics component in Windows: September 8, 2015 - last accessed on 2018-02-16

[Note 1]

[Note 2]

[1]

[2]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{stub}}
 {{Infobox game
 |cover        = Mechcommander 2 Box.jpg
@@ Line 27: / Line 26: @@
 |hltb         = 5762
 |strategywiki =
-|mobygames    = mechcommander-2
+|mobygames    = 4567
 |wikipedia    = MechCommander 2
 |winehq       = 2691
@@ Line 33: / Line 32: @@
 }}
-'''Key points'''
+{{Introduction
-{{++}} Re-released as a free download as part of the [[#Shared Source Release|Shared Source Release]].
+|introduction      =
-{{++}} Includes a game editor.
+|release history   = The game was re-released as a free download as part of the Shared Source Release.
+|current state     =
+}}
 '''General information'''
@@ Line 44: / Line 47: @@
 {{Availability|
 {{Availability/row| Retail | | Disc check | {{DRM|SafeDisc|v2}}. | | Windows }}
-{{Availability/row| 1= official| 2=https://www.moddb.com/games/mech-commander-2/downloads/source-code3 | 3=DRM-free | 4=Shared Source Release | 5= | 6=Windows }}
+{{Availability/row| 1= official| 2=https://github.com/videogamepreservation/mechcommander2 | 3=DRM-free | 4=Shared Source Release, includes the full game in its {{file|FinalBuild|folder}} folder. | 5= | 6=Windows }}
 }}
 {{ii}} A free demo version is available from [https://archive.org/details/MC2Trial Archive.org].
+{{--}} The freeware version of the game is missing cinematics.
-===Shared Source Release===
-The [https://www.moddb.com/games/mech-commander-2/downloads/source-code3 Microsoft MechCommander 2 Shared Source Release] includes the full game in its <code>FinalBuild</code> folder. The game is <code>Mc2Rel.exe</code> and the editor is <code>EditRel.exe</code>.
-'''Notes'''
-{{ii}} This version of the game will be missing cinematics such as intro and ending videos and video mission briefings.
 ==Game data==
@@ Line 193: / Line 191: @@
   |language  = English
   |interface = true
-  |audio     = unknown
+  |audio     = true
   |subtitles = unknown
   |notes     =
@@ Line 235: / Line 233: @@
 ==Issues fixed==
+===Very poor performance, blocky textures, grey colors / distortion, poor particle effects===
+{{Fixbox|description=Move, delete or rename files|ref={{cn|November 2022}}|fix=
+# Move, rename or delete any copies of the files {{file|vidcard.csv}} and {{file|badcard.csv}} in {{file|{{p|game}}|folder}}.
+# (Original CD version only): Move, delete or rename the file {{file|imagehlp.dll}} in {{file|{{p|game}}\assets\binaries|folder}}. This should start the game in 3D mode.
+}}
+===Game is unable to launch===
+{{Fixbox|description=Launch the game with the <code>/gosnojoystick</code> [[Glossary:Command line arguments|command line argument]]|ref={{cn|November 2022}}|fix=
+}}
 ===Missing mouse cursor===
-Disable Hardware Mouse Update under Graphics. The cursor will then become visible again.
+{{Fixbox|description=Disable Hardware Mouse Update under Graphics|ref={{cn|November 2022}}|fix=
+}}
 ===Mouse cursor trails in Encyclopedia===
-Launch the Encyclopedia from within the game instead of directly; the mouse cursor will then display normally.
+{{Fixbox|description=Launch the Encyclopedia from within the game instead of directly|ref={{cn|November 2022}}|fix=
+}}
-===Very poor performance, blocky textures, grey colors / distortion, poor particle effects===
-Delete any copies of the files <code>vidcard.csv</code> and <code>badcard.csv</code> in your MC2 folder.
-Original CD version only: Also Delete or Rename the file imagehlp.dll in "assets/binaries" MC2 folder. This should Start the Game in 3D Mode.
 ==Other information==

Developers

	FASA Interactive
Publishers
	Microsoft
Release dates
Windows	July 17, 2001
Taxonomy
Monetization	Freeware
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	First-person, Third-person
Controls	Multiple select, Point and select
Genres	Strategy
Vehicles	Robot
Themes	Sci-fi
Series	MechCommander