Warnings
- SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see Availability for affected versions).
General information
- BattleTech Wiki - A massive wiki for everything BattleTech related
- MechWariorsUnited - A community with patches and multiplayer maps
- Mech3Mod - A community with mods
- MechWarrior3.org - A huge fansite for MechWarrior 3 (archived)
Availability
- SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see above for affected versions).
- Free demos are available from GameFront: singleplayer, multiplayer.
Version differences
- The Gold Edition includes the base game and the Pirate's Moon expansion.
Monetization
DLC and expansion packs
Essential improvements
Patches
- The latest patch for the game (v1.2) can be downloaded from the Files section. The patch is available in English, French, and German.
Official map pack
- An official map pack has been released, and is available here.
Adding compatibility for modern Windows
The following methods apply to both MechWarrior 3 and the Pirate's Moon expansion pack (except for the official patch step, as none were ever released for Pirate's Moon).
Method 1: Use dgVoodoo 2[citation needed]
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- Install the 1.2 Patch.
- Download dgVoodoo 2.
- Extract
dgVoodooCpl.exe , as well as the following files from the MS\x86 into <path-to-game> : D3DImm.dll and DDraw.dll .
- Set the
Mech3.exe compatibility options to Windows 98 / Me compatibility mode, with administrator rights and display scaling disabled.
- From the Windows Control Panel, enable DirectPlay.
- Run the game.
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Method 2: Configuring compatibility settings[citation needed]
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- Install the 1.2 Patch.
- Set compatibility settings for
mech3.exe to Windows 98 / Me.
- Through the graphics card's control panel, enable "Vertical sync" and "Triple buffering".
- From the Windows Control Panel, enable DirectPlay.
- Run the game.
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Game data
In-game general settings/options menu.
Configuration file(s) location
Save game data location
Video
In-game video/audio settings.
Input
In-game control settings.
Audio
Audio feature |
State |
Notes |
Separate volume controls |
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Speech volume is tied with music. |
Surround sound |
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Subtitles |
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Closed captions |
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Mute on focus lost |
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Royalty free audio |
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Localizations
Language |
UI |
Audio |
Sub |
Notes |
English |
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French |
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German |
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Infantry can not be crushed, as they vanish when a 'Mech aims at them or approaches them. |
Network
Multiplayer types
Type |
Native |
Players |
Notes |
LAN play |
| 8 |
|
Online play |
| 8 |
The official multiplayer service has been shut down. |
Issues fixed
Installing under modern Windows
For many people, the version of Installshield which MechWarrior 3 uses refuses to start, and instead just hangs. This appears to be caused by conflicting programs running in the background. Singling out which program this is can be quite difficult. A simple workaround is to create a new account with administrative privileges, and install MechWarrior 3 under that.[citation needed]
Alternatively, open task manager, go to details tab, right click setup.exe, click "analyse wait chain", tick both boxes to end both processes. Repeat these steps until setup launches.
Fix bouncing APCs and dysfunctional AMS
Limit the game's framerate to 30 FPS and/or force v-sync through a third-party application[citation needed]
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Variable game speed
- Game speed may constantly shift between too fast and too slow when the computer uptime is high.
Pirate's Moon 4th pirate mission crashes often
- Caused by corruption of data used by the game's physics code.
- The game physics may still glitch out and destroy the player's mech, but the chances of completing the mission normally remain higher than on an unpatched game.
Instructions
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- Download unofficial patch from archive.org
- Copy file to install folder
- Run the patched .exe
- Try to complete the mission
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Other information
API
Technical specs |
Supported |
Notes |
Direct3D |
6 |
|
Software renderer |
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|
Executable |
32-bit |
64-bit |
Notes |
Windows |
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Middleware
|
Middleware |
Notes |
Multiplayer |
MSN Gaming Zone |
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System requirements
Windows |
|
Minimum |
Recommended |
Operating system (OS) |
95 |
98 |
Processor (CPU) |
Intel Pentium 166 MHz
| Intel Pentium 200 MHz |
System memory (RAM) |
32 MB |
64 MB |
Hard disk drive (HDD) |
240 MB |
390 MB |
Video card (GPU) |
2 MB of VRAM DirectX 6.1 compatible
| 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]
- ↑ 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