Warnings
- SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see Availability for affected versions).
Key points
- Poor performance on modern systems
General information
- Official game site (archived)
- 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).
- This game is not available digitally.
DLC and expansion packs
| Name |
Notes |
|
| MechWarrior 3: Pirate's Moon |
Included with MechWarrior 3 Gold Edition. |
|
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.
Enable High Resolutions with Launcher
A launcher for the game that enables support for widescreen and high resolutions (beyond the 1024 x 768 supported officially in the game) is available here. The launcher must be set to run in Windows 7 compatibility mode in order to work.
Game data
In-game general settings/options menu.
Configuration file(s) location
Save game data location
Video settings
In-game video/audio settings.
Template:Video settings
Input settings
In-game control settings.
Template:Input settings
Audio settings
Template:Audio settings
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
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.
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
- This method fixes most rendering, FPS, and loading issues with the game. Also helps with 'rainbow colours' artifacts in game'.
|
Use dgVoodoo 2[citation needed]
|
- Install the 1.2 Patch.
- Download and setup dgVoodoo 2.
- Once the initial setup is done, go to the
MS subfolder.
- Copy the
D3DImm.dll and DDraw.dll files and paste them into <path-to-game>.
- Set the Mech3.exe compatibility options to Windows 98 Compatibility Mode, with administrator rights and display scaling disabled.
- Run the game.
|
Method 2
- Use this method only if dgVoodoo cannot be run properly.
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Configuring compatibility settings[citation needed]
|
- Install the 1.2 Patch.
- Enable the following compatibility settings for the
mech3.exe file: Compatibility mode (Windows 98 / Windows ME).
- Through the graphics card's control panel, enable "Vertical sync" and "Triple buffering".
- Run the game.
|
Fix bouncing APCs/AMS not working
Use a tool like Rivatuner to limit the game's framerate to 30fps. Enabling V-Sync helps too.
Game won't start (Windows 10)
- If the game won't start and you encounter an application error message
|
Direct Play legacy component
|
- Open
Control Panel and select Programs and Features and Turn Windows Features On or Off.
- Expand
Legacy Components and tick Direct Play and click on the OK button
|
Variable game speed
- Game speed may constantly shift between too fast and too slow.
|
Instructions[citation needed]
|
- Reboot Windows.
|
Other information
API
| Technical specs |
Supported |
Notes |
| Direct3D |
7 |
|
| Software renderer |
|
|
| Executable |
32-bit |
64-bit |
Notes |
| Windows |
|
|
|
Middleware
|
Middleware |
Notes |
| Multiplayer |
MSN Gaming Zone |
|
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
