It should run on less but the cutscenes might be choppy because they use a lot of fillrate.
Options
System Hog: Runs as fast as possible without waiting for the monitor refresh. It you are having trouble with the frame rate don't turn this on. In non-system-hog mode the physics update 4 times per frame, which makes gameplay a little smoother.
Details: Enables dust trails, skid marks, and some other particles, also enables drop shadows on the text. Turn this off it you are using a geforce 2 or less.
Run In a Window: Runs the game in a window, really only useful for debugging, as the window captures the mouse.
Resolutions
The game will detect any available resolutions at or above 800x600, the game is designed for 1280x960. Anything lower than 1024x768 starts to look bad. Try 1600x1200 or above it looks really crisp.
If scrolling isn't smooth (especially on an LCD screen) try different resolutions. On an LCD the native resolution will usually scroll more smoothly than other resolutions. I have a 1600x1200 flat panel on it only 1600x1200 or 1280x960 look smooth.
Save and Load
The game is entirely auto-save. You can't die, and if you lose a battle you just lose some money and trade goods, but your car and weapons are unaffected.
Difficulty
There are three difficulty modes "HardCore", "Casual", and "Non-Gamer". In Casual mode you do 50% more damage, in Non-Gamer mode you do double damage.
Combat Tips
Ramming other cars and shooting till they blow up only works early on. Starting around Chapter 2 that tactic will get you killed really fast.
Generally speaking you want to lead the other cars around since they can't shoot directly forward. Stay ahead of them and turn side to side so you can use both weapons.
Using both weapons really helps. Fire with one while reloading the other. Early on a two double-barrel-shotgun configuration is king.
Ramming cars that use dropped weapons is a really good idea, usually you can pin them and just shot them until they blow up.
Grenades and dynamite are hard to hit with because they don't explode on impact. But they do tons of damage. Try pairing these weapons up with the oil slick.
Your shots continue forever so you can hit targets off screen.
Out of all the skills I find "combat awareness" to be the most useful and "weapon handling" to be the least useful.
Speed and maneuverability trump massive weapons.
Registration
You can register the game through the launch menu, select "buy this game" to get your lock code. Then purchase the game to get your key code.
The key is based off of machine and user data, you can run the game off of an imperfect key, but you can't save an imperfect key in the launch menu. If you change your machine around and uninstall the game and then reinstall it you might not be able to save the key via the launch menu.
In this case try making a file called "key.txt" with your key as text, including spaces, and place it in the same directory as the executable.
If your key is invalidated for any reason you can email me with your lock code and ask for a new one. Please include the old key. Check the website for the appropriate contact email. www.mexicanmotormafia.com
Hacking the Game
If you look at the lua script, you would think you can hack the game from there. I don't advise this. Final copy protection is in the code, and half hacking the game through the lua script will mess with your save game.
Controls
wasd car movement
space handbrake
mouse buttons fire
NOTE: "heavy" weapons must be fired from their appropriate button.
