TABLE:OF CONTENTS Before Installing 1 Installing MechWarrior 2 4 Troubleshooting 8 Cockpit Controls 19 Customer Service 21 Warranty 23 BEFORE INSTALLING MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS * IBM PC or 1 00% compatible * 486DX2/66 MHz processor * 8 MB RAM (7 MB of free extended memory) * Double-speed CD-ROM drive (30OK/sec transfer rate) * Hard disk drive with 30 MB of uncompressed space available * VESA local bus (VLB) or PCI video * 256 color SVGA (640 x 480) * MS-DOS 6.0 * 100% Microsoft'-compatible mouse and driver * 100% Sound Blaster-compatible sound card (digital and FM/MIDI audio) * Dedicated game card highly recommended for joysticks Supported Sound Devices Creative Labs Sound Blaster Basic, Pro, 16 and AWE 32; Media Vision Pro Audio Spectrum Basic, Plus and 16; Gravis Ultrasound; Ensoniq Sound- scape; Roland MT-32; General MIDI devices Supported Input Devices Standard two-button joysticks; CH Flightstick and ProPedals; Thrust- master flight, weapons and rudder control systems; Thrustmaster F-1 6 Flightstick; Gravis gamepad and Phoenix joystick; Virtual 1/0 i-glasses; Suncom Technologies SFX gamepad; Microsoft Sidewinder joystick Multi-player DEMO requires 100% Hayes-compatible modem (9600 BPS or faster), null-modem connection, or IPX/Netbios network Here is some important information that you should know before you install and start your MechWarrior 2 experience. HARD DISK The game requires 30 MB of UN-compressed free disk space. Mech- Warrior 2 will not work properly using compressed hard disk space (such as Stacker and DoubleSpace). If you have the space, there are two other install options that require even more hard disk space and allow animations and movies to run even smoother. MEMORY In order to run MechWarrior 2 you need over 6.8 MB of extended memory. If you have between 6.5 MB and 6.9 MB of extended memory, the game will play, but some missions will run slower. For optimal performance it is best to configure your memory so you have over 6.9 MB of extended memory. To help you free up more memory, we included a Boot Disk-making utility which you will be prompted to use from the Installer. OTHER OPERATING SYSTEMS AND WINDOWS 95 MechWarrior 2 requires MS-DOS 6.0 or later. Other operating systems (e.g., OS/2 Warp and Windows 95) are not supported. Although Mech- Warrior 2 might work just fine with them, we have not tested thoroughly with them. If you have a problem using unsupported operating systems it is best to contact the operating system company to try and work out compatibility issues. Please check Activision's on-line forums on a regular basis for future updates on MechWarrior 2 compatibility issues. A special note for Windows 95 users: MechWarrior 2 was released before the commercial release of Windows 95. For this reason, we were not able to ensure that the DOS version of MechWarrior 2 would be compatible with the Windows 95 operating system. We are currently working on a Windows 95 version of MechWarrior 2 which will be avail- able late 1995. For more information on obtaining the Windows 95 version of MechWarrior 2, please contact Activision at one of the on-line locations listed in the Customer Support section (WWW, America On- line, Compuserve, Prodigy, Microsoft Network), or write to us at: Activi- sion, MW2 WIN95 INFO, P.O. Box 67713, Los Angeles, CA 90067. VESA VIDEO DRIVERS MechWarrior 2 requires that your system have a standard VESA video driver to run your video. Please verify that you have one loaded before launching MechWarrior 2. CONTROLLERS MechWarrior 2 supports a wide variety of input devices. Please consult or refer to the Cockpit Controls section for further details. TROUBLESHOOTING We have compiled extensive information on compatibility issues and solutions into a README file. This is an extremely valuable resource that should be consulted first in the event you experience any difficulty running this game. The README.TXT file can be viewed when running the Installer and after installation by typing MW2SETUP in the Mech- Warrior 2 directory. To access the latest information and assistance on MechWarrior 2, please download the MechWarrior 2 Update document from one of the Activision on-line forums. INSTALLING MECHWARRIOR 2 1.If in Windows, exit completely out of Windows (press Alt-F4 from the Program Manager) to get the DOS prompt. 2.Insert the MechWarrior 2 CD into your CD-ROM drive (for these instructions, we will assume that your CD drive is drive D:). 3.At the DOS prompt, type D: and press Enter. 4.At the D:\ > prompt, type INSTALL and press Enter. 5.Follow the on-screen instructions carefully. Here are the basic steps the Installer will follow: A.GENERAL NOTES To abort the installation process type Ctrl-X. If you do so, make sure to delete the MechWarrior 2 directory and its subdirecto- ries, if created. Memory is checked before installing. You will need 6.9 MB of RAM to run MechWarrior 2. If you get the warning message that you are below the required amount, you will probably be able to install anyway. At the end of the installation process, you will be given the opportunity to create a Boot Disk to help in freeing up more memory. Your hard disk drive space is checked for sufficient room to install. MechWarrior 2 requires a minimum of 30 MB to 105 MB of free uncompressed disk space, depending on the install option you select. A VESA video driver is checked for since it is required to run MechWarrior 2. If you have any trouble with the installation, please consult the the README.TXT file. B.CONFIGURING SOUND DEVICES In order to enjoy the audio component of the game, you will need to select your sound devices for MIDI music and digital audio. The installer will attempt to automatically detect your sound configura- tion and select the appropriate drivers. However, on some systems you may need to manually choose your sound card from the list provided. The Installer will then try to verify the presence of that sound card in your system. If your sound card is not shown and is 100-percent Sound Blaster-compatible, you should be able to select the "Creative Labs Sound Blaster or 1 00% com- patible" driver to hear sound and music in the game. When you are finished selecting the proper sound devices, select Accept Settings and press Enter. C.VIEWING README FILE At this point in the installation process, a README file is dis- played. Because important information is included in this file, we strongly suggest you review it before installing. It covers a vast majority of the compatibility issues and solutions that resulted from our testing program. Press ESC when you have finished viewing this file. You can always come back and review it by typing MW2SETUP from the Mech2 directory. D.INSTALLING THE GAME The next step is to install MechWarrior 2 files to your hard drive. Select Begin installation and press Enter. If you wish to view or change your settings (such as the default directory, sound device settings and performance option settings) before installation, just select View or Change Installation Settings and press Enter. When you are ready for MechWarrior 2 files to be installed, select Accept These Settings and Install then press Enter. You will need to select one of three install options, (1 ) Minimal, (2) Recommended and (3) Full-Blown. For each of these settings, there is an inherent tradeoff between the amount of hard drive space required for the install and the playback rate and quality of animations and movies in the game. The installer will explain the differences between each option. Select the option you want, making sure that you have enough hard disk space to install it. Later on, if you ever want to change to a different install option, just delete the MechWarrior 2 directory and re-install, selecting the install option you want. NOTE: If you want to save your pilot careers, make a copy of MW2REG.CFG before deleting the MechWarrior 2 directory. After installation, copy this file back into the MechWarrior 2 directory. E.ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION After the game is installed, you will be presented with the option to register your copy of MechWarrior 2 via our on-line registration system. If you have a modem connected to your computer, regis- tering your purchase of MechWarrior 2 is very easy, quick and toll-free. By registering, you might be able to win some cool stuff as well. All you have to do is fill in the requested information (basically your address plus a couple of other questions). Once you have finished, select SEND and your registration information will be sent to us via our toll-tree 800 number. Of course, if you want to register later, just select BYPASS. Please only register once. If you successfully use the on-line registration method, there is no need to mail in the enclosed registration card. F.CREATING A BOOT DISK Next, you will be asked if you wish to make a Boot Disk. This procedure requires that you insert a disk into your A: drive. Please verify that you have created a backup of the contents of this disk, since this process will erase all data on it. Also, use a high-density disk. When the formatting process is complete and you have typed in a volume label for the Boot Disk, you will be asked if you want to format another; type N for "no" and press Enter. 6.When installation is complete, you will be returned to the directory in which MechWarrior 2 was installed. To begin your MechWarrior experience, type MECH2 and press Enter. POST INSTALLATION NOTES After installing MechWarrior 2, it is easy to change your sound device configurations, view the README file, make a Boot Disk or register MechWarrior 2 electronically (if you bypassed this step while installing). All you have to do is go to the MechWarrior 2 directory on your hard drive, type MW2SETUP and press Enter. This will launch a program that will allow you to do all of these things. TROUBLESHOOTING MEMORY MechWarrior 2 requires a lot of memory torun - 8 MB of system memory (RAM). On some machines, even if you have the required 8 MB, MechWarrior 2 may report that you do not have enough free extended or conventional memory. If this is the case, your best alternative is to create a Boot Disk. See the Boot Disk section of this document for more infor- mation on creating a Boot Disk. Q:I get a message that says I do not have enough memory to run the installer. How come? A:The MechWarrior 2 installation program works best if you load as few TSR (terminate and stay resident) programs as possible in CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT. Exceptions to this rule would be your mouse driver and CD-ROM drivers. At least 500K of conven- tional (the first 640K) memory is required to run the MechWarrior 2 installer. Q:I get an out-of-memory error when I attempt to access one of the Clans. -OR- I cannot launch missions from the pre-mission launch area ("shell") portion of the game. A:This problem occurs most often in computers with 8 MB of RAM. MechWarrior 2 will run properly on these machines. However, this RAM must be configured to allow MechWarrior 2 enough room. In most cases, the conflict is with SMARTDRV. SMARTDRV, by default, will occupy 2 MB of RAM in machines with more than 6 MB of extended memory. By placing "REM" in front of your SMARTDRV statement in your AUTOEXEC.BAT and rebooting, you should be able to solve the problem. However, if this does not work, you must remove drivers or other TSR's which are occupying memory. A better solution is the creation of a Boot Disk that you can use to run the program under optimum memory conditions. BOOT DISKS If you experience problems playing MechWarrior 2 or receive messages that you do not have enough memory to play, you will probably need to create a Boot Disk. A Boot Disk lets your machine boot from a floppy disk and will not load memory-eating programs, freeing more memory up for MechWarrior 2. We have included an option that will automatically create Boot Disks for you in this package. To create a Boot Disk, first go to the \MECH2 direc- tory. For example if you installed MechWarrior 2 to C:\MECH2, you would type CD MECH2 and press Enter. Then type MW2SETUP and press Enter. Select Make a Boot Disk. Follow the on-screen prompts, and the program will create a Boot Disk for you. Optimum Setup Sometimes even a Boot Disk creator can't get you past the memory limit required to run a program. In the event you find our automatic Boot Disk creator doesn't do the job, we have provided the following CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files to assist you in getting MechWarrior 2 up and running quickly. If you are creating a Boot Disk from scratch, start at Step 1. If you have already used the automatic Boot Disk creation utility in the Mech- Warrior 2 installer, start at Step 3. Step 1:Place a diskette in your A: drive. The next step will erase any data on the disk, so a brand new blank floppy disk should be used. Make sure that the disk is the same density as the drive (Use a 1.44 MB disk in a High Density 3.5" drive, etc.). Step 2:At the C: prompt, type FORMAT A: /S and press Enter. The DOS Format utility will format the disk and add the necessary DOS files required to boot from the floppy disk. Step 3:Change to drive A by typing A: and pressing Enter. Then type EDIT CONFIG.SYS and press Enter. The DOS Edit program will appear. - If you used our Boot Disk maker then just make sure these lines, or similar lines, in the [CONFIG.SYS] example below, are in your CONFIG.SYS file and type REM and a space in front of all other lines not listed. - If you are making your own Boot Disk manually, then type in the lines following [CONFIG.SYS] in the example below. When you are finished typing the lines, press ALT-F to bring up the File menu, and then type X to Exit the DOS Edit program. When it asks you if you want to save your file, choose Yes. [CONFIG.SYS] DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE NOEMS DOS=UMB FILES=40 BUFFERS=15,0 STACKS=9,256 DOS=HIGH DEVICEHIGH=C:\CDROMDRV\DOllVlO9.SYS /D:MSCDOOO In the CONFIG.SYS file shown above, replace the last line in the example with the line from your current CONFIG.SYS file on drive C: that runs your CD-ROM drivers. It is important that you use your CD-ROM line and not our example, otherwise your CD-ROM drive will not function properly. You may also have special lines in your C:\CONFIG.SYS file that help your sound card function properly. It is very impor- tant that you copy those lines into this new file on A: so your sound card can work. Place the appropriate lines from your CONFIG.SYS file at the end of the example shown above. Additionally, if your graphics card requires a VESA driver, it should go here as well. (Check out our README file for more details.) Step 4:Type EDIT AUTOEXEC.BAT and press Enter. The DOS Edit program will appear. If you used our Boot Disk maker then just make sure these lines, or similar lines, in the [AUTOEXEC.BAT] example below, are in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file and type REM and a space in front of all other lines not listed. If you are making your own Boot Disk manually, then type in the lines following [AUTOEXEC.BAT] in the example below. When you are finished typing the lines, press ALT-F to bring up the File menu, and then type X to Exit the DOS Edit program. When it asks you if you want to save your file, choose Yes. [AUTOEXEC.BATl @ECHO OFF PROMPT $P$G SET PATH=C:\DOS;C:\VIDCARD;C:\SNDCARD LH C:\DOS\MSCDEX.EXE /D:MSCDOOO SET SOUND=C:\SBPRO SET BLASTER=A220 17 Dl T4 C:\MOUSE\MOUSE.EXE C: CD\MECH2 MECH2 In the AUTOEXEC.BAT file shown above, you would replace line 4 with the line from your current AUTOEXEC.BAT file on drive C: that loads MSCDEX.EXE. It is important that you use your CD-ROM line and not our example, otherwise your CD- ROM drive will not function properly. You may also have special lines in your C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT file that help your sound card to function properly. It is very important that you copy those lines into this new file on A: so your sound card can work. Replace the examples on lines 5 and 6 with the appropriate lines from your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. The SET PATH command on line 3 is an example; replace it with the one similar to it in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file on the C: drive. Step 5:Leave the disk in the drive and reboot your system. The game should start and everything should be working properly. NOTE: Once this Boot Disk is finished and functioning properly, use it to boot up your system and then run the DOS MEMMAKER utility with the Boot Disk in the drive. MEMMAKER will ensure that you have squeezed every little bit of RAM out of the Boot Disk. VIDEO MechWarrior 2 was designed to take advantage of some of the higher resolution video modes on your computer. The pre-mission launch portion of the program (i.e. the "shell") runs in 64Ox48Ox256 SVGA mode, and the simulation portion of the program runs by default in 32Ox2OOx256 standard VGA mode. The simulation can also run in 64Ox48Ox256 and 1024x768x256 mode using an SVGA video card. In some cases MechWarrior 2 will detect and work with your video card just fine. However, some video cards may require that a VESA video driver be loaded in order for the video card to work properly with MechWarrior 2. What Is A VESA Driver? VESA stands for Video Electronics Standards Association. It is a standard that allows software companies to write programs that work on many video cards without having to know how each card works. The VESA driver is the program that handles this. Almost every video card available today has VESA drivers available for it. These drivers may be stored in a chip on the video card, or they may be programs that the user has to load manually (or with a batch file). Some cards (such as the Diamond Viper) have the driver on the video card, but need the user to run a special program to activate the driver. If the VESA driver is an external program, it will probably be found on the disks that accompanied your video card. If you don't have a VESA driver you should contact your video card manufacturer. We have included a list of Customer Service and BBS numbers for major manufacturers at the end of the README file. Using most 'external' (programs that you must run) VESA drivers is as easy as typing the name of the driver at the DOS prompt. For instance, if the driver was called VVESA.COM, you would type VVESA.COM and then press Enter. If you have any difficulty running MechWarrior 2 at a higher resolution, contact the maker of your video card for the latest VESA driver for your card. INPUT DEVICES (Joysticks, Mice, VR Headsets) MechWarrior 2 supports a wide variety of input devices. The following section, Cockpit Controls, will cover any issues encountered with these controllers. We will be adding more input devices to the current list in the near future. Look on our BBS or any of the on-line services that we currently support for updates. Some future additions are the Spaceball Avenger and the CH Virtual Pilot Pro. MechWarrior 2 requires a Microsoft-compatible mouse to run. Most mice today (including Logitech, Mouse Systems, and Kensington) are Microsoft-compatible. In order for the mouse to work properly in Mech- Warrior 2, a mouse driver must be loaded before running the game. The mouse driver must also be fairly current and VESA compatible. Contact the manufacturer of your mouse or the dealer who sold the mouse to you to see if your driver is the most current available. NETWORK AND MODEM PLAY The multi-player demo version of MechWarrior 2, NetMech, is designed to show you a taste of the multi-play MechWarrior 2 to come. Although it will function on many different systems, it has not yet been thoroughly tested. It's performance and reliability will vary across systems. On some systems the demo might not function at all. However, rest assured that the full version of NetMech, which will be made available to you in the future, will be extensively tested, compatible across a greater number of systems and include many new and exciting features. For the NetMech Demo, these are some common questions that may arise: Q:NETB2 is not connecting the two computers running NetMech Demo. What is the problem? A:You might be networked across a router. NETB2, and by necessity NetMech Demo, will not connect across a router. We are currently working on a solution to this for our full network version. Q:Why won't NETB2 run? A:Ensure that you have loaded NETBIOS or 1 00% NETBIOS compatible software. NETB2 will not work without NETBIOS or compatible software loaded. Q:I cannot get NetMech Demo to run on my Windows network, Why not? A:NetMech Demo does not support Windows NETBIOS. Q:When I run NETB2 I get a message stating that other players are already registered. What does this mean? A:This message indicates that other people are currently playing NetMech Demo on the network. Fortunately, NETB2 provides four sockets to connect through. To use a different socket type "NETB2 x" where "x" is the number of the socket (1 through 4). Unless there are four games going on, you should be able to find an open socket. Both players need to type in the same socket number to play against each other in NetMech Demo. Q:Does NetMech Demo support Lantastic? A:NetMech Demo should function properly on a Lantastic network or any other network that supports NETBIOS or 100% NETBIOS compat- ible software. Q:My frame rate in the NetMech Demo is choppy and I get "memory low" messages on my screen. Why is this? A:In the heat of battle, sometimes more memory is required out of your computer due to the increased demands on the processor by the multi-player version. If you are running the network version on an 8 MB machine, you may occasionally get memory low banners or experience choppy frame rates. Ideally, the NetMech Demo should be run in computer with more than 8MB. Q:My modem is not connecting. Why not? A:NetMech Demo requires a connection through two 100% Hayes compatible modems at 9600 BPS. If you do not have a Hayes com- patible modem, NetMech Demo might not function properly, if at all. Additionally, some modems will require initialization strings that force the modem into 9600 BPS, otherwise, the game will not function. NetMech Demo will not run at baud rates over or under 9600 BPS. Q:I can't get the null-modem version of NetMech to function. What's wrong? A:If you are using a joystick as a control, you may experience problems connecting with another computer via null-modem. This could be the result of conflicts with your joystick. Try removing the joystick. We recommend using a mouse and keyboard for NetMech null-modem. PERFORMANCE MechWarrior 2 has features that were designed to support a wide range of computers. When you initially configure MechWarrior 2 for play, MechWarrior 2 will make several default settings regarding which fea- tures should be used and which should be turned OFF The trade-offs are different for each user, so we allow any machine to run any options, but please keep in mind that the higher the level of detail, the more demanding the machine requirements. We recommend that all 486 owners use low resolution, 32Ox2OO. 486- 66's and up with very fast video sub-systems can run in 64Ox480, but most of the graphic options should be turned OFF Video cards also vary dramatically; many cards are optimized for extremely high performance in Windows, but can actually be very slow for use in DOS. The best way to determine this is by running MechWarrior 2. Start with a resolution of 32Ox2OO, and select whatever options best match your machine's capabilities and your desire for realism. Machine and graphics card allowing, move up to a higher resolution, and adjust graphic options until you reach a satisfactory balance. Try making the following changes to increase the game's performance: Terrain Textures: Try turning these OFF. Object Textures: Try turning these OFF. Display Detail: Try switching to LOW. Object Density: Try switching to LOW. Chunk Explosions: Try turning these OFF. Resolution:Reduce to the next lower resolution if you're running above 32Ox2OO. These changes should be sufficient to get the game running reasonably on any machine. Other options can be left ON, as their performance cost is low. COCKPICK CONTROLS To select the input device(s) you'll be using to pilot your mech, select Cockpit Controls from the ESC menu. Here you can select the ones you'll be using by clicking on them (accepted ones are shown in red). It's perfectly OK to use multiple devices simultaneously, as long as your computer is happy with the setup. Once you've selected your inputs, click on ACCEPT to take your current configuration into battle. If you're really brave, you can choose to customize your mech's controls in Custom Config. Don't let all the options scare you... To modify/customize a device: Select the device you want to map game functions to from the list of devices in the upper-left corner. Only high- lighted ones are available. The selected one will turn red (as a rule, if a button is bright white, you can select it, and if it's red, it is selected). Now select one of the game controls which you want to map the device to. Lastly, select the specific input (button or axis) you want placed there. Inputs can be prefaced by modifier keys, and can be inverted by clicking on the R/L, U/D areas. Since you can have multiple (duplicate) inputs controlling the same function, there are multiple pages of controls, starting with Primary. Cycle through the other Controls pages to see the redundancies (instances where functions have been assigned to multiple keys, switches, etc.). You can save and load up to four custom configurations, each with its own name (just click on Current Config and enter a new name). Click on Accept and exit when you're satisfied. Enjoy. Sound complicated? Well, it is... If you simply want to switch your turret from Tank to Plane mode (reverse them), then all you need to do is click on the L/R following Torso Turn for your joystick (which may not show up as the Primary Controller, so you may have to click on Primary Controls to get there). COSTOMER SERVICE If you have any comments, questions or suggestions about Mech- Warrior 2, or any other Activision product, you can contact us at (310) 479-5644 between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. (Pacific Time) Monday through Friday, with the exception of holidays, or contact a customer service representative through the following on-line services: Activision BBS: (310) 479-1335 *Available 24 hours a day *Up to 14,400 baud *Settings: 8 bits, no parity, 1 stop bit (8, N, 1 CompuServe: 76004,2122 or [GO GAMEPUB] in the Game Publishers Forum B Prodigy: ACT110B GEnie: ACTIVISION America on-line: MEDIAJAKE or use keyword "ACTIVISION" to locate the Activision forum. Internet:support@activision.com http:Hwww.activision.com For information on how to use our listserver, please send email to CSbulletins@activision.com with the word "help" in the subject line. If you're already familiar with listservers, send email to the same address with the word "index" in the subject of your message for a list of files available from this service. For customer service in Australia and the Pacific Rim, please refer to the following: ACTIVISION AUSTRALIA AND PACIFIC RIM P.O. Box 873 Epping, NSW 2121 Australia (61)2 869 0955 Activision is a registered trademark of Activision, Inc. All rights reserved. MechWarrior, BattleTech, BaftleMech and 'Mech are registered trademarks of FASA CORPORATION. Used with permission. 1995 Activision, Inc.