First available: ~April 1997 w/ PowerMac 6500, ~September 1997 w/ TechWorks Power3D (The QD3D version was [apparently] first previewed at the MacWorld Expo in San Fransico Jan 7-10, 1997. It was running at ATI's booth on their new XClaim VR card.) Format: Macintosh MacOS 7.5.5 Recommended System Requirements: Macintosh or 100% compatible, PowerPC, 32mb of RAM, 58mb hard disk drive space, 2x CD-ROM, 256 color (640x480), 13" color monitor, System 7.5.5, Quickdraw 3D accelerated video card w/ 2mb RAM. [note: Mac is the only one that lists the specs as "recommended," though they should be considered minimum req's.] 3D API: QuickDraw 3D RAVE (Rendering Acceleration Virtual Engine)
Video cards the RAVE edition was bundled with: 1) TechWorks
Power3D
Desktop systems the RAVE edition was bundled with: 1) Macintosh
PowerMac 6500 series: 6500/225, 6500/250, 6500/275, &
6500/300
Labeled as: "3D RAVE Edition for the TechWorks Power3D" & "3D Accelerated for the 6500" Full Installation Size: ??? Resolutions: Multiple resolutions, but I don't have specifics. I'd guess [at least] 512x384 & 640x480. In-Game Graphics Options: ??? Performance/Appearance: According the the reviews I have read (see below), the game game ran smoothly and the sky and ground textures were nicely done, but the explosions were described as somewhat blocky. I can't personally comment on this one, because I have never seen this version in action [yet....hehe]. I found an old review that tests the RAVE version included with a TechWorks card on a Power3D and an ATI Rage Pro card. You can read the review at the "Accelerate your Mac" website: http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/power3d.html VIdeocard Compatibility: Unlike the other versions of MW2 mentioned here, the Mac version was not written for a chipset native API. Instead, it used QuickDraw 3D RAVE which is a broad(er) API that was compatible with several 3D chipsets (kind of like D3D for MacOS, but not quite). This version should run one any Voodoo Graphics based video card using the Power3D drivers from TechWorks. ATI had it running on their XClaim VR board (the XClaim 3D should be fine as well) and I've read that some others have run it successfully on Voodoo 2 based boards. Apple and/or developers appear to have killed off RAVE over the last few years in favor of OpenGL. I'm not familiar enough with Macintosh laptops/notebooks to know if this could possibly work on one, but I guess due to the broader compatibility of RAVE, it may be possible. Anybody out there ever try this? OS Compatibility: Presenty, I'm really not sure about this. The two questions I need answers for are 1) Does MW2 work with all MacOS releases from 7.5.5 up to MacOS X? and 2) When did RAVE support stop for MacOS and/or Videocards, or is it still being used in a reduced capacity? Tweaking: For 3Dfx based cards, you can try 3DfxTweaker, made specifically for MacOS. So far I haven't been able to find a RAVE 3D utility for Macintosh ATI Rage II and Rage Pro chipsets. Also try searching Google groups usenet archive. Here's a shortcut to a search that may help. Quickdraw 3D RAVE Support Sites: AccelerateYourMac! did a lot of testing with the TechWorks card when it first came out and tried RAVE MW2 on other cards as well. They would seem to be the most experienced in dealing with this version. Unfortunately the forum is presently closed to new registrations and you can only post if you are registered. NetMech: Unfortunately, Activision decided not to make a RAVE version of Netmech and I don't beleive the software rendered version was included on the RAVE CD either. I can't help but wonder if anyone at Green Dragon Creations did some work on it, seeing as they had just ported MW2 to RAVE and also did the regular Mac Netmech and would have seemed like a relatively easy thing to do at that point [for them]. It really would have been nice to have a Netmech95 compatible RAVE Netmech for the Mac people... Well, that's all history now, but the regular Mac version of Netmech is [still] available for download from Activision: Cheats: I believe the Mac version uses the same Cheat codes as the PC vesions. Bugs: ??? Misc. Notes: MacGamer stated that when they asked Activision [@ the E3 Show in June of 1997] whether RAVE MW2 would be available for retail purchase, Activision said yes. MacGamer's quote:
Activision never carried out this plan for whatever reason... Green Dragon Creations ported MechWarrior 2, Netmech and MechWarrior 2 RAVE for the Mac. They have a bit of information about the work they had to do to convert MW2 to Mac. MacGamer has an interesting article that looks at some of the best [and hard to find] games for the Mac platform, including the MW2 RAVE Edition. QD3D RAVE Screenshot Gallery: Empty! If you have any screenshots to submit or you can add/correct missing information, please email me |
