Explanation
N/A

Solution
Disable Bus Mastering in your MGA setup program (in the performance area). For more information on how to do so, please contact Matrox. Also make sure your refresh rate is set to 70hz or greater.

Explanation
The following is taken from the Matrox website : "If I have the bus mastering switch enabled, Windows 95 or my 3d games refuse to run or crash randomly. How can I fix this?" "There are only a couple of issues to look at here. This is frequently caused by an interrupt not being assigned to the Mystique. In order for bus-mastering to operate correctly, an interrupt must be assigned. You can either: change the slot for the Mystique which forces the system bios to select a different interrupt for the Mystique, or manually set one with the irqset program. It is probably better to allow your system to select the interrupt, just in case the one you set manually is already in use by another device. Some motherboards make a distinction between bus mastering slots & slave slots. Verify your system manual to see if this is true in your situation. If so make sure that the Mystique is inserted into a bus mastering slot. In rare cases you may need to change the irq even if you change the slot, so if you still have the problem after changing the slots, try using the irqset program."

Solution
Reinstall the ATI 3D rage drivers.

Explanation
Go to the Windows control panel and select SYSTEM, then DEVICE MANAGER. Remove anything that is in the DISPLAY ADAPTERS folder. Close the DEVICE MANAGER and select ADD NEW HARDWARE from the control panel. Instead of having Windows search for any hew hardware, click on NO and then on HAVE DISK. Insert the disk that has the ATI 3D drivers and allow Windows to install the video card for you. If you did not get such a disk with your video card, please contact ATI and ask for their latest 3D Rage drivers.

(Make sure you are using drivers from ATI, not the generic ones that are included with Win95/98/etc. The generic drivers do not include the ATI3DCIF.dll file, which allows the Rage IIx and Rage Pro cards to run games specifically ported for them. If you have installed drivers from ATI, fully uninstall them, reboot and reinstall them. Make sure they are the most recent available)

Solution
In Combat Variables, select a resolution other than 512x384.

Explanation
In this version of MechWarrior 2, the default resolution for the combat sections is 512x384. Unfortunately, some monitors do not support this resolution, and will return an error. To fix these problems, do the following: Inside any non-combat portion of the game, move your mouse to the menu bar and select "Options". Pull down to "Combat Variables" and select it. Click on the number to the right of "Resolution". Select any resolution other than 512x384. Click the right-hand mouse button to leave the Combat Variables screen.

Solution
Make sure that you have the ATI 3D Rage video card installed on your system. Also, make sure you have the correct drivers loaded for that card

Explanation
The ATI 3D Rage version of Mechwarrior 2 will only work on systems that have the 3D Rage video card installed. You will get a black screen in the sim if you do not have one installed. You must also have the correct video card driver installed on your system. Some programs, like those that use DirectX, will install compatible drivers if you don't have them. The installation may not install the correct driver. Reinstall the drivers that came with your video card, or contact ATI for the latest drivers.

(Same as above: Make sure you are using drivers from ATI, not the generic ones that are included with Win95/98/etc. The generic drivers do not include the ATI3DCIF.dll file, which allows the Rage IIx and Rage Pro cards to run games specifically ported for them. If you have installed drivers from ATI, fully uninstall them, reboot and reinstall them. Make sure they are the most recent available. This goes for other cards/versions as well! Generic Windows drivers do not included the necessary files to run these games. Also, when using "unauthorized" reference drivers, you may have a problem as well. My Monster 3D would not run MW2 3Dfx when I used certain 3Dfx Reference drivers.)

Solution
You do not have the enhanced 3D version of the software.

Explanation
There is a regular version of MechWarrior2 that will work with most video cards, and there are the 3D enhanced versions of MechWarrior2 that only work with the specific cards they were written for. I.E. there is one for the ATI 3D Rage, Matrox Mystique and the Diamond Stealth 2000 3D cards. The 3D version has textured ground, sky, mountains with smoke trails from missiles etc., all of which are not in the regular version of Mech2.

NOTE: The 3d versions of the game will not work with any other card than the ones they were written for. So you cannot use the ATI 3D Rage edition of MechWarrior 2 with any other 3d board.

Solution
Go to the windows control panel, select system then device manager. Under "display adapters", make sure you have the ATI 3D Expression driver loaded. If you have the wrong driver loaded, your 3D chip will be inaccessible, and the game won't work properly. Depending on which RAGE-based you you own, the correct driver will either say "ATI Tech Enhanced" or RAGE II. Contact your hardware manufacturer for details.

(See previous yellow text above )

Solution
Reload the manufacturer's video drivers that support DirectX v2.0.

Explanation
DirectX , during installation, overwrote your previous video drivers and installed incompatible ones. Reloading the correct drivers supplied form your manufacturer that supports DirectX resolves the problem.

Solution
This means you need to reinstall your video drivers. Try downloading the apocalypse drivers from www.videologic.com.

Explanation
The following is from Compaq technical support : When the game is installed it replaces our driver if you say YES (to directx installation). Once the drive has been replaced you will get the Midas Board error, because it can no longer find it. So it just has to be reinstalled. You can download the certified video drivers on the internet from http://www.s3.com/bbs/325drv/index.htm. The filename is w9530104.zip. It was at the top of the list the last time I looked. Compaq will provide these drivers on our website in the future. When installing the drivers you want to select 'S3 Inc ViRGE PCI.' Installing the video drivers is very easy. The file is a zipped file. Unzip the file into a directory that you can easily remember. Then click: Start > Settings > Control Panel. Double click the 'System' icon in the window that appears. Click on the 'Device Manager' tab. Double click on the words 'Display Adapters.' It should show you S3 ViRGE PCI. Double click on the line and a new window will appear. Click on the 'Driver' tab and click the 'Change Driver' button. It will show you what is compatible with your system. The drivers you downloaded are not listed there yet. You need to click on the 'Have Disk' button and browse to the directory where you unzipped the new drivers. Select 'S3 Inc ViRGE PCI' and click OK. It will be self-explanatory from then on. If the installation of DirectX mentions anything about replacing files, make sure you replace the files that it changes using the method above.

Solution
Your monitor may not support the 512x384 mode that the game switches to for 3D enhanced mode. This usually happens with older models or if you are using one other than what shipped your computer.

Solution
The 1.1 patch is only for the standard version of the game.

Solution
The enhanced version of this game only run in Windows.

Solution

1. Check DirectX driver Certification
2. Go to COMBAT VARIABLES in the game. Make sure that the screen resolution is NOT set to 512x384, since that mode is incompatible with many monitors. Try setting it to 640x480.
3. Upgrade your S3 ViRGE drivers to the latest available from the Manufacturer (even if they certify with DirectX! - SEE BELOW!)
4. Set the desktop to High color 16 bit 640x480 before starting the game.

Explanation
Mechwarrior 2 S3 Virge for Windows 95 uses Microsoft DirectX drivers to interface with Windows 95. Almost all problems with this version of the game are caused by a Windows 95 driver that does not support DirectX. You can check your system for DirectX support by double clicking on the My Computer Icon.

Using your right mouse button, click on the CD-ROM drive. From the menu that appears, choose "Install DirectX". It will bring up a window telling you which DirectX hardware components are "certified." If one or more of the items does not say "certified," this is most likely causing the problem you are having. The drivers that are most often not certified are Display driver and Audio driver. Most manufacturers of video cards and sound cards are releasing updated drivers for Windows 95 to meet the DirectX standard.

You will want to contact the manufacturer of any component that is not supported and ask them about obtaining drivers that support DirectX. If any component says "Not Installed", then DirectX is not fully installed. In this case, just click on the "install DirectX" button.

Solution

• Make sure you have the latest video card drivers from the manufacturers' websites.
• Set your desktop settings to 640 by 480 and 256 colors.
  1. Click on Start, go to Settings, and click on Control Panel.
  2. When the Control Panel comes up, double-click on the Display icon.
  3. Click on the Settings tab.
  4. Modify the Color Palette to say 256 colors and the Desktop Area to 640 by 480.
  5. Click on the Apply button once the changes have been made and follow the on-screen prompts to finish the process.

Solution
An image in .888 format can be opened only by using a paint program that lets you open custom file formats, such as Adobe Photoshop or Jasc PaintShop Pro. Simply open the file as 8-bits per pixel. The header information is two WORDS.

(IMO, this is not worth the trouble, because the screens still end up distorted. For the majority of the 3D Editions, you can use just plain printscreen + the clipboard, which you can then paste into a paint program. Better yet, download Hypersnap from Hyperionics, which is an excellent screenshot utility. Unfortunately, the 3Dfx Voodoo version will not work with Hypersnap, because it uses a very early version of Glide and will require a 3Dfx specific screen utility (and only the older ones seem to work). I recommend Snap3Dfx which is available from many download site, just do a search for "Snap3Dfx."The most recent version is v1.2)

Solution
No, this version is not available for purchase. It was only came bundled with the Virge video card.

(Incorrect, but irrelevant)

Solution
The Windows does not contain 3D graphics support. You will need to acquire the Titanium edition of the game.

Solution
The 3D Rave edition is no longer available.

Solution
The 3D version of Mechwarrior 2 for the Macintosh was only available with the PowerMac 6500.

(Again, incorrect but irrelevant)

Solution
This error happens when you are using a SVGA monitor with a Mac adapter. The refresh rate that the game uses is not supported by the current settings of your adapter. You will need to adjust the settings of your monitor adapter using the dip switches or dials on the device to find a mode setting that supports the correct refresh rate. Check the documentation that came with your adapter to determine which settings can be used. Most adapters will work with multiple settings.