MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries Editor

Microsoft MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries Mission Editor Readme File
November 2002
Microsoft Corporation, 1998-2002. All rights reserved.

Welcome to Microsoft MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries Mission Editor.

CONTENTS
A.	System Requirements
B.	Installation
	Installing MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries Mission Editor
	Documentation
C.		Editor Issues
D.		DirectX Issues
E.		Configuration Issues
F.		3D Card Issues
G.		3D Card Drivers and Manufacturers

This file contains information to help you troubleshoot issues with the MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries Mission Editor. You can find more information about MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries and Microsoft Product Support Services in the printed manual and on the MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries Web site (<http://www.microsoft.com/games/mw4mercs/>).



A.	System Requirements
•	Multimedia personal computer with a 700 megahertz (MHz) or faster processor.
•	Microsoft Windows 98, Windows Millennium, Windows 2000, or Windows XP operating system.
•	128 megabytes (MB) of random access memory (RAM) on your computer.
•	1 gigabyte of free hard-disk space. 
•	8x speed or faster CD-ROM or DVD drive.
•	Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device.
•	Microsoft DirectX application programming interface version 8.1 or later.
•	Sound card compatible with DirectX 8.1 or later.
•	Advanced Graphics Port (AGP) or Peripheral Component Interface (PCI) video card with 16 MB of video RAM that supports Direct3D and is compatible with DirectX 8.1 or later.
•	Speakers or headphones for audio.
•	Super VGA, 16-bit color monitor or better.
•	Keyboard.
 

B.	Installation

Installing MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries Mission Editor
1.	To install the Mission Editor, launch the file mw4mercseditor.exe 
2.	Click Install, and then follow the instructions that appear on the screen.

Documentation:
Documents in rich text format (.rtf) have been supplied in the EditorDocs folder.  These documents provide useful information regarding the proper operation of the MechWarrrior 4: Mercenaries Mission Editor, Map Creator, NFM Editor, and ABL scripting.



C.	Editor Issues
The following are the known issues for MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries Mission Editor.
•	The MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries Mission Editor will not work with a minimum install of MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries.  To use the Mission Editor, be sure to do a full install of MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries.
•	In the NFM Editor, the default option is not labeled when you view the properties of any NFM file though the NFM Editor.
•	In the NFM Editor, skin selections are set by entering from 0 to 9 and then a to z to total 36 skins.
•	When entering text into the text entry fields in the New Mission window and Save As window, it is recommended that the number of characters used is limited to 20 or less. Very large numbers of characters entered into these fields can cause issues with Editor functionality.
•	When entering text into the text entry fields in the New Mission window and Save As window, the following characters are not supported: * | : “ < > ?  Using any of these characers in these text fields can cause issues with Editor functionality.
•	When large numbers of objects are placed close together in the Editor, some of the objects may disappear briefly when the map is viewed from different angles in the Editor. This is due to the game engine only rendering a certain number of polygons at one time. All the objects remain placed even when they have temporarily disappeared; to view them, adjust the angle using the camera controls.
•	Pressing the Orbit Current Selection button or selecting the Orbit Current Selection option, under Options\Camera\Orbit Current Selection, toggles the "z" and "c" keys to rotate the camera around the selected object.
•	Putting in very large negative values in the Mission Properties: Heat Sink field can cause issues with Editor functionality. It is recommended that the largest negative value used in this field is -150.
 

D.	DirectX Issues
DirectX 8.1 or later must be installed on your computer before you can play MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries. If you do not have DirectX installed on your computer and you chose not to install DirectX when you installed MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries, you will receive the following message: "A required .dll file, Dplayx.dll, was not found." To fix this problem, reinstall MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries and install DirectX 8.1.
If you did install DirectX when you installed MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries but your video drivers are not compatible with DirectX 8.1, you will receive the following message when you restart your computer: "MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries could not initialize DirectX. Make sure that DirectX 8.1 or higher is installed and contact your hardware manufacturer for a video driver update." To fix this problem, update your video drivers (see section I, “3D Card Drivers and Manufacturers”).
Always make sure you have the latest DirectX-compatible video and audio drivers from your hardware manufacturers. If you still have problems, get the latest DirectX troubleshooting information at http://support.microsoft.com/support/directx/.


E.	Configuration Issues
Known hardware and operating system configuration issues are listed in this section. For issues with specific 3D cards, see section G, “3D Card Issues.”
Operating Systems 
Windows XP
An administrator must accept the Editor end-user license agreement (EULA) on first use: On a computer running Windows XP Professional, a user with administrator privileges must start the Editor and accept the EULA before other types of users can use the Editor (that is, people in the Backup Operators, Guests, Network Configuration Operators, Power Users, and Users groups, and so on). If an administrator does not accept the EULA and any other type of user tries to start the Editor, the Editor fails. 
Windows 2000
AGP aperture size and Windows 2000 stability: If you are experiencing stability issues such as the system restarting or no longer responding while running MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries Editor under Windows 2000, first make sure you have the latest Windows 2000 drivers installed for your motherboard and all other hardware. Also, install the latest service packs for Windows 2000. Finally, try lowering the AGP aperture size to increase the stability of your system. To find out how to change your AGP aperture size, contact your motherboard manufacturer.
Windows 2000 and AMD Athlon and Duron processors: Stability issues might arise when using the Editor on a computer with an AMD Athlon or Duron processor. These processors use the AMD 751/756 motherboard chip-set. Make sure you have the latest AMD software drivers and patches installed on your computer. They can be found at http://www.amd.com/support/software.html.
Display
For issues related to your 3D card, see Section H, “3D Card Issues.”
AMD Athlon and Duron processor issues: If your system experiences instability when running the game on systems using the AMD Athlon and Duron processors, download and install the latest AMD processor utilities and drivers for your operating system from http://www.amd.com/support/software.html or http://www.amd.com/products/cpg/athlon-duron/amd_win2k_patch.html.
Changing screen resolution during setup: If you change the screen resolution while running MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries Editor Setup, the installation screen is not fully visible. To avoid this problem, do not change the screen resolution while Setup installs the game.  
Software
NetMeeting and hardware acceleration: If NetMeeting is running or Remote Desktop Sharing is enabled, your system does not have sufficient hardware acceleration to run MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries Editor. This problem also happens when NetMeeting has improperly shut down. To fix this problem, shut down NetMeeting from within the application or disable Remote Desktop Sharing if it is enabled. 

F.	3D Card Issues
MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries only fully supports DirectX 8.1–compliant video cards. It is good practice to always install the latest certified drivers for all of your hardware. 
3dfx Voodoo 5 5500: Some operating systems have problems displaying the mouse cursor and other pictures on systems using this video card. The original manufacturer of the Voodoo 5 5500 video card, 3dfx, has gone out of business. No driver updates are available for 3dfx sound cards. Contact your hardware manufacturer for any updated drivers.
3DLabs Permedia 2 chip-set: Graphics irregularities might occur on systems with this chip-set when running the game. To fix this problem, download and install the latest reference drivers from 3Dlabs, http://www.3dlabs.com/.
AccelStar II 3D Accelerator: Graphics rendering might be corrupted on systems with this accelerator when running the game. To fix this problem, download and install the latest reference drivers from 3Dlabs, http://www.3dlabs.com/ or http://www.accelgraphics.com/.
AOpen PA3000: If your system has the retail drivers for this card installed, it might stop responding when you play the game. To fix this problem, download and install the latest reference drivers from AOpen, http://www.aopen.com/, or NVDIA, http://www.nvidia.com/.
ASUS 3DexPlorer 3000: If your system has the retail drivers for this card installed, brief display corruption might appear when the game’s opening movie begins. To fix this problem, download and install the latest drivers from ASUS, http://www.asus.com/, or NVIDIA, http://www.nvidia.com/.
ASUS V2740: If your system has the retail drivers for this card installed, textures might not be rendered properly when running the game. In addition, when using this card with Windows Millennium you may encounter access violations. To fix these problems, download and install the latest reference drivers from Intel, http://www.intel.com/.
Asus V-6600: If your system has the retail drivers for this card installed, starting a game causes the system to stop responding. To fix this problem, contact ASUS for updated drivers, http://www.asus.com/, or download the latest reference drivers from NVIDIA, http://www.nvidia.com/.
ATI All-in-Wonder 128 Pro: When 32-bit color is enabled for this card, graphic instability might occur in the game. To fix this problem, download and install the latest drivers from ATI, http://www.ati.com/.
ATI RADEON 7000 or 7500: If your system uses either of these cards, runs Windows Millennium, and has game screen resolution set to 640 x 480 or 1600 x 1200, starting gameplay causes the system to stop responding. This problem occurs with both the retail and latest drivers. To fix this problem, reset your screen resolution using Autoconfig_Mercs.exe. To do so, in the folder where the game is installed double-click Autoconfig_Mercs.exe, click Advanced, and then select a screen resolution other than 640 x 480 or 1600 x 1200. 
ATI Rage Fury Maxx: If your system uses this card, game graphics might be corrupted. To fix this problem, download and install the latest drivers from ATI, http://www.ati.com/.
ATI Rage II+: If your system uses this card, slight texture corruption might occur in the game. To fix this problem, download and install the latest drivers from ATI, http://www.ati.com/.
ATI Rage Pro Turbo: If your system uses this card, some graphics irregularities might occur in the game. To fix this problem, download and install the “Special Released” drivers from ATI, http://www.ati.com/.
ATI Xpert 128: If your system uses this card, texture corruption might occur in the game. To fix this problem, download and install the latest drivers from ATI, http://www.ati.com/.
Creative Blaster Riva TNT: If your system uses the latest reference drivers for this card from NVIDIA (that is, version 6.31), the system stops responding when running the game. Contact the hardware manufacturer for updated drivers, http://www.creative.com/. Also, lowering your AGP aperture size might help. For more information on doing so, contact the hardware manufacturer.
Creative Labs 3D Blaster Savage4: If your system uses this card, changes in screen resolution might give unreliable results when running the game. To fix this problem, download and install the latest drivers from Creative Labs, http://www.creative.com/.
Diamond Fire Pro GL: If your system uses this card, graphics might appear corrupted in the game. Contact the manufacturer for updated drivers at http://www.s3.com/.
Diamond Monster Fusion: If your system has the retail drivers for this card installed, texture corruption might occur when running the game. Contact the manufacturer for updated drivers at http://www.s3.com/.
Diamond Monster II 3D: With driver version 2207 from the Diamond Web site, your system might not recognize this card when running the game. Contact the manufacturer for updated drivers at http://www.s3.com/.
Diamond Stealth II G-460: If your system has the retail drivers for this card installed, textures do not appear when running the game. Contact the manufacturer for updated drivers at http://www.s3.com/.
Diamond Viper II Z200: If your system has the retail drivers for this card installed, graphics irregularities might occur when running the game. To fix this problem, download and install the latest drivers from S3, http://www.s3.com/.
Diamond Viper V330: If your system has the retail drivers for this card installed, the system stops responding when you click New on the Roster screen. To fix this problem, download and install the latest drivers from S3, http://www.s3.com/, or the NVIDIA Riva ZX reference drivers from http://www.nvidia.com/. Minor graphics corruption occurs when using the latest and reference drivers for this video card, but gameplay is not otherwise negatively affected.
Diamond Viper V550: If your system uses this card, texture corruption might occur when running the game. To fix this problem, download and install the latest drivers from http://www.s3.com/.
Diamond Viper V770 Ultra: If your system uses this card, graphics corruption might occur and the system might stop responding when running the game. To fix this problem, download and install the latest drivers from S3, http://www.s3.com/, or reference drivers from NVIDIA, http://www.nvidia.com/.
Elsa Gladiac: If your system has certain drivers for this card installed (version.6.34), the system stops responding or the video card is unrecognized when running the game. To fix this problem, download the latest reference drivers from NVIDIA, http://www.nvidia.com/.
Guillemot 3D Prophet GeForce: If your system uses this card, slight graphic irregularities might occur when running the game. To fix this problem, download and install the latest drivers from Guillemot, http://www.guillemot.com/.
Guillemot Maxi Gamer Phoenix 2: If your system uses this card, sporadic menu corruption might occur in the user interface when running the game. To fix this problem, download and install the latest display drivers from Guillemot, http://www.guillemot.com/.
Intel 810 graphics chip-set: If your system uses this chip-set, download and install the latest drivers from Intel, http://www.intel.com/. 
Matrox Marvel G-400: If your system uses this card and experiences stability problems such as no longer responding when playing the game in 32-bit color, download and install the latest drivers from Matrox, http://www.matrox.com/, or run the game in 16-bit color. To do so, in the folder where the game is installed double-click Autoconfig_Mercs.exe, click Advanced, and select a 16-bit color mode.  
Matrox Millennium G200 AGP: If your system uses this card, texture flashes might occur when running the game. To fix this problem, download and install the latest drivers from Matrox, http://www.matrox.com/.
Number Nine Revolution IV: If your system uses this card, texture corruption might occur when running the game, causing the system to stop responding. If you experience problems with a Number Nine card, it is recommended that you upgrade your card.
Number Nine SR-9 Pro: If your system uses this card, it might experience periodic instability or stop responding. If you experience problems with a Number Nine card, it is recommended that you upgrade your card.
NVIDIA Detonator 4: If your system uses this card and runs Windows 2000, it might go into software mode and the game might not start a second time if you change video modes by pressing ALT+ENTER or ALT+TAB while running the game. To resolve this, update the motherboard drivers or switch to a 16-bit desktop resolution. To switch to a 16-bit desktop resolution, right-click the desktop, and then click Properties. Click the Settings tab, and use the slider under Screen Resolution to select the correct resolution and color depth.
NVIDIA GeForce 256: When attempting to launch certain missions while in 1600 x 1200 x 32 resolution, systems using this card might restart. 
NVIDIA GeForce2: If your system uses this card and runs Windows 98 SE, you might experience graphics corruption on the Main Menu screen. To work around this problem, press ALT+TAB to switch to the desktop and then ALT+TAB again to switch back to the game. To fix this problem, download and install the latest drivers from NVIDIA, http://www.nvidia.com/.
NVIDIA GeForce2 GTS: If your system uses this card, a split screen might occasionally occur with some monitors when changing video modes. To work around this problem, press ALT+TAB to switch to the desktop and then ALT+TAB again to switch back to the game. To fix this problem, download and install the latest reference driver from NVIDIA, http://www.nvidia.com/, or contact your hardware manufacturer for updated drivers. Also, make sure you have the correct drivers installed for your monitor.
NVIDIA GeForce2 MX: If your system uses this card, you may encounter graphics corruption at 1600 x 1200 screen resolution with the ultra high graphics setting. As you continue to play, the graphics corruption problem goes away. To fix this problem, try resetting your screen resolution using Autoconfig_Mercs.exe. In the folder where the game is installed, double-click Autoconfig_Mercs.exe, click Advanced, and then select a screen resolution other than 1600 x 1200.
NVIDIA	GeForce2 MX 200: If your system runs Windows XP and uses this card, you may encounter graphics corruption at the 1280 x 1024 x 32 or 1600 x 1200 x 32 screen resolution with the ultra high graphics setting. To fix this problem, download and install the latest reference drivers from NVIDIA, http://www.nvidia.com/.
NVIDIA TNT, TNT2, and GeForce cards: If your system runs Windows 2000, the game does not run in accelerated hardware mode with the NVIDIA display drivers for these cards that come with the operating system. To fix this problem, download and install the latest reference drivers from NVIDIA, http://www.nvidia.com/, or contact your hardware manufacturer for the latest drivers.
S3 Savage 4: If your system runs Windows 2000, the game does not run in accelerated hardware mode with the display drivers for this card that come with the operating system. To fix this problem, download and install the latest reference drivers from S3, http://www.s3.com/, or contact your hardware manufacturer for the latest drivers.
STB BlackMagic 3D: If your system uses this card, slight graphics corruption might occur when running the game. Contact your hardware manufacturer for any updated drivers. 
STB Velocity 128: If your system has the retail drivers for this card installed, the game might stop after the opening movie or graphic irregularities might occur. To fix this problem, download and install the latest reference drivers from NVIDIA, http://www.nvidia.com/. 
STB Velocity 4400: If your system has the retail drivers for this card installed, the game might stop responding during the opening movie or occasionally in other places. To fix this problem, download and install the latest reference display drivers from NVIDIA, http://www.nvidia.com/. If doing so does not correct the problem, contact your hardware manufacturer for driver updates or new system settings.
G.	3D Card Drivers and Manufacturers
To run MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries, make sure that you have installed the latest drivers from the manufacturer of your video card. Many video issues are resolved if you do so. If your video card drivers are not DirectX 8.1–compliant, the game might not detect your card properly. If this problem occurs, contact your video card manufacturer for updated drivers or install the latest reference drivers available. Note, however, that many reference drivers are not supported by chip-set manufacturers. 
Listed here are some common video card manufacturers' Web sites. MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries might not support some or all of the cards produced by a particular manufacturer.
3Dlabs: http://www.3dlabs.com/ 
Asus; http://www.asus.com/ 
ATI: http://www.ati.com/support/
Canopus: http://www.canopuscorp.com/ 
Creative Labs: http://www.americas.creative.com/ 
Gateway: http://www.gateway.com/ 
Guillemot: http://www.guillemot.com/ 
Hercules (see Guillemot): http://www.guillemot.com/ 
Leadtek: http://www.leadtek.com/ 
Matrox: http://www.matrox.com/ 
NVIDIA: http://www.nvidia.com/ 
S3: http://www.s3.com/ 
Silicon Integrated Systems Corporation (SiS) http://www.sis.com.tw/ 
VIA Technologies: http://www.viatech.com/