Author Topic: Help needed. MWO and MW4  (Read 1977 times)

packhntr

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Help needed. MWO and MW4
« on: 19 June 2017, 19:17:52 »
Hey all!  Let me start by thanking everyone up front.  I have been reading forums all over with no real answers.  First, I want to start playing MWO.....I've been trying to since it came out.  I can't do it with the mouse and keyboard setup.  I am old school and do the stick and throttle.  That said, I have a Saitek X-52 that I love, but cannot figure out how to get it to work with the game.  Secondly, I am trying to get MW4/Black Knight/ Mercs to run in windows 10.  I could run it in 7 64bit with compatibility set to XP sp2.  BUT, no such luck in 10.  Does anyone have any sound words of wisdom for either?  And don't just tell me to use the mouse....I won't play the game.  I have tried repeatedly.....can't do it.  WAY to much to do that way.  And please don't say that WM4 can't be done in 10.....there has to be a way! (I own the game, so I don't need to download them).
Many thanks to all
Ken
If at first you don't succeed, make it worth the repairman's time!

IAMCLANWOLF

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Re: Help needed. MWO and MW4
« Reply #1 on: 19 June 2017, 20:17:17 »
Been playing MWO since open beta-- I wouldn't recommend a joystick to my worst enemy. You need a mouse. Especially for long-range precision. I have however used a joystick opposite my mouse (left hand) for throttle/leg steering/JJs/extra weapons fire control groups. This works great if you can anchor it to your desk, or a stable platform. 

Caedis Animus

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Re: Help needed. MWO and MW4
« Reply #2 on: 21 June 2017, 23:54:13 »
You may be SOL for MW4 running on anything Post Windows 8. I'd recommend getting another computer (One from a Pawn Shop is fine if you don't do anything else with it and never connect it to the internet) that runs on 8 or 7.

I'm not sure why, but MW4 hates newer equipment, and can easily have trouble in Windows 8. Windows 7 or earlier is best.

ColBosch

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Re: Help needed. MWO and MW4
« Reply #3 on: 22 June 2017, 00:15:11 »
I'm not sure why, but MW4 hates newer equipment, and can easily have trouble in Windows 8. Windows 7 or earlier is best.

Windows 8 and on have gradually dropped support for obsolete 3D graphics solutions. They'll do their best to run old games, but if the program asks Windows to check a memory register or run a function through a chip that simply does not exist anymore, Windows will have no idea what to do. Even if you manage to get the old hardware installed in a modern system - good luck - there's fundamental incompatibilities at play.

As suggested, if you really want to play the old games, you're going to have to bite the bullet and build a retro gaming rig. The good news is that the components - even some really high-end bits, for the time - are going to be cheap. The bad news is that you're going to see a lot of hardware failures and will be doing a lot of tinkering. The best advice I can give is to track down "new old stock" items: those that were manufactured during the period but never sold, so they're still in their boxes. Try to avoid components that were manufactured after the technology died, as companies started cutting a LOT of corners to make them as cheap as possible.

But here's the REALLY good news: once you've got a system working, it should be able to play ANY old games, right back to the DOS era. You might need an older version of DOSBox to slow some of the really old titles down, but that's about it.

Just...yeah, don't connect the machine to the internet.
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packhntr

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Re: Help needed. MWO and MW4
« Reply #4 on: 22 June 2017, 10:12:21 »
I feared that.  I can easily build a retro rig....I have Win 7 so that's no issue.  Just didn't want to have to build a new "old" machine.  Thing is, The rig I have that I am runnin 10 on, I used to run 7 on and also ran MW4.  Never done a dual boot machine, but I am tempted to try just for this.
If at first you don't succeed, make it worth the repairman's time!

Kidd

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Re: Help needed. MWO and MW4
« Reply #5 on: 22 June 2017, 15:07:49 »
Earlier this year I just managed to get MW4 Mercs Mekpak 3.1 running on my Windows 10 laptop, after trying every single other possible method out there including virtualbox. The secret weapon is dgVoodoo, a graphics wrapper for legacy games. I followed a Reddit thread (look for Mechwarrior 4 Mercenaries on Windows 10), installed it and ran it on my laptop which only has an integrated graphics card.

 

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