Getting your current rig to play well with 'Mech3 and Pirate's Moon:
Check the help section at http://mechwarriorsunited.freeforums.net/ and there are tons of fixes at the all things MechWarrior reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/mechwarrior/
First thing that needs to be said about the mods for Mech 3 and Pirate's Moon is that making changes to these games causes them to become glitchy. You will experience boots to desktop, grey screen, black screen, blue screen, at any time during play and at different times during the GUI's in the game. Choosing pilots, creating pilots, sometimes only in Instant Action, sometimes Campaign, sometimes both, sometimes one or the other. All you can do is keep trying. The more of a "Legacy" machine you can put together to play Mech3 on, the easier of a time you will have using the mods. It's really not as bad as I make it sound here, and most of these problems have occurred with people using much earlier versions of my modules. The current work I have been doing since about March of 2013 has been relatively CTD free, with only the occasional non-interfering graphics glitch such as sudden red or blue dashes occurring on landscapes. You can see the specs for my mod dev PC on the "legacy pc page", and bear in mind that all the work I've done has been without the problems that can be a result of having the internet and all it's bugs horning in on my computer. Things like spyware and constant viruses and current but incompatible software are not an issue on my dev computer.
I will say however that the mission scenarios and most of the non-weapons/physics modules that are designated for "Vanilla" Mech3 only will be A LOT less glitchy.
These glitches are why Mektek did not go on to do any mods of Mech 3 back in the day. Back in their old forums there was mention of the same problems. But hey, it doesn't have to be perfect to be fun!
In order to use any of the downloads on this site you need to have an installed, working version of either MechWarrior 3 and Pirate's Moon, Mech3's expansion pack. Both games are separate games unto themselves, so any mod install for either game will be for that game only.
I am currently working on 2 basic mod premises; Mods or "Modules" that are meant to be used with "Vanilla" Mech3, or "Fully Modded" Mech3.
I may or may not take the same approach with the Pirate's Moon Modding, so far I haven't decided. There will either be modules as in the "Vanilla" concept, or there will be one complete mod. If I could edit 3d meshes in the game I would do a complete mod of PM without question. PM's multiplayer structure is already an interesting one with more variety than Mech3, not that anyone plays multiplayer in either game, but hey, why do men climb mountains?
Vanilla Mech3 is defined as having the original game installed with no changes made to weapons, equipment, internal structure of mechs, or armor loadouts...it means that there are no rules being bent that have to do with how the game plays and the physics of the game. Changes that will be included for Vanilla will be Single Player enhancements such as better AI, harder missions, new missions, possibly in the future new mechs, and changes to the worlds.
Fully Modded is defined as all of the above module ideas, with the addition of weapons and game physics changes, aimed at bringing about new weapons, more realistic weapon rules and physics, and keeping and improving upon the game's canonicity with Battletech. For a more detailed description of the changes to the weapons visit the "Module on Deck" page. Some of these rules will be based on the conditions of the scenario premises from the single-player campaign, one premise being that you are the leader of a small unsupported lance on a planet full of enemies and few resources. Thus, it is not realistic that your mobile field base can make major overhauls of the mechs you salvage, nor can you change engines....So, you want to make a faster Orion? did you salvage a faster engine that is compatible with an Orion? No. Maybe once you get to the Mech Factory mission you can, but not until then, nor afterwards. Unfortunately the mfbs in mech3 don't carry engines and the game does not salvage engines or else this would be a great dynamic to introduce into the game. So, basically the fully modded version of the mod will have a lot more cool stuff, but it will be a much harder single-player experience.
You're stranded on Tranquil. You're an un-supported lance. Let's get real people.
I will say however that the mission scenarios and most of the non-weapons/physics modules that are designated for "Vanilla" Mech3 only will be A LOT less glitchy.
These glitches are why Mektek did not go on to do any mods of Mech 3 back in the day. Back in their old forums there was mention of the same problems. But hey, it doesn't have to be perfect to be fun!
In order to use any of the downloads on this site you need to have an installed, working version of either MechWarrior 3 and Pirate's Moon, Mech3's expansion pack. Both games are separate games unto themselves, so any mod install for either game will be for that game only.
I am currently working on 2 basic mod premises; Mods or "Modules" that are meant to be used with "Vanilla" Mech3, or "Fully Modded" Mech3.
I may or may not take the same approach with the Pirate's Moon Modding, so far I haven't decided. There will either be modules as in the "Vanilla" concept, or there will be one complete mod. If I could edit 3d meshes in the game I would do a complete mod of PM without question. PM's multiplayer structure is already an interesting one with more variety than Mech3, not that anyone plays multiplayer in either game, but hey, why do men climb mountains?
Vanilla Mech3 is defined as having the original game installed with no changes made to weapons, equipment, internal structure of mechs, or armor loadouts...it means that there are no rules being bent that have to do with how the game plays and the physics of the game. Changes that will be included for Vanilla will be Single Player enhancements such as better AI, harder missions, new missions, possibly in the future new mechs, and changes to the worlds.
Fully Modded is defined as all of the above module ideas, with the addition of weapons and game physics changes, aimed at bringing about new weapons, more realistic weapon rules and physics, and keeping and improving upon the game's canonicity with Battletech. For a more detailed description of the changes to the weapons visit the "Module on Deck" page. Some of these rules will be based on the conditions of the scenario premises from the single-player campaign, one premise being that you are the leader of a small unsupported lance on a planet full of enemies and few resources. Thus, it is not realistic that your mobile field base can make major overhauls of the mechs you salvage, nor can you change engines....So, you want to make a faster Orion? did you salvage a faster engine that is compatible with an Orion? No. Maybe once you get to the Mech Factory mission you can, but not until then, nor afterwards. Unfortunately the mfbs in mech3 don't carry engines and the game does not salvage engines or else this would be a great dynamic to introduce into the game. So, basically the fully modded version of the mod will have a lot more cool stuff, but it will be a much harder single-player experience.
You're stranded on Tranquil. You're an un-supported lance. Let's get real people.
Tips & Tricks:
As a set of basics in Battlemech warfare, there are 3 foundational rules every MechWarrior should always put into practice:
1) Never stop moving: A Mech standing still is a sitting duck. Lateral movement is always best...never run your 'Mech straight at your enemy's field of fire.
2) Always use your radar map so that you can have situational awareness. You can see where missiles are coming from, you can see if you are moving towards enemies while evading current combatants, you can see where allies are located and lead combatants towards them, etc..
3) Never neglect defensive skills/maneuvers in favor of offensive....lateral movement, damage spread, ghost dance(yes, even in a non-lag game this can be useful) all these and more are equally as important as being able to get kills. You can't kill the enemy if you're dead.
That's it for now, more later.
As a set of basics in Battlemech warfare, there are 3 foundational rules every MechWarrior should always put into practice:
1) Never stop moving: A Mech standing still is a sitting duck. Lateral movement is always best...never run your 'Mech straight at your enemy's field of fire.
2) Always use your radar map so that you can have situational awareness. You can see where missiles are coming from, you can see if you are moving towards enemies while evading current combatants, you can see where allies are located and lead combatants towards them, etc..
3) Never neglect defensive skills/maneuvers in favor of offensive....lateral movement, damage spread, ghost dance(yes, even in a non-lag game this can be useful) all these and more are equally as important as being able to get kills. You can't kill the enemy if you're dead.
That's it for now, more later.
Putting Together a Legacy Machine for 'Mech 3 and Pirate's Moon
Craigslist. You can find a decent old machine that will run MechWarrior 3 and Pirate's Moon perfectly...and for cheap money. For under $200.00, if you search, you can put together a system that will be fine and give you no problems. Now pay close attention to this next statement 'cause it's key: XP runs both games just fine as long as your motherboard and graphics card are not TOO powerful, or modern. The Mech3.org forums are gone now and we're trying to re-build a knowledgebase for Mech3 help at the MechWarriorsUnited forums...but the dominant theme with regards to issues regarding mech3 and xp...has always been that it's not xp that's the problem, it's graphics cards and motherboards that are too fast. I have run both games on an xp machine for years without a single issue. Here are the system specs for my dev PC which I play both games on:
Windows xp Home Edition, sp 2
Intel Celeron 2.2 ghz
1 GB ram
radeon 9250
I bought the PC at a Christmas bazzar 3 years ago for $60, put the radeon (aftermarket) in it, that was only $50 online, maybe tiger direct, and a sound card from staples. See? it's easy! If you can't find one at a yardsale or bazzar I guarantee you'll find something on craigslist in your area, people are always getting rid of their old pc's.
All you need is a motherboard that is something that's no older than say, 2002, and no newer than about 2004 maybe 2005. Let's say equivalent to a Pentium 3 or 4...anything higher or more modern and you start to get closer to having problems, and if you're putting together a legacy machine the cheaper the better so stay in that range.
Recently I bought a refurbished PC from TigerDirect and it runs 'Mech3 right out of the box. It's a refurbished dell 745 with windows 7 64 bit and integrated NVidia graphics. No issues whatsoever. I upgraded the ram to 4 gigs ddr2, and the processor is an Athlon 64 dual core I believe. I'll confirm the stats later, but I think what's significant here is that windows 7 64 bit is likely not a problem when it comes to running the game, and the processor and graphics are somewhat middle of the road, perhaps a little outdated, and the computer itself cost only around $90 bucks. Came with a mouse and keyboard. So, it's really not that hard to put together a machine that will run the game perfectly.
Windows xp Home Edition, sp 2
Intel Celeron 2.2 ghz
1 GB ram
radeon 9250
I bought the PC at a Christmas bazzar 3 years ago for $60, put the radeon (aftermarket) in it, that was only $50 online, maybe tiger direct, and a sound card from staples. See? it's easy! If you can't find one at a yardsale or bazzar I guarantee you'll find something on craigslist in your area, people are always getting rid of their old pc's.
All you need is a motherboard that is something that's no older than say, 2002, and no newer than about 2004 maybe 2005. Let's say equivalent to a Pentium 3 or 4...anything higher or more modern and you start to get closer to having problems, and if you're putting together a legacy machine the cheaper the better so stay in that range.
Recently I bought a refurbished PC from TigerDirect and it runs 'Mech3 right out of the box. It's a refurbished dell 745 with windows 7 64 bit and integrated NVidia graphics. No issues whatsoever. I upgraded the ram to 4 gigs ddr2, and the processor is an Athlon 64 dual core I believe. I'll confirm the stats later, but I think what's significant here is that windows 7 64 bit is likely not a problem when it comes to running the game, and the processor and graphics are somewhat middle of the road, perhaps a little outdated, and the computer itself cost only around $90 bucks. Came with a mouse and keyboard. So, it's really not that hard to put together a machine that will run the game perfectly.