======================================================================== WELCOME TO ALT.GAMES.MECHWARRIOR2 Copyright (c) 1996, Brian Edmonds $Revision: 1.1 $ $Date: 1996/12/18 21:42:07 $ ======================================================================== This file is formatted in Minimal Digest Format, so if your news reader has digest handling capabilities you should be able to skip easily between sections using them. Consult your manual for more information. The latest version of this file can be found on the web at Any inquiries, comments or suggestions should be sent to the author at . ------------------------------ Subject: Contents 1. Introduction 1.1 What Battletech/Mechwarrior games are there? 1.2 Where can I get more detailed information? 2. General Mechwarrior questions 2.1 How do I get aerotech support to work? 2.2 Help, I can't finish a mission! 2.3 What is the deal with the "patches"? 2.4 What is the best mech? 2.5 How do you get image enhancement in Mercs? 3. Mechwarrior controller options 3.1 What's the best joystick for Mechwarrior? 4. Mechwarrior video options 4.1 How do i get Mechwarrior for my fancy video card? 5. Playing against other people 5.1 What MercNet leagues are available? 5.2 What is this KALI/TEN/etc stuff? 5.3 What is this about nukes on MercNet? 6. A public service anti-spam announcement ------------------------------ Subject: 1.1 What Battletech/Mechwarrior games are there? First there was Crescent Hawk's Inception (CHI) and its sequel Crescent Hawk's Revenge (CHR) in the late 80s. CHI was a wargame with a turn-oriented interface, and CHR had a similar interface, though it operated more in real-time. These were followed shortly by Mechwarrior which was a mech simulation that was quite impressive in its day. Some people still consider many playing aspects of Mechwarrior to be superior to its more recent siblings. Then, five years or so later, came Mechwarrior 2 (MW2, also known as The Clans). It introduced a much fancier simulation engine, and much more flexibility in mech design. It featured clans Wolf and Jade Falcon. MW2 was followed shortly by Ghost Bear's Legacy (GBL), featuring clan Ghost Bear. It was billed an an expansion pack, but is actually an independent game, though it requires an original MW2 CD to install. Most recently has seen the release of Mercenaries (Mercs), which shifts the focus back to the inner sphere, and places the player in (or in charge of) a mercenary unit. It also has a new simulation engine, which has been very buggy, and seems to be missing some good features of the MW2 game. Hopefully these issues will be resolved soon. ------------------------------ Subject: 1.2 Where can I get more detailed information? The newsgroup alt.games.mechwarrior2 is devoted to the discussion of the MechWarrior 2 (MW2) series of games from Activision. Also discussed occasionally are older games in the same Battletech series, and other mech games such as Earthseige, though the majority of discussion is expected to center on the MW2 games. There are a number of other MW2 resources on the net, the first of which is probably Activision itself: . If you're just browsing, a demo of the latest game in the series, Mercs, is available from the Activision site. For information, also check out Activision's Mercenaries FAQ at The Battletech wargame is produced by FASA, and you can check out their homepage at . Extensive FAQs for both MW2 and Mercs have been written by Will Day and are available at . For information on GBL, visit . ------------------------------ Subject: 2.1 How do I get aerotech support to work? First, some missions do not allow aerotech support. If you've hired a pilot but s/he is not listed in the duty roster, then you cannot assign aerotech for that mission. If an aerotech assignment is available, then you must assign it in place of one of your mechs. Note that if you assign the maximum number of mechs the game will still let you mark your pilot as assigned, but calling for an air strike in the game will not work. ------------------------------ Subject: 2.2 Help, I can't finish a mission! A few general hints. First, if the mission objectives don't include destroying enemy mechs, take a light and fast mech with lots of jump jets and just avoid combat. Second, if it's a combat mission, make sure you take along extra mechs if you're allowed them, and *use* them. There are other tips as well as hints for completing specific missions available at these URLs: ------------------------------ Subject: 2.3 What is the deal with the "patches"? These are bug-fixes. Patch 1.1 is apparently for the original MW2 game and is available at Patch 1.05 for Mercs is available from Activision's Mercenaries FAQ page (see section 1.2). ------------------------------ Subject: 2.4 What is the best mech? This is really dependent on the mission requirements, and your own personal style. For many beginning players, the "missile boat" is often the easiest to play. You take a reasonably large mech, put on lots of armour, and lots of missile launchers (and ammo). A barrage from four LRM-20s is enough to cause serious hurt to even the largest mechs, and they have the advantage of tracking their target, so your aim doesn't have to be very good at all. The missile boats, however, suffer from a fairly long reload time, and can usually be taken out by a more experienced pilot, particularly one in a mech with an Anti-Missile System (AMS) or two installed. It's tempting to stick with a missile boat, as these almost always can win against the computer, but if you ever find yourself up against another human being, you'll be in trouble. In the long run, a mechwarrior who has spent time honing their piloting and targetting skills will be able to take out most any bigger mechs in a much smaller and faster mech. It is a good challenge in many missions to do them in a Jenner with a handful of medium lasers. ------------------------------ Subject: 2.5 How do you get image enhancement in Mercs? It was apparently missed in the default keyboard map. I've seen at least one comment to indicate that this technology was not available to the Inner Sphere at the time of the game. Some weapons also do not show up in enhancement mode, due to incomplete implementation. If you want it anyways, add the following line to the file GAMEKEY.MAP: ENHANCED_VISION w ------------------------------ Subject: 3.1 What's the best joystick for Mechwarrior? There is no "best joystick", it's a matter of personal taste. You should make an effort to try a number of them and find out which works best for you. And don't discount the mouse, some people find it allows much more accurate and steady aiming than any joystick. ------------------------------ Subject: 4.1 How do i get Mechwarrior for my fancy video card? Frequently it seems the only answer to this is: buy the card that is packaged with the special edition of Mechwarrior that takes advantage of it. Many people buy cheaper OEM cards, only to be disappointed when they find out it didn't come with Mechwarrior. In any case, check with the card manufacturer and/or Activision, as they might be willing to give/sell it to you. My system only has an old and simple ET4000 card, and it seems to have little trouble keeping up, so I'm skeptical that the time some people seem to spend hassling with the special versions is really useful. ------------------------------ Subject: 5.1 What MercNet leagues are available? A major league seems to be the MechWarrior Mailstrom League (MML): There is also a new league which has recently split from MML, Astral Dominion: More inside information on these and any other leagues is welcome. I haven't started playing online yet myself. If a regular online gamer were to assemble a Merc League FAQ, that would be useful... ------------------------------ Subject: 5.2 What is this KALI/TEN/etc stuff? Kali is available at . More info needed here. ------------------------------ Subject: 5.3 What is this about nukes on MercNet? Apparently there is code in Mercs to use nuclear weapons, but there is no way to actually add them to a mech without hacking the mech save file from outside the game. I think the following post sums things up well: From: Don Halloran Subject: Re: code for a nuke on mercnet Date: Wed, 11 Dec 1996 19:18:41 +1000 Anyone who uses a nuke on mercnet is a filthy cheater. Actually there are no words expressive enough to fully describe a cheater in a multiplayer game. Do what you want against the computer, but there is no way on earth, in fact in this universe, that a nuke is a "perfectly legal weapon" in Mechwarrior. Not only do they go against all ideas of fair play, honour, and any rule you want to speak of, they are also an illegal weapon in the BT universe for the IS, and if any clan member ever used one that warrior and possibly that warrior's clan would be up for annihilation. ------------------------------ Subject: 6. A public service anti-spam announcement If you're tired of dealing with Usenet spams and unsolicited advertizing in your mailbox, please visit the Anti-Spam Boycott site: ------------------------------ END