MechCommander

MechCommander

Developers
	FASA Interactive
Publishers
	MicroProse
Release dates
Windows	March 31, 1998

MechCommander
Subseries of BattleTech
MechCommander	1998
MechCommander 2	2001

Key points

MechCommander Gold re-released as a free download.

Installer is 16-bit only, but a workaround is available. See Running the game on 64 bit-Windows

General information

BattleTech Wiki - A massive wiki for everything BattleTech related

MechCommander Gold Wiki - A small wiki for the game

Mechcommander Gold on TheGameEngine.org - solving some technical issues.

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail
Publisher website		Freeware download.

DLC and expansion packs

Name	Notes
MechCommander: Desperate Measures	Included with MechCommander Gold.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\PREFS.CFG

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows

Audio settings

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Russian				Fan translation, download

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
LAN play		6	IPX, TCP/IP, Serial/Modem.
Online play		6	Required MPlayer or MSN Zone.

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting
Direct IP

Issues fixed

Running the game on 64-bit Windows

Although the game installer is 16-bit, the actual game is 32-bit.

Setting up the game manually[citation needed]

Somewhere on the computer (ex. the Desktop), create a new folder called "MechCommander". Copy the contents of the MechCommander CD and paste them into the folder that was created before. When everything has finished copying, go into the installation folder and right click on the MC.exe (or MCX.exe). Go to the "Compatibility" tab and enable Compatibility Mode (set it to "Windows XP (Service Pack 3)"). Run the MC.exe (or MCX.exe) file to play the game. Notes This will not run full screen.[citation needed]

Use higher resolutions in game

Set higher resolutions[citation needed]

Go to the installation folder. Open PREFS.CFG. Add the line l Resolution=X at the bottom of the file. Replace X with: 0 for 640x480 (default) 1 for 800x600 2 for 1024x768 3 for 1280x1024. With the game running in higher resolution, you can use the zoom in feature (press '+') to play in highest detail with slightly more battlefield visibility that the game offers by default in the unzoomed state. Notes Menus are fixed to 640x480. In game resolution can be increased, but menus will not stretch to fill the screen.

Rainbow color problem

When running on fullscreen in Windows Vista and 7 only may trigger the rainbow color problem.

Check Rainbow color problems in older games for a proper fix.

Other information

API

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	95	98
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium 133 MHz
System memory (RAM)	32 MB	64 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	200 MB	600 MB
Video card (GPU)	SVGA compatible 2 MB of VRAM