MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries
Developers | |
---|---|
Cyberlore Studios | |
FASA Interactive | |
Publishers | |
Microsoft Game Studios | |
Re-releases | Ubisoft |
MW4 Compilation release | Atari |
Freeware release | MekTek Studios |
Release dates | |
Windows | November 7, 2002 |
Taxonomy | |
Monetization | One-time game purchase, Freeware |
Modes | Singleplayer, Multiplayer |
Pacing | Real-time |
Perspectives | First-person, Third-person |
Controls | Direct control |
Genres | Vehicle combat |
Vehicles | Robot |
Art styles | Stylized |
Themes | Sci-fi |
Series | MechWarrior |
⤏ Go to series page | |
Subseries of BattleTech | |
MechWarrior | 1989 |
MechWarrior 2: 31st Century Combat | 1995 |
MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries | 1996 |
MechWarrior 3 | 1999 |
MechWarrior 4: Vengeance | 2000 |
MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries | 2002 |
MechWarrior: Living Legends (unofficial game) | 2009 |
MechWarrior Online | 2012 |
MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries | 2019 |
MechWarrior 5: Clans | 2024 |
Warnings
- SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see Availability for affected versions).
MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries is the second expansion pack for the 2000 sci-fi vehicle combat game MechWarrior 4: Vengeance. Unlike Black Knight, it is standalone and does not require the base game to play. It includes its own set of campaigns for various mercenary groups, as well as all 'Mechs from Vengeance and Black Knight; while the official 'Mech Paks are not included, they are compatible with this release.
The original retail version of the game received a single official patch. The game was picked up by MekTek Studios for a freeware release, which was heavily modified and included additional content, but has since been discontinued, leaving the game in unclear legal status.[1]
On modern systems, the game may have issues recognizing hardware or graphics card drivers, which can be worked around.
General information
- BattleTech Wiki - A massive wiki for everything BattleTech related
- MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries on TheGameEngine.org - solving some technical issues.
Availability
- SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see above for affected versions).
- A free demo version is available from GameFront.
Essential improvements
Skip intro videos
Run the game with the /gosnovideo command-line argument
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Patches
Retail game
- In 2003, the retail game received its first and only patch, Point Release 1 (PR1). It can be downloaded from GameFront and Patches-Scrolls.
Free release (from Mektek)
- 51.03.01.0017 (2010-04): game + first patch.
- 51.03.01.0021 (2010-05): game + first patch + latest ATI and Nvidia Cards support.
Game data
Configuration file(s) location
System | Location |
---|---|
Windows | <path-to-game>\options.ini[Note 2] <path-to-game>\RESOURCE\Pilots\<user-id>\options.mw4[Note 2] |
Save game data location
System | Location |
---|---|
Windows | <path-to-game>\RESOURCE\Pilots\[Note 2] |
Video
Graphics feature | State | WSGF | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Widescreen resolution | False for retail; true for freeware MekTek release. | ||
Multi-monitor | |||
Ultra-widescreen | |||
4K Ultra HD | |||
Field of view (FOV) | |||
Windowed | Toggle with Alt+↵ Enter. | ||
Borderless fullscreen windowed | |||
Anisotropic filtering (AF) | |||
Anti-aliasing (AA) | On/off only; set in the launcher. | ||
High-fidelity upscaling | See the glossary page for potential workarounds. | ||
Vertical sync (Vsync) | |||
60 FPS and 120+ FPS | |||
High dynamic range display (HDR) |
Input
Keyboard and mouse | State | Notes |
---|---|---|
Remapping | ||
Mouse acceleration | ||
Mouse sensitivity | ||
Mouse input in menus | ||
Mouse Y-axis inversion | ||
Controller | ||
Controller support | ||
Full controller support | ||
Controller remapping | ||
Controller sensitivity | ||
Controller Y-axis inversion |
Controller types |
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XInput-compatible controllers |
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PlayStation controllers |
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Generic/other controllers |
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Additional information | ||
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Controller hotplugging | ||
Haptic feedback | ||
Digital movement supported | ||
Simultaneous controller+KB/M |
Audio
Audio feature | State | Notes |
---|---|---|
Separate volume controls | Music and Sound Effects. | |
Surround sound | ||
Subtitles | ||
Closed captions | ||
Mute on focus lost | ||
Royalty free audio |
Localizations
Language | UI | Audio | Sub | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
English | ||||
German |
Network
Multiplayer types
Type | Native | Players | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|
LAN play | ||||
Online play | 16 | The official MSN Gaming Zone service has been shut down. |
Connection types
Type | Native | Notes |
---|---|---|
Peer-to-peer | ||
Dedicated | ||
Self-hosting | ||
Direct IP |
Issues fixed
Game does not recognize hardware or graphics card drivers
- When attempting to run the game on a modern Nvidia or AMD GPU, the error may appear:
Your current hardware or driver setup is not compatible with MechWarrior 4...
. Selecting the graphics card in theautoconfig_MERCS.exe
setup program may also be disabled.
Rename imagehlp.dll[4] |
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Other information
API
Technical specs | Supported | Notes |
---|---|---|
Direct3D | 7 |
Executable | 32-bit | 64-bit | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Windows |
Middleware
Middleware | Notes | |
---|---|---|
Multiplayer | MSN Gaming Zone |
System requirements
Windows | ||
---|---|---|
Minimum | ||
Operating system (OS) | 98, ME, 2000, XP | |
Processor (CPU) | 700 MHz | |
System memory (RAM) | 128 MB | |
Hard disk drive (HDD) | 1 GB (retail release) 3 GB (MekTek release) |
|
Video card (GPU) | 16 MB of VRAM DirectX 8.1 compatible |
Notes
- ↑ SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows 10[2] or Windows 11 and is disabled by default on Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 when the KB3086255 update is installed.[3]
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below
%PROGRAMFILES%
,%PROGRAMDATA%
, or%WINDIR%
might be redirected to%LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore
on Windows Vista and later (more details).
References
- ↑ Before posting on MechWarrior4 - General Discussion - MekTek Community
- ↑ Not Loading in Windows 10; this will break thousands of - Microsoft Community - last accessed on 2017-01-16
- ↑ Microsoft - MS15-097: Description of the security update for the graphics component in Windows: September 8, 2015 - last accessed on 2018-02-16
- ↑ Using DXwnd to run MechWarrior 4 Mercenaries on Nvidia GPUs : mechwarrior - last accessed on May 2023