Microsoft MechWarrior: Vengeance Mission Editor Readme File
July 2001
Microsoft Corporation, 1998-2001. All rights reserved.

Welcome to Microsoft MechWarrior: Vengeance Mission Editor.

CONTENTS
A.	System Requirements
B.	Installation
Installing MechWarrior: Vengeance Mission Editor
Documentation
C.	Editor Issues
D.	DirectX Issues
E.	Configuration Issues
F.	3D Card Issues
G.	3D Card Drivers and Manufacturers

This file contains information to help you troubleshoot issues with the MechWarrior: Vengeance Mission Editor. You can find more information about MechWarrior: Vengeance and Microsoft Product Support Services in the printed manual and on the MechWarrior: Vengeance Web site (<http://www.microsoft.com/games/mechwarrior4/>).

A.	System Requirements
·	Multimedia personal computer with a Pentium II 300 MHz or higher processor.
·	Microsoft Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Millennium, or Windows 2000 operating system.
·	64 MB of system RAM.
·	45 MB of available hard disk space for a typical install; additional 125 MB of hard disk space for swap file.
·	Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device.
·	DirectX 8.0 or later API (included on the compact disc).
·	8 MB VRAM PCI or AGP video card that supports Direct3D and is compatible with DirectX 8.0 or later.
·	Super VGA, 16-bit color monitor or better.
·	Keyboard

B.	Installation

Installing MechWarrior: Vengeance Mission Editor
1.	To install the Mission Editor, launch the file MW4Editor.exe 
2.	Click Install, and then follow the instructions that appear on the screen.

Documentation:
Documents in rich text format (.rtf) have been supplied in the EditorDocs folder.  These documents provide useful information regarding the proper operation of the MechWarrrior: Vengeance Mission Editor, Map Creator, NFO Editor, and ABL scripting.

C.	Editor Issues
The following are the known issues for MechWarrior: Vengeance Mission Editor.
•	The MechWarrior: Vengeance Mission Editor will not work with a minimum install of MechWarrior: Vengeance.  To use the Mission editor, be sure to do a full install of MechWarrior: Vengeance
•	Names with extended characters will cause the mission editor to crash
•	In the NFO Editor, the default option is not labeled when you view the properties of any NFO file though the NFO Editor.
•	In the NFO Editor, skin selections are set by entering from 0 to 9 and then a to z to total 36 skins. 
•	The Use of corrupted map files (.MW4) when used with the editor will cause the following errors:
•	"STOP: Application must be recompiled to use this database".
•	"this is isn't a database".
•	Wave’ game types cannot be created with this Editor.

D.	DirectX Issues
DirectX 8.0 or later must be installed on your computer before you can play MechWarrior: Vengeance. If you do not have DirectX installed on your computer and you chose not to install DirectX when you installed MechWarrior: Vengeance, you will receive the following message: "A required .dll file, Dplayx.dll, was not found." To fix this problem, reinstall MechWarrior: Vengeance and install DirectX 8.0, or install DirectX 8.0 manually by using the procedure in “Installing DirectX 8,” in section B, “Installation.”
If you did install DirectX when you installed MechWarrior: Vengeance but your video drivers are not compatible with DirectX 8.0, you will receive the following message when you restart your computer: "MechWarrior: Vengeance could not initialize DirectX. Make sure that DirectX 8.0 or higher is installed and contact your hardware manufacturer for a video driver update." To fix this problem, update your video drivers (see section I, “3D Card Drivers and Manufacturers”).
Always make sure you have the latest DirectX-compatible video and audio drivers from your hardware manufacturers. If you continue to have any video or audio problems, see “Display” and “Audio” in section F, “Configuration Issues,” and section H, “3D Card Issues,” for any issues related to your 3D card. If you still have problems, get the latest DirectX troubleshooting information at http://support.microsoft.com/support/directx/.

E.	Configuration Issues
Known hardware and operating system configuration issues are listed in this section. For issues with specific 3D cards, see section G, “3D Card Issues.”

NVIDIA TNT and GeForce cards: When running MechWarrior: Vengeance on a system with a GeForce or TNT card and an ASUS motherboard, you may experience a periodic crash or hang. This is a display driver issue and NVIDIA is working to resolve it. If you get this problem, contact your manufacturer for driver updates.
Via chipsets: Stability issues may occur with these motherboard chipsets when not using the latest drivers. To fix this, download and install the latest chipset drivers for your motherboard (<http://www.viatech.com>/).
AMD Athlon/Duron processors: If you experience instability when running MechWarrior: Vengeance, download and install the latest AMD processor utilities and drivers for your operating system (<http://www.amd.com/support/software.html>) and (<http://www.amd.com/products/cpg/athlon-duron/amd_win2k_patch.html>).

F. 	3D Card Issues
MechWarrior: Vengeance only fully supports DirectX 8-compliant video cards. It is good practice to always install the latest certified drivers for all of your hardware. 
3DLabs Permedia 2 chipset: Graphics irregularities may occur. To fix this, download and install the latest reference drivers from 3DLabs (<http://www.3dlabs.com/>).
AccelStar II 3D Accelerator: Graphics rendering may be corrupted. To fix this, download and install the latest reference drivers from 3DLabs (http://www.3dlabs.com <http://www.accelgraphics.com>/).
AOpen PA3000: With the retail drivers installed the system may hang. To fix this, download and install the latest reference drivers from AOpen (http://www.aopen.com <http://www.nvidia.com>/).
ASUS 3DexPlorer 3000: With the retail drivers installed, brief screen corruption may appear when the opening cinema begins. To fix this, download and install the latest drivers from ASUS (<http://www.asus.com>/) or NVIDIA (<http://www.nvidia.com>/).
ASUS V2740: With the retail drivers installed, textures may not render properly. To fix this, download and install the latest reference drivers from Intel (<http://www.intel.com>).
Asus V-6600: Launching a game will cause a hang when using the retail drivers. To fix this, please contact your hardware manufacturer for updated drivers (<http://www.asus.com>), or download the latest reference drivers from NVIDIA (www.nvidia.com <http://www.nvidia.com>/).
ATI All-in-Wonder 128 Pro: When 32-bit color is enabled, graphic instability may occur. To fix this, download and install the latest drivers from ATI (<http://www.ati.com>/).
ATI Rage Fury Maxx: Graphics may be corrupted. To fix this, download and install the latest drivers from ATI (<http://www.ati.com>/).
ATI Rage Pro Turbo: Some graphics irregularities may occur. To fix this, try downloading and installing the “Special Released” drivers from ATI (<http://www.ati.com>/).
ATI Rage II+: Slight texture corruption may occur. To fix this, download and install the latest drivers from ATI (http://www.ati.com/).
ATI Xpert 128: Texture corruption may occur. To fix this, download and install the latest drivers from ATI (<http://www.ati.com>/).
Creative Blaster Riva TNT: Using the latest reference drivers from NVIDIA (version 6.31) the system will hang. Contact your hardware manufacture for updated drivers (<http://www.creative.com>/). Also, lowering your AGP aperture size may help, contact your hardware manufacturer for more information about changing your AGP aperture size.
Creative Labs 3D Blaster Savage4: Game resolution changes may give unreliable results. To fix this, download and install the latest drivers from Creative Labs (<http://www.creative.com>/).
Diamond Fire Pro GL: Graphics may appear corrupted. Contact the manufacturer for updated drivers (<http://www.s3.com>/).
Diamond Monster II 3D: With driver version 2207 from the Diamond Web site, your computer may not recognize the card. To fix this, download and install the latest reference drivers for your Voodoo 2 from 3dfx Interactive (<http://www.3dfx.com/>). 
Diamond Monster Fusion: With the Diamond retail display drivers installed, texture corruption may occur. To fix this, download and install the latest reference driver for the 3dfx Voodoo Banshee display chipset from 3dfx Interactive (<http://www.3dfx.com/>).

Diamond Stealth II G-460: With the retail drivers installed, textures will not appear. To fix this, download and install the latest drivers from S3 (<http://www.s3.com>/).
Diamond Viper V550: Texture corruption may occur. To fix this, download and install the latest drivers from Diamond (http://www.diamondmm.com/).
Diamond Viper V770 Ultra: Graphics corruption and the game may even hang. To fix this, download and install the latest drivers from S3 (<http://www.s3.com>/) or reference drivers from NVIDIA (<http://www.nvidia.com>/).
Diamond Viper II Z200: With the retail drivers, graphics irregularities may occur. To fix this, download and install the latest drivers from S3 (<http://www.s3.com>/).
Elsa Gladiac: The game will hang or the video card will be unrecognized when the latest retail drivers (version.6.34) for this card are installed. To fix this, please contact your hardware manufacturer for updated drivers (http://www.elsa.de/), or download the latest reference drivers from NVIDIA (www.nvidia.com <http://www.nvidia.com>/).
Guillemot 3D Prophet GeForce: There may be slight graphic irregularities. To fix this, download and install the latest drivers from Guillemot (<http://www.guillemot.com/>).
Guillemot Maxi Gamer Phoenix 2: Sporadic menu corruption may occur in the user interface. To fix this, download and install the latest display drivers from Guillemot (<http://www.guillemot.com/>).
Intel 810 graphics chipset: When using this chipset, always make sure you download and install the latest drivers from Intel (<http://www.intel.com/>). 
Matrox Marvel G-400: If you experience stability problems such as the machine hanging when playing MechWarrior: Vengeance in 32-bit color, download and install the latest drivers from Matrox (<http://www.matrox.com>/), or run the game in 16-bit color by selecting it with the Autoconfig.exe tool in your MechWarrior Vengeance root directory.
Matrox Millennium G200 AGP: Texture flashes may occur. To fix this, download and install the latest drivers from Matrox (<http://www.matrox.com>/).
Number Nine Revolution IV: Texture corruption may occur, causing the game to freeze. To fix this, download and install the latest drivers from Number Nine (<http://www.nine.com>/).
NVIDIA chipset (TNT, TNT2, and GeForce): When running Windows 2000, the game will not run in accelerated hardware mode with the NVIDIA display drivers that come with the operating system. To fix this, download and install the latest reference drivers from NVIDIA (<http://www.nvidia.com>/), or contact your hardware manufacturer for the latest drivers.
NVIDIA GeForce 2 GTS: With some monitors, a split screen may occasionally occur when changing video modes. To work around this problem, press ALT+TAB to minimize the game and then ALT+TAB again to maximize it. To fix this problem, download and install the latest reference driver from NVIDIA (<http://www.nvidia.com>/), or contact your hardware manufacturer for updated drivers. Also, make sure you have the correct drivers installed for your monitor.
S3 Savage 4 chipset: When running Windows 2000, the game will not run in accelerated hardware mode with the display drivers that come with the operating system. To fix this, or download and install the latest reference drivers from S3 (<http://www.s3.com>/), or contact your hardware manufacturer for the latest drivers.
STB BlackMagic 3D: Slight graphic corruption may occur. To fix this, install the latest Voodoo 2 reference drivers from 3dfx Interactive (<http://www.3dfx.com>/). 
STB Velocity 128: The computer may hang after the opening movie, or graphic irregularities may occur when using the retail drivers. To fix this, download and install the latest reference drivers from NVIDIA (<http://www.nvidia.com>/). 
STB Velocity 4400: With the retail drivers installed, the game may freeze during the opening cinema or occasionally in other places in the game. To fix this, download and install the latest reference display drivers from NVIDIA (<http://www.nvidia.com>/). If this does not correct the problem, contact your hardware manufacturer for driver updates or for system settings that may fix the problem.

G.	3D Card Drivers and Manufacturers
Make sure that you have the latest drivers from the manufacturer of your video card. Many video issues will be resolved if you install your video card's latest drivers. MechWarrior: Vengeance may not detect some older video cards properly because their video drivers are not DirectX 8-compliant. Please contact your video card manufacturer for updated drivers or install the latest reference drivers for your video board. Note that many reference drivers are not supported by the chipset manufacturer. Listed below are some common video card manufacturers' Web sites. MechWarrior: Vengeance may not support some or all of the cards produced by a particular manufacturer.

3dfx Interactive-<http://www.3dfx.com/> 
3Dlabs-<http://www.3dlabs.com/> 
AccelGraphics-<http://www.accelgraphics.com/> 
Asus-<http://www.asus.com/> 
ATI-<http://support.atitech.ca/> 
Aztech Labs-<http://www.aztechlabs.com/> 
Canopus-<http://www.canopuscorp.com/> 
Creative Labs-<http://www.creativelabs.com/> 
Elsa Technology-<http://www.elsa.de/> 
Gateway 2000-<http://www.gw2k.com/> 
Guillemot-<http://www.guillemot.com/> 
Hercules (see Guillemot)-<http://www.guillemot.com/> 
I/O Magic-<http://www.iomagic.com/> 
Intergraph (see 3Dlabs)-<http://www.3dlabs.com/> 
Jaton-<http://www.jaton.com/> 
Leadtek-<http://www.leadtek.com/> 
Matrox-<http://www.matrox.com/> 
Number Nine-<http://www.nine.com/> 
NVIDIA-<http://www.nvidia.com/> 
Orchid (see S3)-<http://www.s3.com/> 
S3 Incorporated-<http://www.s3.com/> 
SiS-<http://www.sis.com.tw/> 
Silicon Integrated Systems Corporation (SiS)-<http://www.sis.com.tw/> 
STB (see 3dfx Interactive)-<http://www.3dfx.com/> 
VIA Technologies-<http://www.viatech.com/> 
VideoLogic-<http://www.videologic.com/>