Mechwarrior 4 Problems (won't start)...

I installed the demo, and changed the screen to 800*600 with 32 bit, and then later with 16 bit colour, and it still doesn't load...

Whenever I click on it to start, there's a black window with "Mechwarrior" on the title bar, and then it doesn't do anything, and I have to reset...

I am using Windows XP, have a GeForce 2 Ti 64MB RAM, 256 DDR, and a 1.4 Athlon...

What is wrong?

Just a suggestion: try changing the "program compatibility" in Windows XP to Win98 or W2k for MechWarrior 4. If you need help doing it, click <Start> <Help and Supprt> and type "Program Compatibility Wizard" in the Search box.

I tried every OS there (btw, thanks for letting me know about this wizard... looks like it will come in handy), but it still won't work...

Under Windows 98/ME and 95, it said needs Direct x 8, but I already have that...

Under Windows NT, it says needs Windows 2000 or higher, so I tried under Windows 2000, and...

Under Windows 2000, it did the same thing as with XP... just freezes, with a black screen and a title bar...

Any other suggestions? =(

Well, that is a tough problem. Hmmm, let's try the other stuff: do you have the latest video driver(s) for your video card under WinXP? Is there a patch for Mech4 for WinXP? Have you tried a re-install of Mech4? I'll think about it some more...

It's a great game, so it'll be a shame if you don't get to play it. I also liked Black Knight, but that won't help unless we can get your first problem fixed.

I got drivers for everything less than 2 weeks ago, and they were XP drivers.

Yes, I've re-installed it a bunch of times, hoping it would do something =)

The weird thing is that a black screen shows, making it seem like it is loading, and then that titlebar/black screen shows, but I can still move around my mouse...

Can't close the window, or do an CTRL-ALT-ESC... I'll try installing and running it on another PC with XP... maybe its my video card... and not compatible with it or something?

I don't believe it's your video card. I'm nearly positive you're stuck with a WinXP conflict issue. MechWarrior4 is a slightly older game. But, it's supposed to be compatible with Win95, Win98, WinME or W2k; so I'm stuck why it won't run when you changed the "compatability" thingy. I'll try to come up with an idea or two, but it's not looking good.

I'm running XPHome and have absolutely no problems running MW4 or Black Knight. What it sounds like to me is a Direct3D problem.

I have noticed that alot of programs running in the XP taskbar have a tendancy to completely screw the way DirectDraw/Direct3D works. I have a multimedia keyboard that uses a program in the taskbar to control all the special keys at the top of the keyboard (Next, Favorites, etc). When this program is running, I cannot run any program that uses Direct3D; it basically does exactly what you're experiencing.

It's always a good idea to go ahead and clear the taskbar of everything running when you play a game. It free's up system resources and keeps anything from conflicting with the game. Try clearing the taskbar before you start MW4 and see if that will help.

Has anyone come up with a fix for this? I have the same trouble.First I tried it when I had a TI4600,Tried everything I could-no luck.I just put in a 9700pro and I get the same problem.I am running XP pro,and its the only game that to date has givin me any trouble.I love these games and sure would like to continue on in the series.

Any Ideas???

hey you're doing it all wrong, when you start the game for the first time, it takes a while to optimize blah blah blah to your system. So start it up and wait for it, grab a cup of coffee or something, that's what happened to me, i started it up, nothing happened i said what the .... then I went to get something. A dialog box came up with the settings and stuff when I got back, and from then on out, it's back to normal speed, only the first time it will do that. Just wait.

Ok, I got it to work.In my case I had to turn off EMIII and Folding at home programs.For those of you who dont know,EMIII is a monitering program for my folding clients,and folding is a DC project that folds and unfolds proteins.Stanford UNiversity's little project (taken from there site)

"What does Folding@Home do? Folding@Home is a distributed computing project which studies protein folding, misfolding, aggregation, and related diseases. We use novel computational methods and large scale distributed computing, to simulate timescales thousands to millions of times longer than previously achieved. This has allowed us to simulate folding for the first time, and to now direct our approach to examine folding related disease."

I hope I did that in the right manner,I dont want to take credit for that explanation,I'm not that smart.

Anyway,if you fold and have trouble with this game(I never had this happen before) Try shutting one or both of those programs off.

new_novice said:

hey you're doing it all wrong, when you start the game for the first time, it takes a while to optimize blah blah blah to your system. So start it up and wait for it, grab a cup of coffee or something, that's what happened to me, i started it up, nothing happened i said what the .... then I went to get something. A dialog box came up with the settings and stuff when I got back, and from then on out, it's back to normal speed, only the first time it will do that. Just wait.

Click to expand...

you where right,even while folding it works now! I'm glad you brought that up,I hate to mis inform anyone.