Readme File for Microsoft MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries Point Release 1

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This readme contains information about the changes and improvements provided by the Microsoft^® MechWarrior^® 4: Mercenaries Point Release 1.

CONTENTS

A. Installation and System Requirements

B. Changes and Improvements

C. Troubleshooting Error Messages During Patch Installation

A. Installation and System Requirements

The MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries Point Release 1 (PR1) is a self-extracting WinZip file (Mercpr1.exe) that contains the following patch files:

· Mw4mercs.rtp

· mw mercs patch 1 readme.rtf (this file)

· Patchw32.dll

· Patchw.dll

· PatchApply.exe

If you saved the Mercpr1.exe zip file to your computer before installing the patch (i.e., you chose "Save" in the "File Download" dialog box), perform the following installation procedure to unzip and install the patch.

To install the MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries PR 1 Point Release

1. Go to the folder where you saved Mercpr1.exe.

2. Double-click the Mercpr1.exe file, and then follow the instructions that appear on the screen.

Once you have installed the point release no further action is required.

B. Changes and Improvements

The patch includes the following changes and improvements for Mech Warrior 4: Mercenaries:

· New protections that prevent players from using "trainer" tools. These tools allowed players to create 'Mechs that violated game limits on weapons and equipment.

· Improved the way heat works in order to limit exploits with energy weapons and to keep the intended flavor of the game universe. Specifically:

o Heat is now tracked to a higher threshold.

o You can now only override an automatic shutdown one time while the temperature of a 'Mech is in automatic shutdown range. If the 'Mech continues to stay above that temperature, it will continue to automatically shut down.

o If you shut down manually when the temperature of the 'Mech is in automatic shutdown range, you will not be able to start up again until the temperature is below the automatic shutdown threshold.

· The "NoFog" setting in the videocard.txt file no longer disables fog. This setting was originally intended as a compatibility fix for older video cards, but its potential for giving players an unfair advantage in multiplayer games has necessitated its removal.

· The "No Respawn" checkbox in the Game Lobby screen has been replaced by a "# of waves" checkbox, which functions as follows:

o When the "# of waves" checkbox is unchecked, respawn functionality is enabled. The resulting behavior is the same as in the retail version of MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries when the "No Respawn" box was unchecked.

o When the "# of waves" checkbox is checked and the # of waves is set to 1-9, the functionality is similar to the retail version of MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries when the "No Respawn" box was checked, but it is limited by a set number of waves in addition to a time limit.

o When the "# of waves" checkbox is checked and the # of waves is set to Unlimited, the functionality is identical to the retail version of MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries if the "No Respawn" box was checked (waves continue until the time limit is reached).

· Adjusted objects in the "Paradise" multiplayer map so that it no longer occasionally crashes the game.

· An occasional crash which displayed the message "Stop: Vehicle off edge" error has been fixed.

· The amount of "knock" caused by being hit by a Rotary Autocannon 2 (RAC2) has been reduced.

· The ER PPC now does 14 damage, and its range is now 925 meters.

· All 'Mechs now have the same internal heat scale. The changed 'Mechs include the Masakari, Daishi, Atlas, Hauptmann and Thanatos.

· If you own one or both MechWarrior 4: 'Mech Pak products, you can now run a dedicated server and connect to that server as a client even if both machines have the 'Mech Paks with the same Product Identification number installed.

· You can now run a Win32 dedicated server and restrict 'Mechs from either of the MechWarrior 4: 'Mech Pak products.

· When a host player fires missiles while in Passive radar mode, the missiles are no longer seen as tracking their targets on the client(s).

· Error messages for being kicked out of a game, for being banned from a game, or for using a Product Identification number that is already in use (only applies when using MechWarrior 4: 'Mech Pak products) are now correct.

· Corrected the problem where you would occasionally not respawn in No Respawn games if you used Ctrl-Z to eject.

· A host can now kick and/or ban users from a server using "connection ID" rather than user name. The following three new commands have been added to server chat.

Command	Action
-lc	Lists all the connection numbers along with MP names.
-kc <connection number>	Kicks by connection number.
-bc <connection number>	Bans by connection number.

· Server lock now functions correctly on Win32 dedicated servers.

· 'Mech animations in the "Target Selection" box are now present all the time. (Previously, they sometimes didn't appear.)

· The spectator camera now shows the name of the player it is currently displaying. Previously the camera would sometimes show the name of the winning player even if that player's 'Mech had been destroyed.

· ZoneStats logs now upload correctly when using a Win32 dedicated server.

· ZoneStats logs generated locally (on your computer) now correctly record bot weapon use.

· In multiplayer, a chat message now indicates when a player is destroyed by a turret.

· The new command line "-cycle <server cycle file name>" (in both the NFM Editor and the game) makes it possible to host multiple servers on one computer using different server cycle lists.

· When using the MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries Editor, you can now create user-made MissionPlay maps that will not cause the error "Can’t find Stock_MissionPlay.abl". There is a new file "objectives.abl" located in \Content\ABLScripts\StockScripts. Attach this file to something a player has no chance of killing (for example, attach them to buildings and put them out of sight of the player). If objectives.abl isn’t attached to something, then mission objectives will never be displayed.

· The “RespawnLimitNumber” flag doesn’t have any effect now and has been removed from the NFM Editor, and a new “RespawnWaveNumber” flag has been added to the .nfm files. The default for “RespawnWaveNumber” is 0.

The numerical values for RespawnWaveNumber are -

0 specifies unlimited waves,

1-9 specifies 1-9 numbers of waves

(anything else will be discarded)

C. Troubleshooting Error Messages During Patch Installation

The following error messages may appear when you install MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries PR1.

0001: Illegal Input Option '<Option>'. Either the specified option is an invalid option, or you do not have the appropriate user level to use the option.

0002: Insufficient Memory. Insufficient memory is available to run the patch. The patch needs more memory free for its internal tables.

0004: Specified Update Directory '<DirName>' does not exist.

A directory to update was specified that does not exist.

0005: Specified [Update|Backup] Directory '<DirName>' is not a valid directory. A directory name was specified for either the Update or the Backup directory that is not a valid directory name. An existing file with the same name as the specified directory can cause this message.

0006: Cannot Find Patch File '<FileName>'. The patching utility executable file (MW4.exe or MW4x.exe) was not able to locate the specified patch file.

0007: Error Opening Patch File. MW4.exe or MW4x.exe was able to locate the patch file but could not open the file to read it. corrupted disk can cause this error.

0008: MW4.EXE and Patch File incompatible - Need to update MW4.EXE. The current version of MW4.exe or MW4x.exe and the patch file are incompatible. MW4.exe or MW4x.exe can update patch file versions older than itself but not newer versions. You need to obtain a later version of MW4.exe or MW4x.exe to apply this patch.

0009: Invalid Patch File '<FileName>'. MW4.exe or MW4x.exe was unable to read correct information from the specified patch file. The file is either not a patch file or has been corrupted. Obtain a new copy of the patch file and then rerun the patch.

0010: Failure Creating Backup Directory '<DirName>'. MW4.exe or MW4x.exe was unable to create the specified backup directory.

0013: Failure Opening Backup Destination File '<FileName>'. MW4.exe or MW4x.exe was unable to open a new file to copy the original file to.

0014: Failure Writing Backup File '<FileName>'. MW4.exe or MW4x.exe was unable to write the original file to the backup version.

0015: Old File does not exist. MW4.exe or MW4x.exe needs information from the existing version of a file in order to create a new file and was unable to locate the old file.

0016: New File already exists. A file with the same name as the new file being created already exists. The existing file is copied to the backup directory if the Backup option for MW4.exe or MW4x.exe is on.

0017: Failure Opening Old File: 'filename'. MW4.exe or MW4x.exe was able to locate the old version of a required file, but the open operation on the file failed. Try rerunning the patch.

0018: Failure Opening New File: '<FileName>'. MW4.exe or MW4x.exe was unable to open the named file while attempting to open it to create a file for the updated version of the game. A disk or network error can cause this error. The existence of a directory with the same name as the file that the patching utility is trying to open can also cause this error.

0019: Failure Writing to File. An error occurred while MW4.exe or MW4x.exe was trying to write information to a new file.

0020: Failure Reading from File. An error occurred while MW4.exe or MW4x.exe was trying to read information from an old file.

0021: Failure Seeking to Position in File. MW4.exe or MW4x.exe was unable to find a specified position within a file. A corrupted disk probably caused this problem. Try rerunning the patch.

0022: Failure Renaming File. MW4.exe or MW4x.exe was unable to rename a file. A corrupted disk probably caused this error. Try rerunning the patch.

0024: New File already exists. The specified file has already been patched. MW4.exe or MW4x.exe does not need to patch this file.

0025: Verify of New File Failed. Possible Internal Error. The file that MW4.exe or MW4x.exe created is not valid.

0026: Failure Creating Overflow File: 'FileName'. MW4.exe or MW4x.exe was unable to open a file for its overflow information. A full disk drive probably caused this error.

0027: Overflow File Write Failure. MW4.exe or MW4x.exe was unable to read from the overflow table it created to hold data that did not fit in its internal tables. A corrupted disk or insufficient room on the disk for the file probably caused this error.

0028: Overflow File Read Failure. MW4.exe or MW4x.exe was unable to read from its overflow table. A full disk probably caused this error.

0029: Insufficient Disk Space to Apply Patch - You need at least <Size> bytes free on drive <DriveLetter> for <Feature>. MW4.exe or MW4x.exe needs at least the specified number of bytes free to perform the patch process. If the Undo or Backup option is selected, the patching utility needs room to back up all of the files making up the original game and also room to create the patched version of the game. If both Undo and Backup are not selected, the patching utility only needs room to back up the biggest of the files being patched.

0030: Error opening serialization file '<FileName>'. Either MW4.exe or MW4x.exe could not find the serialization file, or the open operation on that file failed. Try rerunning the patch.

0031: Error reading serialization file '<FileName>'. MW4.exe or MW4x.exe cannot find the correct position in the serialization file or read the correct number of bytes from the file. Possible causes are invalid positions and lengths specified while running Patchbld.

0032: Failure Setting File's Time/Date Stamp. MW4.exe or MW4x.exe was unable to set the time-date stamp for an updated or backed-up file. A disk failure or network file-sharing problem probably caused this error.

0033: Failure creating temporary file. MW4.exe or MW4x.exe was unable to create a temporary file to hold a new file or overflow information. Try rerunning the patch. If rerunning the patch does not work, reduce the number of temporary files required by disabling Backup and Undo on the MW4.exe or MW4x.exe command line.

0034: Neither command line parameter specified is an existing directory. Multiple parameters were given on MW4.exe or MW4x.exe command line that were neither valid patching utility options or existing directories. If multiple parameters are specified, at least one must be a valid existing update directory.

0035: Only one file and one directory may be specified on command line. More than one patch file and one update directory were specified on MW4.exe or MW4x.exe command line.

0036: Old file not found. However, a file of the same name was found. No update done since file contents do not match. MW4.exe or MW4x.exe was unable to locate an exact match for a file to be updated, although the patching utility was able to locate a file with the same name as the original file. However, the file found did not have either the same size or checksum as the file that the patching utility is seeking to update. A checksum is a count of bits done for comparison purposes.

0037: Error opening error message file. MW4.exe or MW4x.exe could not open the file MW4.err or MW4x.err for storing error messages. Try rerunning the patch, or specify the NOERRORFILE option on the MW4.exe or MW4x.exe command line.

‘This is impossible’ error message. A server is being run on a minimal installation of MechWarrior 4: Vengeance. A server should only run on a full game installation.

‘Failure opening New File c:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\MechWarrior: Vengeance\resource\RTxxxxx’ error message (xxxxx = random numbers or letters). Insufficient free disk space to install the patch. The patch requires a minimum 230 MB of free disk space. After increasing memory capacity, rerun the patch.

If you experience an internal page fault (IPF) error while installing the patch on a computer running Microsoft Windows 98, make sure your virtual memory is active:

· On the Windows desktop, right-click My Computer, click Properties, and then click the Performance tab.

· On the Performance tab, click Virtual Memory.

You might experience a 0036 error when installing the patch on a Nordic, Italian, or Brazilian game. If you encounter this error, uninstall and reinstall MechWarrior 4: Vengeance and rerun the patch.