Mechwarrior 3 in 30 minutes: Speedrun explained

[@marshall104]

This game took me weeks of planning perfect and balanced builds, and commanding my lance mates for optimal movements, and here you are running through things in a firefly with 10 small lasers and no armor, one shotting Orions in the face...I know you didn't plan this as a comedy, but I laughed the whole way through.

[@falconergray]

I completely understand seeing it as a comedy, I feel that way quite a bit with this. Especially tricking the AI into ignoring the player, and ESPECIALLY on the snow map. I remember that as being this massive high stakes battle, but with this glitch it's just comically irrelevant. So good

[@sasquatchhadarock968]

Whole way through I'm just "how tf... Wait, wtf? Did he just? But what about..." Defense objective feature had me laughing.

[@SebRaubenheimer]

MW3 was such a massive part of my childhood, it's so cool seeing people still smashing it out! Good job big lad! ⚡

[@falconergray]

Same story here, I loved MW3 as a kid. I only came back to it at the start of this year and it's still such a great game. Far from perfect, but I think on balance it's the best game in the series.

[@SebRaubenheimer]

@@falconergray yeah man. It's got a particular feel to it that the other games in the series are lacking, right?

[@falconergray]

@@SebRaubenheimer Absolutely. There's so much more to making a good Mechwarrior game than just the combat alone, and MW3 really understands that. Love it

[@SebRaubenheimer]

@@falconergray I think it's the fact that it feels like a game where you really are part of an elite military element doing military stuff, as opposed to noble knights in their bright, flashy panoply engaging on duels. The in depth briefings including intel, the more true to life, tinny, recorded bitching Betty cockpit voice, dirtier, grimier mechs with more realistic camouflage schemes rather than DAVION RED WHITE AND BLUE, GOD SAVE THE FIRST PRINCE, BABY! Which handle like they have actual weight to them, and that general feeling of genuinely being a lone commando section waaaay behind enemy lines doing commando stuff like smashing key targets all just adds to the cool factor. 🥲

[@falconergray]

@@SebRaubenheimer 100% all of this. Agree with the take completely. I was never interested in the royalty, princes, great houses etc. This is the setting that is "Battletech" to me. And I will always love the intel briefings!

[@jasonyesmarc309]

Honestly, every time I see someone getting the game to run, my jaw hits the floor. I have searched for literally years and have tried everything. To witness someone not only get the game to function, but ALSO do some absolutely phenomenal speedrunning just makes my day.

[@falconergray]

Thanks Jason! Really appreciate it. The description of this video has some links that might be helpful for getting MW3 running. Also stop by the Discord group, they might be able to help with getting it working. Thanks again!

[@alienc]

Your voice and commentary is so soothing I hope you continue to make this kind of material as you have a nice gift for it

[@falconergray]

Thank you for the kind words, I really appreciate it!

[@malcontender6319]

It's a real hassle to get MW3 to work on modern machines, but it's so damn worth it.

[@falconergray]

It's a wonderful game and deserves more attention! Like you said, oh so worth it.

[@Headcrabman9999]

dgVoodoo makes things a lot easier

[@OverwatchSniper]

@@Headcrabman9999 Dgvoodoo and zipperfixup from github

[@scotth6797]

Great work man! So glad to see people still enjoying this classic!

[@falconergray]

There's still so much to love about it, even all these years later

[@mickhick619]

I wish they made games like this again not the lootbox incomplete crap they got now.

[@soldio4143]

MW3 speed run is like watching some one play the campaign after the jarring difference that was MW3 PvP. One shot enemies with the correct amount of lasers and not bothering to run any armor yourself as no amount will save you anyway. Great video; brought back a lot of memories.

[@bakanur]

great video! MW3 is an old favorite of mine. I tried to re-play it again last year with no luck, thanks for linking those resources for getting it running, hopefully I will have some better luck this time

[@falconergray]

Thank you for the kind words! Check out the discord if you need a hand with getting it running. Hope it works out for you!

[@Fryepod3628]

I always thought about this being how many times i played it when i was younger. Glad i came across this. What a great record to have!

[@falconergray]

Similar story to me actually - I loved MW3 when it came out, but hadn't played it since the very early 2000s. Wanted to give it another look, but I had also become interested in speedrunning...so here we are!

[@Fryepod3628]

@@falconergray I'm watching the run through in small parts and I've got to say, what an interesting perspective coming back and seeing it speedrun form as you said about revisiting it since the 2000s. Like the narration of which armaments you're using and why, helps other speedrunners and just keeps a level of entertainment. Definitely so awesome, gonna give this a share to the twitter. Hopefully pirate's moon is next!

[@falconergray]

@@Fryepod3628 thanks for the kind words, I really appreciate it - glad you enjoyed!

[@ryanv2913]

Imagine if a loving remake of this game was made. One can dream.

[@MrTBSC]

i´m kinda looking forward to MW5 Clans where you actually play Clan Smoke Jaguar ... should be interesting

[@BaconHer0]

As a kid I thought I was pretty smart by loading up on ER L Lasers then camping in the water. This blows my mind!

[@falconergray]

I did the same but with PPCs. Turns out that speed is life!

[@Daekar3]

Still the best campaign maps and briefings I've seen in a game.

[@falconergray]

Completely agree

[@perry92964]

this is one of the best games i ever played i thought it was an achievement by me only piloting the bushwhacker for the whole play through

[@falconergray]

I'd agree that's an achievement, nicely done! I like those sort of challenges, makes for a new way to experience the game.

[@vanDerNguyen]

MW3 was one of the first PC games that I remember ever playing. I had no clue what was going on nor did I progress very far into the campaign but safe to say it left a lasting impression on me and 30 odd years later I still am very much into the franchise. Thank you kindly for the detailed breakdown on your speedrun strategies - super fun and interesting to watch.

[@awordabout...3061]

Instantly subscribed. The algorithm works!

[@James-np7gv]

Cool stuff man thanks for the upload really enjoyed it. Would love to see other things with cometary.

[@falconergray]

Thanks James, glad you liked it and I appreciate the feedback. I have a few more things in mind for similar things in the future, so keep an eye out!

[@aerfwefd7334]

Smoking Jags at mach speed. Just the way it should be.

[@Scrubwave]

MW3 remains to this day the best single play Mechwarrior game.

[@shayminthedoctor9663]

Imagine seeing these mech builds in the tabletop I have a Bushwhacker with no armor, only LRMs, and an oversized engine *you what*

[@falconergray]

Haha yes! And how many hexes of movement do I get for running at 220kmh?

[@MrTBSC]

there are pilots that are called Mechwarriors and then there are Speedrunners also "this my friends is an Annihilator" firefly: i´m gonna end that annihilator´s whole career"

[@tumate45]

But the main question is What happened to Keith Andrew? He helped for a mission, but then we lost contact with him. I guess, or hope that he went radio silent and back to the main force, but could be captured.

[@falconergray]

I want to say that he didn't make it and was one of the mechs caught by Brendan Corbetts forces, but I can't remember if that's from the game, the novelization, or if I'm just misremembering completely. I really liked that the game made it feel like there were others out there in the same situation as us. Little details like that do a lot for the sense of immersion and storytelling

[@HalcyonDaze149]

Wow! I’d love to see how you’d dismantle the expansion pirate’s moon! That was a tough game

[@falconergray]

I played through Pirate's Moon for the first time just earlier this year. It would be a real challenge and I'm not 100% sure I'd commit to speedrunning it (from memory, they fixed some of the bugs/exploits from the main game that have an impact on speedrunning), but it's definitely something I'm going to look at in the future! I'm not completely done with Mechwarrior 3 speedrunning just yet...

[@ioreodream]

17:46 destroying the two striders and landing in the river was 👑🤩😎👌

[@Pendrokar]

Wow! Never thought that blowing up next missions objectives counted. Should have tried that. Now there is no question how your run ended up quicker than mine. 😉

[@falconergray]

Hey Pendrokar! Yeah, a lot of the big gains I made came through new strategies, but your playing was still super fast for the strats you were using! Your run definitely served as a benchmark for me and it took a lot of time and effort to match it. Would you ever look at getting back into MW3 speedruns? I'm looking into getting some updates to the speedrun.com page which should hopefully make things easier to get into.

[@Pendrokar]

Nah, the MechWarrior 3 & 4 Mercs I did it less for fun and more for the bounty that someone offered for those speedruns. Like a true Mercenary. I still did put more effort in 3rd than the 4th game. So yeah, I am out of the speedrun game. Though two unfinished runs do make an itch making me want to return.

[@falconergray]

@@Pendrokar Haha, I can definitely appreciate your mercenary spirit! If you don't make a return, thanks for laying the foundations for MW3 speedrunning today

[@falconergray]

Hi Pendrokar! I've created an Individual Level leaderboard for Mechwarrior 3 over on SRC (speedrun dot com). I've posted your runs there as well (credited to you, let me know if there's any issues, I tried to comment on your vids but it didn't work for some reason). Those runs are really well played and deserve the recognition!

[@LordOOTFD]

Some of your mech setups in this run really remind me of the corvid walkers from brigador, as they're a giant stack of guns strapped to a set a legs with a lunatic pilot just precariously perched on top.

[@falconergray]

Giant stack of guns with a lunatic pilot? Yep, that sounds about right!

[@Mister_Clean]

This was fun to watch. I remember playing one of these games at my friend's house when I was a wee lad. Game blew my mind and whooped my ass. Mechwarrior Online is still fantastic today. Has a great community and insane coordination and tactics.

[@falconergray]

I haven't played MWO since either 2018 or 2019, but I've heard it's had a bit of a resurgence of late which is great to hear. I don't have a system that can run it properly, but I'm sure I'll get back onto it one day

[@cfdeers]

@@falconergray its sitting around 400 players at any given moment, so you'll see a lot of repeat faces from time to time, but buy and large it's a decent time to hop back in

[@tadferd4340]

Nice run. I really need to beat this game into cooperating and play it at some point. Tried with MW2 and I just gave up because of issues where things just wouldn't work, like JJs. Also, that LRM Annihilator hurts on a spiritual level.

[@Kaze0774]

Incredible, thank you for sharing!

[@SphereMJ]

Very entertaining run, great commentary. The SDA description mentions difficulty "high" being chosen to be comparable to a previous SDA run. Do you have an estimate how much faster lower difficulties would be if at all?

[@falconergray]

Thanks for the comments, glad you enjoyed it! I actually don't have an estimate on timesave between difficulties, but you've now got me thinking about it. I originally started practicing on easy difficulty before seeing that other runs were done on hard. I noticed that enemy vehicles seemed to have more HP, and that enemy mechs were more accurate, but I'm not sure if there's anything else beyond that. I opted for Hard difficulty to align with previous runs, but there isn't really an established community or ruleset in place. The game entry on speedrun.com has no rules listed at all, so things could be changed in the future. It's also interesting to note that the Pirate's Moon game entry DOES have a listed ruleset that ops for medium difficulty (the game default). I might do some experimenting to learn more about the differences and their impacts, and then consider switching to medium difficulty, depending on the outcome. I'd love to see more activity and growth within Mechwarrior 3 speedrunning, so establishing a basic ruleset could help to achieve that.

[@EvolvaProject]

impressive! thank you!

[@falconergray]

Thanks, glad you enjoyed!

[@madcat789]

God _dayum._

[@psychosneighbor1509]

If you never played this on MSN Gaming Zone over a dial-up connection, you missed out lol...

[@falconergray]

I remember jumping on once or twice and just floored at how impossible it was to play (lag shooting and hyper aggressive players). That actually would have been one of my very first online gaming experiences, now that I think of it.

[@psychosneighbor1509]

@@falconergray Definitely my first online game. And lag was atrocious but that actually added another skill element to the game. You had to guess where your target would be two seconds from now and shoot into that empty space haha... Played the poop out of it. Good times :)

[@falconergray]

@@psychosneighbor1509 I've seen what the skilled lagshooters can do, it's amazing stuff!

[@blessedheavyelements8544]

Mancuso was also the Producer :). Great game, great times...

[@robertdrexel2043]

Did you actually mentioned what the inventory bug happens to be? I didn't hear you explain it after you mentioned you would later on.

[@falconergray]

You didn't miss it, I just completely forgot to explain in detail - sorry for that! I'm planning another speedrun walkthrough video, but one that explains things step by step, rather than commenting on a previously completed run. I'll cover it properly there, but the short version is that the player can create custom mech configurations in the Instant Action game mode. Instant Action doesn't have an inventory, the player has access to an unlimited supply of all items in the game. To do the glitch, the player creates a loadout in instant action with the number of weapons wanted (for example, 10 ER Small lasers), then saves that load out. The campaign mechlab has access to the same saved loadouts, but won't let the player use items they haven't salvaged yet. The glitch comes from the campaign mechlab apparently not checking the quantity of items the player has. So for example, the 10 ER Small laser loadout. If I go to use that loadout before O2M2, the game knows that I haven't salvaged the equipment needed. But at O2M2, after killing the enemy Thor, we have 1 ER Small laser in our salvage. If we go to use the saved loadout then, the game checks to see if we have ER Small laser, but doesn't check the quantity - which then results in it putting the extra 9 small lasers onto the mech and into our inventory. I'm not a programming expert or anything, but it seems like one of those simple little oversights, but it has a bit impact and is perfect for speedruns!

[@czh9773]

Didn't you have a guide published earlier for installing MechWarrior 3 and Pirate's Moon? Was it removed because you showed where to obtain it? If you would ever redo it, would you also show how to uninstall it? (I remember on another computer I couldn't uninstall it. Maybe because dgVoodoo was in it)

[@OverwatchSniper]

It's cool that you can do objectives early, I didn't know that the maps save from previous missions what has been done in the prev mission. Are there any exceptions to what is preserved into the next mission?

[@wildchild1823]

Why.. This is a game to enjoy and savor at fair pace and ends just to early..

[@falconergray]

I absolutely agree and would suggest everyone to immerse themselves in the campaign for at least the first few playthroughs before attempting a speedrun. Speedrunning isn't meant to replace the main game - or suggest anything negative about it - it's just another way to experience it and challenge yourself. All in good fun, I love this game in all it's forms.

[@TheRumChum]

17:51 -[{SHUTTING DOWN}][{SHUTTING DOWN}]{SHUTTING DOWN}]-

[@EliPorterMahn]

This one had better graphics and sound than MW4, MW4 had a cheesy arcade feel to it

[@stormthrush37]

I think they were both great games albeit in different ways. I initially liked MW3 way better when MW4 first came out but MW4 has grown on me over time. Personally I like 3 overall better but it's a main to get to run on modern systems. Personally I liked and still do the salvage system on MW3 way better than 4 where at least for mechs it was completely randomized which I hated. Liked the sound and voice better in 4 but the feel of MW3 was more immersive. MW4's Solaris missions and the announcer for them were just awesome but MW3's overall campaign idea of fighting deep behind enemy lines on hit and run missions was just awesome. Different strokes for different folks and all that.

[@falconergray]

I love the immersive approach the MW3. The briefings, setting, the way the campaign unfolds - so good! I've just completed a MW4 playthrough, and although I don't like it as much as MW3, it definitely has it's place and I can absolutely understand why people enjoy it

[@pipestone67]

Pirates moon is really sweet

[@TheRumChum]

god I love this game :)

[@rushanm.e1815]

Wow, I don't remember game this easy when I played it

[@falconergray]

I think it's less about easy, and more about exploiting broken mechanics :D

[@tonight_you]

i could have sworn that the pulse lasers were the pewpewpew ones like machine gun lasers... or was that a mod.

[@rogerpha1398]

mw3 had the best missions and graphics vs mw4

[@falconergray]

MW3 has always felt the most immersive and authentic to me. MW4 is fun, but MW3 has that truly special "something" extra to it IMO

[@TallDude73]

Well done

[@cpt.rogers1396]

I hope one day a modding team takes a look at upgrading MW3 and MW4 to be compatible with modern systems and maybe upgrades the texture count. I knows there's a lot of easy to use programs to increase the graphical quality of older games like Reshade. Or better yet the current brand holder does a remaster without damaging the original quality of the games but based off of recent events it feels like Battletech/Mechwarrior is currently owned by people who do not respect the franchise sadly.

[@falconergray]

I feel your last point about respecting the franchise is the one the resonates most with me. Maybe one day...

[@eduardmart1237]

How did you mange to run it on the modern hardware?

[@Kuraimizu9152]

Wait... How did you record it? I was trying to do it but I can't.

[@dustinleebladesmith9135]

Oh man, how do I get this game on windows 11? I've been wanting to play for ages.

[@falconergray]

In the video description is a link to a Reddit post I used, as well as the MW3 discord page. That discord is active and has lots of great info for getting the game running. I'm on Windows 10 rather than 11, but it's still worth having a look at.

[@dustinleebladesmith9135]

@@falconergray Thank you very much!

[@soerenraudonis]

I wonder all the time why your weapons are so much more effective than mine…

[@falconergray]

In doing these runs, I found that there are some inconsistencies that can show up. Range is one of them, it seems as if there is a chance for weapons to do less damage when at full range. I say chance, because in testing I wasn't able to always get the same results. An example is in O2M4, destroying the mech factory. I run right up close before shooting, even though I was "in range" earlier, because at max range it wasn't always getting the kill. Sometimes it was, but not all the time. There's also other things that could be at play, targeting legs as much as possible is one (less change of hitting other components), but also the angles of the shot. Shooting legs from the side has a much more consistent change of success compared to front on. And then there's also the replay glitch mentioned. There are a few scenarios where replaying a mission (which is what is shown in this video) makes things easier to destroy. There's two missions in the run where I know that happens, but there could very well be more. Are the specific parts that made you think that? Happy to have a look and see if it's something I can talk to

[@soerenraudonis]

@@falconergray for example the factory ( campaign 1, mission 4 I guess ) I played a lot and usually I got lancemates and big badabom but I never ever destroyed any target with a single LRM 5 salvo- like you every fuck time.

[@falconergray]

@@soerenraudonis Ah yep, I know the part you mean. In that mission they aren't LRM5s, the loadout I'm using is 5x Clan LRM10s. I'm able to use that loadout through using the inventory glitch (I noticed after making this video that I didn't end up explaining properly, I'll have to do that another time). Inventory glitch is really simple. In the Instant Action mechlab, make a loadout with whatever weapon you want to duplicate (LRM10 in this case). We get given a single Clan LRM10 after Mission 2, so I know there will be one in the inventory. After salvaging that 1 LRM10, the game lets us use the saved loadout that we setup in Instant Action, which we wouldn't be able to do normally. It's simple and consistent, I've made that mission work many times over with no issues, including in live runs. If you've still got MW3, give it a go! It's good fun.

[@evgeniydragondog]

i more interested in how to make this game work on modern pc

[@sasquatchhadarock968]

Wait, where was the Orion at the factory in op1?

[@falconergray]

The Orion is there, it just isn't a mission critical objective. You can it on the radar as we approach the factory, and then moving right to left in front of the factory itself. It appears on screen for a brief moment during the fadeout from that mission (approx 9:13 in the video)

[@sasquatchhadarock968]

@@falconergray 😮‍💨so fast, my childhood memories can't keep up.

[@sasquatchhadarock968]

It's not a glitch it's a feature

[@falconergray]

That's what speedrunning is all about!

[@monostripezebras]

It was a good game

[@grek6667]

this game crashed every time I tried it.

[@falconergray]

MW3 needs DGVoodoo for running the graphics, and something to control the framerate (either an FPS limiter, or there is a download that takes care of it). The description to this video has a link to the MW3 discord - jump on and you'll find a bunch of people and resources to help out with getting it running

[@joshuamidgette4846]

Honestly I don't see the point of a speedrun on mw3. You get mechs and parts by killing enemies and by speed running you miss most of that.

[@falconergray]

That's part of what makes it a challenging speedrun - needing to plan out the run and make decisions around what mechs or equipment is worth salvaging. Of course, this isn't the only way I play MW3. I love the game the way it was meant to be played, speedrunning is just a different way to enjoy it

[@b213videoz]

What's the point to run this game in 30 mins?? I like tasting it for long.

[@stormthrush37]

Speedruns are a completely different way to play a game. I don't know if you heard what he said but he talked about something like 500(!) attempts to get the underground mission correct. Speedruns are quite challenging, and time-consuming!, in their own right. I prefer to play the game normally myself but you have to admit there's something just awesome about someone just flying through the game at 220+ KPH too.

[@falconergray]

I like taking my time and I love the game in any form - speedrunning is just another way to challenge myself and a new way to enjoy the game

[@pillepolle3122]

omg grafics are so bad how can you even play this?

[@falconergray]

When this came out it looked pretty awesome! I don't really have an interest in modern games and haven't kept up with the latest and greatest, but I know gameplay is far more important to me than looks, and MW3 delivers there :)

[@wildchild1823]

IF you say that, then you really have no clue what you are talking about, do you? Or age.. go back to destiny or Sims or fortnighty whatever..

[@pillepolle3122]

@@wildchild1823 okay boomer

[@wildchild1823]

@@pillepolle3122 Boomer were my fathers, dear information lacking millenial .. Im generation X. You welcome. Tell your schoolteacher you talked with one of us, and watch her gasp in awe. Youll be a legend and a step closer to loose your virginity!

[@tadferd4340]

Imagine being lame enough to care about graphics.

[@Postie1994]

Damn, why can AI lance Mates actually kill stuff in this game? There so braindead in MW5 and constandly kill themself on the enemies.

[@changeagent228]

I just got MW5 and so far all it does is make me miss MW2 to 4.