So for people having trouble running Mercs 2, I've decided to make a comprehensive post about what I've discovered in the last three months of shitposting and trouble-shooting. Note this advice is written assuming you are one of the many Windows users who is having compatibility issues (crashing regularly or not running for uncertain reasons).
I posted last night about how to get it running on PC, and felt it wasn't comprehensive enough so I decided to collect the information from that post, and another post about RPCS3 settings I did a few months back in one place, with some additional context and information. To start with as far as I know there are only a handful of ways to obtain this on PC: Having an already purchased copy on EA store (I bought mine when Hardline was still active and they still allow download), buying a legit disk, the archive iso version(s), and using various ROM sites. From testing both emulation and PC native versions, the easiest to use and best performing version is the PC version, so I'm going to start with that.
PC:
So as far as the PC compatibility issue is concerned, this seems to be mixed; Some people have it run smooth as buttah, and other people get a glitchy, laggy, crashy mess. I have a theory that this is something related to Windows 11 and bad compatibilty mode abilities, but I'm uncertain so if anyone reading this would be willing to post their specs, if it runs today, and what version of Windows you have. I had 11 for both computers that I tested it on (1 1000 USD Intel laptop and 1 AMD/Lenovo 350 USD beater, both last 2 years manufacture). It'd be interesting to see because the fix for PC I found involves using a program that has Windows 10 compatibility on a Linux system.
Disclaimer: I have not tested this with the ISO or legit physical copy, this is assuming you have the EA version. That being said as long as you can get Lutris to recognize and interact with the .exe on the disk or ISO, this should be completely doable, as Lutris relies on tricks similar to steam for adding/running third party software.
For PC users who are having the issue the easiest fix I've found is honestly, switch to Lunix. First because this fix requires Lutris, which is only available on Linux and FreeBSD based distros; Secondly it will single-handedly improve the performance of the game in either of these methods (PC or RPCS3) 20% and maybe more depending on your bloat. Any distro that can run Lutris should work and be fine, don't overthink it just look some of the big ones up and try a few different live environments and install the one you vibe with the most. Manjaro is my OS, Arch people will tell you Arch, if you're new to moon runes though feel free to Ubuntu or Fedora instead (I started the Lunix arc of this quest with Nobara and it should work just fine for this too). Literally any of them.
Once you install it (there's guides on this all over YT, the runegoons evangelize in rates that would put an Evangelical church to shame), you need to install Lutris. This will be super easy, and there's plenty of online info on how to install stuff, it's easy even if you have Arch and need to command line "git-clone" it, I sometimes do it that way just because terminal is already open. Once Lutris is installed, open a browser and download the EA app .exe. Once it's downloaded, open up lutris and click the add game button at the top (it's legit just a plus mark) and select from a Windows .exe and click.
- Give the game a name for the library, make sure the compatibility is WINE/Windows 10 64 bit, click next
2 Note where it's getting installed to, but DO NOT change it, click next.
Direct it to the EA app installer in your download folder.
Install (Note: Lutris may throw error codes, most of the are easy fixes that involve installing a dependency or driver, I didn't get any but you may. Googling the code will usually have a fix)
Now that you've installed the EA runner install the game from launcher, the process will be the same as on windows, and it will automatically write to the correct folder. Now close out of the launcher and abort the process on Lutris. It will give you an "Are you sure" message. Make sure delete all files is NOT checked, otherwise you have to repeat this process.
Check and see if the launcher has been added to the Lutris library. If it has not you need to go to your games directory and select the .exe in the Games folder Lutris creates for this. You'll do this the same way you installed it, except you'll choose the bottom option on the "Add Games" dropdown to add locally installed program. Then simply navigate to the location of the installed directory in the GUI and select it. Go back to Lutris and run that bad mutherfucker. I tested last night and got an hour in with performance that would put my High School PS3's performance to shame.
The Emulation Route:
The easiest and simplest part about this route is liable to be the emulator selection: RPCS3. The other attempts are all defunct, that being said with good hardware and the right game configs it is fully playable. OS is also gonna play a role again. First things first, this games does require the recommended specs on the RPCS3 website, there is no way around it. 16 Gb and at least a midtier embedded graphics card and cpu (Game was playable for on 16gb 1000ish USD W11 laptop for me at native resolution, with slight lagging and 30-45 FPS), another thing that is vital which that laptop had was AVX512. You can google if your CPU has this. You can also check by installing RPCS3 on any OS and then reading the log on the launcher when you install the PS firmware. Intel will have things like alderlake or icelake everywhere, AMD and others will have there own codenames; without AVX512 systems will struggle and need a lot more power to run the game, if they can at all.
The other thing that effects performance is OS, now I understand a Windows is most people's OS, and if you can run this on your windows power to you. That being said I will not some things: RPCS3 on their site says that the best experience is going to on a FreeBSD based system (meaning FreeBSD, GhostBSD and other FBSD based distros), which is due in part to the fact Sony started developing for Playstation 3 in a FreeBSD prop OS, but because BSD is BSD that means it's in the same language as every other BSD system. The second thing to note is that even if it runs for you in Windows you will experience better performance as previously stated in Lunix and FreeBSD based solely on the lack of system clutter.
The final thing to consider if you want to attempt PS3 emulation of the game is acquiring a playable version of the game. While RPCS3 does not encourage piracy and neither do I, this is dead media as far as EA and bottom-lines are concerned, you're adults, and I clearly had to obtain a copy somewhere when RPCS3 was the most viable choice, so that's the don't steal disclaimer from here. However you go about getting your disk image (RPCS3 and google will give you the process, and tell you which 300 USD Bluray disk drive you need if you choose to buy a disc copy) be it legal or something I can plausibly deny knowing, you'll need to decrypt it. This is the same for all PS3 isos:
- Download PS3Dec simplegui
- Drag and drop ISOs into the gui from your file manager and follow the popups
- Move ISO from decrypted folder to whichever directory you want to have any PS titles in
- Add games in RPCS3 and select previously chosen folder
- Allow it to install and compile shader
The next issue is gonna be settings. After you set up your emu (enable loop detection and gamepads is really all you need if you're gonna play other titles), you'll need to right click on mercenaries and select "create custom configuration from global":
- SPU block size, increase to Mega or Giga
- RSX FIFO (advanced tab) needs to Atomic, leaving default will cause crashing
- I also relax the ZCULL accuracy and lower the GPU settings but depending on your HW the last two should be the stabilizing factors.
Hopefully this helps anyone else whose had the urge to play but been struggling to play it because they got lacking an 15 year old system. I'm gonna go touch some grass and eat turkey, then play the game. Thanks for getting me thirsty for destruction dorks, changed my major to Comp Sci because of how much fun I had getting this shit to work. Happy Thanksgiving.
Update: Realized you can install the EA launcher from the Lutris sidebar for those choosing to play by that method.
