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METALTECH EARTHSIEGE II


EarthSiege II was HUGE when it was released in 1996, garnering mostly scores in the top ten percentile. The gameplay is pretty much unchanged from the first game but boy did it look sublime. Publisher Sierra On-Line was mostly a company that catered for consumers with computers of a variety of specifications supporting DOS when most had long since left it behind. But EarthSiege II was their first high profile game with a separate release exclusively for Windows '95. Despite an underpowered Windows 3.1 version available in some markets, I wouldn't be surprised if it was the cause of many an upgrade to the new operating system.

The downside to this is that it's a pain in the ass to get working on modern systems. For Windows 7 users, I recommend finding a copy complete with CD audio and follow the instructions on the Sierra Help Pages. Their installer rips the audio to mp3 and allows for the complete experience with CD-less play. I played EarthSiege II this way for the longest time in those halcyon days pre-Windows 10 and even intended to include it on this site, but alas it doesn't work on Micro$oft's latest wonder/blunder. Worse than that, it crashes the entire system forcing you into a hard reset!

I ummed and erred about whether to include that version or not but instead, I went with DOSBox and the powerful (if a little unstable) Windows '95 emulation. It works brilliantly on both systems too, although there's unfortunately no support for CD audio (NOTE - the new CC update has the full game complete with CD audio working for all systems thanks to some masterful DOSBox trickery). The lack of music doesn't dampen the gameplay at all, which is essentially a refined and superior continuation of the first game. It still suffers from an overly complex control scheme that just about manages to be logical once you take the time to get used to it. And walking remains as slow and tedious as an asthmatic at the London marathon, but EarthSiege II is still one of the all-time classic games ever to grace the home computer.

I played the hell out of it just under 20 years ago (I got the budget re-release) and I found myself getting back into it quite nicely. It's so superior that playing the first game is such a big step backwards that there's no real need to ever play it again. In fact, were it not for the roman numerals in the title, one would be forgiven for thinking this an upgraded remake. The landscapes have improved and the story has changed but that's never been this series' strongest point especially when compared to the FASA branding of Mechwarrior.

There are many other games in the Metaltech universe including the direct sequel StarSiege and its spin-off Tribes, but I have yet to play them. The current copyright holder of the entire Metaltech series has recently released their entire back catalogue for free, which is nice. It doesn't include info on how to get them working on modern systems (that's what this site's for) but it's nevertheless very much appreciated. I'll get around to playing the later games someday, but in the meantime I'm gonna pretend like it's 1996, get back in my Raptor II HERC and destroy some enemy Cybrids.

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To download the game, follow the link below. This exclusive installer uses the DOSBox Daum build of DOSBox 0.74 running Windows '95. Reference Card included. Tested on Windows 10.
  23.04.2017 - Version 2 - Added working CD audio

File Size: 316 Mb.  Install Size: 628 Mb.  Need help? Consult the Collection Chamber FAQ

Download


Metaltech: EarthSiege II is © Dynamix / Sierra On-Line
Review, Cover Design and Installer created by me

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25 comments:

  1. hello, i have a favorite mech game from '97 named G-NOME.
    it's very glitchy on modern systems (win7 and above), wouldn't be possible to create an installer for it just like Earthsiege 2 has?

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    Replies
    1. Hello! I'm sure I'll give it a go at some point. I remember reading about it back in the day.

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  2. please do! it's really a worthy game.

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  3. Thank you for this. Have you tried getting a joystick to work with this?

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    1. I haven't, no. At least not this version. The only joystick I have is from back in the day which isn't compatible with my modern system.

      You can try to implement it yourself if you have a USB one. Info in the DOSBox manual here:

      Link

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  4. Dude, what a fantastic job you guys did! Installs and runs fine with just a couple of clicks, it can't get simpler than that! Thank you for doing this!

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  5. Awesome. Thank you so much for putting this together. I remember mowing lawns all summer so I could buy some games for my fancy win95 486 box and this was one of the games I played the heck out of.

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  6. It's been 20 - 21 years since I lasted played this.

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  7. I just found this website and thank you so much. This one was a childhood favorite I've never been able to get working until now. Still got my CD copy.

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  8. Hey, will you give the same treatment to Starsiege?

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  9. We are old:-) Thank you. How to play with joystick please?

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  10. works well, except i can't figure out how to get my joystick working?

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  11. If you cannot make your joystick work, I suggest using JoyToKey to bind your joystick buttons and stick to keyboard keys.

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  12. Amazing job, really thanks! Have you played heavy gear 1?

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  13. Hey there this is broken I have tried multiple times to download this and everytime it says cd track 6 is corrupted. any fix for this ?

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    1. Have you downloaded both files and placed them in the same folder? Usually if the installer says it is corrupt, it is because it cannot find part 2 of the installer (in this case "Install-ME2_v2.D01"). If you've been using the MEGA feature to download as a zip, make sure you unzip them first. More info in the FAQ.

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  14. Great stuff, finished Earthseige 1 and going into Earthseige 2. However, while the controls work, the control preferences screen, via F12, is blank and I can't seem to change it. Is that supposed to happen?

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  15. I asked above, but if you're still able to, any idea how to remap the keys or at least get a joystick to function ingame? Thanks chief

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  16. The thing is that it actually IS possible to run ES2 on Windows 10, but it was an absolute pain in the ass, one of the hardest cases of vintage windows games to get working I ever encountered. Some marginal features won't work - the demo is running too fast and the in-game manual can't be used as it's a hlp file modern windows won't load (can be started outside of the game with some tweaks, tho). But it's possible with a lot of tweaks to use analogue controllers for it if you add special compatibility fixes for legacy joysticks AND have OggWinmm to get the soundtrack to play and loop. Then ALSO you have to use a tool like borderless gaming for it to go fullscreen, because only the windowed mode will work for the game. But then it will run as it should. But using this installer based on dosbox/Win95 will be much much easier and preferrable to most.

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    1. I did have it running using the info found on the Sierra Help Pages website, which was a pain to implement. When I came to add it here, it wasn't working anymore (I assumed it was the new upgrade to Windows 10) and would even crash my computer so I stayed away from it. I haven't tried it again with all the new knowledge I have in my brain.

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  17. OMG I would never return back either if I get fatal crashes like that. I had a myriad of problems with ES2, but for some reason not some some total system failure like you described, it's still running fine on my Win 10 64. But everything could be responsible for that, something related to some system setting or system feature you have but I don't we'll never find out. If you google github juanitogan metaltech you should find some github page where there are a lot of more advanced tips for ES2 to get it somewhat working on new systems. I based my install experiments on info from that site and ultimately managed to get it done. But there was still lots of mess-ups and things I had to figure out hot to get through with it for my own system.

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    1. To be fair, this was many years ago. If I applied my current knowledge and updated programs, I might get a different result.

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  18. Hmm I've never heard of this series. This will be the first game I download from this site that I haven't played in the past. But more mech shooters are always a good thing. Thanks for sharing!

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