How to play MM1 and MM2 in Windows 8

[SuperSecret]

If you have tried to play MM1 or MM2 in Windows 8 you have certainly noticed a heavy lag. If you want to play them without dual booting or downgrading to Windows 7, you can run them in a virtual machine.

VirtualBox is not the best choice, since it does not support DirectX 7 and older. Instead, VMware supports it, and runs MM1 and MM2 pretty well.

However, they work correctly only if Windows 7 is installed in the virtual machine. Windows XP doesn't run MM1 and MM2 correctly, and Windows 98 doesn't run them at all.

If you want to try it, here is the install procedure:

• Install VMware Workstation. (I tested the 9.0.1 and 10.0.1 versions, but any other recent version should work as well)
• Create a virtual machine and install Windows 7 in it. (I tested Win7 Ultimate x86, but other versions should work as well)
• Copy the MM1/MM2 folder into the virtual machine. (by dragging and dropping it in the VM window)
• For MM2: in the graphic options, set the renderer to "Hardware (3D video card with T&L)" (without T&L the game will crash after you open the in-game menu)
• For fullscreen: enable the fullscreen mode in VMware and enable the option View->Autosize->Stretch Guest
• Play!

Even with mods, MM2 runs well. MM1 runs also well, but the dashboard view doesn't work correctly. (static parts are white)