Is there an easy way to have required MCG files, auto included when submitting a job to the render farm? 
or do I have to install all MCG files on all render slaves?
I believe the necessary files to make MCG work, are listed as asset files in asset tracker in your 3dsmax scene file and consequently, if you submit all external files with your 3dsMax submission via SMTD, then we should be picking up the required MCG files as well. I haven’t played much with MCG but I believe this should work. Of course, having to submit all your textures with each 3dsmax job submission is a pain. Autodesk provide this blog on how to setup a network config for net rendering with MCG: area.autodesk.com/learning/3ds-m … ment-guide
Does either solution work for you?
I’ve successfully used the remote access by adding the paths to the 3dsmax.ini file. Which is a pain to have to edit every node’s ini file. It got me wondering if there was a feature to use an alternate 3dsmax.ini in the same way you allow an alternate plugin.ini. Is this possible Mike?
Nope, no such feature exists. The “3dsmax.ini” is a scary file to start messing with. I would be nervous to do much with it. You can easily put a machine on it’s knees by incorrectly editing this 3dsmax.ini file, with no error message to tell you why 3dsMax will no longer start at all on a machine. The file tends to change/be updated between minor SP releases of 3dsMax, so a studio would need to have potentially a catalogue of matching ini files to successfully render with a particular point release of 3dsMax.
I’m interested to hear what the OP thinks of the 2 suggestions?