Air Power: Battle in DOSBox
- DarkenedRoom
- Apr 28
- 7 min read
A guide to running the Rowan 1995 steampunk sim, 'Air Power: Battle in the Skies' in DOSBox Staging. This guide covers installation and configuration. Considered by some to be a spiritual precursor of the more popular Microsoft game, Crimson Skies.
Both games take place in alternative timelines but roughly within the same time period, 1930 for Air Power and 1937 for Crimson Skies. Crimson Skies takes place in the New World of the Americas, whereas Air Power chooses the Old World of European states and noble families vying for a throne as its setting. Huge airship carriers provide a base of operations in both games.
It also shares elements in common with the Domark sim, 'AV8B Harrier Assault' with both sims including strategy elements in their respective campaigns.
Some consider it a bizarre sim due to the steampunk setting and the uncommon strategy aspects of the campaign. It seems to have generated polarizing reviews, when released, with some considering it a worthy sim, whilst others hated it! Something it shares in common with other Rowan sims.
You can read more about it at MobyGames.
Credit where it's due
The vast majority of this guide is due to the work done by VOGONS forum member ragefury32, detailed in the VOGONS post, 'Airpower: Battle in the skies - a config guide and game review'.
Air Power had a reputation for being difficult to configure and setup on legacy hardware and within DOSBox, so a huge thank you to ragefury32 for figuring out how to get it working. I've taken ragefury32's guide and tweaked it for DOSBox Staging and added a few more sections to this guide.
Media
Air Power was distributed on a single cd, but as usual cd images will be used in preference to physical media, to save wear and tear on discs and drive. Physical cd's should be ripped to the cue/bin image pair format, as cd audio tracks are on the disc. At present there are no digital releases of Air Power.
Game management
I recommend using my DOSBox game management strategy, the recommended game management folders are:
conf - to store any DOSBox or HOTAS configuration files.
docs - to store any documents, manuals, etc.
cd - to store any cd images ripped from a retail cd.
hdd - the DOSBox emulated hard disk folder, to install the game to.
HOTAS config
Joystick, throttle and rudder pedals are supported. Configuring axes may not be required if your HOTAS has 4 axes or less. When using devices totaling more than 4 axes, a virtual controller can be used, limited to 4 axes. The physical axes to Windows axes were configured as follows:
Physical axis | Windows axis |
Joystick x-axis | DX_X_AXIS |
Joystick y-axis | DX_Y_AXIS |
Throttle | DX_Z_AXIS |
Rudder | DX_XROT_AXIS |
DOSBox Staging config
This guide assumes the latest version of DOSBox Staging v0.82.1. Changes from the default configuration are detailed below:
[sdl]
host_rate = vrr
vsync = off
presentation_mode = vfr
[dosbox]
machine = svga_et4000
# or machine = svga_s3
memsize = 32
dos_rate = 1000
[cpu]
cpu_cycles = 62500
cpu_cycles_protected = auto
cycleup = 1000
cycledown = 1000
[voodoo]
voodoo = false
[mouse]
dos_mouse_immediate = true
[mixer]
reverb = large
chorus = normal
[midi]
mididevice = mt32
[mt32]
model = auto
# or model = cm32l
romdir = "D:\Midi\Versioned"
[joystick]
joysticktype = ch
timed = false
swap34 = true
deadzone = 0
[autoexec]
mount c "D:\Games\dos\Air Power\hdd"
imgmount d "D:\Games\dos\Air Power\cd\AIRPOWER.cue" -t cdrom
c:
cd airpower
airpower
exitThe [sdl], [dosbox] and [mouse] settings are suitable for high frame rate gaming as described in this article by Omniclyde. These settings aren't strictly required and can be omitted to use the default settings.
The [docbox] machine is set to either ET4000 or S3. In the post from ragefury32, the ET4000 seemed to produce a clearer image. The 'Installation' section will detail the changes required for either setting, if S3 is preferred. Memory size is increased to help performance.
In [cpu] settings, 62500 cycles was suggested by ragefury32. The cpu_cycles_protected setting will use the same cycle count as cpu_cycles when set to auto.
Voodoo emulation isn't required and can be disabled.
The [mixer] settings can be changed to enhance sound and music to personal preference.
The [midi] and [mt32] settings enable high quality Roland midi music. The model value, auto, will default to a CM32L device (Air Power supports a LAPC1/CM32L device), although you can specify a 'cm32l' device if you wish. The MIDI ROMS folder is described in the DOSBox midi article.
The [joystick] settings are appropriate for my HOTAS setup so you may need to alter these. The 'ch' joystick type allows the use of stick, throttle and rudder. The deadzone setting is a personal preference.
The [autoexec] has example imgmount commands for the cd image (which uses the cue file of the cue/bin pair) The mount and imgmount commands use the 'Game management' folder structure.
The rest of the commands run Air Power and close DOSBox after quitting the game. These should be omitted until after installation and configuration is complete.
Installation
Installation is the key to getting Air Power to run successfully. The installer can be found on the cd/cd image (install.exe) and should be run from within DOSBox.
Checks and installation options
The installer will make various checks and it may fail both the cdrom speed check and the EMS memory check, however the warnings can be ignored. It's recommended to install into the default folder (c:\airpower).
The CD installation type should be set to 'Large' to allow limited cd access for radio chatter and animations. Selecting 'Full' will result in no cd access and those enhancements will be missing.
Music & sound
Soundblaster or Roland options can be chosen for MIDI music, either should work with the DOSBox config. Roland is recommended, for higher quality music.
If Roland is chosen for MIDI music, Soundblaster can be chosen later for digital audio/sound effects. The Soundblaster settings for base address (220), IRQ (7) and DMA (1) should be chosen. Note: the installer may suggest different defaults, make sure you select the correct settings.
Graphics
The resolution is the next option to select. The resolution is limited to VGA or SVGA in the airship and in the air. SVGA should be chosen for airship and flight aspects of the game for optimum graphics.
The 1st driver selection menu will be shown, with a large list of drivers. At this point the process differs for S3 or ET4000.
S3 SVGA settings
From the 1st driver selection menu select 'Advance' (option D). The next screen is a description of the SVGA graphics test to be run.
ET4000 SVGA settings
From the 1st driver selection menu select 'Go Back' (option S).
This presents a 2nd driver selection menu, select 'ET4000'.
The next screen is a description of the SVGA graphics test to be run.
From the SVGA test description screen, hit any key to continue.
The SVGA test screen should look like the screenshot shown below. Due to the high DOSBox cycle count, the disc will spin and numbers change rapidly. After 15 seconds the test concludes and you are presented with the final driver selection menu.
Select 'Install selected driver' to complete the installation.
Running
Run the game from the DOSBox installation folder with:
C:\AIRPOWER>airpowerChanging settings
If you wish the change the music, sound or resolution options, Air Power can be run with a command line option:
C:\AIRPOWER>airpower ?Note: this option cannot change sound card address, interrupt or DMA settings or the graphics card SVGA driver.
During installation, the installer utility (install.exe) was copied to the DOSBox hard disk folder and can be rerun from this folder as many times as needed. The installer utility allows the sound card address, interrupt and DMA settings to be changed and allows a different graphics card driver to be selected.
In-game configuration
The in-game configuration is available from the main menu. The configuration menu is shown in the screenshot below.
The following are some recommendations for testing or if you haven't played Air Power before:
Vulnerability | Off | Control Type | FlightStick Pro |
Arms | Unlimited | Joystick Sens.(itivity) | Low |
Targets | Soft | Sep.(arate) Rudder | On |
Enemy Activity | Low | Auto Detail | Off |
Mouse Sens.(itivity) | Low | Auto Window | Off |
Radio Chat | On |
Turning down the difficulty allows you to get a handle on the flight model.
It's also recommended to turn down mouse and stick sensitivity for similar reasons.
A FlightStick Pro provides stick and throttle controls with the rudders provided by the separate rudders options.
The first time a stick is chosen, you'll be asked to calibrate the stick/throttle/rudders. You may receive a warning about the calibration, just choose 'Accept', it normally seems to be fine.
There is also a 'Recalibrate' option under the Control Type menu for the stick/throttle/rudders.
The game will automatically try to adjust the detail and window size in order to maintain FPS. This is distracting and unnecessary, so should be turned off.
Radio Chat should be 'On' (at least initially) to test cd/cd image access.
Testing
The Scramble option provides instant action and is recommended for testing. Use the 'D' or 'L' keys to test speech, streamed from the cd/cd image, during flight.
Joystick testing
The flight model is challenging, but if you believe the calibration is seriously 'off' or a calibration warning was received during in-game configuration, there is a 'very' simple joystick test tool included.
From what I can gather if all the axes reach a similar minimum and maximum then I believe calibration should be good. Note: the visual indication from the test tool will be substantially different depending on the joystick 'timed' setting in DOSBox.
Run the game from the DOSBox installation folder with:
C:\AIRPOWER>jtestUse the 'Esc' key to quit the tool.
Documents
Digital versions of the manual and reference card are available and are very strongly recommended. The view system alone has a learning curve (very complex) which makes the reference card a 'must have' and there's a strategic campaign to run.
Finally...
To be honest I'm still not sure about the joystick handling or whether it is just the flight model used in the game, to the point where I might try it in PCem, just to see if it is significantly different. If anyone who has played it on legacy hardware could shed some light on this, I would appreciate it!
Good hunting!
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