Amiga talons out: Falcon with WinUAE

A guide to running the Amiga version of the 1989, Spectrum Holobyte sim, Falcon (1.0) under the WinUAE emulator.

This guide assumes a working emulated Amiga, with a hard disk based Workbench as created in the earlier article, Amiga emulation with WinUAE.

Why play the Amiga version?

Falcon on the Amiga/WinUAE

Falcon was released in the days when the Amiga ruled the home computer market with graphics and sound that surpassed the PC. While the PC had 16 colour EGA graphics and PC speaker sound at best, the Amiga had VGA like graphics and impressive multi-channel audio. In short the optimum version of Falcon is the Amiga version. Just take a look at the screenshots on MobyGames.

Version

This guide assumes a copy of Falcon pre-patched for hard disk use with WHDLoad. Converting a disk/disk image copy of Falcon with the relevant WHDLoad support files into a patched 'hard disk supported' version is beyond the scope of this guide.

The recommended version of the WHDLoad patch files is v1.3. There are versions for both PAL and NTSC, either can be used. The prepatched WHDLoad distribution is normally packaged as an LHA (LH Archive) file. The workbench installation created earlier, supports LHA files.

There are pre-patched versions for the base game only and the base game with one or both expansions disks. Various copies may be encountered utilising the TOSEC naming convention.

The original game was distributed on 2 x 880 KB 3.5" Amiga floppy disks. There were two expansions disks, Mission Disk 1: Operation Counterstrike and Mission Disk 2: Operation Firefight. Each expansion was distributed on a single 880 KB 3.5" Amiga floppy disk.

WinUAE setup

The following is a list of differences from the Workbench configuration in the Amiga emulation with WinUAE article. It is recommended to load the Workbench configuration file and save it as a separate configuration file specifically for F-19. Make sure to load this new configuration file before continuing and give it a suitable description.

CPU and FPU

• The 'CPU Emulation Speed' section should be set to 'Approximate A500/A1200 or cycle exact'.

• In the 'Cycle-exact CPU Emulation Speed' section, the 'CPU Frequency' should be set to '2x (A500)'.

Chipset

• In the 'Chipset' section make sure 'Cycle-exact (Full)' and 'Cycle-exact (DMA/Memory access)' are both checked.

Display

• As Falcon was developed by Spectrum Holobyte, a US game developer, it was developed for both PAL and NTSC based Amigas. In the 'Settings' section the 'Refresh' drop down menu should be set to 'PAL' or 'NTSC' depending on the version you have.

Sound

I've encountered sound crackle in other games and I believe these settings reduce/eliminate it. However you should feel free to experiment with sound drivers if you continue to experience crackle.

• The top drop down menu was set to 'DSOUND: Primary Sound Driver'.

• In the 'Settings' section, 'Frequency' was set to '44100' and 'Audio filter' was set to 'Always on (A500)'.

• In the 'Drivers' section, only 'DirectSound' was checked.

Filter

The filter settings selected should be compatible with the refresh setting selected on the 'Display' page. As I'm using an NTSC version of Falcon, NTSC was selected. The filter settings should be compatible with emulating an NTSC display.

For a discussion of filters and slider settings, John Novak's article,  Achieving period-correct graphics in personal computer emulators — Part 1: The Amiga should be consulted.

• The 4.0x NTSC filter was chosen, 'D3D: CRT-A2080-NTSC-4.0x'. Depending on your display or personal preference, you may wish to choose a smaller 3.0x or 3.5x multiplier.

• The 'Horiz. size' slider was set to '2000' and the 'Vert. size' slider was set to '2800' as required by the NTSC 4.0x filter.

For a PAL based Falcon version the setting would be:

• Filter: 'D3D: CRT-A2080-PAL-4.0x' or the 3.0 or 3.5x filters.

• 'Horiz. size' slider: '2000' for the 4.0x filter.

• 'Vert. size' slider: '2000' for the 4.0x filter.

Finishing up

Don't forget to save your new Falcon WinUAE configuration with these revised settings.

Installing

Firstly you should create a new folder (or drawer in Amiga terms) on the System disk to store any games, if it doesn't already exist. The next steps are:

• Open WinUAE or the configuration utility (if WinUAE is started) and go to the 'CD & Hard drives' page.

• Click on the 'Add Directory or Archive...' button.

• Add the archive file as shown in the screenshot. The 'Device name' will be DHx where x is the next device no. (so DH2 in this case). Make sure the 'Read/write' and 'Bootable' options are unchecked. The 'Select Archive or Plain File' button is used to select the Falcon archive file.

• Once selected, start the emulated machine, or if it is already started use 'Reset' to reset the machine.

• The archive should appear on the Workbench desktop as a new disk. Open it and copy the 'Falcon' or 'Falcon&MissionDisks' folder/drawer into the Games folder/drawer.

That's it the game is now installed! You don't need to save this configuration, once the folder is copied onto the Amiga hard disk.

Kickstart support files

Falcon requires the use of Kickstart v1.3 ROM files mentioned in the earlier 'Amiga emulation with WinUAE'. The Kickstart v1.3 ROM should be renamed to 'kick34005.A500' and added to the Devs:Kickstarts folder on the emulated Amiga along with the Kickstart support files.

HOTAS setup

This next section is more advice, as I believe the exact settings you'll need will depend on your particular HOTAS setup. This will describe how I set up my Warthog HOTAS and things to consider when setting up your own.

Falcon was written for digital joysticks only. The joystick setting was used within WinUAE and selected from the in-game menu.

WinUAE also has native controller support, with the HOTAS devices seen by Windows also being available to WinUAE.

Depending on your HOTAS you may wish to use a native controller, using the default Windows axes scaling, if it provides a smoother and more natural experience.

If I used the TARGET profiling software to create a virtual controller, it had a far more sensitive response. This suggests the virtual controller uses a larger scale across axes than the default one provided by Windows. For this reason I opted to use a virtual controller.

The choice of native or virtual will depend on your HOTAS and which one you subjectively 'feel' provides the most natural and preferred experience.

HOTAS axes

The HOTAS axes were set as follows:

Physical axis	Windows axis
Joystick x-axis	DX_X_AXIS
Joystick y-axis	DX_Y_AXIS

The throttle and rudder pedals were added to the TARGET profile but all of their axes were disabled.

Throttle

Throttle buttons were mapped to the throttle up/down keys within Falcon.

Rudder pedals

The rudder pedals aren't used in Falcon, but were added to the profile to ensure they would be disabled.

WinUAE configuration

On the 'Game ports' page the Joystick should be set in Port 2 as your virtual controller. The type should be set as 'Joystick'.

Manual configuration

Not all configurable options are available from the config utility. The configuration file (.uae) can be edited from a text editor. The following settings are applicable to WinUAE joysticks:

input.joymouse_deadzone=33
input.joystick_deadzone=33

Generate some very imprecise joystick controls, these can be reduced to:

input.joymouse_deadzone=5
input.joystick_deadzone=5

For more sensitive controls. You may wish to tweak these settings depending on your HOTAS. The smaller the dead zone the more sensitive your joystick will be.

Running

To run the game, open the System disk and your games folder/drawer. Within the games folder/drawer there should be an 'Falcon' or 'Falcon&MissionDisks' folder/drawer. Within this folder there will be a game icon which looks like the title screen (this is a facility provided by NewIcons).

Simply double click to start the WHDLoad config for the game. A WHDLoad dialog box should appear and the game will start shortly.

WHDLoad options

Falcon WHDLoad options

When you run the game the WHDLoad options dialog box will appear with two options:

• Game speed (a recommended setting is 8 to slow the sim down).

• Mission (None, for the base game, Op. Counterstrike or Op. Firefight).

WHDLoad options will persist across runs.

Control sensitivity

During a mission control sensitivity can be controlled in-game with 'F3' to reduce sensitivity (minimum 0) and 'F4' to increase sensitivity (maximum 9). 0 is a recommended setting, although this may be dependant on HOTAS.

Documents

It's recommended to try and obtain the following documents:

• Amiga Falcon manual for a complete list of instructions for all aspects of the sim, including keyboard commands.

• Amiga Falcon: Mission Disk 1: Counterstrike manual, for an overview of the scenario and each mission available as well as enhancements and new enemies.

• Amiga Falcon: Mission Disk 2: Firefight manual, , for an overview of the scenario, missions and new enemies.

A version of each manual is available digitally.