F/A-18E Super Hornet: A stinging setup journey

7 hours ago
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A guide to running the Digital Integration 1999 sim, F/A-18E Super Hornet (Super Hornet) in Windows 10. This marks the culmination of Digital Integration sim production, being the last serious sim produced by the British company. Unfortunately many experience issues running this with a modern HOTAS, (which is strongly recommended), which has undoubtedly affected its popularity in recent times.

Unlike earlier Digital Integration sims there is no DOS version, with Super Hornet only released for Windows 95.

Strategy

This guide will examine why such issues exist and provide the required tools and configurations to get it running without issue as well as providing patch, head tracking and sound enhancements.

Version & patch history

This is a brief version and patch history of Super Hornet including retail releases, re-releases, expansions, official and unofficial patches, followed by a brief installation and patching summary.

F/A-18E Super Hornet original retail release

The original retail edition was developed by Digital Integration and published by Titus in 1999. Distributed on a single cd-rom the original game featured training in the US and campaigns in the Barents Sea and Indian Ocean. This version of the game is v1.33. The release notes are included below:

v1.33 no cd patch (unofficial)

An unofficial no cd patch/crack was released by the community in December 1999. This patch is only compatible with the base game v1.33. This patch is not recommended as it is incompatible with the v1.78 expansion and digital editions.

Configuration Editor Update (official)

The one and only patch was a replacement config utility, released in February 2000 and distributed as a zip archive. This utility fixed joystick options which were disabled in certain scenarios when they should have been enabled. This is a recommended patch for all non-digital editions. This patch is available from:

F/A-18E Super Hornet official site (courtesy of the Wayback Machine).
Internet Archive.

F/A-18E Super Hornet: The Albanian Campaign (expansion)

The one and only expansion was F/A-18E Super Hornet: The Albanian Campaign also known as the F/A-18E Super Hornet Mission Pack was developed by digital Integration and published by Titus in August 2000. Distributed on a single cd-rom, it featured an additional campaign over the Adriatic Sea as well as adding multiplayer support. This version of the game is v1.78. The release notes are included below:

F/A-18E Super Hornet: Officer's Edition (compilation)

Released in 2000, the Officer's Edition was a compilation release including the base game and expansion. Published by Titus and distributed on 2 x cd-roms. If the versions remain consistent then the base game is v1.33 and the expansion v1.78. This is a recommended retail edition.

Virgin Interactive White Label re-release (compilation)

Re-released on the Virgin Interactive White Label in 2001. This version is equivalent to the Officer's Edition compilation. The game version is v1.78. This was distributed on 3 x cd-roms as the base game, expansion and a general purpose manials and patches cd for other White Label titles. This is a recommended retail edition and probably more common than the Officer's Edition.

Sold Out Software re-release

Re-released by Soft Out Software in 2002, this release featured the base game only, without expansion. The version is v1.33. It was released on a single cd-rom. This edition is compatible with the expansion.

Digital releases (compilation)

The digital editions available on both Steam and gog.com platforms were published by Interplay on January 2023 (Steam) and July 2023 (gog.com). These versions are v1.78 and equivalent to the Officer's Edition with the included expansion. The Steam version is known to be compatible with the FA-18E_SH_patch. The gog.com version is believed to be compatible but this remains unconfirmed at present.

FA-18E_SH_patch (unofficial)

A fan made patch created by Casqade, released November 2024. This is an additional file patch using a dll injection technique. The patch provides the following bug fixes and enhancements (taken from the release notes):

High framerate causes issues with the game, e.g. Course & Heading Select switches stop working properly. The game was clearly designed to run at 30 FPS, so this patch locks framerate to this value (Note: if you use DxWnd, make sure to disable VSync and other timing features).
In original game, it's impossible to power off APU & engines using GUI. APU is automatically disabled after a certain time, and engines can only be turned off via hotkeys. This patch disables automatic APU shutdown and allows full control over both APU and engines with corresponding switches.
Landing request can only be initiated using a hotkey. The patch adds a dedicated button into UFCD's communication channel selection screen.
Some minor ones like IFF and radar altimeter not being inhibited by EMCON mode and some game variables not being reset when mission is restarted.

This is a recommended patch for those with the expansion. The game can be run without the patch by calling the game executable (F18.exe) or run with the patch by calling an additional patch loader executable (F18loader.exe). Distributed as a zip archive, this patch is available from:

FA-18E_SH_patch GitHub Releases.

F/A-18E Super Hornet xdelta patch (unofficial)

An unofficial patch released in May 2026 as an xdelta patch, distributed as a zip archive. This patch modifies a v1.78 retail edition to make it compatible with the FA-18E_SH_patch. This is an additional file/file modification patch requiring the use of the Delta Patcher tool.

This is a recommended patch for those wishing to use FA-18E_SH_patch with retail (non-digital) editions. This patch is available here:

v1.78 no cd patch (unofficial)

An unofficial no cd patch/crack was released by the community (although when is unknown) for the v1.78 expansion. This patch is no longer available for download.

Patching Strategies

The following are recommended patching strategies for each edition.

F/A-18E Super Hornet retail release only and Sold Out Software re-release only

Install F/A-18E Super Hornet.
Apply Configuration Editor Update.

F/A-18E Super Hornet: The Albanian Campaign

Install F/A-18E Super Hornet.
Install F/A-18E Super Hornet: The Albanian Campaign.
Apply Configuration Editor Update.
Apply F/A-18E Super Hornet xdelta patch (optional).
Apply FA-18E_SH_patch (optional).

F/A-18E Super Hornet: Officer's Edition and Virgin Interactive White Label re-release

Install F/A-18E Super Hornet.
Install F/A-18E Super Hornet: The Albanian Campaign.
Apply Configuration Editor Update.
Apply F/A-18E Super Hornet xdelta patch (optional).
Apply FA-18E_SH_patch (optional).

Sold Out Software re-release & expansion

Install F/A-18E Super Hornet.
Install F/A-18E Super Hornet: The Albanian Campaign (if available).
Apply Configuration Editor Update.
Apply F/A-18E Super Hornet xdelta patch (optional, requires expansion).
Apply FA-18E_SH_patch (optional, requires expansion).

Digital Editions (Steam & GOG)

Install F/A-18E Super Hornet digital edition.
Apply FA-18E_SH_patch (optional).

Retail media

Due to the age or the media and the drives required to read the media, it is recommended to rip cd-rom media to image files, to save wear and tear on media and the mechanical drives. The cd-rom can be ripped to a data only .iso image format as there is no cd audio on the cd.

A digital edition of the game is available on both Steam and gog.com platforms.

Game management

The installation is performed by a Win95 installer app, however some limited game management is still useful, the following folders are recommended as the installation and game management folder:

X:\Games\Win\F18 Super Hornet                     or
X:\Games\Win\Digital Integration\F18 Super Hornet

X:\Games\Win\F18 Super Hornet Setup

With the following game management folders:

cd - to store the cd image(s).
conf - to store any HOTAS configuration files/scripts.
patches - to store any patches/compatibility tool installers or zip files.

HOTAS config

Super Hornet supports a maximum of 4 axes with 2 control schemes. Only one scheme can be selected. The schemes and the required axes mappings are shown below:

Stick, throttle and rudder combination (incl stick only, stick and rudder, etc.)
Stick and split throttle.

Physical axis	Throttle and rudder	Split throttle
Joystick x-axis	DX_X_AXIS
Joystick y-axis	DX_Y_AXIS
(Left) Throttle	DX_Z_AXIS
Right throttle	N/A	DX_ZROT_AXIS
Rudder	DX_ZROT_AXIS	N/A

The problem

The controls problems experienced with Super Hornet are due to the visible axes. Super Hornet wants to see the above 4 axes and only those axes. Any additional axes result in severe control issues or non-functional controls.

Single device HOTAS

With most games a single device HOTAS with 4 axes or less usually does not need to reconfigure axes, as many games will assign axes automatically. This may still be true for Super Hornet if your HOTAS uses DX_ZROT_AXIS as the rudder axis. If it uses a different rotational axis you may require the solution presented below, if you experience control issues in the sim.

Multi-device HOTAS

If we try and use Thrustmaster TARGET to create a virtual controller we can configure these 4 axes so only those 4 axes are functional. However if we look at the joystick control panel we can see that there are additional axes that are non-functional but can still be seen.

We run into a similar issue if vJoy is used to create a virtual controller with additional axes. The 4 axes needed may be present but if the sim can see any others then there will be control issues.

The solution

As TARGET can't configure the virtual controller, the combination of vJoy (vJ), Joystick Gremlin (JG) and HidHide (HH) must be used, but configured specifically for Super Hornet. For background discussing the installation, use and infrastructure models of vJ/JG/HH the following articles are available [6][7][8].

vJoy virtual controller

The following screenshot shows the vJoy virtual controller config required by Super Hornet. The number of buttons is more permissive but only 1 POV hat should be configured.

HidHide and Joystick Gremlin

The HidHide configuration will depend on your physical HOTAS hardware/other game controllers to be hidden and any additional vJoy virtual controller that are configured but not used for Super Hornet.

The version of JG used should be configured to 'see through' the HidHide device firewall.

The mapping of physical device axes to vJoy virtual device axes will depend on your physical HOTAS hardware. Those creating a profile mapping a single device HOTAS to the vJoy controller, would map the physical axis to the corresponding vJoy axis (e,g, x-axis to x-axis) but map the physical rudder axis to the vJoy z-rotation axis (Rz).

Those with a split throttle may wish to create two profiles, a throttle/rudder profile and split throttle profile for testing to find a personal preference.

Batch scripting

Manually enabling/disabling and configuring HidHide, vJoy and JoyStick Gremlin may become a bit of a chore. Fortunately all three utilities support cmd line options making them suitable for use in scripts.

The following are examples of a start script to enable these utilities, configure a Super Hornet joystick config and a stop script to reset these utilities and disable them. Points to note:

The scripts must be run as Administrator for vJoy commands to run.

These are examples only, you will have to modify them, changing file paths to where ever the utilities are installed and the location of the JG profile.

The vJ/JG/HH commands are commented out to prevent the accidental running and reconfiguring of configs.

A pause command is added (but commented out) after each vJ/JG/HH commands giving time for other actions to be performed before continuing.

The start script windows remains open until the stop script is run, once JG is running the script window can be minimised.

The scripts use a traffic light colour scheme, the start script goes from red to green, ready to run. The stop script goes from green to red, everything closed and disabled/stopped, as shown below.

PowerShell scripting

An alternative to batch scripting is Windows PowerShell scripting. This has the advantage of only running the vJoy commands with administrator privileges.

PowerShell scripts (with the .ps1 file type) can run from Windows (like batch scripts) by right-clicking the file and choosing Run with PowerShell.

PowerShell scripts can be used with the Playnite game library manager when launching a game. The scripts for Super Hornet are shown below:

Playnite PowerShell scripts for Super Hornet

Commands with the -Wait argument will not continue until the process has complete. This allows a joystick setup command to finish before executing the next setup command.

The command to start Joystick Gremlin does not use the -Wait argument as Joystick Gremlin will be running minimized while Super Hornet is running. Instead there is a short 5 second delay allowing JG to initialize before starting Super Hornet.

Head tracking

The Super Hornet virtual cockpit uses a mouselook scheme to look around the virtual cockpit. If we can use utilities to convert head tracking data into mouse inputs we can enable head tracking within Super Hornet.

The head tracking will be pitch (y-axis) and yaw (x-axis) only as these are the only facilities provided by the underlying mouselook mechanism.

Fortunately this head tracking to mouse conversion seems well supported. There are two recommended methods utilising this conversion, detailed below.

As the mouse can be used in the virtual cockpit and the default cockpit view, it is recommended to set the head tracking toggle and centre options for each method. The keypresses selected should be unsupported by Super Hornet and optionally allocated to HOTAS buttons.

TrackIR

This is a pure TrackIR solution, it uses the standard TrackIR 5 software and the TrackIR utility, TrackIR Mouse Emulation (TIRmouse.exe). This is found in the TrackIR install folder.

Once a profile is configured for Mouse Emulation in the TrackIR 5 software, the mouse emulation utility is run. Head motion should now be reflected in the mouse emulation utility. The utility must remain open and in the foreground (until covered by the game window), it can not be minimised and will not run in the background.

Notes

The head tracking toggle is the Pause command in Track IR. There is also a Center command.

OpenTrack

Opentrack has been covered in combination with AITrack in the article, Head tracking with Opentrack & AITrack. The Opentrack utility supports mouse emulation, so Opentrack and AITrack provide the head tracking solution, and instead of sending TrackIR data to Super Hornet, Opentrack can send mouse data, allowing head tracking in the virtual cockpit.

Notes

The head tracking toggle is the Toggle Tracking command in OpenTrack. There is also a Center command.
When testing it was found OpenTrack must be run as an Administrator.

Installation

Both Super Hornet and the expansion use a 32-bit installer app compatible with Win10. The Super Hornet installation is straightforward and should complete without issue, however the following points should be noted:

If the cd image is autorun then the initial menu is shown with an install option. If it is disabled or fails to work, on the cd/image, in the F18 folder, the game installer setup.exe can be run.

The progress bar for the preparation of setup.exe will sit at 99% or 100% for an extended period. It will complete and the installation start.

Choose an installation folder which does not use Program Files or Program Files (x86) folders.

When asked to Install Microsoft DirectX Media, select No.

When asked to Install Microsoft DirectX, select No.

Installation of the expansion is straightforward, however the following points are noted:

If the cd image is autorun then the language selection menu is shown. If it isn't shown, run the multi.exe app from the cd/image.

Once again, the progress bar for the preparation of setup.exe will sit at 99% or 100% for an extended period. It will complete and the installation start.

The installer should automatically find the Super Hornet installation folder.

Patching

The recommended order of patching is listed below:

Configuration Editor Update (recommended)

Once the patch is obtained, extract the contents of the patch (config.exe) into the Super Hornet installation folder, replacing the existing config.exe file.

F/A-18E Super Hornet xdelta patch (optional)

This patch creates a game executable compatible with the FA-18E_SH_patch. The F/A-18E Super Hornet xdelta patch is not required by digital editions.

It requires the use of the Delta Patcher patching tool available from ROMhacking.net. It is distributed as a zip archive (windows_bin_x86_64.zip).

Copy the Animations folder from the Super Hornet base game cd/image into the Super Hornet installation folder and take a backup of F18.exe in the Super Hornet installation folder..

Extract the contents of the Delta Patcher zip file (windows_bin_x86_64.zip) into a folder of your choice, (not the Super Hornet installation folder). The Delta patcher tool is DeltaPatcher.exe. For the rest of these notes we will refer to a patching folder.

Obtain the F/A-18E Super Hornet xdelta patch and extract the contents into the patching folder.

Copy the F18.exe file from the Super Hornet installation folder into the patching folder.

The following files should be present in the patching folder:

DeltaPatcher.exe
F-18SH.xdelta
F18.exe

F18.rop
f18.tmp

Open the Delta Patcher app. Select the following (see screenshot):
- Original file: F18.exe
- XDelta patch: F-18SH.xdelta

Click Apply patch. The patch should be applied successfully (see screenshot).

Copy the following files from the patching folder into the Super Hornet installation folder, replacing files as required:

F18.exe

F18.rop

f18.tmp

Once complete the patching folder may be deleted if required.

FA-18E_SH_patch (optional)

Once the patch is obtained, extract the contents of the patch (F18loader.exe and F18patch.dll) into the Super Hornet installation folder.

Compatibility settings

The following files should be set to run as an administrator:

Config.exe
F18loader.exe (if FA-18E_SH_patch installed)

The following file should be set to run in compatibility mode for Windows XP (Service Pack 2):

F18.exe

Compatibility tools

None of the following compatibility tools were harmed in the making of this guide.

dgVoodoo2

The dgVoodoo2 wrapper is used to wrap DirectX components. The version used is dgVoodoo v2.87.1. It is available from the dgVoodoo2 GitHub releases. To install:

Download dgVoodoo2 (dgVoodoo2_87_1.zip) and extract to a new folder.

Copy the following dgVoodoo2 files to the Super Hornet installation folder. Note: the paths are not important you just need to add the files:

dgVoodooCpl.exe
MS\x86\D3D8.dll
MS\x86\D3D9.dll
MS\x86\D3DImm.dll
MS\x86\DDraw.dll

Download and extract the dgVoodoo.conf in the below zip file, to the Super Hornet installation folder.

In the DirectX section the dgVoodoo Watermark is turned on for testing purposes, once confirmed working it can be turned off.

The following screenshot shows the dgVoodoo2 settings:

DSOAL (optional)

DSOAL (DirectSound via OpenAL) is used to enable hardware accelerated 3D sound. Those wishing to use headphones may wish to experiment with settings in alsoft.ini to optimise sound. The latest version is used, DSOAL r692, available from DSOAL GitHub Releases.

The following files should be extracted from the zip/7z archive:

\DSOAL\Win32\dsoal-aldrv.dll
\DSOAL\Win32\dsound.dll
\DSOAL\Win32\alsoft.ini

Note: the file paths are not copied into the installation folder, just the files themselves.

Configuration

The configuration is set with the config utility (config.exe). The config is shown in the gallery below, with the following notes:

The config utility should be run as administrator.
It is recommended that the joystick setup be completed before running config to ensure controller options can be changed.

The config utility sets registry entries which can be found in the registry at: Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Digital Integration\F18 Super Hornet

It is recommended to experiment to optimize settings for your hardware.

Display

The hardware display adapter should be set to dgVoodoo DirectX Wrapper.

The recommended resolution is 1024 x 768.

Sound

The Use Hardware 3D Sound Hardware is unchecked as trying to use this option causes audio issues. However alternative hardware may be more compatible.

Controllers

The Throttle and Rudder may be selected or the Dual Throttle, but not both. You can not select Rudder and Dual Throttle. The JG profile should match the control scheme.