Falcon 3.0: Strategic FALCON

A guide to running Strategic FALCON with Falcon Gold in DOSBox Staging. Strategic FALCON takes the dynamic campaign of Falcon 3.0/Gold and provides a complete tactical and strategic management suite. It was created by Bill White and his company Flying Muffin Enterprises around May 1994.

Contents

• •Contents
• •A strategic overview
  • ◦Tactical features
  • ◦Strategic features
  • ◦Other features
• •Requirements
• •Strategy
• •Version and patch history
  • ◦Strategic FALCON Version 1.0
  • ◦Version 1.1 Update
  • ◦Version 1.11 Update
  • ◦Version 1.2 Update
  • ◦Version 1.21 Update
  • ◦Version 1.21a Update
  • ◦Version 1.22 Update
• •Documents
  • ◦Website
• •Preparation
  • ◦Game management
• •DOSBox
• •Installation
  • ◦Patching
  • ◦Clean up
  • ◦Running
• •Finally...

A strategic overview

The following description is taken from a Strategic FALCON advert included in the 305fix.exe release notes:

Tactical features

• Fly any allied aircraft in Falcon 3.0! Version 1.2 of StratFalc allows you to change the type of aircraft *you* fly--you can pilot, for example, A-10s for CAS runs, F-4s for SEAD, or B-52s for bombing! Although the cockpit will still look like an F-16, all external views of the aircraft and, especially, the aircraft's flight model will be that of the new plane!

  
  

• Add, remove, or alter F-16 flights, much like in Falcon 3.0 itself, with some important additions: Fuel remaining and Time to Waypoint are always displayed.

  
  

• Change the location of F-16 starting and ending waypoints (these are normally "locked" in Falcon itself).

  
  

• Add, remove, or alter Allied or Enemy flights.

  
  

• Change the types of aircraft for any flight in this mission (although your "personal plane" must always be an F-16).

  
  

• Change the waypoints of any flight, F-16, allied, or enemy involved in a mission.

  
  

• Change the temperament and skill levels of any allied or enemy pilot.

  
  

• Change the weapon loadout of any aircraft involved.

  
  

• Add or remove ground paths and ground units.

  
  

• Change the types, waypoints, and temperament of any ground units.

  
  

• Make ground columns more realistic; no more "kill me fast" in-line formations.

  
  

• Limit the number of killer SA-7s you face.

  
  

• View the mission description with the press of a key.

• Check mission timing with the "synchronized timing trace" feature, which shows with graphical/animated symbols where each flight in the mission will be in relation to each other!

  
  

• Swap your F-16 flight waypoints with those of any other F-16 flight--useful when you don't want to fly the lead mission.

  
  

• Load every plane correctly and automatically--up to 18 preset loadouts for each plane type!

Strategic features

• Change the occupation of any site, to instantly capture nodes or surrender them to the enemy.

  
  

• Change the current strength or capacity of any site.

  
  

• Change the rate of growth of any site.

  
  

• Change the quantity of specific unit types at a site (the site's "breakdown").

  
  

• Change the node structure for the theater. You can cut any site off from resupply.

  
  

• Change which nodes mean victory and which spell defeat.

  
  

• You can even fully randomize victory/defeat sites!

  
  

• Launch an automatic, coordinated ground attack against any site.

  
  

• Simulation Mode changes the way you play Falcon! Aircraft squadrons are assigned to bases, you can transfer at will, but your resources are limited! Three brigades await your orders, but if you screw up, they pay!

Other features

• Change the current weather and the altitude of the cloud cover. Also change the predicted weather.

  
  

• Change the home air base--you can fly a campaign from any allied-occupied strip.

  
  

• Place an ILS at any base.

  
  

• Change the current day and time.

  
  

• Change the resupply and replacement days and times.

  
  

• Change the campaign momentum, both macro and micro--turn the tide on the enemy.

• Learn to properly use the "Kill Boxes" which have always been present in Falcon 3.0.

• If you wish, all enemy-related information can be hidden from you by checking a single box.

  
  

• Run Falcon or any series of programs with the press of a key and automatically return to StratFalc when you're done.

Requirements

Strategic FALCON requires Falcon 3.0, any version from 3.01.1 through 3.05 or Falcon Gold (version 3.05). Strategic FALCON is not compatible with the MIG-29: Deadly Adversary of Falcon or Hornet: Naval Strike Fighter expansions.

Strategy

The most common and easily obtained version of Falcon will be Falcon Gold (equivalent to Falcon version 3.05), due to its distribution on digital platforms. Strategic FALCON remains compatible with version 3.05, so Strategic FALCON will be installed alongside Falcon Gold.

This will be a clean install of Strategic FALCON using the version 1.00 installer package before using an update patch to update it to the final version 1.22.

Version and patch history

The following is the version and patch history of Strategic FALCON taken from the various release notes, some distributed with the v1.22 release. Due to the rarity of Strategic FALCON and the update patches, any patch analysis is extremely limited.

Strategic FALCON Version 1.0

May 1994

Strategic FALCON version 1.0 was released around May 1994. The initial version was released on a single floppy disk but the actual media remains unknown with the distribution package size compatible with 5.25" 1.2MB High Density (HD) or 3.5" 720KB Double Density (DD)/1.44MB High Density (HD) floppy disks. This version of the utility was distributed with a physical manual. The release notes are shown below:

README.txt

Download TXT • 12KB

This installer package can be obtained from the Internet Archive.

Version 1.1 Update

October 1994

The first update was a substantial update, effectively introducing the strategic campaign management into the utility. The major updates in this release (taken from the release notes) included:

• Sim Mode! Strategic FALCON is now awash in strategy!

• Loadouts! No more overloaded planes!

• Speed limits will now be enforced!

• Updated for Falcon 3.05.

This version of the utility was distributed with an update manual. The release notes are shown below:

NEW!.TXT

Download TXT • 3KB

11_README.TXT

Download TXT • 102KB

Version 1.11 Update

November 1994

The Version 1.11 Update was primarily as a bug fix release for the Version 1.1 Update. However some additional capabilities were added (taken from the release notes):

• Adjusting SA-7s.

• Running a User Batch File.

111_README.TXT

Download TXT • 6KB

Version 1.2 Update

January 1995

The Version 1.2 Update was another substantial update introducing the ability to fly any allied aircraft. The major updates in this release (taken from the release notes) included:

• Fly any allied aircraft in FALCON 3.0!

• Compatibility with "Falcon Test Pilot".

• Better support for Allied Campaign COMMS mode.

• A new feature to make enemy column's layouts a little more realistic.

• The 3rd Brigade (Mech Infantry) in Sim Mode has gone Airborne.

12_README.TXT

Download TXT • 46KB

Version 1.21 Update

February 1995

The Version 1.21 Update occurred in February 1995, mainly as a bug fix release for Version 1.2, it also included the following additional enhancements (taken from the release notes):

• Select flight formations.

• Start enemy flights from airbases.

• Move the carrier.

• Alter pilot skills.

• Updated mission descriptions.

• Campaign day and time added.

• End-of-campaign hanging bugs.

• <TAB> key support in dialog boxes.

121_README.TXT

Download TXT • 16KB

Version 1.21a Update

March 1995

The Version 1.21a Update was a bug fix release for Version 1.21 which introduced new bugs. The two major issues that were identified and fixed (from the release notes) were:

• An "F-14" bug, where wingmen you assign to flights changed into F-14s.

• A new version of strtsprt.com (1.5) compatible with padlock.com (another mod).

121A_README.TXT

Download TXT • 2KB

This patch is available from:

• Internet Archive, Falcon 3.0 Strategic Falcon V 1.21 (zipped installation folder).

Version 1.22 Update

October 1995

The final Version 1.22 Update introduced a number of new features (taken from the release notes):

• Mission selection.

• Using the "Set Preferences..." Dialog.

• Override mission at 2300 hrs.

• "Air Tasking Orders" Dialog.

• F-14 and the Phoenix Missile.

• Email campaign support.

• Falcon 3.05, Windows 95, and MS-DOS 7.0 compatibility changes.

This was distributed as a cumulative patch including all the preceding patches as a download (sfall.exe) from the Flying Muffin Enterprises website. Later copies of the patch would be distributed as a zip archive (sfall.zip).

122_README.TXT

Download TXT • 17KB

This patch is available from:

• Internet Archive, Falcon 3.0 Strategic Falcon V 1.21 (zipped installation folder).

• Internet Archive, Strategic Falcon 1.22 Update Patch (installer package).

Documents

In addition to the release notes included with each update, the following Strategic FALCON documents are available digitally:

• Strategic FALCON manual (pdf download).

  • Internet Archive, Strategic FALCON 1994.

• Strategic FALCON Version 1.1 Update manual (pdf download).

  • Internet Archive, Strategic Falcon Version 1.1 Update Manual.

Both the manuals and release notes should be used together.

Website

The Strategic FALCON page remains available on the Flying Muffin Enterprises website courtesy of the Wayback Machine.

Preparation

This section covers the required preparation before installing Strategic FALCON under DOSBox. Due to the limited distribution available there is no need to rip any media to image files.

Game management

As Strategic FALCON sits alongside an existing Falcon Gold install, the game management folders used for Falcon Gold are supplemented with some additional folders for Strategic FALCON:

• docs - for Falcon Gold documents.

  • strat - subfolder for Strategic FALCON documents.

• patch - to store any Falcon Gold patches.

  • strat - subfolder for Strategic FALCON installer/patch.

The example game folder used in this guide is:

D:\Games\DOS\Falcon Gold

DOSBox

Strategic FALCON is compatible with the Falcon Gold DOSBox config described in the earlier article, Tech refresh 2026: Successful (DOSBox Staging) candidate part 1 (0-F). This config remains valid for DOSBox Staging v0.83.0.

However earlier versions of DOSBox or different varients may require the following change:

[dos]
ver = 6.22

Installation

Installation uses the Strategic FALCON v1.0 installer package and then updates it to v1.22 with the Strategic Falcon 1.22 Update Patch.

• Obtain the Strategic FALCON v1.0 installer package and extract the contents of the zip archive to a suitable DOSBox DOS folder, e.g.

Win 10/11:

D:\Games\DOS\Falocn Gold\hdd\sfinst

DOSBox:

C:\sfinst

• Optional, required for those using Falcon Gold. Strategic FALCON  v1.0 was created before Falcon Gold was released. During the install Strategic FALCON will ask for the Falcon 3.0 installation folder and attempt to locate the falcon3.exe file. This file does not exist in Falcon Gold having been renamed to falconcd.exe, so it must be changed (in DOSBox) with:

C:\FALCONCD> ren falconcd.exe falcon3.exe

• Run the Strategic FALCON installer from the sfinst folder with:

C:\SFINST> install.exe

• The default strat installation folder should be used.

Patching

• In Win10/11, obtain the Strategic FALCON v1.22 update and extract the contents of the zip archive into the strat installation folder.

• In DOSBox, run the self extracting executable file from the strat installation folder with:

C:\STRAT> sfall.exe

• In DOSBox, run the patching utility from the strat installation folder with:

C:\STRAT> stratpat.exe

• Optional, required for those using Falcon Gold. Strategic FALCON  v1.22 is compatible with Falcon Gold so the Falcon executable should be renamed to the original name with:

C:\FALCONCD> ren falcon3.exe falconcd.exe

Clean up

Once installed the following files can be removed from the Strategic FALCON default installation folder, strat:

dontrun.exe
vertad.exe

sf_all.rtp
sfall.exe

stratpat.exe

In Win10/11, the sfinst folder can be removed from the hdd folder.

Running

Strategic FALCON should always be run from the installation folder with the batch file (this is important and required):

C:\STRAT> strat.bat

If successful the startup menu page should be shown:

Strategic FALCON v1.22.

Finally...

Credit and thanks for their hard work and preservation actions go to:

• Bill White and Flying Muffin Enterprises for all the hard work which went into Strategic FALCON.

• thatnicedutchguy for uploading the manuals, archived update installation folders and the Strategic FALCON. installer package.

• Internet Archive for hosting all of the above.

Good hunting!