Falcon 4.0: Allied Force part 2: Official release
- DarkenedRoom
- Sep 8
- 5 min read
Updated: Sep 11
A guide to building the last officially patched release of Falcon 4.0: Allied Force (F4AF). This release will be built using a retail cd/cd image install.
In addition the configuration steps to run it under Win10 will also be covered.
Falcon 4.0: Allied Force is the first version to support widescreen resolutions natively, including both 16:9 and 16:10 aspect ratios. Native TrackIR support is included.
The controller support is less comprehensive than other releases of the time (BMS or FreeFalcon). There is a form of native controller support, requiring the physical axis to use, to be detected. Virtual controllers can also be used like earlier SuperPak or eFalcon releases.
History
Falcon 4.0: Allied Force was announced by Atari in April 2005. Developed by Lead Pursuit with an emphasis on stability, it was a convergence of the ViperOps development, itself an offshoot of SuperPak 3 and the MP series of multiplayer enhancements, again developed from SuperPak 3.
The retail release was v1.01 in June 2005, followed by a series of 12 patches, starting with v1.0.2 in August 2005 until the final patch v1.0.13 in January 2008.
For a far more detailed and accurate description, The Falcon Epopee is highly recommended.
Prerequisites
The folder prerequisites are listed below:
C:\f4af-setup\patches\official
C:\f4af-setup\patches\trackirRelease patches
The following patch is required to build this release:
Version 1.0.13 patch (falcon4af_patch_1.0.13.zip).
This can be found at the Internet Archive in Falcon 4.0 Allied Force: Official patch collection. This patch should be copied to C:\f4af-setup\patches\official and the executable extracted.
Starting point
This build is based on a simple Falcon 4.0: Allied Force cd installation. Installation should be from cd or cd image. The cd image can be a data only iso format as there is no cd audio on the retail cd.
Building
The following describes how to build this release:
Perform a full/complete install from cd or cd image. The installer (Setup.exe) can run under Win10 and complete successfully. If given the option, DirectX should NOT be installed.
Extract the contents of falcon4af_patch_1.0.13.zip and run the patch installer, Falcon4AF_patch_1.0.13.exe. The patch should run and complete successfully under Win10.
Install any optional mods, e.g. HiTiles for Allied Force.
HOTAS config
F4AF has native controller support which means it can use the controller devices present in Windows. For those with separate stick, throttle and rudder pedals, each axis for each device can be configured in game. This requires F4AF to detect when the axis is moved (see In-game config).
However, should F4AF fail to detect an axis then vendor profiling software can be used to create a virtual controller.
The vJoy/Joystick Gremlin combo is not recommended as the F4AF axis detection will not be able to determine whether the vJoy or native controller axis should be selected as both axis will register movement.
As a test, a TM TARGET profile was added, this may provide higher precision than the default precision provided by Windows, so may feel 'subjectively' better. The axes were configured as follows:
Physical axis | DX axis |
Stick x-axis | DX_X_AXIS |
Stick y-axis | DX_Y_AXIS |
Throttle | DX_Z_AXIS |
Throttle slider | DX_SLIDER_AXIS |
Rudder pedals | DX_ZROT_AXIS |
TrackIR Support
Native TrackIR support is included in F4AF. The TrackIR software provided by NaturalPoint should be run before running F4AF. There is no need for any 3rd party utilities to interface between the vendor TrackIR software and F4AF.
TrackIR comes with a selection of pre-configured profiles. However there are better profiles, one of the best and added to a later Falcon 4.0 BMS release, is the Yassy BMS profile.
The Yassy profile is available from the Falcon BMS forum in the TrackIR 4/5 BMS Profile by Yassy topic. The first message uses a Dropbox location, however there are multiple alternatives throughout the thread.
Download and store the profile in the C:\Falcon4-setup\patches\trackir folder.
This should then be copied to TrackIR profiles folder in Win10, which would normally be:
<drive>\Users<name>\Appdata\Roaming\Natural Point\TrackIR 5\Profiles
The next time TrackIR is started Yassy BMS should be an available profile. Falcon 4.0 should be configured to use this profile within the TrackIR software. Credit and Thanks to Yassy for an excellent TrackIR profile.
Wrapper config
This release runs perfectly well under Win10 and DirectX wrappers are not required, however the following is an optional DirectX wrapper to improve visuals.
dgVoodoo2 config
dgVoodoo2 can be used to increase antialiasing and scale to a higher resolution. The following dgVoodoo2 config shows this:
In the GenneralExt tab the System hooks has the Cursor option checked to prevent multiple mouse pointers appearing in game. The config can be downloaded below:
Running
The command to run F4AF is:
FalconAF.exeIn-game config
The following is brief look at some of the most noteworthy config options for running under Win10.
Graphics options
The graphics options for F4AF are all located on a single page.
When using the dgVoodoo2 wrapper, this is the only graphics driver/card option.
The resolution is set to the highest widescreen resolution 1920x1080.
All graphics sliders are set to the maximum.
All graphics options are enabled.
Controller options
All the controller options are set on a single page.
This is an example of native controller with axes from separate joystick, throttle and rudder pedals all set through this screen.
Additional axes, like the throttle slider axis can be set here.
Using Track IR within the 2D cockpit is also set here.
Documentation
A vast wealth of documentation is included with this release including:
Full size Falcon 4.0 Allied Force manual in PDF format.
Addendum manual with version 1.08 changes.
FAC Addendum manual.
Flight Lineup form for printing.
Controller manual.
Keyboard commands Reference Card.
Keyboard layout for a variety of keyboard layouts.
These manuals can be found in the docs folder of the F4AF installation folder.
In the Falcon 4.0 Allied Force: Official patch collection on the Internet Archive the following documents are available:
Key map for Battlefield Operations.
Ramp start guide.
As F4AF is based on SuperPak 3, the manuals that are recommended to be read in conjunction with the SuperPak 3 manual may also be of interest:
Realism Patch v5 manual, for the guiding principles and design decisions forming the basis of SuperPak (and F4AF).
These manuals are available from Falcon 4 History.
Example video
Finally...
Credit and thanks go to the Lead Pursuit development team for Falcon 4.0: Allied Force, the MP dev team for the MP series of patches and the F4 Unified Team for the SuperPaks on which both of these are based.
Good hunting!
Comments