Falcon 4.0/Falcon 4.0: Allied Force part 1: A primer
- DarkenedRoom
- Aug 9, 2025
- 3 min read
Updated: Oct 12, 2025
This will be the first in a series of articles covering the 1998 MicroProse sim Falcon 4.0 and the 2005 Lead Pursuit sim, Falcon 4.0: Allied Force.
This first article is a primer detailing what will be covered in the following articles and providing some useful historical background to the sim.
History
Before discussing builds it's essential to have some understanding of the history or Falcon 4.0 and how each release fits into the overall history. The best resources for a history of Falcon 4.0 is the dedicated Falcon 4 history site, they do a better job than I ever could.
For a visual overview of the Falcon 4.0 history the graphical timeline of Falcon 4 development should be consulted. Within we see the development release, official patches, iBeta and Realism patches, eRazor patches branching from the v1.07 code, culminating in the merging and development of the Unified Team SuperPak's.
After SuperPak 3 the branches diverge again, with FreeFalcon, the initial BMS patches until BMS 2.03, ViperOps, which would soon become Falcon 4.0: Allied Force and laterly the SuperPak 4 release, which could later be integrated with BMS 2.0.
Later the branches would settle into three, FreeFalcon/RedViper, OpenFalcon and the continuing patching of Allied Force. FreeFalcon and OpenFalcon would be integrated into what became the present day BenchmarkSims Team with BMS 4.32. FreeFalcon and Allied Force would fall by the wayside leaving the BMS as the driving force in Falcon 4.0 development.
For a more in-depth discussion of the history of Falcon 4.0, The Falcon Epopee by SpyHawk, is highly recommended.
In case anyone is wondering 'Epopee' is a noun of French origin that means epic, particularly an epic poem or epic poetry. It can also refer to an adventurous and intrepid journey.
When discussing the history of Falcon 4.0, epic, poetic, adventurous and intrepid certainly seems an apt way of describing it!
Releases
As can be seen from the history, Falcon 4.0 has undergone a monumental change from it's first release. As the Benchmark Sims team pushes ever forward, making incredible developmental strides with Falcon 4.0, the 'retro' Falcon 4.0 versions risk being lost to time.
For that reason these articles exist, to go back and rebuild the simpler retro versions of Falcon 4.0 that once existed and allow them to be experienced once again.
There will be a series of articles on 'building' a number of Falcon 4.0 'releases' and getting them running well under Win10. Each release will mark a particular milestone in the Falcon 4.0 history allowing a release to be chosen, built and played under Win10.
Trying multiple releases
If you wish to try out different releases it is highly recommended to completely uninstall and clean the machine of any remnant of a previous release. A recommended app to do so is Revo Uninstaller Free.
If the advanced uninstall option is chosen, then after running the uninstall, Revo Uninstaller will analyze leftover registry entries and folders and give you the option to remove them.
For this reason, later articles will suggest placing downloads into a Falcon4-setup folder (for storage) and then copying them into the Falcon installation folder (for use).
If a complete clean up is not performed, then there is a risk of leftover registry entries affecting future release installations.
Further articles
The following articles will make up the rest of this Falcon 4.0 series. Hopefully these mark the major releases, developed by a huge number of individuals from around the globe and flown by many others.
Documentation
A wide variety of manuals covering a large number of Falcon 4.0 releases can be found on a flight sim pdf GitHub repository. The following releases have manuals within the repository:
Falcon 4.0 retail.
Realism Patch.
SuperPak 3/4.
BMS.
FreeFalcon.
OpenFalcon.
Falcon 4.0: Allied Force retail.
Credit and thanks to Trent Nelson for this resource.
A call to arms
These articles aim to be as comprehensive as possible. That may not be possible initially but the articles today can be amended, added to annd revised. So if there is a critical patch or enhancement missing, by all means get in touch, I'd be happy to add it to these articles.
Finally...
Credit and thanks for to SpyHawk for The Falcon Epopee. There are probably others that should be credited and thanked for the Falcon History site, so feel free to get in touch if you wish to be added to this article!
Good hunting!