Falcon 4.0 part 4: Understanding the F4Patch utility
- DarkenedRoom
- Aug 12
- 6 min read
Before continuing on with more releases, it's time to take a look at the ubiquitous F4Patch utility. Due to it's clever ways of working it soon became the de facto method of releasing patches by the community. It was created by Joel Bierling in May 2000.
The main reason for this article is that there are many old articles which explain the steps to take to produce a particular build of Falcon 4.0, but don't explain how the F4Patch works or the options available.
This article is aimed at helping you understand the F4Patch utility, so instead of having to rely on a set of steps, you'll understand the options open to you and in combination with a patch readme, understand the options in applying the patch.
History
In the Falcon 4.0 timeline, the F4Patch was introduced in May 2000 and would continue to form part of the Falcon 4.0 ecosphere until version 5.0 in February 2004.
For more details on a history of the F4Patch utility, chapter 4 of The Falcon Epopee is recommended.
Modes of operation
The single most important thing to realize is that the F4Patch utility can function in two modes:
A packaged One Click Installer (OCI) mode.
An expanded/exploded mode.
When installing a patch you may find yourself using one or both of these modes multiple times depending on the complexity of the patch or the number of different patch packages you wish to install.
One Click Installer (OCI) mode
In the One Click Installer (OCI) mode the F4Patch utility, F4Patch.exe in combination with a set of patches is packaged together as a one click installer app, e.g. the Realism Patch v5.0 is distributed as the OCI, F4_RP_v50_Installer.exe.
When the installer is run, F4Patch is started and you can apply the essential/required patches that make up the Realism Patch v5.0. Once complete Falcon 4.0 is patched to Realism Patch v5.0.
Adding more patches
The Realism Patch installer also contains a number of optional patches. What do we do if we want to install one of those?
We can simply rerun the OCI again, but instead of selecting 'Apply patch' (it's already been applied) we can select Advanced and see the patches installed and those that aren't installed. The required patches can be selected and then applied.
Pretty straight-forward so far, but what do we do if the patch we want to install is packaged inside it's own one click installer? This is when we use the expanded/exploded mode.
Expanded/exploded mode
In expanded/exploded mode the OCI installer is expanded/exploded out into two components:
The F4Patch utility, F4Patch.exe.
An F4Patch folder containing all of the patches in the installer.
To expand/explode a package:
Select the Advanced option.
Select File and Expand Package.
The first time you expand a package, you'll be asked :
Note: it's often suggested to run the OCI from the Falcon 4.0 installation folder. This will put the F4Patch.exe and F4Patch folder in the Falcon 4.0 installation folder. You don't have to and can create a separate folder sitting alongside your installation folder, or elsewhere, if preferred.
Whichever folder you ran the OCI from, you should now see the OCI, the F4Patch.exe file and the F4Patch folder. You can remove the OCI or move it to another folder for safe-keeping.
Adding more patches
Now the OCI package is expanded we can run F4Patch.exe directly and add any of the patches in the F4Patch folder. In fact once expanded this is the preferred method to use.
But back to the previous question, what if the patch we want is in it's own OCI package? E.g. a cockpit patch in it's own cockpit OCI installer package. Now that we know about this second mode of operation, we can run the cockpit OCI installer and select the Expand Package option.
When we do this we'll see an addition question:
This second question asks if the F4Patch folder should be replaced. If we answered Yes the F4Patch folder would be replaced and only contain the cockpit patches from the cockpit OCI installer.
In these cases we want to answer No. We wish to keep the existing Realism patches and add the cockpit patches to them in the F4Patch folder.
The third question is one we've already seen before, telling us where the F4Patch.exe is and asking if we'd like a desktop shortcut.
Now we have all the patches in one F4Patch folder, we can run F4Patch.exe and select our new cockpit patches to apply.
We can continue to expand additional OCI installers, adding their patches to our existing F4Patch folder each time, before applying them with F4Patch.exe.
A Realism Patch v5.0 example
This is an example of installing the Realism Patch v5.0 over an existing iBeta i2 release. The Realism Patch v5.0 is distributed as an F4Patch OCI package.
Installing Realism Patch v5.0
After downloading and extracting the archive we have:
Installation instructions, (F4_RP_v50_Install_ReadMe.pdf)
The F4 Realism Patch v5.0 OCI installer, (F4_RP_v50_Installer.exe)
We can copy the F4_RP_v50_Installer.exe into the Falcon 4.0 installation folder and run it, in OCI mode.
The OCI installer will create Falcon4_RP5.exe and will automatically find the existing Falcon4_108i2.exe.
Then all we have to do is is click Apply Patch and it's installed! we can now run Falcon4_RP5.exe to experience the Realism Patch v5.0.
Adding 3d models
The 3d models aren't considered essential patches and rely on the Realism Patch already being applied. Since this has just been done we could:
Run the OCI installer again.
Select the Advanced option.
Select the 3d model patches, paying attention to what the installation guide, F4_RP_v50_Install_ReadMe.pdf has told us.
Apply the 3d model patches and we'd be done!
However this is an example, so we'll use the expanded package method.
Expanding the F4Patch installer
To use the expanded mode to install the 3d models:
Run the OCI installer again.
Select the Advanced option.
Select the Expand package option.
You should know how to answer the questions now:
Yes to continue.
No, if an existing F4Patch folder is found.
And the shortcut is your choice.
Now we can run F4Patch directly.
It's just a case of expanding the Realism Patch v5.0.
And selecting the 3D Models Parent Patch.
And any other patches which look appealing, like the Memory Leak sealed patch.
And finally select Apply Change.
We have now created a fully patched Realism Patch v5.0 release.
Filters and their use
Within F4Patch you may have noticed the filter options. Filters allowed the list of applied patches to be saved. The filter can be loaded at later date to preselect patches to apply.
Filters were sometimes used by the members of Virtual Fighter Wings (VFW's) to ensure each member would be using exactly the same patches, to increase robustness of Falcon 4.0 during any multiplayer missions.
They can also be used to record the list of patches you are using when everything is set up 'just right'. If trying out a new patch goes horribly wrong then you can reload your filter and get back to your preferred release.
Note: that with some complex patches like Realism Patch v5.0, the installation process may require running F4Patch multiple times, so keep that in mind.
Various versions
On your search for patches you may find copies of F4Patch using this naming convention (very roughly):
F4Patchx.x_<patch collection>.exe or .zipSo taking a hypothetical example:
F4Patch4.1_RP5.exeIndicates this is F4Patch v4.1 packaged with the Realism patch v5.0. While:
F4Patch_Standard_32_i2.exeIs an OCI installer using F4Patch v3.2 with a standard set of patches suitable for an iBeta i2 release. As you can see the naming does vary, but you get the idea of what's included.
Non-compliant patches/mods
Not all patches you may find will be F4Patch compliant. Many early and some quite late patches are distributed as zip files which must be extracted replacing files, or entire folders in your Falcon 4.0 installation folders.
When encountering these patches, follow the enclosed installation instructions, paying particular attention, if it should be installed before or after using F4Patch.
Finally...
Hopefully after reading this article you'll feel a bit more confident in patching Falcon 4.0 with F4Patch.
Good hunting! (for patches)
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