Falcon 4.0 part 5: The Realism Patch release
- DarkenedRoom
- Aug 14
- 3 min read
Updated: Sep 6
A guide on creating a Falcon 4.0 Realism Patch v5.0 release. This release is based on the earlier iBeta release. Realism Patch v5.0 was the last in the Realism Patch series.
This guide will result in a release running natively under Win10, with Glide and TrackIR support.
Campaign movies will also play in-game.
History
The team that created the iBeta patches would go on to develop more comprehensive patches. These patches would be known as the Realism Patches. The first iBeta Realism Patch v1.0 would be released in February 2000. By November 2000 the iBeta team had morphed into the Realism Patch Group with the final Realism Patch v5.0 released by the group in August 2001.
Prerequisites
The prerequisites listed in the official and iBeta releases are also applicable to this release.
In addition you will require:
C:\Falcon4-setup\patches\realismStarting point
The starting point for this release is retail Falcon 4.0, patched with the last official patch to v1.08 and supplemented with the iBeta i2 patch. This is the build in The iBeta release article.
If you need to create an iBeta release you should follow the articles:
As the Realism Patch v5.0 uses the F4Patch utility, familiarity with F4Patch, as discussed in Understanding the F4Patch utility, is recommended.
Obtaining the Realism Patch v5.0
The patch can be obtained from the Internet Archive in the Falcon 4.0: iBeta and Realism Patch collection. You will want:
F4_RealismPatch_v50.zip.
F4_RP5_User_Manual.pdf.
It should be copied into C:\Falcon4-setup\patches\realism and extracted. This will extract the F4Patch installer, F4_RP_v50_Installer.exe and installation guide, F4_RP_v50_Install_ReadMe.pdf.
Applying Realism Patch v5.0
It is recommended to read the installation guide before attempting to install and if unfamiliar with the F4Patch utility, Understanding the F4Patch utility. The patch can be copied to the Falcon 4.0 installation folder (or an alternative) and run.
The patch may show the Falcon 4.0 executable as Falcon4_RP5.exe. The existing executable Falcon4_108i2.exe will be automatically found, patched and given this new name.
Clicking Apply Patch runs the first patching process which adds the essential realism patches. It should complete without any issues.
Optional patches
One of the patch highlights was improved 3d models. These cannot be installed until essential realism patches are installed first, so they can be installed now. In addition there are optional patches that can also be installed. The installation guide provides a wealth of information on these optional patches.
There is a choice of running the installer again, selecting the optional patches and applying them...
Or expanding the package and running the F4Patch utility directly. This may be preferable if you wish to experiment with further patches which aren't part of the Realism Patch installer.
Whatever you decide, the patching should complete successfully and without issue.
HOTAS configuration
This release continues to use the vJoy/Joystick Gremlin utilities as described in The official and iBeta releases. Axes configuration will be identical. If you have configured buttons, you may wish to change some for this release.
Wrapper configuration
This release continues to use both DxWrapper and nGlide wraappers as described in The official and iBeta releases. The configuration of both wrappers remains unchanged.
Video patching
Video patching remains unchanged from The official and iBeta releases.
TrackIR support
TrackIR support continues to be provided by the TIRF4 utility with the Yassy BMS profile being highly recommended, as discussed in The official and iBeta releases.
Running Falcon 4.0
With the change in executable the command to run Falcon 4.0 with TrackIR support becomes:
Falcon4_RP5.exe -headIn-game configuration
The configuration of in-game graphics and controller settings remains unchanged from The official and iBeta releases, although the video card is now listed as a Voodoo Banshee.
In additional there are alternative key commands supplied as part of the Realism Patch. They are accessible through the controller settings by clicking the Load button and selecting rp_keystrokes as shown below:
Documents and manuals
The Realism Patch v5.0 comes with the following documents and manuals:
F4_RP5_User_Manual.pdf
F4_RP_v50_Install_ReadMe.pdf
The user manual is comprehensive but should be used in conjunction with the original Falcon 4.0 manual. Falcon 4 history, has a manuals sections, including the:
Manual (both first and second editions).
Communications handbook (both first and second editions).
Theater map of Korea.
Example video
Finally...
Credit and thanks to the hundreds of individuals that have contributed skills and time to produce the game, patches and the utilities that let us run them!
Good hunting!