Falcon 4.0 part 8: The SuperPak MP release

Based on a SuperPak release

The MP project aims were to improve and rework the network components of Falcon 4.0. The result was not a full release in its own right like eFalcon or the SuperPak releases but a modification to an existing SuperPak release, replacing the Falcon 4.0 executable and a number of the comms components.

This seems to have been a relatively minor offshoot from SuperPak 3 and it's unlikely this release would see much use today. However, it is part of the Falcon 4.0 history and to prevent it disappearing into obscurity and being lost to time, this article exists.

MP history

History

Created by William Mulvihill, the first version, MP 2 was released in early October 2003, with the final version MP 5.1 being released in late November 2003. The MP updates would eventually be incorporated into Falcon 4.0: Allied Force.

For a more detailed history The Falcon Epopee is highly recommended.

Prerequisites

The SuperPak 4.2 prerequisites are required and the following additional setup folder:

C:\Falcon4-setup\patches\mp51

Release patches

The SuperPak 4.2 release patch is required and in addition:

• The MP 5.1 patch (FalconSP_MP5-1.zip)

This can be found at the Internet Archive in Falcon 4.0: SuperPak patch collection. This patch should be copied to C:\Falcon4-setup\patches\mp51 and the contents extracted.

Starting point

The starting point for building this release is a complete SuperPak 4.2 release. SuperPak 4.2 has support for integrating this patch into the release, in the FalconSP config editor.

Building

Building SuperPak 4.2, is the first step. Once that is complete, the following steps should be followed:

• Optionally, backup/rename/move or remove the existing FalconSP executable (FalconSP.exe).

• Copy all files and folder extracted from the MP 5.1 patch into the Falcon installation folder, overwriting existing files when requested.

• Open the FalconSP config editor (falconsp config editor.exe).

• Go to (SP) FalconSP and Settings Multiplayer. Select the MP5.1.exe patch, as shown in the screenshot.

Selecting the MP5.1.exe patch. Note the new executable.

• Click on Ok to dismiss the dialog box and Apply Changes to apply the patch.

• This will create a new executable (falconsp_mp5-1.exe). Use the Browse... button to select this as the executable to use, as shown in the screenshot above.

• Click on the Refresh Patches button and Exit the config editor.

This completes the release build.

Further configuration

The rest of the configurations options are identical to those for SuperPak 4.2 including. You may have already completed these steps when building the SuperPak 4.2 release:

• HOTAS config.

• Graphics config.

• Video patching.

• Track IR Support.

• In-game config.

Running

With the change in executable the command to run Falcon 4.0 with TrackIR support becomes:

falconsp_mp5-1.exe -head

In addition the graphics can be enhanced with the -g command line option, e.g.

falconsp_mp5-1.exe -head -g4

Although this may incur a performance overhead depending on your machine.

Documentation

The same documents listed for SuperPak 4.2 should be used, including the ramp start utility.

Finally...

Credit and thanks to William Mulvihill for the MP multiplayer updates.