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Jane's F/A-18: Catching the Windows 10 wire


Jane's F/A-18 Simulator

A guide to running the Jane's Combat Simulations sim from 2000, F/A-18 Simulator. This sim will run natively under Win10 using either Direct3D or Glide emulation. This guide will cover a common method of installation, the specifics for Direct3D and Glide and finally some subjective compatibility improvements to reduce the risk of issues.


This guide will only cover setting up a 'vanilla' unmodified F/A-18. Comprehensive mods, e.g. Team Super Hornet (TSH) v4.0 are not covered in this setup guide.


Before continuing, a brief look at the installation strategy.


Strategy


This strategy uses the successful Glide installation method, while making changes to make it applicable to a Direct3D installation. Finally a number of library changes and upgrades are suggested to maximise compatibility.


This allows a simpler switching between Direct3D and Glide to find the optimum version for a particular hardware setup. The Strategy is as follows:



The following will also be covered:



Version and patch history


A Jane's F/A-18 patch collection was unable to be created on the Internet Archive, download locations are specified for each entry.


CD retail release


The initial CD release of Jane's Combat Simulations: F/A-18 Simulator occurred in early 2000. Distributed on a single CD-ROM by Electronic Arts. This release is v1.00.


It would be released under the EA Classics label. It's not known if this release was pre-patched with or included the v1.01 update.


The retail release was distributed with a 32-bit installer making it compatible with Win10.


F/A-18 v1.01F Update


The only official patch was the F/A-18 v1.01F Update, released in April 2000. It was a comprehensive patch, including bug fixes and enhancements. It requires installing but uses a 32-bit installer making it compatible with Win10. The patch readme file is included below:



This is a recommended patch which can be found at GameFront or Jane's F/A-18 Resource (bundled with the v1.01F no CD patch).


v1.01F no CD patch


An unofficial no cd patch was created for both v1.00 and v1.01F. The v1.01F No CD patch is a file replacement patch replacing the F18.exe file. It is available from Jane's F/A-18 Resource bundled with the F/A-18 v1.01F Update patch.


This is not a required patch to download, as it is included in the MyDxWnd fix utilities.


Wrappers


The following wrappers are used in this guide.


MyDxWnd


MyDxWnd is customised version (created by Vedmysh/XRAY) in November 2019, of DxWnd (developed by Gho). The changes have been built into the DxWnd code, so it is not upgraded with a later version.


MyDxWnd contains fixes for Jane's Longbow Anthology, F-15 & F/A-18 as well as fixes for the Digital Integration sims, Apache (Longbow), Hind & iF-16 (F-16 Fighting Falcon). For the purposes of this guide only F/A-18 will be considered. MyDxWnd comprises of two separate archives (both requiring 7zip):



Further information is available from Vedmysh's blog, 0xDEFACED.


dgVoodoo2


MyDxWnd includes an earlier version of dgVoodoo2. To enhance compatibility and incorporate any dgVoodoo2 fixes, the earlier version is replaced with the latest version, (v2.86.4 at time of writing) is used. This can be obtained from the dgVoodoo2 GitHub Releases.


nGlide


Required if the Glide graphics API is to be tried or used. This guide uses the latest version of nGlide, v2.10. It is available from Zeus Software at nGlide download.


DDrawCompat


Required if the Direct3D graphics API is to be tried or used. This guide uses the latest version of DDrawCompat, v0.7.0. This can be obtained from the DDrawCompat GitHub Releases.


Retail media


This guide assumes any physical cds will be ripped to an image file, to reduce wear and tear on media and drives. The retail version of F/A-18 does not contain cd audio and can be ripped to a data only .iso format.


At present there is no release of the game on digital platforms.


Game management


As a windows game running natively, the installation folder will be created by the F/A-18 installer. However some limited game management is still useful for files used in the F/A-18 setup.


The installation folder and setup files for F/A-18 and other Windows games can be found in the same folder (my own, as an example):

D:\Games\Win\<Game folders>
D:\Games\Win\Janes FA-18 Setup

The following setup folders are used:


  • backup - to store any wrapper configs when switching.

    • ddrawcompat - to backup the DDrawCompat config.

    • dgvoodoo2 - to backup the dgVoodoo2 config.

    • libs - to backup libraries.

  • cd - to store any cd images.

  • conf - to store any HOTAS profile configuration files.

  • docs - to store any useful documents, manuals, etc.

  • patch - to store a copy of recommended patches.

  • wrappers - to store wrapper installers.

    • mydxwnd - to store the mydxwnd framework.


When switching from one graphics API to another, the backup folders will be referenced.


HOTAS config


Joystick, throttle and rudder pedals are supported. Configuring axes may not be required if your HOTAS has 4 axes or less. When using devices totaling more than 4 axes, a virtual controller can be used, limited to 4 axes, as F/A-18 will automatically try to detect the HOTAS controller.


For those using controllers from multiple vendors, the vJoy/Joystick Gremlin combination may be required instead of vendor specific HOTAS profile software. You may also have to use HidHide as a device firewall, to hide your real controllers, so only the vJoy virtual controllers are detected by F/A-18.


The physical axes to Windows axes were configured as follows:

Physical axis

Windows axis

Joystick x-axis

DX_X_AXIS

Joystick y-axis

DX_Y_AXIS

Throttle

DX_Z_AXIS

Rudder

DX_ZROT_AXIS

Note: This config is identical to one used for Jane's F-15 but is repeated here for convenience.


Installation


The following steps set up up the MyDxWnd framework for both Direct3D and Glide.


Install the MyDxWnd folder framework


  • Download the MyDxWnd folder framework (mydxwnd.7z). Store in the game management folder \wrappers\mydxwnd, for reference.


  • Extract the contents of mydxwnd.7z archive to a drive. This should result in a top level folder, e.g.

D:\mydxwnd

Install the retail cd version of F/A-18


  • The F/A-18 installer, setup.exe should be run, as a 32-bit installer it is compatible with Win10.


  • The installer may suffer from an InstallShield wait chain issue. Once started the setup process is comprised of three sub-processes. One of these processes may be blocked by another unrelated process, until the setup process fails.


  • Each process should be examined in Task Manager. Under Go to details and Analyze wait chains. If there is an unrelated processes blocking the setup, it should be closed to allow setup to continue.


  • Additional background to this issue is covered in the earlier article, InstallShield freezing? It may be a Logitech issue. This covered a different game setup process blocked by different software.


  • As an example, one of the processes was blocked by EpicGameLauncher. Once this was closed the setup process continued. The blocking process may be different depending on what is installed on a machine.


  • The setup process will be delayed, but will start eventually.


  • The F/A-18 installation folder should be the MyDxWnd F/A-18 folder, e.g. 

D:\mydxwnd\f-18

  • During the install, a Full install should be selected.


  • The installer will recommend that DirectX should NOT be installed. When prompted choose No to skip installing DirectX.


  • The setup should complete normally.


Install the official patch


  • The official patch should be downloaded and stored in the game management folder \patch, for reference.


  • The patch contents should be extracted and the patch (f18upd01.exe) run. As a 32-bit installer it is compatible with Win10.


  • The patch setup should complete normally.


Install the MyDxWnd fix utilities


  • Download the MyDxWnd fix utilities (mydxwnd.fix.7z). Store in the game management folder \wrappers\mydxwnd, for reference.


  • Extract the contents of the MyDxWnd fix utilities to the MyDxWnd installation folder, when prompted, overwrite any files.


Run the MyDxWnd fix scripts


  • From within the MyDxWnd installation folder, run the genini.cmd script to create the DxWnd config.


  • From with the MyDxWnd installation folder, run the verify.cmd script.


  • If successful the below screenshot should be seen.


Apply compatibility settings


  • In the Properties for F18.exe the Change high DPI settings button opens the high DPI settings dialog which should be set as shown in the screenshot below.


  • The High DPI scaling override should be set to System, to prevent text scaling issues.



Disable Microsoft libraries


  • Older/earlier Microsoft libraries are included in the F/A-18 installation folder. These should be removed to revert to the standard Windows libraries which may be more compatible.


  • The following libraries should be moved (not copied) to a game management backup folder, \backup\libs:

MFC42.DLL
MSVCRT.DLL

Upgrade third party libraries


  • An older/earlier third party library is included in the F/A-18 installation folder. This should be replaced with a later library version, which may be more compatible.


  • The following libraries should be moved (not copied) to a game management backup folder, \backup\libs:

MSS32.DLL

  • An MSS library is available from this VOGONS post by DosFreak. Download Miles(use 7z as ext).zip and rename to Miles.7z.


  • Extract the contents of Miles.7z (with 7zip).


  • Copy the 32-bit library 6.0i-mss32.dll into the F/A-18 installation folder. This has been reported as working on Win10/11 with Jane's F-15.


  • Rename to mss32.dll.


Direct3D installation


This next section covers installing the wrapper to use Direct3D.


Disable dgVoodoo2


  • MyDxWnd installs an earlier version of the dgVoodoo2 wrapper which is not required for Direct3D. The dgVoodoo2 files should be moved (not copied) from the MyDxWnd F/A-18 installation folder, \mydxwnd\f-18 into the game management folder, \backup\dgvoodoo2.


  • The following files should be moved:

D3DImm.dll
DDraw.dll
dgVoodoo.conf
dgVoodooCpl.exe

Install DDrawCompat


  • DDrawCompat v0.7.0 should be download and stored in the game management folder \wrappers, for reference.


  • The contents of the archive should be extracted and the ddraw.dll file copied into the  MyDxWnd F/A-18 installation folder, \mydxwnd\f-18.


Configure DDrawCompat


  • The DDrawCompat config below should be copied in the game management folder \wrappers, for reference.


  • The contents of the archive should be extracted and copied into the MyDxWnd F/A-18 installation folder, \mydxwnd\f-18.



Glide installation


This next section covers installing wrappers to use Glide. Note: the nGlide settings are identical to those for Jane's F-15.


Install nGlide

nGlide settings
nGlide settings


  • Once installed the nGlide configurator is used to set the nGlide settings as shown in the screenshot.


Upgrade dgVoodoo2


  • dgVoodoo2 v2.86.4 should be downloaded and stored in the game management folder \wrappers, for reference.


  • The following files should be copied into the F/A-18 installation folder, overwriting any existing files:

\MS\x86\D3DImm.dll
\MS\x86\DDraw.dll
dgVoodooCpl.exe

  • The existing dgVoodoo2 config file, dgVoodoo.conf should remain unchanged.


Running with Direct3D


To run F/A-18 with Direct3D either:

  • Go to the MyDxWnd installation folder and run dxwnd.cmd to start DxWnd.

  • Once started run the FA-18 profile within DxWnd.


Or:

  • Run FA18.exe from the F/A-18 installation folder.


Note: Both method assume any HOTAS profiles, head tracking software, etc. has already been configured.


Note: Options menus are shown correctly when using Direct3D.


Issues


  • In the Jane's Reference section, the 3d models of the in-game vehicles and weapons are not shown.


Running with Glide


To run F/A-18 with Glide:

  • Go to the MyDxWnd installation folder and run dxwnd.cmd to start DxWnd.

  • Once started run the FA-18 profile within DxWnd.


Note: This method assumes any HOTAS profiles, head tracking software, etc. has already been configured.


Note: The 3d models of the Jane's Reference are shown with Glide.


Issues


  • Options menu pages will appear in a small top left section of the window and cannot be enlarged/moved.


Converting from Direct3D to Glide


This requires taking a backup of and disabling DDrawCompat and enabling dgVoodoo2. nGlide may require installing if not done so earlier.


  • The ddrawcompat files should be moved (not copied) from the MyDxWnd F/A-18 installation folder, \mydxwnd\f-18 into the game management folder, \backup\ddrawcompat.


  • The following files should be moved:

ddraw.dll
DDrawCompatOverlay-F18.ini


  • The dgVoodoo2 backup files should be copied from the game management folder, \backup\dgvoodoo2 into the MyDxWnd F/A-18 installation folder, \mydxwnd\f-18.



Converting from Glide to Direct3D



If a DDrawCompat backup exists:


  • The DDrawCompat backup files should be copied from the game management folder, \backup\ddrawcompat into the MyDxWnd F/A-18 installation folder, \mydxwnd\f-18.


If a DDrawCompat backup does not exist:




Head tracking


F/A-18 uses a similar mouselook mechanism in the virtual cockpit view as Jane's F-15. Similar methods can be used to enable head tracking as described in Jane's F-15 part 3: Adding head tracking.


The TrackIR mouse emulation method is shown below, in the first example video.


Example videos


F/A-18 in Win10 using Direct3D and TrackIR

F/A-18 in Win10 using Glide

Finally...


This is currently untested on Win11, if anyone tries it out, let me know if it works! Credit and huge thanks go to:


  • GamesFront and Jane's F/A-18 Resource for hosting the update patch.

  • Vedmysh/XRAY for the MyDxWnd framework.

  • Gho for DxWnd.

  • dege for dgVoodoo2.

  • Zeus for nGlide.

  • narzoul for DDrawCompat.


The DDrawCompat config file came from a forum post I have since lost track of. If anyone finds it, let me know so I can properly credit the creator.


Good hunting!

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