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A guide to running the (maybe not so well known) DOS sim, Heroes of the 357th in DOSBox Staging. Heroes is a WWII sim of the P-51 Mustang based from England with missions taking place over France and Germany. Published by Electronic Arts in 1992 and developed by Midnight Software, Inc. Originally released on both 1 x High Density 1.2MB 5.25" and 2 x Double Density 720KB 3.5" floppy disks, later released would be distributed on a single cd-rom. Not the most known or well loved sim it's generally considered middling but may still be worth a look for nostalgic purposes. The recommended version is the cd-rom release. Media Due to the age or the media and the drives required to read the media, it is recommended to rip both floppy and cd-rom media to image files, to save wear and tear on media and the mechanical drives. Floppy disks can be ripped to an .ima or .img image format. The cd-rom can be ripped to a data only .iso image format. HOTAS config Heroes only supports a joystick, however the below config includes throttle and rudder pedals to prevent the other peripherals from being incorrectly used by DOSBox and to allow keys to be mapped to the throttle. This is only required if the HOTAS has more than 4 axes and should be set through the DOSBox mapper or HOTAS profiling software. The config is shown below: Physical axis Windows axis Joystick x-axis DX_X_AXIS Joystick y-axis DX_Y_AXIS Throttle NONE Rudder NONE Game management Takeoff cutscene I recommend using my DOSBox game management  strategy. The recommended game management folders are: cd - to store the cd image. conf - to store any DOSBox or HOTAS configuration files. docs - to store any documents. fdd - to store any floppy images. hdd - the folder use as the emulated DOSBox hard disk. DOSBox Config This DOSBox Staging config for Heroes assumes the latest version (at time of writing), v0.82.1 will be used. The changes to the default config are shown below: [sdl] host_rate = vrr vsync = off presentation_mode = vfr [dosbox] dos_rate = 1000 [cpu] core = simple cpu_cycles = 4000 cycleup = 100 cycledown = 100 [voodoo] voodoo = false [mixer] reverb = large chorus = normmal [joystick] joysticktype = 2axis timed = false swap34 = true deadzone = 0 [autoexec] mount c "D:\Games\Dos\Heroes of the 357th\hdd" imgmount d "D:\Games\Dos\Heroes of the 357th\cd\Heroes.iso" -t cdrom imgmount a "D:\Games\Dos\Heroes of the 357th\fdd\*.img" -t floppy c: # cd p51 # p51 vga j adlib hi music sound # exit The [sdl] and [dosbox] settings are suitable for high frame rate gaming as described in this article  by Omniclyde. The mouse iss left as the game doesn't use the mouse. These settings aren't strictly required and can be omitted to use the default settings. In [cpu] settings, a core of simple is optimised for older real mode games. 4000 cycles is recommended but you may wish to change this, depending on personal preference or host pc. Cycles up/down is set to a suitably small increment. Voodoo emulation isn't required and can be disabled. The [mixer] settings can be changed to enhance sound and music to personal preference. Heroes only supports an AdLib (Sound Blaster compatible) device for music and sound, so MIDI options aren't used or needed and the default Sound Blaster settings are appropriate. There are example imgmount and mount commands to add floppy disk or cd images and the emulated hard disk folder. As there may be multiple multiple floppy disk images the * wildcard is used. The disabled commands can be enabled once installation is complete. Installation Installation differs between the cd-rom and floppy versions. CD Image CD-rom installer Installation should be performed from within DOSBox. For the cd-rom version, the installer app ( install.exe ) should be run. The installation steps are: Select an installation drive, the default c: is appropriate. Select an installation directory, the default c:\p51 is appropriate. There are instructions for running the game. A text version of the manual is displayed. Note: there are no graphics or sound/music options to choose. Floppy Image(s) There is no installer for the floppy version of the game. The game may have been ripped to one or two floppy images. To install from a single floppy image: Create an installation folder ( c:\p51 ). Copy p51.bat and heroes.exe from the floppy image into the installation folder. Run heroes.exe to extract the game files. To install from multiple floppy images: Create an installation folder ( c:\p51 ) Copy p51.bat and heroes1.exe from the first floppy image into the installation folder. Copy heroes2.exe from the second floppy image into the installation folder. Run heroes1.exe to extract the game files. Run heroes2.exe to extract the rest of the game files. Note:  there are no graphics or sound/music options to choose. Running & configuration The game is run by calling p51.exe or p51.bat. In the DOSBox Staging config, p51 is called with arguments: p51 vga j adlib hi music sound The supported arguments are listed below: ega Loads game with EGA graphics. vga Loads game with VGA graphics. j Loads game with joystick flight control. k Loads game with keyboard flight control. lo Loads game in low graphics detail mode. med Loads game in medium graphics detail mode. hi Loads game in high graphics detail mode. sound Loads game with sound on. nosound Loads game with music on and sound off. pc Loads game with PC internal speaker sounds. adlib Loads game with AdLib sound card sounds. tandy Loads game with Tandy sound (VGA required) quiet Loads game with neither music nor sound. music Loads game with music on. nomusic Loads game with music turned off. Options menu In-game configuration During a mission, ' o ' will bring up an options menu as shown in the screenshot. Options are left as a personal preference. Documents The cd-rom release has a copy of the manual as a text file ( heros357.txt ). However a digital version of the manual can be found in pdf format and is recommended due to the included screenshots. The reference card can be found on MobyGames . Good hunting!

A guide to running Jane's Longbow 2 and Jane's Longbow Anthology under PCem emulation. Longbow 2/Anthology will be run on an emulated Windows 98 Second Edition (Win98SE) virtual machine. This guide will cover: The hardware settings to use in PCem emulation. The preferred Win98SE drivers to use. Software installation. Longbow 2/Anthology configuration. Optional HOTAS setup. Optional TrackIR setup. Testing. Last update: 15 June 2025. Strategy This emulation strategy is based on a known issue which has plagued Longbow 2 and Anthology since shortly after release, the rocket attacks which always seem to fall short of the target. This was identified as being due to the speed or the hardware the sim was being run on, at the time a situation which has only worsened as hardware became more powerful. For this reason and in conjunction with testing the recommended hardware to emulate has been specified to be lower than may be expected. At present it is believed the issue is affected by both the host machine running the emulator and the virtual machine being emulated. For reference my host machine specs (at time of writing) are:: Processor: Intel i7-7700K @ 4.2GHz Mainboard: Asus Prime Z270-P Memory: 64GB DDR4 (4 x 16GB) @ 3.2Ghz, XMP enabled Graphics: Nvidia RTX 3060 The precise spec to use will depend on the host machine and the results of testing. It is recommended to use a CPU in the range, Pentium 150 - 200Mhz, Pentium MMX 150-233Mhz or Mobile Pentium MMX 150-300Mhz. The FIC VA-503+ allows for this large range of processor speeds. PCem emulator & virtual machine This guide assumes the latest version of the PCem emulator v17 will be used. It is available from the PCem website . Where a particular setting is missing, the default setting is assumed to be used. The recommended virtual machine specs are as follows: Machine Machine: [Super 7] FIC VA-503+ CPU: Intel Pentium MMX 166 Memory: 256MB Synchronise time to host clock: enabled Update : There has been some promising testing with rocket effectiveness, using the following CPU settings: CPU: IDT WinChip 200 Display Device: S3 ViRGE/DX Memory size: 4MB Bilinear filtering: enabled Dithering: enabled Speed: Fast VLB/PCI Voodoo Graphics: enabled Voodoo type: Voodoo Graphics Framebuffer memory size: 4MB Texture memory size: 4MB Bilinear filtering: enabled Screen filter: disabled Render threads: 4 SLI: disabled Recompiler: enabled Sound Device: Sound Blaster 16 OPL emulator: NukedOPL All other settings remain default Disks & drives HDD: [IDE] Standard IDE FDD1: 3.5" 1.44M CD Model: PCemCD CD Speed: 32X Select a new hard disk Image Format: Dynamic-size VHD (.vhd) New File: choose a suitable file name Size (MB): 4000 Cylinders, Heads and Sectors will be configured once Size is chosen Block size: Large blocks (2 MB) Mouse Mouse: Microsoft Intellimouse (PS/2) Joystick Discussed later, see HOTAS config . Creating the virtual machine The virtual machine will be using Windows 98 Second Edition (Win98SE). Before creating the virtual machine it may be useful to take a look at the excellent YouTube tutorial video by PhilsComputerLab, PCem Windows 98 Setup . Even though it covers an alternative PCem virtual machine the steps for configuring the bios and installing Win98SE will be identical. The virtual machine bios should be configured to boot from the CD-ROM first and then the C drive. As usual all credit for the excellent YouTube tutorial and PhilsComputerLab  website should go to Phil. Windows 98 Second Edition You will need to obtain the OEM full edition which allows the PC to be booted from the CD-ROM. By following the advice provided by PhilsComputerLab and the YouTube video,   PCem Windows 98 Setup  you should end up with a clean Win98SE installation. Device drivers Now it's time to optimise the hardware using appropriate hardware device drivers, installed in the order below, for the following devices: VIA chipset Sound Blaster 16 3Dfx Voodoo Accelerator DirectX7 AmnHLT software It's worth remembering Win98SE does not include support for opening zip files. So it is recommended to do this with Win10/11 by following the steps: Download copies of the device drivers. Extract each zip file on your Win10/11 machine, into a separate folder. Shutdown the virtual machine if it is running. Mount the virtual hard disk in Win10/11 by opening the vhd hard disk file (created earlier when configuring the virtual machine in 86Box Manager). Copy the folders containing the device driver and any downloaded executable (.exe) files containing device drivers, onto the mounted virtual hard disk. I would recommend copying into the 'My Documents' folder on the virtual hard disk. Eject the virtual hard disk, unmounting it from Win10/11, otherwise you won't be able to start Win98SE on the virtual machine. Start up the virtual machine and once Win98SE has started, begin installing the device drivers. VIA chipset drivers The VIA chipset drivers for the FIC VA-503+ motherboard can be found on The Retro Web website. The VIA 4in1 Chipset Driver v4.43V supports Windows 2000/9x/NT4/XP ( via-4in1-443v.zip ). As the drivers are distributed as a zip file, it should be extracted in Win10/11 first before being copied to the virtual hard disk. The executable file ( 4in1443v.exe ) should be run to install the drivers. Sound Blaster 16 drivers The Sound Blaster 16/AWE32 Driver Update for Win98  can be found on the VOGONS Vintage Driver Library. As the drivers are distributed as a zip file, it should be extracted in Win10/11 first before being copied to the virtual hard disk. This distribution includes an installer app ( upddrv95.exe ) which will install the drivers. With some Voodoo cards/drivers the texture behind the tower struts won't be visible. 3Dfx Voodoo Accelerator drivers The Voodoo Accelerator drivers  can be found on the PhilsComputerLab website. The specific drivers are the May 1999 - Latest Reference drivers ( voodoo_graphics_driver_kit_version_3.01.00.zip ) As the drivers are distributed as a zip file, it should be extracted in Win10/11 first before being copied to the virtual hard disk. Win98SE may have already installed 3Dfx Voodoo drivers, but they should be replaced by this version. You will have to open the Voodoo device in Device Manager and upgrade the drivers. DirectX7 The DirectX7 drivers can be found on the PhilsComputerLab website ( directx7.zip ). As the drivers are distributed as a zip file, it should be extracted in Win10/11 first before being copied to the virtual hard disk. This distribution includes an installer app ( 7.0_directx7.exe ) which will install the drivers. AmnHLT driver There is an additional virtual device driver that can be installed to increase the performance of the 86Box emulator. Quoting the VOGONS post  by Jo22: AmnHLT is a third-party VxD that issues a HLT (halt) instruction to the CPU whenever Windows 9x is idle. It's meant to avoid a 100% processor usage in VMs - and emulators. HLT is supported by late 486 processors and higher. It can be obtained from the VOGONS post  by SA1988. AmnHLT.7z  is a 7zip  archive. Only the amnrefr.vxd  file is required from the archive. The following installation instructions were provided in a VOGONS post  by 0x6A7232: In Win98SE, open regedit. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VxD . Create a key named AmnHLT . Create a binary value named Start  with a value of 00  inside the AmnHLT key. Create a string value named StaticVxD  with a string of AMNREFR.VXD  inside the AmnHLT key. Shutdown the operating system and close the emulator. Copy amnrefr.vxd  driver into the C:\Windows\System  folder of the virtual hard disk. Start the Win98SE virtual machine. Credit and thanks go to VOGONS members Jo22, SA1988 and 0x6A7232. Preserving the virtual machine At this point we have a clean Win98SE virtual machine (VM) using optimised device drivers. It is recommended to take a copy of the PCem VM configuration and the virtual hard disk (vhd) file. This provides a clean VM you can use to try out with other 3Dfx/Glide games that struggle to run natively in Win10 with Glide/DX wrappers, without having to repeat the above to create the VM. Longbow 2/Anthology media This guide assumes that physical cds will be ripped to cd images to save wear and tear on discs and drives. Longbow 2 uses 2 cds, while Anthology uses 4 cds, cds 1 & 2 being Longbow Gold while cds 3 & 4 are Longbow 2. Neither version uses cd audio so all discs can be ripped to a data only iso format. Longbow 2/Anthology installation Longbow 2 No place like home! A Longbow 2 installation should be a straightforward process. The first cd image should be mounted in PCem. If the cd does not autorun then the installer app ( setup.exe ) should be run. During the installation the default installation folder should be used ( C:\Janes\Longbow2 ). Either casual or expert play can be chosen as this option can be changed in-game. When asked about graphics, high details graphics and textures should be chosen. When asked about DirectX installation, this should be skipped as a later version of DirectX has already been installed. Longbow Anthology A Longbow Anthology installation should be a straightforward process. The first cd image should be mounted in Pcem as it contains the installer app for both Longbow Gold and Longbow 2 (setup.exe). If the cd does not autorun the installer app can be started manually. During the installation the default installation folder should be used ( C:\JANES\LBA\Longbow2 ). A custom install should be chosen to install Longbow 2 only. In addition to Longbow 2 the Longbow help files can also be chosen if you wish to have access to digital pdf copies of the manuals. Either casual or expert play can be chosen as this option can be changed in-game. When asked about graphics, high details graphics and textures should be chosen. When asked about DirectX installation, this should be skipped as a later version of DirectX has already been installed. Longbow 2 patches Only Longbow 2 requires patching as Anthology already has the two recommended patches applied. There are two recommended patches for Longbow 2, the v2.09 patch and the Display Driver Update (DDU) patch. Both patches can be found at GameFront . The Display Driver Update Beta patch is not recommended having been updated by the full DDU patch. v2.09 patch Released on 5 August 1998, the patch readme states: This patch fixes (among other things) known bugs such as the autopilot occasionally disengaging, hat issues with some joysticks and includes a filter to remove some harsh language in the game. This patch also includes support to play Longbow 2 on Janes combat.net. This patch should be extracted and then installed on the Win98SE virtual machine. Display Driver Update (DDU) patch The DDU patch introduces support for a number of additional 3d accelerator chipsets. From the readme: This is a display driver update to allow Longbow 2 to run 3D accelerated on 3D accelerator cards using the following chipsets: Riva 128, Rendition Verite V2100 and V2200, TI/3D Labs, Permedia 2, Intel i740, Matrox G200 This patch should be extracted and then installed on the Win98SE virtual machine. During the installation you will be asked to specify a chipset. After installation the config app ( lb2cfg.exe ) should be run to reselect the 3Dfx Glide option. Additional software If you want to read the digital copies of the manuals from with the PCem emulator, it is recommended to install Foxit Reader 2.3.3309 . This version is compatible with Win98SE despite the download page saying otherwise. The installer requires copying onto the Win98SE virtual machine and running, ( 2.3.3309_FoxitReader23_3309_setup.exe ). Longbow 2/Anthology fixes The following fixes can be applied to improve the stability and add Quality of Life (QoL) improvements. These fixes were originally found for the Jane's Longbow and Longbow 2 but are equally applicable to Anthology. Memory fixes For machine with large amounts of memory, this can trigger a spurious out of memory errors. To prevent the following lines should be added to the ca.ini config file in the Longbow 2/Anthology installation folder: [Backdoors] HEAP_PERCENT=0 If you wish to try the DirectX version of Anthology, this should be changed to: [Backdoors] HEAP_PERCENT=70 CD emulation The developers of Longbow, left in a functional cd emulation facility. This is a very useful facility as it saves you having to swap physical cd or cd images in PCem. To use it, copy the contents of each cd to a folder on the PCem virtual machine. Then create a file CDEmu.ini in the Longbow installation folder and within the file, specify the folder used for each cd. An example CDEmu.ini for Longbow 2 may look like this: [CDEmulate] CD001=C:\Janes\Lb2cd1 CD002=C:\Janes\Lb2cd2 Longbow Anthology only has two Longbow 2 cds, the third and fourth cds are Longbow 2, so the CDEmu.ini file only requires two entries. An example CDEmu.ini may look like: [CDEmulate] CD001=C:\Janes\Lbacd3 CD002=C:\Janes\Lbacd4 This was originally found by VOGONS member Marty2dos in the post, ' Janes AH-64D Longbow 1 & 2 without CD inc Memory Fix (Windows) '. So many thanks to Marty2dos. Finishing touches The following are some optional finishing touches you may wish to try. The graphics card control panels used by Nvidia or AMD cards can be configured on a per application/game basis. A profile can be created for the PCem app but in order to keep the settings specific to Longbow 2/Anthology, I took a copy of pcem.exe and renamed it to pcem-lb2.exe (or whatever name you prefer). I was then able to use the Nvidia Control Panel (as I have an Nvidia card) to create a profile for pcem-lb2.exe. Within the profile anisotropic filtering and anti-aliasing were enabled. HOTAS Config The  Controllers and retro sims part 5: PCem  guide covers installing HOTAS controllers in PCem. The physical axes were mapped as shown: Physical axis Windows axis Joystick x-axis DX_X_AXIS Joystick y-axis DX_Y_AXIS Throttle DX_Z_AXIS Rudder DX_XROT_AXIS Once you have a custom calibrated Windows 98 controller the hard work is done. As long as the 3rd axis is the throttle and the 4th axis is the rudder, which can be checked in the Windows 98 control panel in the Game controllers section, then the game will correctly assign the axes. Just remember to calibrate the custom controller in Windows 98 first and then select Windows joystick in the 'in-flight' options menu (alt-o) in game when in the Apache. TrackIR Config Although there is no native TrackIR support in Longbow 2/Anthology, it can be enabled through the use of additional tools. For this section it is assumed the latest version of the TrackIR software is used, v5.5.3. TrackMapper TrackMapper In order to enable TrackIR support, TrackMapper needs to be used. It is a Keyboard emulator for TrackIR enhanced mode. TrackIR will send movement to TrackMapper, which will convert it into keyboard commands, used by Longbow 2. The latest version TrackMapper v1.1a needs to be downloaded, it is a single executable that just needs to be extracted into the Longbow installation folder. There are no registry keys so the executable can be added or deleted from game installation folders as required. TrackMapper used to be available from the NaturalPoint TrackIR website, where it was called TrackMapper2. As long as your TrackIR software has a profile for TrackMapper2 , then TrackMapper v1.1a should also work with the TrackIR software. Credit and thanks goes to Koji "KAF" Sato for the TrackMapper software. TrackMapper profile A Longbow profile for TrackMapper is available from Flyboy's Longbow Site , under the 'Controller/Joystick Profiles' page as a TrackIR support download link. Only the profile, ' Longbow2trackmappe4.ttk ' is required. Configuring To configure TrackIR, TrackMapper and Longbow 2: Start the TrackIR software. Start the TrackMapper software, the TrackIR software should be running in enhanced mode and TrackMapper should be receiving data from TrackIR. Load the Longbow2trackmappe4.ttk profile . You may wish to test with various changes. However: Ensure the DataRate is increased to 60 polls/sec . Keyboard emulation properties are set to Generate Scancodes . Save the profile under a different name and set it to AutoLoad . Minimise the TrackIR software and TrackMapper. Change the config file, ca.ini , (see below). Start Longbow 2 and test. You will probably wish to test the TrackMapper responsiveness, reduce the deadzone and change the ring position to your preference. Longbow 2 configuration changes It is recommended to change yaw and pitch settings to make them more suitable for TrackIR. In the ca.ini file the following settings: [CAMERAS] ... LinearSpeed=75 AngularSpeed=30 HelmetYawSpeed=60 HelmetPitchSpeed=45 ... Should be changed to: [CAMERAS] ... LinearSpeed=150 AngularSpeed=60 HelmetYawSpeed=110 HelmetPitchSpeed=110 ... Credit and thanks go to Flyboy for the Longbow 2 site and hosting the TrackMapper support files. Testing SAM's destroyed with rockets at distance on a Pentium 200 VM Testing involves making rocket attacks against a variety of targets. The closer to the target you have to get to make a successful rocket attack reveals the severity of the rocket falling short issue. In order to test a free flight should be undertaken at the NTC training location. This testing is subjective so you may need to repeat a number of times to get a feel for the issue on your particular hardware. The following sim settings are recommended along with reasons for doing so: Casual gameplay controls should be enabled. The aim is to test as simply as possible. Realistic weapon damage should be disabled. The aim is to test the effective distance of a rocket attack. Invulnerability should be enabled as this is testing not play. Infinite ammo should be enabled for the same reason. Once the scenario begins head towards the 2nd waypoint. Shortly a couple of SAM's should appear ahead. Configure for an attack: Switch to rockets. Set the salvo size to 8 or more. Target a SAM. Continue towards the SAM until within range. Reduce speed to under 100kts otherwise the rocket pods will not be able to pivot towards the target. The slower the better, maintain a steady altitude. Centre the I-beam reticle on the targeted SAM and fire away. You may have to pivot the aircraft nose to get a solid I-beam reticle. If the rockets don't fall short you should be able to obtain a kill from 1800+m with a kill possible from 2000m or further if lucky. From 1600m - 600m you should be able to see if rockets are falling short or bracketing/hitting the SAM. A kill at this range may indicate an issue, so continue attacking other target starting out from maximum rocket range. You 'should' be able to get vehicle kills at this range if everything is working. At around 600m or less you may get a kill but it should be obvious if the rockets were falling short. If you are using a higher spec PCem virtual machine you may have to reduce the specs and try testing again. Longbow 2 mods There is a single semi-official optional mod for the Fallen Crescent, Longbow 2 campaign. From the mod readme: AZER2000 is a replacement campaign for the Fallen Crescent campaign included in Longbow 2. The original campaign has American forces challenging Iranian military forces in the Azerbahjian region of the Middle East. AZER2000 is the same campaign, but with a challenging twist. The authentic Iranian Order of Battle, which was faithfully represented in Longbow 2, has been replaced with front line, modern CIS equipment. The mod is available from GameFront . Versions of the mod exist for english, french and german languages. It is recommended to complete the vanilla Fallen Crescent campaign before installing this mod. Documents First edition manual A digital versions of the Longbow 2 manual is available when Longbow Anthology is installed with the help files. Other digital version of the Longbow 2 manual are also available. The keyboard reference is also available in a digital format. A strategy guide, 'The official guide to Jane's Longbow 2' is also available digitally. Each of these documents is recommended for getting the most out of Longbow 2. Other information Quite an old website but Flyboy's Longbow 2 Site still hosts a huge amount of information on Longbow 1 and 2 that isn't found anywhere else. The Combat Flight Sim Tavern discord has a number of channels dedicated to the Jane's Combat Simulations. This concludes the Longbow 2/Anthology setup guide. Good hunting!

A guide to running the 1993, Origin Systems sim, Strike Commander in DOSBox Staging. The original version of Strike Commander was released on 8 x 1.44MB 3.5" High Density (HD) floppy disks. This was followed by the Strike Commander: Speech Pack released on 3 x1.44MB 3.5" HD floppy disks, which added digitized speech to in-flight comms and cinematic sequences. In the same year, 1993 an expansion campaign and general MIDI support was added with Strike Commander: Tactical Operations, distributed on 3 x 1.44MB HD floppy disks. The Strike Commander: CD-ROM edition, distributed on (unsurprisingly) a single CD-ROM combined the original game, speech pack and expansion as well as adding further digitized speech and intro video. Version This guide will be using the digital edition released in 2013 on gog.com , which is comparable to the Strike Commander: CD-ROM edition. The digital edition is currently bundled with vanilla DOSBox and this guide will cover running Strike Commander with DOSBox Staging, providing enhanced features and capabilities. Speed sensitivity A point worth noting is the speed sensitivity present in this digital/CD edition. At higher DOSBox cycles the effectiveness of AAM's and Mavericks can vary along with the AI use of countermeasures. This is discussed at length in the gog.com Strike Commander forum post ' Missile gullibility '. Game management I recommend using my DOSBox game management  strategy. As the gog.com digital version is used and installed by the GoG client or offline installer, only the following folders are recommended: conf - to store any DOSBox Staging/HOTAS profile configuration files. docs - to store any documents, manuals, etc. patch - to store a copy of the recommended patch. Installation The gog.com digital release should be installed using either the Strike Commander offline installer or Galaxy client. Installation should be straight-forward and complete successfully. HOTAS config Joystick 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. Despite not supporting a throttle it is included in the profile to allow keyboard throttle commands to be mapped to the throttle axis in HOTAS profiling software. 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_XROT_AXIS DOSBox Staging config This guide assumes the latest version of DOSBox Staging v0.82.1. Changes from the default configuration are detailed below, except MIDI options which are considered later, as both Roland and General MIDI support is available: [sdl] host_rate = vrr vsync = off presentation_mode = vfr [dosbox] dos_rate = 1000 [cpu] core = normal cpu_cycles_protected = 25000 cycleup = 100 cycledown = 100 [voodoo] voodoo = false [mouse] dos_mouse_immediate = true [mixer] reverb = large chorus = normal [joystick] joysticktype = ch timed = false swap34 = true deadzone = 0 [autoexec] mount c "D:\Program Files (x86)\GOG Galaxy\Games\Strike Commander" mount c "D:\Program Files (x86)\GOG Galaxy\Games\Strike Commander\cloud_saves" -t overlay imgmount d "D:\Program Files (x86)\GOG Galaxy\Games\Strike Commander\sc.dat" -t iso -fs iso c: sccd.exe pause exit The [sdl], [dosbox] and [mouse] settings are suitable for high frame rate gaming as described in this article  by Omniclyde. These settings aren't strictly required and can be omitted to use the default settings. In [cpu] settings, the core is set to normal and the cpu_cycles_protected set to 25000 cycles, to try and alleviate the speed sensitivity issues whilst keeping framerates fluid. The cycleup/cycledown settings allow for a suitably small increment/decrement in finding an optimum setting for a particular machine. Voodoo emulation isn't required and can be disabled. The [mixer] settings enhance the music and audio. They are a personal preference and can be adjusted as desired. In the [joystick] section, setting the joysticktype to ch allows the use of the hat available on most joysticks. [timed], [swap34] are suitable settings for my HOTAS (TM Warthog), however you may need to adjust these for your own joystick or HOTAS. [deadzone] is a personal preference and should be adjusted as desired. The [autoexec] section mounts the gog.com installation folder under the Galaxy client as the c: drive. gog.com releases often provide a facility to save your game in the cloud, it does this by providing an overlay mount in the gog.com DOSBox config. I've recreated this mount in the DOSBox Staging config. I'm not 100% sure if it works correctly (it seems to), so please be aware and don't rely on it! The Strike Commander cd image is included in the release as sc.dat and is mounted as an emulated cd d: drive. The remaining commands run Strike Commander and after quitting the game will pause allowing the goodbye message to be read before closing the DOSBox Staging app. It is recommended to leave these commented out until configuration is complete. MIDI options As general MIDI support was introduced with the expansion campaign, both Roland and general midi options are supported. Once configured, you may wish to adjust mixer settings to your preference. Taking a look at each in turn: Roland [midi] mididevice = mt32 [mt32] model = cm32l romdir = "D:\Midi\Versioned" In [mt32] the model is set to cm32l as the install utility allows the selection of the compatible Roland LAPC-1 sound device. Versioned roms are used, as described in the earlier article ' DOSBox midi '. Fluidsynth [midi] mididevice = fluidsynth [fluidsynth] soundfont = "D:\Midi\Soundfonts\Shan SGM-X48 v2.0.SF2" The soundfont is an example and an alternative can be used, based on preference. All soundfonts are kept in the same folder, as described in the article ' DOSBox midi '. VirtualMidiSynth [midi] mididevice = win32 midiconfig = 0 Setting the mididevice to win32 allows the VirtualMidiSynth app to be used. The midiconfig setting can be found using the method as described in the article ' DOSBox Staging and VirtualMIDISynth '. Patching There is a single recommended fan made patch to try and alleviate the speed sensitivity issues. A result of the work done by Harr-Nuta and others over on the gog.com forums, so credit and thanks to those individuals. Depending on the DOSBox cycles used, you may find this patch unnecessary. The Strike Commander CD Missile Fix can be found at PCGamingWiki . It is a file replacement patch, replacing the existing strike.exe executable. It is recommended to backup the original file. It is also recommended to keep a copy of the patch in the game management folders, in case the gog.com Galaxy client is ever used to verify the game installation folder, as this may replace the patch executable with the original one. Configuration The Strike Commander installer utility It is recommended to run the installer app ( install.exe ) to set the hardware configuration options at least once and then each time the Sound Blaster or MIDI options are changed in the DOSBox configuration. To set the configuration: Select ' Change the hardware configuration '. Select ' Roland/LAPC-1 ' if you wish to use Roland music, or... Select ' General MIDI ' if you wish to use Fluidsynth or VirtualMidiSynth. Select ' Sound Blaster Pro ' as the sound effects card, this is compatible with the default DOSBox Staging Sound Blaster 16 device. Select the default I/O address ( 220H ) for the Sound Blaster. Select IRQ 7 for the Sound Blaster ( this is different from the suggested default ). Select the default I/O address ( 330H ) for the MIDI device. Select ' Yes ' for a local bus video card. Select ' Yes ' if satisfied with the current configuration, or ' No ' to go back and change options. Once configured commands in the [autoexec] section of the DOSBox Staging configuration can be enabled. Running Strike Commander can now be run by calling the sccd.exe executable. In-game configuration In-game configuration options It is recommended when first starting the game to perform the in-game configuration. Any training mission should be started. Once in-mission open the in-game configuration options (alt-o). Select FLIGHT options. For FLIGHT CONTROL Select FS PRO . Select RUDDER if you wish to use rudder pedals or a separate rudder control. In the centre menu, the following options would affect frame rates on period hardware but can be enabled with DOSBox Staging: SHOW WEAPONS can be enabled. REALISTIC can be enabled For PANNING CONTROL Select FS PRO . Select CALIBRATE JOYSTICK and perform the calibration. Don't forget to SAVE the in-game configuration. Documents It's recommended to grab the full suite of documents (and store them in the docs game management folder), supplied by gog.com, including: The Strike Commander manual The Strike Commander: Tactical Ops manual The reference card The Playtester's Guide The Strategy Guide Good hunting!