One of the Interactive Magic (or I-Magic) series of flight sims, iF-22 (also known as iF-22: The Raptor simulator) never reached the heights of classic sim. At the time of release it was considered a fun and entertaining sim, with scenery based on satellite imagery. However it was also considered very resource heavy both in mission loading times, and disk space and using sat imagery for the scenery may have been a little ambitious for 1997. It seems to have been a very diversive sim with some loving it, but for others the textures and scenery felt a little off. Wingman and enemy AI also came in for some criticism. Not quite the study sim we have today but far from casual at the time, it seems to have tread the fine line between seriousness and fun rather effectively. It received some pretty favourable reviews at the time but the player base remained divided. It went through some comprehensive changes culminating in the version 3.3 patch which which made major changes but still left some issues some fundamental issues unresolved. More enhancements would result in version 5.0, effectively the 'gold compilation' edition featuring the original game and Persian Gulf scenario expansion. In 2026 we can put the resourcing issues to rest, missions will load quickly and the disk space issues are trivial by today's standards. However the sim has been notoriously difficult to run on a modern OS, until now... Contents Strategy Version and patch history iF-22 original retail (July 1997) Version 3.0 patch iF-22 rerelease (September 1997) Version 3.1 patch (September 1997) Version 3.2 patch (7 October 1997) iF-22 Peacekeeping Mission - Persian Gulf expansion (October 1997) Version 3.3 patch (27 October 1997) Version 3.3.1 patch (December 1997) iF-22 v5.0 release (March 1997) Version 5.0.1 patch (March 1997) iF-22 v5.0 rerelease (March 2001) Narzoul's uiwindow.dll patch (June 2026) Retail media Game management Installation Earlier iF-22 versions Compatibility tools DDrawCompat Delta Patcher vJoy Joystick Gremlin HidHide ViGEm Bus Driver XOutput RetroBridge Alternative compatibility tools x360ce JoystickGremlinEx Unsupported tools Gamepad Phoenix Steam Big Picture Xidi HOTAS config HOTAS strategy Creating the vJoy virtual joystick Creating the Joystick Gremlin(Ex) profile Configuring HidHide Creating the ViGEm virtual Xbox 360 controller XOutput x360ce Scripting Applying the RetroBridge WinMM wrapper Configuration Configuring DDrawCompat Applying narzoul's uiwindow patch Compatibility settings Running First run In-game configuration Documents Example video Finally... Strategy There are two main issues to address with iF-22, the graphics and controller issues. The graphics issues affected both the flight engine and menu system, making the menus difficult if not impossible to use. The graphics issues have all but been eliminated thanks to the work or narzoul (creator of DDrawCompat), with just some minor issues remaining. The sim did not seem to support DirectInput controllers which meant in a majority of cases the sim simply wouldn't start. The controller issues have been partially resolved resulting in support for a 2 axes, 4 button, 1 hat stick to work with the sim, so no throttle or rudder. This is huge step forward in playability from a sim which just didn't work under Win10. Most of this guide will be covering the (rather involved) steps required to resolve these two issues. This guide will be using iF-22 v5.0 for the rest of this guide. Version and patch history This is a brief version and patch history which may help make sense of the odd version number scheme. iF-22 original retail (July 1997) The original retail version was developed and published by Interactive Magic in around July 1997. The original release was published on 2 x CD-ROMs, one for each of the campaign theaters, Bosnia and Ukraine. This release uses a 16-bit Windows installer incompatible with Win10, due to the Win95 version check carried out by the installer. This version was given the version number v2.7 and had 2 manuals, a basic sim and menu system usage manual, that would be included in later releases and a non-nuclear weapons delivery manual, that would not. Version 3.0 patch The v3.0 patch was a comprehensive patch featuring a number of improvements and fixes. This patch is currently unavailable. Changes included: Improved frame rates. Addition of the reduced Radar Cross Section (RCS) option. Additional HUD colours An improved 'white-out' effect. Confirmation of a destroyed ground target. Improved AIM-120 AMRAAM maneuverability. Many other fixes. iF-22 rerelease (September 1997) A rerelease of the original game occurred in September 1997, this release was pre-patched to v3.0. It was again distributed on 2 x CD-ROMs. Both manuals were available with this version. Again, this release uses a 16-bit Windows installer incompatible with Win10, due to the Win95 version check. Version 3.1 patch (September 1997) The v3.1 patch was a cumulative patch which included an earlier v3.0 patch. It was distributed as zip archives. To update saves, this patch had to be applied to an unpatched version of the game. This patch is currently unavailable but was distributed as two self extracting archives (iF22_p1a.exe and iF22_p1b.exe) for easier downloading. Changes included: Random crash bug fixed. Improved waypoint drag-and-drop. Improved mission planning grid. Version 3.2 patch (7 October 1997) The v3.2 patch was a cumulative patch which included the earlier v3.0 and v3.1 patches. It was distributed as two zip/self extracting archives (iF22_p1a.zip/exe, iF22_p1b.zip/exe) for easier downloading. These patch files used the same names as the previous v3.1 patch. To update saves, this patch had to be applied to an unpatched version of the game. Changes included: Allows users to play the Persian Gulf Theater. Displays clouds at correct heights. This patch is available from: GamePressure, Download, iF-22 Persian Gulf version 5.0, Game Update - 3.2 (incorrectly listed as being for iF-22 v5.0). Internet Archive, iF-22 v3.2 Patch. Internet Archive, Score 47 CD-ROM (1997-11). iF-22 Peacekeeping Mission - Persian Gulf expansion (October 1997) The one and only expansion was developed and published by Interactive Magic. It was distributed on a single CD-ROM. This expansion added the Persian Gulf theater and campaign. It came with it's own 30 page manual and was pre-patched with the v3.2 patch. Version 3.3 patch (27 October 1997) The v3.3 patch was a cumulative patch which included the earlier v3.x patches. It was distributed as two zip archives (iF22_33A.exe, iF22_33B.exe) for easier downloading. In addition to the previous patch changes there were comprehensive changes made to: Enemy and wingman AI. Mission planning and briefings. Other menu system changes. Other simulation fixes. A complete set of release notes from v3.0 to v3.3 is available below: This patch is available from: Internet Archive, Pelit CD-ROM 2 (1997). Version 3.3.1 patch (December 1997) This patch is applicable to the German language version only. The changes relate to keyboard functions: Because of difficulties using 'AltGr' key combinations in iF-22, radar ranges can now be changed using the '(' and ')' keys. Also, you can select Air-to-Ground weapons using the '?' key. This patch is available from: The Patches Scrolls, iF-22 Raptor, patch 3.31. iF-22 v5.0 release (March 1998) Version 5.0 of iF-22 was an improved compilation release. This compilation includes the expansion, featuring all 3 theaters, Bosnia, Ukraine and the Gulf. The texture storage had been improved resulting in a release on a single CD-ROM. Aircraft models have also been revised and improved. The installer was changed to a 32-bit installer making it compatible with Win10. In this release the non-nuclear weapons delivery manual is missing. Version 5.0.1 patch (March 1998) This patch is applicable to the German language version only. The changes relate to keyboard functions: The key combination [SHIFT] + [8] (open parenthesis) increases, and the combination [SHIFT] + [9] (close parenthesis) decreases the radar range. The combination [SHIFT] + [ß] (question mark) selects the next surface-to-air weapon. This patch is available from: The Patches Scrolls, iF-22 Raptor v5.0, patch 5.01. iF-22 v5.0 rerelease (March 2001) This rerelease is identical to the April 1998 v5.0 release, the only difference being a slightly different build version number. Distributed on a single CD-ROM, it has the same improvements as the April 1998 v5.0 release. A 32-bit installer is used and the non-nuclear weapons delivery manual remains missing. Narzoul's uiwindow.dll patch (June 2026) Narzoul (of DDrawCompat fame) has found and provided a fix for the menu background colour issues present in iF-22. Taken from the DDrawCompat GitHub issue thread: Meanwhile, I also found the issue with the menu colors. The game is using SetClassLong with GCL_HBRBACKGROUND to change the background brush of some built-in window classes (e.g. buttons). It passes a custom brush created with CreateSolidBrush to this function. Sometimes it sets this custom brush, sometimes it restores the original NULL brush. But at some point it deletes the brush (via DeleteObject) while it's still assigned to some of the classes. Worse, it keeps using the deleted brush and trying to assign it again and again, which clearly fails. I don't see a clear solution to this from a generic wrapper and I've no idea how this ever worked correctly. The only "workaround" I found is hex editing uiwindow.dll to bypass the problematic call to DeleteObject with the following hex replacement: 8B 86 68 32 00 00 85 C0 74 -> 31 C0 89 86 68 32 00 00 EB There should be only one instance to replace. Now this isn't the greatest solution, as this might cause a GDI handle leak instead. But after clicking around in the menus for a while I didn't notice any clear issues, so perhaps it's viable as a long term solution too, unless someone wants to find a better fix. Since this has nothing to do with DDrawCompat I'm unlikely to mess with this further. For easy of use this has been converted into an xdelta patch, available below: Retail media Due to the age or the media and the drives required to read it, it is recommended to rip CD-ROM media to image files, to save wear and tear on media and the mechanical drives. The CD-ROMs can be ripped to a data only .iso image format as there is no CD audio on the CDs. Game management It is recommended to use my game management strategy or similar strategy you may have developed. The recommended game management folders for iF-22 are: cd - for any cd images. conf - to store HOTAS configuration files. docs - for documents. install - for downloaded compatibility tool installation zip/exe files. patch - to store any patches. tools - as a compatibility tool installation folder. The iF-22 management folders would be found in the following game folder (as an example): D:\Games\Win\iF-22 Setup Installation Installation is a simple and straightforward process due to the iF-22 v5.0 32-bit installer being supported in Win10. It is recommended to install the game alongside the game management setup folder, e.g. # Setup folder D:\Games\Win\iF-22 Setup # Game installation folder D:\Games\Win\iF-22 The setup.exe should be run from the CD and the installation steps are shown below: Earlier iF-22 versions Earlier versions of iF-22 used a 16-bit installer, unsupported by Win10 and normally requiring the use of the OTVDM compatibility tool to run. However the 16-bit installer also checks the Windows version and will not allow the installation to proceed if it does not find Win95. It is suggested to create a Win95 Virtual Machine (VM) using a VHD hard disk image with PCem (or reuse an existing Win95 VM if you have one). Missing device drivers, missing sound or default graphics are all fine, as long as iF-22 can be installed. Once installed the VM can be shutdown and the VHD hard disk image mounted in Win10. The iF-22 installation folder can then be copied into Win10. A video tutorial to building a PCem virtual machine for Win98 is available from PhilsComputerLab, PCem Windows 98 Setup (Pentium II +Voodoo 3, all files provided). The process for installing Win95 will be very similar. Compatibility tools This section covers the compatibility tools used to get iF-22 working and where to find them. It does not cover how to configure them, that comes later. It also covers some alternatives to the suggested toolset and some tools which were tried but didn't work (in case you wish to try some other tools). It is recommended to download installation packages to the game management install folder for safekeeping and if things go badly the existing tools can be uninstalled and reinstalled using these installation packages, e.g. # XOutput installation package D:\Games\Win\iF-22 Setup\install\XOutput v3.3.2.zip It is recommended to use the game management tools folder as a compatibility tool installation folder, if the tool can be installed to a selectable folder, e.g. # XOutput D:\Games\Win\iF-22 Setup\tools\XOutput.exe If any of the following compatibility tools are already installed, they can continue to be used from their existing installation folder: Delta Patcher HidHide Joystick Gremlin ViGEm Bus Driver vJoy XOutput DDrawCompat DDrawCompat created by narzoul is the graphics wrapper used to provide compatibility with iF-22. The latest version is v0.7.1, however the standard release isn't used. Instead a patched wrapper has been created (based on v0.7.1) for the following issues in iF-22, identified and fixed by narzoul: There is one more problem that hasn't been mentioned yet, because I think it only affects Windows 10 and 11. There is a new UserAdapterWindowClass (or SystemUserAdapterWindowClass in Windows 11) window class that tends to show up in the message loop for messages retrieved by PeekMessage/GetMessage. This causes an issue with this game where it stops rendering in the 3D scene after the first keypress, and only continues briefly after each further key press or whenever the mouse is moved. The problem is technically in the message loop of the game, because it does some crazy things: if PeekMessage returns FALSE, it uses lpMsg->hWnd anyway (even though PeekMessage doesn't fill it in this case, so it contains whatever garbage was there before), queries GWL_USERDATA with GetWindowLong, and if it's not 0, executes some callback function stored there. This callback function is presumably responsible for exiting the message loop and continuing the rendering. When the garbage value has the game's own window handle, then this works correctly, but when the window belongs to (System) UserAdapterWindowClass, which has a 0 value in GWL_USERDATA, the game just loops back to PeekMessage again and returns the same "garbage" value as long as no new messages enter the loop, causing an "infinite" rendering pause loop. I added a patch to DDrawCompat that tries to hides these special windows from PeekMessage/GetMessage, which seems to fix this issue. Additionally, I also found a fix for the Windows 8 FullscreenMode=borderless issue. Here is a combined patch for both of these issues: The patch (ddraw.zip) is available in this DDrawCompat GitHub thread. Delta Patcher Delta Patcher, developed by marco-calautti is a utility to create and apply xdelta patches compatible with the xdelta tool developed by Joshua McDonald. The recommended version is the latest 64-bit version, v3.1.6 (at time of writing), available from the Delta Patcher GitHub repository in Releases. vJoy vJoy is a virtual joystick driver, it is used to replace physical joystick/HOTAS controllers with a virtual controller. It is supplied as a suite of utilities including a configuration utility. The recommended version is the latest jshafer817 release, vJoy v2.1.9.1 as this is fully compatible with Joystick Gremlin. It is available from the jshafer817 / vJoy GitHub repository in Releases. Joystick Gremlin Joystick Gremlin is the joystick/HOTAS profiling utility mapping physical controller inputs to a virtual joystick, provided by vJoy. The recommended version is the latest one (at time of writing), Joystick Gremlin release 15. It is available from Joystick Gremlin Download. This site also provides a quickstart guide to using Joystick Gremlin. HidHide HidHide is a device firewall created by nefarius, hiding devices from any app not explicitly allowed through the firewall. It is often used in conjunction with vJoy and Joystick Gremlin to ensure a game can only access the vJoy virtual controller, whilst the physical controllers remain hidden from it. Joystick Gremlin would be allowed through the HidHide firewall. When the firewall is active, only the vJoy virtual controller would be seen by a game. As Joystick Gremlin can still see the physical devices through the firewall it can still translate physical inputs into vJoy virtual controller inputs. The recommended HidHide version is the latest one, HidHide Drivers v1.5.230, available from GitHub HidHide repository, Releases. ViGEm Bus Driver The ViGEm Bus Driver is a 'virtual Xbox 360 controller' driver (supporting the XInput library) created by nefarius. It can be thought of as vJoy for virtual Xbox 360 controllers. Unlike vJoy it does not come with it's own configuration utility The ViGEm Bus Driver is no longer under active development. The recommended ViGEm Bus Driver version is the latest one, ViGEmBus Setup 1.22.0 "It's dead, Jim" Release available from GitHub ViGEm Bus Driver repository, Releases. XOutput XOutput, created by Ármin Csutorás, is a configuration utility for a virtual Xbox 360 controller provided by the ViGEm Bus Driver. XOutput is required as ViGEm does not provide a configuration utility. It takes a physical or virtual DirectInput controller and maps it to a virtual XInput controller. It can be thought of as a 'vJoy config tool/Joystick Gremlin' for virtual Xbox 360 XInput controllers. The recommended XOutput version is the latest one, XOutput 3.32, available from GitHub XOutput repository, Releases. RetroBridge RetroBridge created by VOGONS forum member rkk, is multi wrapper suite for PowerVR, Glide, DDraw and DSound for all versions of Ultim@te Race, allowing the game to be played on Win10/11. It's use in getting iF-22 to run with joystick support is a completely unintended use. RetroBridge provides a winmm.dll wrapper that can map an XInput controller into a virtual 2 axes, 4 button, 1 POV hat joystick that is compatible with iF-22. This is key in getting iF-22 joystick support working. RetroBridge was also tolerant of the DDrawCompat wrapper used in this tool chain. RetroBridge (RetroBridge - 0.1.139 - Preview.zip) is available from the VOGONS forum thread, RetroBridge - A multi wrapper for PowerVR (SGL) + Glide + DDRAW + DSound for all versions of Ultim@te Race (1t/3t/Pro). Alternative compatibility tools The following tools may provide sufficient advantages over the above tool chain that some may wish to try. x360ce x360ce is a configuration utility for a virtual Xbox 360 controller provided by the ViGEm Bus Driver. It can be used in place of XOutput. One of the advantages of x360ce is that it can be started with a default profile. This means it can be used in batch or PowerShell scripts when starting iF-22. XOutput requires the emulated controller to be manually started making it less suitable. However the configuration of x360ce is more complex than XOutput. The recommended x360ce version is the latest one, X360CE 4.17.15.0, available from GitHub x360ce repository, Releases. JoystickGremlinEx JoystickGremlinEx (or GremlinEx), created by muchimi, is a fork of the Joystick Gremlin project, supporting functions that would have been difficult to integrate with the Joystick Gremlins plugin facility. It is built as a 64-bit app using a later version of Python/QT. Advantages over Joystick Gremlin: GremlinEx will map physical controllers directly to a ViGEm virtual controller. This removes Joystick Gremlin, vJoy and XOutput/x360ce from the tool chain, replaced by GremlinEx. Disadvantages over Joystick Gremlin: GremlinEx is still a work in progress, later releases should be considered developmental releases and may not be stable. GremlinEx uses the older Joystick Gremlin release 13 configuration model. Those accustomed to the release 14/15 model may find it tricky to use. Encountering errors/exceptions during configuration should be expected. Those familiar with the JG release 13 model may find the smaller tool chain easier to deal with, despite any issues. The latest GremlinEx version, M77 seems fairly stable at present. It is available from JoystickGremlinEx GitHub repository, Releases. Unsupported tools This section is for those that wish to try and improve on the tool chain. The following tools were tried but failed to provide adequate joystick support for iF-22. NOTE: This is not a criticism of the tools below, just that they were unable to help in getting iF-22 to support a joystick. Gamepad Phoenix Gamepad Phoenix is a tool for Windows to play any game (old or new) with any gamepad (old or new). Despite supporting the WinMM API, Gamepad Phoenix was unable to supply a joystick that could be used by iF-22. Steam Big Picture Steam Big Picture has gamepad support for games added to Steam, including non-Steam games. Despite adding iF-22 and configuring a controller, iF-22 could not find a joystick to use. Xidi Xidi created by Samuel Grossman provides both DirectInput and WinMM interfaces for games to use and communicates with XInput-based game controllers natively using XInput, translating between the two interfaces as needed. Despite supporting the WinMM API, Xidi was unable to add a suitable controller that could be used with iF-22. However, Xidi in combination with Hookshot (also created by Samuel) was pivotal in discovering that WinMM API joystick functions were used by iF-22. HOTAS config The following section differs from the usual HOTAS config due to the complexities involved in configuring a joystick/HOTAS for use with iF-22. HOTAS strategy Before considering detailed steps it is worth considering the overall approach. This can be summarized as the following: Joystick Gremlin provides a profile mapping from physical controllers to a vJoy virtual controller. HidHide is used to hide physical controllers from other tools/iF-22. XOutput or x360ce provides a profile mapping from a vJoy virtual controller to an Xbox 360 XInput virtual controller (provided by the ViGEm driver). RetroBridge provides a mapping from an XInput virtual controller to the RetroBridge emulated joystick supported by iF-22. When using Joystick GremlinEx the steps become: Joystick GremlinEx provides a profile mapping from physical controllers to an XInput virtual controller (provided by ViGEm). HidHide is used to hide physical controllers from other tools/iF-22. RetroBridge provides a mapping from an XInput virtual controller to the RetroBridge emulated joystick supported by iF-22. Using Joystick Gremlin(Ex) allows unused physical controller buttons to be mapped to keyboard commands used in IF-22. XOutput is prone to crashing or freezing when more than one controller is mapped to a virtual XInput controller. It works far better with a single controller (the vJoy virtual joystick in this scenario) mapped to a virtual XInput controller. x360ce will freeze and become non-responsive once iF-22 is quit. It can be closed from the taskbar or PowerShell script. This occurs after the game is quit, so it is considered a minor issue. Although the RetroBridge emulated joystick only supports 2 axes, the HOTAS config will use 4 axes for any future updates that add support for throttle and rudder axes. Creating the vJoy virtual joystick If the vJoy virtual joystick driver is not installed then: Download the driver install package (vJoySetup.exe) and place in the game management install folder for safe-keeping. Run the installer and use the default installation folder. If the vJoy virtual joystick driver is installed it can continue to be used. The configuration tool should be run as an Administrator. The following vJoy config was used, as shown in the screen shot. This is equivalent to the following vJoy commands: vJoyConfig.exe Enable on vJoyConfig.exe 1 -f -a X Y Z Rz -b 4 -p 1 To disable vJoy: vJoyConfig.exe -r vJoyConfig.exe Enable off Creating the Joystick Gremlin(Ex) profile If Joystick Gremlin is not installed then: Download the driver install package (Joystick.Gremlin.R15.zip) and place in the game management install folder for safe-keeping, or similar for Joystick GremlinEx). Unzip to a Joystick Gremlin folder in the game management tools folder, or if you wish to use it for further games in the future, to a more appropriate higher level folder, e.g. D:\Games\Win\JoystickGremlin D:\Games\JoystickGremlin If Joystick Gremlin(Ex) is already installed it can continue to be used. As the game is running as Administrator, Joystick Gremlin must also run as Administrator for any mapped keypresses to be registered in the game. Creating the profile is not covered as it will be specific to the physical joystick/HOTAS hardware present. It is recommended to store the iF-22 profile in the game management conf folder. To run from the command line or script: joystick_gremlin.exe --start-minimized --enable --profile "D:\Games\Win\iF-22 Setup\conf\iF-22.xml" Configuring HidHide If HidHide is not installed then: Download the HidHide install package (HidHide_1.5.230_x64.exe) and place in the game management install folder for safe-keeping. Run the installer and use the default installation folder. If HidHide is already installed it can continue to be used. The following screenshots show an example HidHide configuration (the config will be specific to the physical joystick/HOTAS hardware present): Only Joystick Gremlin and/or Joystick GremlinEx need to see the hidden physical devices through the HidHide firewall. The HidHide entries are automatically added and should be left alone. Only physical devices need to be hidden, the vJoy virtual joystick should remain visible. To enable HidHide from the command line or script: HidHideCLI.exe --cloak-on To disable: HidHideCLI.exe --cloak-off Creating the ViGEm virtual Xbox 360 controller If ViGEm, XOutput or x360ce is not installed then: Download any missing tools: ViGEm install package (ViGEmBus_1.22.0_x64_x86_arm64.exe), XOutput (XOutput.zip) or x360ce (x360ce.zip) install packages and place in the game management install folder for safe-keeping. ViGEm: Run the installer and use the default installation folder. XOutput/x360ce: Unzip to an XOutput/x360ce folder in the game management tools folder, or if you wish to use it for further games in the future, move it to a more appropriate higher level folder. If ViGEm or XOutput is already installed it can continue to be used. x360ce can continue to be used if it does not have a default configuration in use. Before configuring XOutput/x360ce ensure Joystick Gremlin is running (as Administrator) and the iF-22 profile is enabled. XOutput The following screenshots show the XOutput configuration mapping the vJoy virtual joystick (above) to a virtual XInput controller: Once the XInput controller is started, XOutput should be minimised to the taskbar and left running until the game is quit. x360ce x360ce is a little more complex than XOutput, however the following screenshots show the XOutput configuration mapping the vJoy virtual joystick (above) to a virtual XInput controller: It is recommended to run x360ce as Administrator. A 'default' profile is a profile used when the x360ce utility is running, this is shown in the Game dropdown menu at the top of each page. The Issues tab should be checked to ensure there is nothing wrong with the installation, as shown, it should be empty. In the Settings tab ensure the vJoy virtual joystick is mapped to controller 1. In the x360ce config the y-axis is not inverted (compare this to XOutput where the y-axis is inverted). The 'Enable 1 mapped device' checkbox starts and stops controller emulation. Once the XInput controller is started, x360ce should be minimised to the taskbar and left running until the game is quit. Scripting The following PowerShell script will start and configure the compatibility tools for an iF-22 joystick, it can be used as a Playnite script: # Enable vJoy Start-Process -Wait "C:\Program Files\vJoy\x64\vJoyConfig.exe" -ArgumentList "Enable on" -Verb RunAs Start-Process -Wait "C:\Program Files\vJoy\x64\vJoyConfig.exe" -ArgumentList "1 -f -a X Y Z Rz -b 4 -p 1" -Verb RunAs # Enable HidHide Start-Process -Wait -FilePath "C:\Program Files\Nefarius Software Solutions\HidHide\x64\HidHideCLI.exe" -ArgumentList '--cloak-on' # Enable JG Start-Process -FilePath "D:\Games\Joystick.Gremlin.R15\joystick_gremlin.exe" -ArgumentList '--start-minimized --enable --profile "E:\IF-22 Setup\conf\if-22v5.xml"' Start-Sleep -Seconds 5 # Enable x360ce (minimised to taskbar) Start-Process -FilePath "D:\Games\x360ce\x360ce.exe" -WindowStyle Minimized Start-Sleep -Seconds 10 The following PowerShell script will stop and reset the compatibility tools used to create the joystick, it can be used as a Playnite script: # Disable x360ce (Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Process -Filter "name = 'x360ce.exe'").Terminate() # Disable JG (Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Process -Filter "name = 'joystick_gremlin.exe'").Terminate() Start-Sleep -Seconds 10 # Disable HidHide Start-Process -Wait -FilePath "C:\Program Files\Nefarius Software Solutions\HidHide\x64\HidHideCLI.exe" -ArgumentList '--cloak-off' # Disable vJoy Start-Process -Wait "C:\Program Files\vJoy\x64\vJoyConfig.exe" -ArgumentList "-r" -Verb RunAs Start-Process -Wait "C:\Program Files\vJoy\x64\vJoyConfig.exe" -ArgumentList "Enable off" -Verb RunAs Applying the RetroBridge WinMM wrapper Download the RetroBridge install package (RetroBridge - 0.1.139 - Preview.zip) and place in the game management install folder for safe-keeping. Unzip only the following files into the iF-22 installation folder: retrobridge.config.yml retrobridge_core.dll winmm.dll Configuration The following section covers the remaining compatibility tools and settings required to get iF-22 running. Configuring DDrawCompat The DDrawCompat patch for iF-22 (ddraw.zip) should be downloaded and placed in the game management patch folder for safe-keeping. The ddraw.dll file in the zip archive should be extracted to the iF-22 installation folder. The configuration file required by DDrawCompat is available below. It should downloaded to the game management conf folder for safe-keeping. The DDrawCompat.ini file in the zip archive should be extracted to the iF-22 installation folder. The config is as follows: # DDrawCompat config file for iF-22 AlternatePixelCenter = on Antialiasing = msaa4x CapsPatches = DDCAPS.dwCaps2|=0x800 FullscreenMode = exclusive ViewportEdgeFix = scale(50) Applying narzoul's uiwindow patch The next step is to patch the uiwindow.dll file with Delta Patcher to fix the menu graphics. The Delta Patcher (windows_bin_x86_64.zip) should be downloaded and placed in the game management install folder for safe-keeping. The contents of the Delta Patcher zip archive should be extracted to a delta patcher folder in the game management tools folder. The uiwindow-xdelta.zip archive should be downloaded and placed in the game management patch folder for safe-keeping. The contents of the archive (uiwindow.xdelta) should also be extracted to the patch folder. Run the Delta Patcher tool, select the original uiwindow.dll file in the iF-22 installation folder. Select the uiwindow.xdelta patch in the patch folder. Click Apply patch and the success dialog box should be displayed as shown in the gallery below: Optionally copy the patched uiwindow.dll file from the iF-22 installation folder to the patch folder for safe-keeping. Compatibility settings The only compatibility settings required are the Run this program as an Administrator setting on the game executable (if22.exe), as shown in the screenshot. Running The following covers the steps to setup controllers and run the game. If this is the first time running the game, consult First run for some specific actions to be performed. Open the vJoy config tool and enable vJoy. Configure the device to have X, Y, Z and Rz axes, 4 buttons and 1 POV hat. Open HidHide and hide devices. Open Joystick Gremlin as an Administrator and enable the iF-22 profile. Start the ViGEm XInput virtual controller: XOutput: Open XOutput and start the controller used by iF-22. x360ce: Open x360ce as Administrator, if the profile is not enabled then enable it. Run iF-22 (if22.exe). If everything has worked the title page should be displayed, clicking on the cockpit should take you to the main menu, as shown below: After the game has closed: Stop the ViGEm XInput virtual controller: XOutput: Stop the controller used by iF-22 and close XOutput. x360ce: Disable the profile and close x360ce. Disable the iF-22 profile and close Joystick Gremlin. Disable device hiding and close HidHide. Disable vJoy and close the config tool. First run When first running the game, a crash/freeze will occur unless the following actions are taken: Start the game, and continuously click the mouse to skip intro videos. The game will automatically open the joystick calibration screen, click either Accept or Cancel. The game will automatically start an instant action mission. Use Ctrl + Q to quit the mission. Continuously click the mouse to skip a video. When back at the main menu, select System Setup and check the Disable animations checkbox. In-game configuration From the main menu, System Setup will allow you to configure the game. The option to Calibrate the joystick is on the System Setup menu, as shown below. If not already done so the Disable animations checkbox should be checked. All graphics settings can be maximised. If all components were installed, all of the theater files will be shown on the Theater Setup page. If the iF-22 CD/image is mounted in Win10, you will have the option of copying any missing optional theater files from the CD onto the hard disk, as shown below. Documents As with any sim the documentation is very important to properly use the sim. The available documents are shown below: iF-22 Manual (pdf download) Steam, All Games, Simulation Games, iF-22, View the manual. NONNUCLEAR WEAPON DELIVERY MANUAL Styled to look like an official USAF document, but published by Interactive Magic, containing iF-22 sim keyboard commands. This manual provides details on weapons management and use within the sim. It is available as a pdf document on the CD of early iF-22 retail releases. iF-22 Reference Card Lists the 2 and 4 button joystick layout, keyboard layout and command reference. Example video Testing iF-22 v5.0 with a joystick Finally... Credit and thanks goes to: GamePressure, Internet Archive and The Patches Scrolls for hosting iF-22 patches. Narzoul for the DDrawCompat and uiwindow patches and the DDrawCompat config. PhilsComputerLab for his PCem tutorial video. marco-calautti for Delta Patcher. jshafer817 for the vJoy release. The work done by the Joystick Gremlin team. nefarius for the ViGEm Bus Driver. Ármin Csutorás for XOutput. rkk for RetroBridge. The work done by the x360ce team. muchimi for Joystick GremlinEx. Bernhard Schelling for Gamepad Phoenix. Steam for Steam Big Picture and hosting documentation. Samuel Grossman for Xidi. Good hunting!

This article will be taking a look the problems associated with games that use the legacy WinMM library for joystick support. This games have had particular problems under the latest versions of Win10/11 rendering them unplayable with modern controllers. This article will be explaining the problem and a solution to enable full HOTAS support for these games. In order to help understanding, the problem and solutions will be broken down into smaller problems and solutions, working backwards from the game to physical controllers. The complete solution is presented, before an optimised solution is discussed. Finally, the role of device hiding will be covered. Contents The problem The WinMM problem/solution The XInput problem/solution The multiple controller problem/solution The complete solution The optimized solution A place for (Hid) hiding F22 Raptor (NovaLogic) iF-22 (Interactive Magic) Finally... The problem Windows Multimedia API (WinMM) was first released in October 1991, as part of Windows 3.0 with Multimedia Extensions 1.0. With the release on Win95 in August 1995 it transitioned into the 32-bit WinMM library. DirectX was released soon after in September 1995 as the Windows Game SDK (DirectX v1.0). However not all games released around this time would use DirectX and some would only support the existing WinMM library. Fast-forward to the present day and with modern multi-controller HOTAS and DirectInput devices, the games relying on the WinMM library will either fail to recognise modern controllers or even freeze or hang during startup. The WinMM library works with the legacy style gameport controllers. However modern PCs not longer have a gameport and solutions for using these controllers usually involves converting them into a USB device. Trying to fly these flight sims without a joystick or HOTAS becomes rather difficult and not at all intuitive. The WinMM problem/solution The first problem is to get the WinMM library to work with a USB controller. It would be preferable if it were a DirectInput device (which joysticks/HOTAS are), but any controller would be better than nothing. When looking at replacement WinMM libraries or WinMM wrappers, most are designed to fix issues with the multimedia/MIDI components and there are few, if none, specifically designed to fix joystick issues. However, a different approach provides a solution. XInput was the controller library developed for the XBox in December 2005 and integrated into DirectX in April 2006 as XInput 1.1. XInput in a simpler library than DirectInput and provides a controller library for XInput controllers like the XBox 360 controller. Games must support XInput in order to use XInput libraries. MicroSoft made the 360 controller both an XInput and DirectInput device to provide DirectInput compatibility, however customisation was often limited. The customisation issue resulted in various open source projects to improve the situation with DirectInput mapping and some would go on to provide support for WinMM. Two such projects are: Xidi, a DirectInput interface for XInput controllers, created by Samuel Grossman. XInput Plus, a tool which performs a setup of an XInput device, created by 0dd14lab. This provides us with a WinMM wrapper/library that is compatible with an XInput controller, as shown below: The XInput problem/solution The next problem is now to create an XInput controller. Fortunately both Xidi and XInput Plus require a logical XInput controller, this can be: A physical XInput controller, e.g. an XBox 360 controller. A virtual XInput controller. This means a method is needed to convert a DirectInput joystick/HOTAS into a virtual XInput controller. Fortunately such an open source project exists, the ViGEm Bus Driver. ViGEm Bus Driver is a Windows kernel-mode driver emulating well-known USB game controllers, created by Benjamin Höglinger-Stelzer. ViGEm Bus Driver does not provide a configuration tool, so for such a tool, other open source projects are required. Two such projects are: XOutput, created by Ármin Csutorás. x360ce, created by the x360ce team. The above tools were primarily designed to map a single DirectInput device to a virtual XInput device, for those with a single DirectInput device this may be sufficient, as shown below: The multiple controller problem/solution The XOutput and x360ce tools in combination with the ViGEm Bus Driver, seems to solve the problem. However, these tools do not work well with multiple DIrectInput devices. There can be freezes or a loss of response with one or more of the DirectInput controller. Fortunately the logical DirectInput device used by XOutput or x360ce can be: A physical DirectInput device. A virtual DirectInput device. The final problem and solution is to convert multiple DirectInput devices into a single virtual DirectInput device. This issue has already been encountered many times and the solution is to use vJoy and Joystick Gremlin, as has been discussed previously, [6][7][8], and shown below: The complete solution The individual solutions can now be combined into a single workflow, converting multiple modern joystick/HOTAS devices into a device which can be supported by a WinMM wrapper, used by the game: This is a complex workflow, but it proves WinMM can work with multiple modern HOTAS controllers. However, with many 'moving parts'/components, more things can go wrong. Can this solution be optimised to make it simpler and more robust? The optimized solution The complete solution above relies in WinMM libraries/wrappers that cannot be changed, but the multiple DirectInput devices converted to a single XInput device can be simplified, with a single tool, GremlinEx (GEX), created by muchimi. From the GitHub repository: GremlinEx (GEX) is a universal controller integrator: it allows you to take input from multiple hardware devices from different manufacturers connected to a local machine, or a remote machine, such as joysticks and HID controllers, OSC (Open Sound Control), MIDI, Keyboard and mouse inputs and map them to virtual outputs like VJOY, or keyboard or mouse output, convert text to speech and play sounds. It can send output to a game or another process. GremlinEx extends the original Joystick Gremlin and allows multiple DirectInput devices to be mapped to a single XInput device using the ViGEm Bus Driver, used in the complete solution. This drastically simplifies the workflow and the number of 'moving parts'. However, the following points should be noted: GremlinEx is still very much a work in progress with continuous releases of varying robustness. Although GremlinEx seems to function reliably during gaming, exceptions and faults should be expected when configuring devices. Since configuration is an initial 'one and done' task, this should be considered a fairly minor issue. GremlinEx uses the older Joystick Gremlin release 13 style of configuration. Those familiar with the release 14/15 style will need to adapt to this older style. Utilising GremlinEx, the optimized solution is shown below: A place for (Hid) hiding So far the role of device hiding has not been discussed with the compete or optimised solution we may have the following devices present: Physical DirectInput controllers. Virtual DirectInput controller. Virtual XInput controller. Which of these devices (if any) should be visible through a device firewall like HidHide? The answer is game specific and is best explained with examples: F22 Raptor (NovaLogic) F22 Raptor is very robust and indifferent to additional devices being present. It seems to ignore both DirectInput and XInput devices. This means that a HidHide device firewall isn't required and can be omitted. The optimised solution remains unchanged. iF-22 (Interactive Magic) iF-22 is the exact opposite of F-22 Raptor. If any DirectInput or XInput devices are detected it will hang during startup. iF-22 requires a HidHide device firewall to hide all devices, both physical and virtual. In order for iF-22 to start and work with controllers, GremlinEx and the Xidi libraries should be allowed to see through the device firewall with all devices hidden from iF-22. The affected part of the optimised solution is shown below: Finally... Credit and thanks go to the following individuals and teams without which these old sims would never work on later Windows systems: Samuel Grossman for Xidi. 0dd14lab for Xinput Plus. Benjamin Höglinger-Stelzer for ViGEm Bus Driver. Ármin Csutorás for XOutput. The team behind x360ce. muchimi for GremlinEx. Good hunting!

Developed by Electronic Arts in 1990 and named after the US Army's Light Helicopter Experimental program, LHX: Attack Chopper is one of Brett Iverson's earliest PC sims. Missions can be undertaken with a Hughes AH-64A Apache, LHX, Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk or the Bell-Boeing OV-22 Osprey. The game has a humorous attitude, which other sims end a mission with a cost to repair? However, there is a surprising amount of depth to the sim, TOW missiles can be fired from behind cover and steered to targets, rescue and delivery missions supplement strike missions and it remains the only sim to feature the Bell-Boeing OV-22 Osprey. Every flight sim fan of a particular generation, has probably at one time or another played or at least dabbled with LHX. Contents Version & patch history Initial retail release (1990) Hit Squad budget re-release (1992) Big Games re-release (1995) Jane's Fighter Anthology bundled release (1997) Retail media Game management HOTAS config DOSBox Staging config Installation Floppy disk release Hit Squad CD-ROM release Jane's Fighter Anthology bundled release Configuration & running Electronic Arts Joystick Tuner In-game configuration Mods Documents Example video Finally... Version & patch history Unlike many other sims, there has only been a single version of LHX. Each of the releases below is using the same version, with only minor changes due to installation media or documentation. There are no known patches for LHX. Initial retail release (1990) The initial retail release was published by Electronic Arts. It was distributed on 2 x 5.25" 360K Double-Density (DD) or 1 x 3.5" 720K DD floppy disks. Hit Squad budget re-release (1992) Ocean published a budget re-release of LHX on their Hit Squad budget label in 1992. It was distributed on a single CD-ROM with a substantially different CD-ROM installer. A reference card and manual was included in MS Word doc format. Copy protection has been removed on this release. Big Games re-release (1995) The Italian label Big Games re-released LHX in 1995. It was distributed a single 3.5" 720K DD floppy disk using the existing floppy disk installer. Despite the Italian publisher, the game remained an English language version. Jane's Fighter Anthology bundled release (1997) The final release of LHX was in 1997, when it was bundled with Brett Iverson's later sim Jane's Fighter Anthology. It was distributed on the first CD-ROM in an LHX folder. Copy protection remains on this release, but copy protection answers are provided in the release notes. Retail media Due to the age or the media and the drives required to read the media, it is recommended to rip floppy disk 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 format compatible with DOSBox Staging. The CD-ROM can be ripped to a data only iso image format as there is no CD audio on the disc. Game management It is recommended to use my DOSBox game management strategy or similar strategy you may have developed. The recommended game management folders are: cd - for any cd images. fdd - for any floppy disk images. hdd - the folder used as the emulated DOSBox hard disk. conf - to store DOSBox and HOTAS configuration files. docs - for documents. These management folders are placed in the following game folder (as an example), and used in the rest of the guide: D:\Games\DOS\LHX Attack Chopper HOTAS config Configuring axes may not be required if your HOTAS has 4 axes or less. When using a combination of devices totaling more than 4 axes, a virtual controller can be configured (with vendor software or Joystick Gremlin), limited to 4 axes. 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 controller is detected by DOSBox. [6][7][8]. It may seem odd to use a virtual controller but this ensures a single 2 axes virtual controller is available to DOSBox and the game. It prevents the throttle or pedal controllers being selected. LHX only supports a single joystick . 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 DOSBox Staging config The DOS version is configured to run under the latest released DOSBox Staging version, v0.83.0-RC1 (at time of writing): # This is the configuration file for LHX: Attack Chopper. [cpu] core = simple cputype = 386 cpu_cycles = 6000 cycleup = 100 cycledown = 100 [voodoo] voodoo = off [mixer] reverb = small chorus = light [sblaster] sbtype = none oplmode = opl2 [joystick] joysticktype = 2axis timed = false deadzone = 0 [autoexec] @echo off mount c "D:\Games\Dos\LHX Attack Chopper\hdd" # Floppy image # mount a "D:\Games\Dos\LHX Attack Chopper\fdd\LHX.ima" -t floppy # CD image # mount d "D:\Games\Dos\LHX Attack Chopper\cd\LHX.iso" -t cdrom mixer master 100 /noshow c: cd lhx # Floppy releases # lhx.exe vga joystick high adlibsound # Hit Squad release # call start.bat exit The following zip file contains this example DOSBox Staging config. It should be changed to match your hardware and personal preferences. The core is set to simple, as it provides slightly better compatibility for older games. As the Hit Squad CD release requires at least a 386 25Mhz CPU, the cputtype is set to 386 and the cycles at set to 6000, equivalent to a slightly better 386DX 33Mhz CPU. cycleup/down settings are changed to values rather than percentages. Voodoo emulation isn't required and is disabled. The mixer settings are a personal preference but a light chorus may be more suitable for aircraft engine sounds. Although the default Sound Blaster settings provide AdLib sound, the strictly correct settings to emulate an AdLib sound card are a sbtype of none and an oplmode of opl2 as described in the DOSBox Staging Wiki, AdLib configuration. The joystick deadzone is a personal preference and suitable for my joystick hardware. A 2axis joystick type supports the two axes used in-game. The autoexec mount settings are examples only, demonstrating how to mount a floppy disk or cd image. The mixer setting restores the master volume to 100%. The floppy version of the game is run using the optimum command line options discussed in Configuration & running. The CD release will write these settings a start.bat file, which it uses instead. Installation The following covers the various installation processes depending on version. Floppy disk release Floppy disk versions should be installed under DOSBox emulation using the installer found on the disk. Installation requires the source and destination drives to be specified: A:\> install a: c: Hit Squad CD-ROM release The Hit Squad CD-ROM release should be installed under DOSBox emulation using the installer found on the CD: D:\> hitsquad The following gallery shows the installation steps: Jane's Fighter Anthology bundled release The Jane's Fighter Anthology bundled release includes the floppy disk install which won't work from the CD. To install this release, use Windows File Explorer to copy the LHX folder from the CD and into the DOSBox emulated hard disk folder, hdd. The LHX folder can be found on Jane's Fighter Anthology disc 1 (blue). After copying, in File Explorer there should be a folder similar to (using the game management scheme above as an example): D:\Games\Dos\LHX Attack Chopper\hdd\LHX In DOSBox this becomes: C:\LHX Configuration & running The game is configured and run using command line options. The following options are supported (taken from the manual): Option Description CGA Loads game in CGA mode. EGA Loads game in EGA mode. MCGA Loads game in MCGA 256-color mode. VGA Loads game in VGA 256-color mode. TANDY Loads a game in Tandy graphics mode. JOYSTICK Loads a game with joystick control. KEYBOARD Loads a game with keyboard control. MOUSE Loads a game with mouse control. MOUSE2 Loads a game with the slow mouse setting on for a high precision mouse. LOW Loads a game in low graphics mode. MEDIUM Loads a game in medium graphics mode. HIGH Loads a game in high graphics mode. PCSOUND Loads a game with PC sound. ADLIBSOUND Loads a game with AdLib sound. TANDYSOUND Loads a game with Tandy sound. SMALL Use this if you have a computer with less than 640 k of memory. It deletes complex versions of some shapes to speed up the simulation. The optimum settings for DOBox are (assuming a joystick is present): C:\LHX> lhx.exe vga joystick high ablibsound This can be set in the DOSBox config above or added to the start.bat file for the Hit Squad CD-ROM release. Electronic Arts Joystick Tuner LHX also includes the Electronic Arts Joystick Tuner (jtuner.exe). This utility is used to check the calibration of a joystick and to adjust legacy joystick trim, if badly calibrated. For modern controllers this should be unnecessary. In-game configuration The following gallery shows in the configuration options available while in-flight. The menu is accessed with the key. Mods There is an LHX launcher menu. It has the following options: Run LHX. Run the Joystick Tuner. Read the release notes. Backup the LHX pilot. Restore the LHX pilot. The pilot is backed up to (and restored from) the c:\lhx\backup folder. The launcher is available below: The launcher should be placed in the hdd folder. To run the launcher automatically when DOSBox is started, change the DOSBox configuration file: From: lhx.exe vga joystick high adlibsound # Or call start.bat To: call lhxmenu.bat Documents The following documents are available for LHX: Eyes Only dossier, pdf download. Internet Archive, LHX Attack Chopper Manual. Pilot Handbook, pdf download. Internet Archive, LHX Attack Chopper Manual. Internet Archive, LHX Attack Chopper Pilot Handbook. (Hit Squad version) Maps, pdf download. Internet Archive, LHX Attack Chopper Manual. Internet Archive, LHX Attack Chopper Pilot Handbook (Hit Squad version, single page). Reference Card, pdf download. Internet Archive, LHX Attack Chopper Manual. Internet Archive, LHX Attack Chopper Pilot Handbook. (Hit Squad version) The following documents are present on the Hit Squad CD-ROM version (MS Word doc format converted to pdf): The following document is present on the Jane's Fighters Anthology bundled version (rtf format converted to pdf): Example video LHX: Attack Chopper running in DOSBox Staging. Finally... Credit and thanks go to: Internet Archive for hosting documents. John Novak and the rest of the DOSBox Staging team for DOSBox Staging v0.83.0-RC1. Good hunting!

Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom takes place in the aftermath of the events in Wing Commander III: The Heart of the Tiger and finds our protagonist, Colonel Christopher Blair (Mark Hamill) having retired retired from military service for the simple, peaceful life of a farmer. But the hard fought for peace is at risk from Border World separatists intent on independence from the Confederation. Attacks from the separatists draw Colonel Blair back into the conflict, as he tries to discover who is really orchestrating the events drawing the Confederation ever closer to another war... Contents Strategy Version & patch history DOS CD-ROM retail release (January 1996) WC4JOY.DLL - Joystick Patch for Notebook Gameport w/ Wing Commander IV (February 1996) WC4JOY.DLL for Wing Commander IV : The Price of Freedom (February 1996) WC4PATCH for Wing Commander IV : The Price of Freedom (March 1996) DOS/Win95 CD-ROM retail release (October 1996) Windows 95 Upgrade (October 1996) Creative OEM DVD-ROM release (1997) Win95 DVD-ROM release (1997) DOS/Win95 CD-ROM EA Classics release (1998) MCI to DirectShow Interface (April 2004) Windows 95 Upgrade Windows 2000 Patch (May 2004) Wing Commander IV DVD Windows 2000 Patch (May 2004) Wing Commander IV DVD Windows 2000 Patch with alternate mpeg2.dll (May 2004) GPL MPEG-2 decoder filter (April 2004) Mincemeat's WC Superpatch v0.3 (March 2006) DVD Upgrade Patch (August 2010) DirectDraw Hack (September 2010) Digital release (2012) GOG WC4 Video Patch (December 2013) Wing Commander 4 HD Video Pack (October 2020) Wing Commander IV Enhancement Patch (April 2025) Wing Commander Enhancement Patch VLC libraries (March 2025) Patching strategies Windows 10/11 DOS retail releases (DOSBox) DOS retail releases (enhanced) Win95 CD-ROM retail release (enhanced) Win95 DVD retail release (enhanced) Digital release only Digital release (enhanced) Legacy hardware Win95/98 Legacy hardware (Win95/98 CD-ROM) Legacy hardware (Win95/98 CD-ROM, enhanced) Legacy hardware (Win95/98 DVD-ROM) Legacy hardware 2000/XP Legacy hardware (Win2000/XP CD-ROM) Legacy hardware (Win2000/XP CD-ROM, enhanced) Legacy hardware (Win2000/XP DVD-ROM) Mods Hellcat Upgrade (December 1997) Wing Commander IV launcher Retail media Game management HOTAS config DOS releases HOTAS config DOSBox Staging config Installation and configuration Running Windows releases Upgrading a DOS release Applying the Windows 95 Upgrade patch Win95 CD-ROM release Win95 DVD-ROM release Patching Fixing the dxmci configure shortcut Creating a 'digital like' installation Digital release Copying the installation folder Removing unnecessary files Patching Applying the Wing Commander IV Enhancement Patch Applying the Wing Commander 4 HD Video Pack Running First run Configuration HOTAS config (optional) Documents Digital release Other releases Strategy guides Example videos Finally... Strategy The strategy will cover the DOS version followed by the WIndows version. WC4 made the switch from MIDI to digital music, which means there aren't multiple music options available, through DOSBox, with the DOS version (unlike Wing Commander III). This means the DOS version uses a fairly straightforward DOSBox configuration. The DOS version also installs a launcher menu so a separate one is unnecessary. The Windows version will cover converting the DOS game to Windows, the Windows CD-ROM and digital versions, followed by modern enhancement patches that ensure Win10 compatibility, quality of life improvements (e.g. controller settings) and the adding of higher quality movies. The Wing Commander IV Enhancement Patch providing increased Win10 compatibility will only work with a very specific retail DVD release of the game, which was used as the basis for the digital release. However applying certain patches and creating a 'digital release like' install will allow single and dual layer DVD images to work. Version & patch history The version and patch history provides an overview of the various releases over time and the patches they support. Not only is this useful for a DOS based DOSBox release or native Win10 release but may also be of use to those wishing to run the game on legacy hardware. This also helps avoid downloading patches that aren't required. DOS CD-ROM retail release (January 1996) The initial CD-ROM retail released occurred in January 1996. The game was distributed on, unprecedented at the time, 6 x CD-ROMs. The initial release only included the DOS version. This can be considered the v1.0 release. WC4JOY.DLL - Joystick Patch for Notebook Gameport w/ Wing Commander IV (February 1996) Taken from the release notes: WC4JOY.DLL is a set of alternate joystick routines used to provide support for Colorado Spectrum's Notebook Gameport. Joysticks tested with the Notebook Gameport in combination with this patch include the CH Flightstick, the CH Flightstick Pro, the Thrustmaster FCS, the Gravis Analog Pro, and the Microsoft Sidewinder 3D Pro. This patch is not required when using DOSBox, it is only recommended for those running the game on legacy PCs with the affected hardware. This patch is available from: Wing Commander CIC, Wing Commander Encyclopedia, Colorado Spectrum Joystick Patch (Wing Commander IV). WC4JOY.DLL for Wing Commander IV : The Price of Freedom (February 1996) Taken from the release notes: WC4JOY.DLL is a set of alternate joystick routines. If you are experiencing lockups, bad calibration data, or any other problems concerning joystick calibration, you may want to give this alternate set of routines a try. This patch is not required when using DOSBox, it is only recommended for those running the game on legacy PCs that experience problems with joystick calibration. This patch is available from: Wing Commander CIC, Wing Commander Encyclopedia, Joystick Patch (Wing Commander IV). Internet Archive, Wing Commander IV (Alternate Joystick Routine). WC4PATCH for Wing Commander IV : The Price of Freedom (March 1996) This patch is available for the English language and French & German language versions. Taken from the release notes: WC4PATCH was written to address 16-bit SVGA palette problem found with video cards using the S3 Vision 968 chipset and the IBM RGB524 RAMDAC. Cards we know Wing Commander IV has a problem with include the Hercules Graphite Terminator Pro 64 PCI and the STB Velocity PCI. This patch is not required when using DOSBox, it is only recommended for those running the game on legacy PCs with the affected hardware. This patch is available from: Wing Commander CIC, Wing Commander Encyclopedia, 16 bit SVGA Patch (English). Wing Commander CIC, Wing Commander Encyclopedia, 16 bit SVGA Patch (German & French). DOS/Win95 CD-ROM retail release (October 1996) In October 1996 the first re-release took place. This version included both the DOS and Win95 versions of the game distributed on 6 x CD-ROMs. This is the v1.1 release. Windows 95 Upgrade (October 1996) Around the same time as DOS/Win95 re-release, the Windows 96 Upgrade patch was released for DOS only versions providing updates to add a WIndows executable to play the game. Taken from the release notes: Thank you for downloading Wing Commander IV for Windows 95 (WC4WIN95). To install and run Wing Commander IV for Windows 95, you must have the DOS version installed. In addition, you will need Microsoft's DirectX 2. You can obtain DirectX 2, from our web page. For more information on DirectX 2, consult the README95.TXT file included in this package. This patch is not required when using DOSBox. It is a recommended patch for those with a DOS only version but wishing to use an enhanced Windows versions. It is available from: Wing Commander CIC, Wing Commander Encyclopedia, Windows 95 Upgrade. Internet Archive, Wing Commander IV Upgrade to Windows 95. Creative OEM DVD-ROM release (1997) WC4 was bundled with the Creative PC-DVD Encore DXR, a hardware based PCI MPEG-2 and DVD decoder card. This version used the enhanced DVD quality videos and was distributed on 2 x DVD-ROMs. This is version v2.0. Win95 DVD-ROM release (1997) This is the retail version of the Creative OEM DVD-ROM release. This version used the enhanced DVD quality videos and was distributed on 2 x DVD-ROMs. This is version v2.0. DOS/Win95 CD-ROM EA Classics release (1998) WC4 was be re-released in 1998 as part of the EA Classics range in 1998. This version is equivalent to the DOS/Win95 CD-ROM retail release in October 1996. It was distributed on 6 x CD-ROMs. MCI to DirectShow Interface (April 2004) A fan made patch created by gulikoza. The v1.0 version of the patch (dxmci10.zip) was released in April 2004, with the final v1.5 version (dxmci15.zip) released in January 2008. Taken from the release notes: Some of the older games still rely on the old MCI interface. This is a very old standard, dating from Win 3.1 and has been replaced by DirectX. Although Windows XP still contains MCI, many of the applications no longer function as they are supposed to. This library will translate MCI calls to a more modern DirectShow. This patch is a recommended patch for Win95 DVD releases. It is available from: Wing Commander CIC, Wing Commander Encyclopedia, Play DVD Version Without DxR Board. Windows 95 Upgrade Windows 2000 Patch (May 2004) A fan made patch created by NStriker. This patch is applied after the Windows 95 Upgrade, it fixes an API call allowing the game to run under Win2000. This patch is only recommended for those using legacy Win2000/XP hardware. It is available from: Wing Commander CIC, Wing Commander Encyclopedia, Windows 95 Upgrade Windows 2000 Patch. Wing Commander IV DVD Windows 2000 Patch (May 2004) A fan made patch created by NStriker. This patch is applied after the MCI to DirectShow Interface/Play DVD Version Without DxR Board patch. It allows the game to be played in Win2000 without DXR hardware. This patch is only recommended for those using legacy Win2000/XP hardware to play a DVD version. It is available from: Wing Commander CIC, Wing Commander Encyclopedia, Wing Commander IV DVD Windows 2000 Patch. Wing Commander IV DVD Windows 2000 Patch with alternate mpeg2.dll (May 2004) A fan made patch created by NStriker. This is an alternate patch to use if the Wing Commander IV DVD Windows 2000 Patch does not work. It should be applied after the MCI to DirectShow Interface/Play DVD Version Without DxR Board patch. It allows the game to be played in Win2000 without DXR hardware. This patch is only recommended for those using legacy Win2000/XP hardware to play a DVD version and the Wing Commander IV DVD Windows 2000 Patch has failed . It is available from: Wing Commander CIC, Wing Commander Encyclopedia, Wing Commander IV DVD Windows 2000 Patch with alternate mpeg2.dll. GPL MPEG-2 decoder filter (April 2004) A fan made patch created by NStriker. This patch should be used with the Wing Commander IV DVD Windows 2000 Patch with alternate mpeg2.dll patch. This patch is only recommended for those using legacy Win2000/XP hardware to play a DVD version and using the Wing Commander IV DVD Windows 2000 Patch with alternate mpeg2.dll patch. It is available from: Wing Commander CIC, Wing Commander Encyclopedia, GPL MPEG-2 decoder filter. Mincemeat's WC Superpatch v0.3 (March 2006) A fan made patch created by Mincemeat. The v0.1 version of the patch was released in March 2006, with the final v0.3 version released in May 2010. Taken from the release notes: This is a collection of Application Compatibility fixes for various Wing Commander games for Microsoft Windows XP. It should save the player from having to manually configure compatibility settings in order to play. At the time of release of Windows XP, Microsoft has built-in some compatibility fixes, but they were either incomplete or do not successfully cater to the myriad of system configurations in existence. Always try playing without any compatibility fixes first. You might not need this at all! This patch is only recommended for those using legacy Win2000/XP hardware experiencing compatibility issues. It is available from: Wing Commander CIC, Wing Commander Encyclopedia, Compatibility Super Patch. DVD Upgrade Patch (August 2010) A fan made patch created by PopsiclePete. This is a modified installer which works with both the DOS and Win95 CD versions of the game. It creates a new install or modifies an existing install, adding a Win95 DVD executable to make it compatible with the DVD version of movies. Once complete DVD movie packs are installed into the appropriate folder. This patch is only recommended for those using legacy Win2000/XP hardware using the CD version of the game, It (and the movie packs) are available from: Wing Commander CIC, Wing Commander Encyclopedia, DVD Upgrade Patch. DirectDraw Hack (September 2010) A fan made patch created by Jari Komppa. This is a modified DirectDraw wrapper for the Windows versions of Wing Commander 1, 2, 3 and Wing Commander 4 for use with Win7. The current version is v1.0. This patch is only recommended for those using legacy Win7 hardware using the Windows version of the game. It is available from: Wing Commander CIC, Wing Commander Encyclopedia, DirectDraw Hack. Digital release (2012) The digital release of WC4 was published on the gog.com platform. It is equivalent to a Win95 DVD-ROM release using the higher quality DVD movies. It can be considered version v2.0. GOG WC4 Video Patch (December 2013) A fan made patch created by HCl. It fixes a bug in the gog.com WC4 release where movie sequences have sound but no picture. This patch is recommended for those using the gog.com digital release experiencing the problem or for Win95 DVD releases.. It is available from: Wing Commander CIC, Wing Commander Encyclopedia, GOG WC4 Video Patch. Wing Commander 4 HD Video Pack (October 2020) A fan made patch created by ODVS. The patch adds enhanced movies to the DVD version of the game. The latest and definitive version is v5.0. Taken from the release notes: All FMV footage remastered to 1080p Full HD using Machine Learning AI Low frame rate sequences remastered to full 30fps using Machine Learning AI Aspect ratio of all footage fixed to standard 16:9 Missing audio from various DVD-version sequences restored (in full Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound where possible) French and German packs available (Stereo audio only) Custom batch file launcher for French and German packs (wc4dvd_FR.bat and wc4dvd_DE.bat respectively) included. Use these to launch the game with French or German UI enabled (tool tips, mission briefings, pilot bios, ship loadouts etc.) This is a recommended patch, it is available from: Wing Commander CIC, Wing Commander Encyclopedia, Wing Commander 4 HD Video Pack. Wing Commander IV Enhancement Patch (April 2025) A fan made patch created by Matt Wells. This patch improves compatibility with Win10/11. There is a Windows patch version and gog.com DVD version of the enhancement patch. The latest version is v0.9.7. Taken from the project description: This patch was created for the PC game "Wing Commander IV" with the Windows 95 Upgrade Patch installed. UPDATE: This patch now also works with the GOG DVD version "wc4dvd.exe". This patch uses DirectX 11 for rendering and will likely require Windows 10 or greater to use. This patch makes use of DLL injection to make changes to the game's executable file. And is loaded by the game itself by pretending to be the Direct Draw library file "ddraw.dll". It is thus incompatible with patches which use the same method to load eg. DirectDraw_Hack. HD Movie playback is achieved using libvlc. Current list of enhancements: HD Space, space scenes are displayed at your desktop resolution(formerly 640x480). Support for the Wing Commander 4 HD Video Pack created by ODVS. Improved windowed mode, with window resizing options and mouse locking only when required in-game. Ingame Joystick\Controller configuration utility. This is a recommended patch, it is available from: GitHub, mattwells77, Wing_Commander_IV_Enhancement_Patch. Wing Commander Enhancement Patch VLC libraries (March 2025) As the above description notes, 'HD Movie playback is achieved using libvlc.'. This required obtaining all the VLC libraries as part of one complete [package. The Wing Commander Enhancement Patch VLC libraries (libvlc_min_pack_3.0.21) are the minimal set of VLC libraries required by the enhancement patch. Note: This is the same VLC libraries patch as used by the Wing Commander III Enhancement Patch. This is recommended patch when running the enhancement patch. It is available from: GitHub, mattwells77, Wing_Commander_III_Enhancement_Patch, Releases, libvlc_min_pack_3.0.21 Patching strategies The following are not guides but patching strategies, listing the suggested patches to use in various scenarios. This allows the patches to be obtained before starting the patching process. Windows 10/11 DOS retail releases (DOSBox) Install DOS version. DOS retail releases (enhanced) Install DOS version. Apply Windows 95 Upgrade. Apply Wing Commander IV Enhancement Patch. Apply Wing Commander Enhancement Patch VLC libraries. Apply Wing Commander 4 HD Video Pack. Win95 CD-ROM retail release (enhanced) Install Win95 version. Apply Wing Commander IV Enhancement Patch. Apply Wing Commander Enhancement Patch VLC libraries. Apply Wing Commander 4 HD Video Pack. Win95 DVD retail release (enhanced) Install Win95 version. Apply MCI to DirectShow Interface.. Apply GOG WC4 Video Patch. Apply Wing Commander IV Enhancement Patch. Apply Wing Commander Enhancement Patch VLC libraries. Apply Wing Commander 4 HD Video Pack. Digital release only Install digital release. Optional: Apply GOG WC4 Video Patch. Digital release (enhanced) Install digital release. Apply Wing Commander IV Enhancement Patch. Apply Wing Commander Enhancement Patch VLC libraries. Apply Wing Commander 4 HD Video Pack. Legacy hardware Win95/98 Note: These patching strategies are suggestions only and have not been tested, Legacy hardware (Win95/98 CD-ROM) Install DOS or Win95 version. Apply Windows 95 Upgrade (if DOS version installed). Legacy hardware (Win95/98 CD-ROM, enhanced) Install DOS or Win95 version. Apply DVD Upgrade Patch. Legacy hardware (Win95/98 DVD-ROM) Install Win95 version. Legacy hardware 2000/XP Note: These patching strategies are suggestions only and have not been tested, Legacy hardware (Win2000/XP CD-ROM) Install DOS or Win95 version. Apply Windows 95 Upgrade (if DOS version installed). Apply Windows 95 Upgrade Windows 2000 Patch (May 2004). Optional: Apply Mincemeat's WC Superpatch v0.3 (May 2010). Legacy hardware (Win2000/XP CD-ROM, enhanced) Install DOS or Win95 version. Apply DVD Upgrade Patch. Apply MCI to DirectShow Interface. Apply Wing Commander IV DVD Windows 2000 Patch. Optional: Apply Wing Commander IV DVD Windows 2000 Patch with alternate mpeg2.dll. Optional: Apply GPL MPEG-2 decoder filter. Optional: Apply Mincemeat's WC Superpatch v0.3. Legacy hardware (Win2000/XP DVD-ROM) Install Win95 version. Apply MCI to DirectShow Interface. Apply Wing Commander IV DVD Windows 2000 Patch. Optional: Apply Wing Commander IV DVD Windows 2000 Patch with alternate mpeg2.dll. Optional: Apply GPL MPEG-2 decoder filter. Optional: Apply Mincemeat's WC Superpatch v0.3. Mods The listed mods change aspects of the game or are an optional convenience, as such their use is a personal preference. Hellcat Upgrade (December 1997) A fan made mod from an unknown creator. This mod upgrades the Hellcat V weapons to Tachyon Cannons and Reaper Guns, as well as upgrades the maneuverability and speed of the fighter. It is compatible with DOS and Windows releases. It is available from: Wing Commander CIC, Wing Commander Encyclopedia, Hellcat Upgrade. Wing Commander IV launcher A launcher menu for the DOS version of WC4 when running under DOSBox Staging emulation. It has option for: Running the game. Configuring the game. Viewing the release notes. It should be placed in the top level hdd folder, C:\ and assumes the default installation C:\WC4 is used in DOSBox. It is available below: Retail media Due to the age or the media and the drives required to read it, it is recommended to rip CD-ROM or DVD-ROM media to image files, to save wear and tear on media and the mechanical drives. The CD-ROM/DVD-ROMs can be ripped to a data only .iso image format as there is no CD audio on the CD/DVDs. Game management It is recommended to use my DOSBox game management strategy or similar strategy you may have developed. The recommended game management folders for the DOS version are: cd - for any CD/DVD images. hdd - the folder use as the emulated DOSBox hard disk conf - to store DOSBox and HOTAS configuration files. docs - for documents. patch - to store any patches. When using the DOS version of the game, these management folders can be found in the following game folder (as an example): D:\Games\Dos\Wing Commander 4 When using the Windows version of the game (or converting to the Windows version, these management folders can be found in the following game folder (as an example): D:\Games\Win\WC4 Setup Alongside the Win95 release WC4 installation folder: D:\Games\Win\WC4 HOTAS config Configuring axes may not be required if your HOTAS has 4 axes or less. When using a combination of devices totaling more than 4 axes, a virtual controller can be configured (with vendor software or Joystick Gremlin), limited to 4 axes. 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 controller is detected by DOSBox. [6][7][8]. There are separate configs for DOS and Windows versions. DOS releases This section of the guide deals with the DOS edition of the game and optimising the DOSBox configuration. HOTAS config Only the joystick is supported with the DOS version. 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 DOSBox Staging config The DOS version is configured to run under the latest released DOSBox Staging version, v0.83.0-RC1 (at time of writing). # This is the configuration file for Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom. [render] deinterlacing = on [cpu] cpu_cycles_protected = 100000 cycleup = 500 cycledown = 500 [voodoo] voodoo = off [mixer] reverb = normal chorus = medium [joystick] joysticktype = ch timed = off swap34 = on deadzone = 0 [autoexec] @echo off mount c "D:\Games\Dos\Wing Commander 4\hdd" -freesize 1024 mount d "D:\Games\Dos\Wing Commander 4\cd\*.iso" -t cdrom mixer master 100 /noshow c: # To run the game # cd wc4 # wc4.exe # To use the launcher mod # call wc4menu.bat The following zip file contains this example DOSBox Staging config. It should be changed to match your hardware and personal preferences. DOSBox Staging introduces a new deinterlacer feature to remove black lines from full motion videos (FMVs). This is enabled in the [render] section of the config, there are additional settings to control the strength of the deinterlacing. The cpu_cycle setting of 100000 cycles, equivalent to a Pentium MMX-166. cycleup/down settings are changed to values rather than percentages. Voodoo emulation isn't required and is disabled. The mixer settings are a personal preference. The default Sound Blaster settings are appropriate for Sound Blaster music and digital sounds. The joystick settings are a personal preference and suitable for my joystick hardware. A ch joystick type allows the joystick hat to be used in-game. The autoexec mount settings are examples only, demonstrating how to mount multiple cd images for the DOS CD edition. The mixer setting restores the master volume to 100%. The remaining commands run the game. Installation and configuration Installation should be performed under DOSBox emulation by running either of the following commands: D:\> install.bat D:\> wc4.exe -i The following gallery shows the installation steps: The configuration can be re-run multiple times by running either of the following commands from the WC4 installation folder: C:\WC4> install.bat C:\WC4> wc4.exe -i Running The game can be run with the following command: C:\WC4> wc4.exe When run for the first time with a joystick enabled, the joystick calibration menu is displayed, as shown below: Windows releases This section of the guide deals with upgrading the DOS release of the game and optimising the Windows releases. There is a section for upgrading a DOS release and a sections for installing Windows releases, followed by patching and configuration sections applicable to all supported releases. Upgrading a DOS release Before upgrading a DOS release using the Windows 95 Upgrade, it must be installed. The instructions above cover installing WC4 in DOSBox Staging. Once installed, it is recommended to copy the WC4 installation folder to preserve the DOS version. This can be done from Windows. An example is shown below: The DOSBox WC4 installation folder is: C:\WC4 In Windows this becomes: D:\Games\DOS\Wing Commander 4\hdd\WC4 This folder is copied, in this example under the D:\Games\Win folder to become: D:\Games\Win\WC4 Applying the Windows 95 Upgrade patch The steps to apply the Windows 95 Upgrade patch are as follows: Download the patch and save in an appropriate folder, e.g. D:\Games\Win\WC4 Setup\patch Extract the patch to a sub-folder, e.g. wc4win95. Open a command (cmd) window and navigate to the Windows 95 Upgrade folder, e.g. D:\Games\Win\WC4 Setup\patch\wc4win95 Install the patch with the install batch file, specifying the WC4 installation folder, e.g. D:\Games\Win\WC4 Setup\patch\wc4win95> install D:\Games\Win\WC4 If successful you you should see something similar to the following in the cmd window: To continuing patching for an enhanced Win10 compatible version continue on to Patching. Win95 CD-ROM release Installing the Win95 CD-ROM release is straightforward as the installer is Win10 compatible. It can be found on the first CD/image: setup.exe The installation steps are shown in the gallery below: To continuing patching for an enhanced Win10 compatible version continue on to Patching. Win95 DVD-ROM release Installing the Win95 CD-ROM release is straightforward as the installer is Win10 compatible. It can be found on the first CD/image: setup.exe The installation steps are shown in the gallery below: Note: Once installation is complete do NOT install DirectX 5. Patching The MCI to DirectShow Interface and GOG WC4 Video patches are applied with the following steps: Extract the contents of the MCI to DirectShow Interface patch (dxmci15.zip) into the WC4 installation folder, replacing any files as required. Extract the contents of the GOG WC4 Video patch (wc4gog_1.0.2_test1.zip) into the WC4 installation folder, replacing any files as required. Delete or rename (recommended) wc4dvd.exe, e.g. wc4dvd.exe.bak. Rename wc4dvdgog-win2k-patched.exe to wc4dvd.exe. Fixing the dxmci configure shortcut The dxmci configure shortcut shouldn't be required but it still may be useful to fix, if needed. To fix the shortcut. Open the shortcut Properties. The shortcut Target field will be: %WINDIR%\system32\rundll32.exe dxmci,configure Change the Target field to: %WINDIR%\system32\rundll32.exe dxmci.dll,configure Creating a 'digital like' installation The final step in a DVD release installation is to create a 'digital like' installation. This allows the DVD/digital version of the enhancement patch to be used successfully. This method has been tested on single/dual layer DVD images, although it has not been tested with all DVD releases. To create the 'digital like' installation: Copy the following files from the DVD(s) to the WC4 installation folder, replacing any files as required: From disc 1/side A: \VOB (folder) install.tre movies1.tre movies2.tre movies3.tre special1.tre special2.tre special3.tre From disc 2/side B: \VOB (folder) movies4.tre movies5.tre movies6.tre music3.tre music4.tre special4.tre special5.tre special6.tre To continuing patching for an enhanced Win10 compatible version continue on to Patching. Digital release The digital release should be installed using the gog.com Galaxy client or offline installer package. It is recommended to take a copy of the WC4 installation folder to prevent any gog.com verification and repair of the game files from removing the enhancement patch or HD movie packs. Copying the installation folder Using the following gog installation folder as an example: D:\Program Files (x86)\GOG Galaxy\Games\Wing Commander IV Copy this folder to an appropriate location (and rename if desired), e.g. D:\Games\Win\WC4 Removing unnecessary files The new/copied installation folder includes a number of files that are no longer required and can be removed, detailed below: \AC3Filter (folder) \support (folder) ac3.cmd ac3filter.ax ac3u.cmd COPYING dxmci15_src.zip gog.ico goggame-1207659021.hashdb goggame-1207659021.info goggame-1207659021.script goggame-galaxyFileList.ini goglog.ini support.ico unins000.dat unins000.exe unins000.ini unins000.msg wc4_debug.txt The following files are not strictly necessary but may still prove useful: goggame-1207659021.ico Launch Wing Commander™ 4 - The Price of Freedom Note: In order to use the launch shortcut the Target field should be changed to point to the new WC4 installation folder. The following documents can be moved to a separate game management docs folder for ease of reference: Manual.pdf Playguide.pdf Patching Once a DOS release is upgraded or Windows release installed, a number of patches are applied to improve Win10 compatibility and add the HD movie packs. Applying the Wing Commander IV Enhancement Patch The first patch to install is the Wing Commander IV Enhancement Patch. This comes in two versions: A DOS/Win95 CD-ROM release version (wc4w_en_0.9.7.zip). A Win95 DVD-ROM/digital release version (wc4w_en_DVD_0.9.7.zip). In addition the Wing Commander Enhancement Patch VLC libraries should also be obtained. The installation steps are identical for both versions: Extract the contents of Wing Commander IV Enhancement Patch zip archive into the WC4 installation folder, replacing any files as required. Extract the contents of Wing Commander IV Enhancement Patch VLC libraries zip archive into the WC4 installation folder, replacing any files as required. Applying the Wing Commander 4 HD Video Pack If you wish to use HD movies, the Wing Commander 4 HD Video Pack is available in English, French or German languages. The pack is distributed as 2 zip archives, (using the English language version), wc4_hdpack_5.0_01.zip and wc4_hdpack_5.0_02.zip. The installation steps are as follows: Locate the vob sub-folder in the WC4 installation folder, e,g, D:\Games\Win\WC4\vob Extract the contents of each zip archive into the vob sub-folder, replacing any files as required. Running CD Retail releases of the game should be run with the first CD/image mounted in Win10. The game is run with the following executable: wc4w.exe The DVD/digital version of the game is run with a suitable launch shortcut or the following executable: wc4dvd.exe First run When the Retail CD release of the game is run for the first time (with the Wing Commander IV Enhancement Patch), it may take a little time to start, then run a speed test and open the configuration options. It is recommended to check the sound and graphics options (which should be at the maximum settings) and use the copy additional files option to copy all the additional files from the CD/image, The menu is very similar to the DOS i configuration menu (see Installation and configuring). The DVD/digital release of the game will start normally. Configuration With the addition of the patch and native controller support, there's some additional configuration to optimise the game. Configuration options are shown in the gallery below. In-game config options set from the Main Terminal (in-game). The Joystick Calibration button now opens a new native controller configuration dialog. Finally, when in flight, Alt + O will open the in-flight options. HOTAS config (optional) The new controller support means the game can now support stick, throttle and rudder pedals. It would seem there is no need for an external HOTAS config, however, the Controller Setup dialog will list all controller devices as 'HID compliant device'. This makes configuration 'trial and error' until the correct controller and axis is located. Note: this is an entirely optional step. Creating a virtual controller with the 4 axes supported in-game means only a single controller is available with only the required 4 axes, which may make thing easier. This also allows the advanced facilities available to the HOTAS profiling software to be used, e.g. button macros, chained commands, etc. It is recommended to map physical to Windows axes 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 Documents The following documents are available: Digital release The following documents are bundled with the game: Playguide. Manual. Additional documents can also be downloaded separately as extras: Playguide. Manual. Origin official guide. Reference card. Production videos. Promotional videos. Wallpapers. Wing Commander bible. Wing Commander IV script. Other releases Documents available for other releases: Wing Commander IV manual, pdf download Wing Commander CIC, Wing Commander Encyclopedia, Wing Commander IV Manual. Internet Archive, Wing Commander IV: The Price Of Freedom User Manual. Playguide, pdf download. Wing Commander CIC, Wing Commander Encyclopedia, Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom Playguide. Internet Archive, Wing Commander IV: The Price Of Freedom User Manual. Reference card, pdf download. Wing Commander CIC, Wing Commander Encyclopedia, Wing Commander IV Reference Card. Internet Archive, Retro Game Reference Material. Installation guide, pdf download. Internet Archive, Wing Commander IV: The Price Of Freedom User Manual. Installation guide, Win95 updated information, pdf download. Internet Archive, Wing Commander IV: The Price Of Freedom User Manual. Ship statistics, txt download. Wing Commander CIC, Wing Commander Encyclopedia, Wing Commander IV Shipstats. Strategy guides Origin's Official Guide to Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom, pdf download. Internet Archive, Wing Commander IV Guide. Internet Archive, Wing Commander IV The Price of Freedom Official Strategy Guide. Example videos WC4 running in DOSBox Staging v0.83.0-RC1 WC4 running with the enhancement patch and HD movies pack Finally... Credit and thanks for all the hard work involved goes to: Wing Commander CIC, for all the patches, forums, contributors, documents, in fact the premiere resource for Wing Commander franchise information on the Internet. Internet Archive for hosting documents and patches. gulikoza for the MCI to DirectShow Interface patch. NStriker for the Windows 95 Upgrade Windows 2000, Wing Commander IV DVD Windows 2000, Wing Commander IV DVD Windows 2000 Patch with alternate mpeg2.dll and GPL MPEG-2 decoder filter patches. Mincemeat for Mincemeat's WC Superpatch. PopsiclePete for the DVD Upgrade Patch. Jari Komppa for the DirectDraw Hack. HCl for the GOG WC4 Video Patch. ODVS for the Wing Commander 4 HD Video Pack. Matt Wells for the Wing Commander IV Enhancement Patch. John Novak and the DOSBox Staging team for DOSBox Staging v0.83.0-RC1. The developers and maintainers of vJoy, Joystick Gremlin and HidHide. Dedicated to my favourite girl, Kimbo. Good hunting!

A guide to running DOS versions of Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger in DOSBox Staging. Converting DOS version to Windows compatible versions and optimising these to run natively in Win10. The third game in the Wing Commander series marked a radical change in the technology. The colorful animated cutscenes of I and II replaced with Full Motion Video featuring Hollywood actors, Mark Hamill, Malcolm McDowell, Tom Wilson, Jason Bernard, Ginger Lynn and featuring the voice acting talents of Tim Curry. The bitmaps of the previous games replaced with texture mapped polygons. The campaign marks a culmination of 30 years of war with the Kilrathi with the conflict ending one way or another. At the time it was considered groundbreaking blurring the lines between game or interactive movie and breaking records in game production costs at $3m. For the rest of this guide Wing Commander III: Heart of Tiger will be referred to as WC3. This guide will only be covering DOS and Windows versions. For further background information on WC3 it's recommended to take a look at the Wing Commander CIC. Contents Strategy Version & patch history CD retail edition (November 1994) ATI Mach 64 Patch (1994) Alternate Joystick Routines (January 1995) Joystick Patch for Notebook Gameport (May 1995) QVision Video Patch (May 1995) Joystick Patch for Thrustmaster FCS (TM) and 100%-compatible joysticks (Logitech Wingman Extreme) (May 1995) Kilrathi Saga edition (September 1996) EA CD-ROM Classics edition (1997) Windows 2000 Update (Kilrathi Saga edition) (May 2004) Movie Crashing Patch (Kilrathi Saga edition) (March 2009) DDHack (2010) Digital edition (September 2011) Wing Commander Loader (March 2020) Wing Commander 3 HD Video Pack (March 2021) Wing Commander III Enhancement Patch (May 2024) Wing Commander III Enhancement Patch VLC libraries (March 2025) Restored Scenes IFF Packs (February 2026) Patching strategies CD Retail, EA CD-ROM Classics and digital editions (DOSBox) CD Retail, EA CD-ROM Classics and digital editions (Windows 10/11) Kilrathi Saga edition Retail media Game management HOTAS config DOS editions HOTAS config DOSBox Staging config Installation and configuring Retail CD edition Merging discs Digital edition Sound options Sound Blaster Roland music Roland MT-32/LAPC-1 Roland Sound Canvas General MIDI music VirtualMIDISynth and MIDIMapper WC3 Launcher Installing Windows editions Wing Commander Loader (DOS editions) Retail CD version Creating a WingLoader compatible install Digital version Creating a fresh install Kilrathi Saga edition Installing Wing Commander III Enhancement Patch (all editions) Optional: Installing Wing Commander 3 HD Video Pack (all editions) Patching with Wing Commander Loader (DOS editions) Running Configuring Enhancement patch config (optional) In-game config HOTAS config (optional) Documents Digital edition Extras Novels Strategy guides Kilrathi Saga edition Other editions Strategy guides Example videos Finally... Strategy This guide is split into two main sections. The first covers the DOS version of the game, either the CD retail or the digital release running in DOSBox Staging. It will cover the various options for running the DOS version including recommendations. One advantage of the DOS version is the wide range of MIDI music options available. The second section covers converting the DOS releases to a native Windows release. It will also cover the fan made patches available to support the game under Win10 and optional patches to run an enhanced version of the game. It covers the steps necessary to convert one edition of the game in another and then the steps to create an enhanced version of the game compatible with Win10/11. Version & patch history The version and patch history provides an overview of the various releases over time and the patches they support. Not only is this useful for a DOS based DOSBox release or native Win10 release but may also be of use to those wishing to run the game on legacy hardware. This also helps avoid downloading patches that aren't required. CD retail edition (November 1994) The original CD retail edition was distributed in November 1994 on 4 x CD-ROM's. This is a DOS only release. ATI Mach 64 Patch (1994) An official patch from Origin Systems Inc. This patch fixes distorted videos in the Wing Commander III demo only for the ATI Mach 64 video card. It is not a recommended patch as it is only applicable to specific legacy hardware running the demo. It is available from: Wing Commander CIC, Wing Commander Encyclopedia, ATI Mach 64 Patch. Alternate Joystick Routines (January 1995) This is an official patch from Origin Systems Inc. Taken from the release notes: This alternate joystick DLL (set of alternate routines) is being provided for users who are experiencing problems with Wing Commander III's initial joystick calibration phase during the install program. You must have a joystick to use this patch. This is not a recommended patch and is only applicable for those having issues with legacy joysticks on legacy hardware. It is not required when using DOSBox on Win10/11. It is available from: Internet Archive, Wing Commander III joystick calibration-fix. Internet Archive, Game Patches and Fixes Archive Letter W Wing Commander CIC, Wing Commander Encyclopedia, Alternate Joystick Routines. Joystick Patch for Notebook Gameport (May 1995) This is an official patch from Origin Systems Inc. Taken from the release notes: WC3JOY.DLL is a set of alternate joystick routines used to provide support for Colorado Spectrum's Notebook Gameport. Joysticks tested with the Notebook Gameport in combination with this patch include the CH Flightstick, the CH Flightstick Pro, the Thrustmaster FCS, and the Gravis Analog Pro. This is not a recommended patch and is only applicable for those having issues with legacy joysticks on specific legacy hardware. It is not required when using DOSBox on Win10/11. It is available from: Wing Commander CIC, Wing Commander Encyclopedia, Colorado Spectrum Joystick Patch. QVision Video Patch (May 1995) This is an official patch from Origin Systems Inc. Taken from the release notes: VIDEO.DLL is an alternate set of video routines used to provide support for certain video cards. VIDEO.DLL installs itself when Wing Commander III is initialized. The VIDEO.DLL that accompanies this text file is to be used for the Compaq QVision card only. During initialization, the patch will attempt to detect the Compaq QVision. If the Compaq QVision is not detected, the patch will not install itself and display a message asking you if you wish to continue. If the Compaq QVision is detected, a message will let you know the DLL was installed and you should be able to use the SVGA capabilities of the Compaq QVision. This is not a recommended patch and is only applicable for those having issues with specific legacy hardware. It is not required when using DOSBox on Win10/11. It is available from: Internet Archive, Wing Commander III SVGA-patch for Compaq Qvision. Wing Commander CIC, Wing Commander Encyclopedia, QVision Video Patch. Joystick Patch for Thrustmaster FCS (TM) and 100%-compatible joysticks (Logitech Wingman Extreme) (May 1995) This is an official patch from Origin Systems Inc. Taken from the release notes: WC3JOY.DLL is a set of alternate joystick routines used to provide support for Thrustmaster (TM) and 100%-compatible joystick (such as the Logitech Wingman Extreme). Joysticks tested include the Thrustmaster FCS, the Thrustmaster FLCS, and the Logitech Wingman Extreme. This is not a recommended patch and is only applicable for those having issues with specific legacy joysticks. It is not required when using DOSBox on Win10/11. It is available from: Internet Archive, Wing Commander III Thrustmaster support. Wing Commander CIC, Wing Commander Encyclopedia, Thrustmaster Joystick Patch. Kilrathi Saga edition (September 1996) The Kilrathi Saga is the a compilation of Windows ports of Wing Commander, Wing Commander II and Wing Commander III. This was released on 5 x CDs with the first CD for WC1 & 2 and the remaining 4 for WC3. This was considered the optimum version of WC1 (and still is for WC2) until the AllTinker W.C.A.T. mod for WC1, due to unofficial fan made patches for these games supporting later versions of Windows. EA CD-ROM Classics edition (1997) The EA CD-ROM Classics edition remains the DOS version of the game enhanced with a WIn95 installer app. It was distributed on 4 x CDs. Although not explicitly covered in this guide, once installed in Windows the DOSBox setup process and conversion to a Windows version should be very similar. Windows 2000 Update (Kilrathi Saga edition) (May 2004) Created by NStriker. This patch may also fix compatibility issues in WinXP. Taken from some creator notes: I've created patches for WC3 Kilrathi Saga, WC4 CD, and WC4 DVD that fix an offending API call and allow them to run under Win2K. There still seem to be some outstanding issues like WC3 being unstable in general and I have yet to get my joystick to work in WC4, though I believe neither are related to my patches. This is no longer a recommended patch for WC3 having been superseded by a later 'Mash' patch. Unfortunately it can't be downloaded as Windows 10 reports a probable virus false positive. It is available from: Wing Commander CIC, Wing Commander Encyclopedia, Windows 2000 Update (Kilrathi Saga edition) Movie Crashing Patch (Kilrathi Saga edition) (March 2009) Created by by 'Mash' Matt Wells the first version was released in 2009. The latest release of this patch, v1.2, occurred in May 2011. This patch is compatible with the DDHack patch. Taken from the release notes: This patch is an attempt to fix some of the problems associated with running the Windows version of Wing Commander 3 on modern OSes and on modern hardware. This release includes a fix for the 'Ingame Movie Crashing Bug', a slowdown fix for the Nav Map Screen and a series of slowdown fixes for the Pre Flight Power-up Screen. This patch was created and tested on Windows 7 64 Bit but should also work fine on XP or Vista, 32 or 64 Bit. It will probably work with Windows 2000 as well. No Game files are modified to install this patch. Instead the patch works by pretending to be the Direct Sound Library file (dsound.dll) which the Wing Commander EXE loads itself when it is run. As well as modifying the game the patch also redirects calls made to the real "dsound.dll" where it resides in the Windows System Directory. Note: This patch now exploits the "dsound.dll" rather than the "ddraw.dll" as the previous version. This was done to avoid clashing with Sol_hsa's "DirectDraw Hack" graphics patch. This is no longer a recommended patch for WC3 having been superseded by a later 'Mash' patch. It is available from: Wing Commander CIC, Wing Commander Encyclopedia, Movie Crashing Patch (Kilrathi Saga edition) DDHack (2010) Created by Jari Komppa (Sol). The latest version of this patch is v1.0. Taken from the release notes: This is a replacement ddraw.dll designed to work better with the host environment. Meaning, no palette corruption, no switching the whole system to a different graphics mode, no 256 color mode windows, no need to kill explorer.exe, etc. Technically, it's a DLL that implements the directdraw interface (directdraw, directdraw2, directdrawsurface and directdrawpalette) - or well, the parts of it that I have implemented so far. Then it takes what the game wants to display, dumps it into an OpenGL texture and renders this on screen. ddhack is still at a very early stage, and may be somewhat unstable. It has been mainly tested with the 'kilrathi saga' wing commander 1, wing commander 2, wing commander 3 and wing commander 4 CD. If any other directdraw programs work, it's a miracle! This is no longer a recommended patch for WC3 having been superseded by later patches. It is available from: Google Code Archive, ddhack Wing Commander CIC, Wing Commander Encyclopedia, DirectDraw Hack Digital edition (September 2011) The digital edition is comparable to the CD retail edition. The 4 x CDs of files are merged into a single image file, removing the need for swapping between CD images when playing. The digital edition is available on gog.com and at Electronic Arts. Wing Commander Loader (March 2020) The Wing Commander Loader (or WingLoader) is a utility for launching optimised versions of the Kilrathi Saga versions of WC1 and WC2. However, it also includes patching support for WC3. Created by Destro. the latest version of the WingLoader is v0.92. Taken from the release notes: Wing Loader is a launcher for the Kilrathi Saga versions of Wing Commander 1 & 2 that aims to deliver the most complete versions of these classic masterpieces. Features: Wing Commader III, IV, Prophecy & Secret Ops GOG Support and Wing Commander Saga! What fun! This is the recommended utility for converting from DOS WC3 releases to a Windows compatible release. This utility is available from: MEGA, WingLoader v0.92 - Hotfix.zip Wing Commander CIC, Forums, Wing Commander Chat Zone, Fan Projects & Editing, Wing Loader (KS/WCDX) Loader & Voice Over Mod Wing Commander 3 HD Video Pack (March 2021) The Wing Commander 3 HD Video Pack, created by ODVS is an AI upscaled set of WC3 movies played throughout the campaign. It also includes restored content which was originally missing. The current version of the pack is v2.0. When first released this was not integrated into the game, a situation remedied with the Wing Commander III Enhancement Patch. Taken from ODVS notes: As well as improving remaster quality over V1.0, V2.0 contains the following improvements: All FMV footage remastered to 1080p Full HD using Machine Learning AI Original low frame-rate of 15fps remastered to full 30fps using Machine Learning AI Improved contrast balance in all footage This is a recommended pack for Windows versions of the game, for an optimised experience. It is available from: Wing Commander CIC, Wing Commander Encyclopedia, Wing Commander 3 HD Video Pack Wing Commander III Enhancement Patch (May 2024) The Wing Commander III Enhancement Patch, created by 'Mash' Matt Wells, adds higher resolutions and improved window handling with DirectX 11. It also supports the Wing Commander 3 HD Video Pack and adds native controller support to the game allowing the use of stick, throttle and rudder. The latest version of the patch is v0.14.1. Taken from the GitHub description: This patch was created for the Windows version of the PC game "Wing Commander III". Which came as part of the "Wing Commander Kilrathi Saga" compilation. It can also be used with the GOG DOS version of the game. But will require some extra files and a little more work to set things up. The best and easiest option is to install Wing Loader. Wing Loader also has some upgrades and fixes for other Wing Commander games. This patch uses DirectX 11 for rendering and will likely require Windows 10 or greater to use. This patch makes use of DLL injection to make changes to the game's executable file. And is loaded by the game itself by pretending to be the Direct Draw library file "ddraw.dll". It is thus incompatible with patches which use the same method to load eg. DirectDraw_Hack. HD Movie playback is achieved using libvlc. This is the recommended patch for enhancing WC3 and providing compatibility with Win10/11. It is available from: GitHub, mattwells77, Wing_Commander_III_Enhancement_Patch Wing Commander III Enhancement Patch VLC libraries (March 2025) As the above description notes, 'HD Movie playback is achieved using libvlc.'. This required obtaining all the VLC libraries as part of one complete [package. The Wing Commander III Enhancement Patch VLC libraries (libvlc_min_pack_3.0.21) are the minimal set of VLC libraries required by the enhancement patch. This is recommended patch when running the enhancement patch. It is available from: GitHub, mattwells77, Wing_Commander_III_Enhancement_Patch, Releases, libvlc_min_pack_3.0.21 Restored Scenes IFF Packs (February 2026) The Wing Commander III Enhancement Patch supports the Wing Commander 3 HD Video Pack. The HD Video pack also includes restored content videos, however, having the videos is not enough to restore them in-game. The Restored Scenes IFF Packs (Restored_Scenes_IFF_Packs) are the set of files that restore the restored video content to the game campaign. This is recommended patch when running the Wing Commander III Enhancement Patch and Wing Commander 3 HD Video Pack. It is available from: GitHub, mattwells77, Wing_Commander_III_Enhancement_Patch, Releases, Restored_Scenes_IFF_Packs Patching strategies The following are the recommended patching strategies for each edition. CD Retail, EA CD-ROM Classics and digital editions (DOSBox) Install Wing Commander III release. CD Retail, EA CD-ROM Classics and digital editions (Windows 10/11) Install Wing Commander III release. Install WingLoader utility. Apply Wing Commander III Enhancement Patch. Apply Wing Commander III Enhancement Patch VLC libraries. Optional: Apply Wing Commander 3 HD Video Pack. Optional: Apply Restored Scenes IFF Packs. Patch with WingLoader utility. Kilrathi Saga edition Install Wing Commander III (Kilrathi Saga) release. Apply Wing Commander III Enhancement Patch. Apply Wing Commander III Enhancement Patch VLC libraries. Optional: Apply Wing Commander 3 HD Video Pack. Optional: Apply Restored Scenes IFF Packs. Retail media Due to the age or the media and the drives required to read it, it is recommended to rip CD-ROM media to image files, to save wear and tear on media and the mechanical drives. The CD-ROMs can be ripped to a data only .iso image format as there is no CD audio on the CDs. Game management It is recommended to use my DOSBox game management strategy or similar strategy you may have developed. The recommended game management folders for the DOS version are: cd - for any cd images. hdd - the folder use as the emulated DOSBox hard disk conf - to store DOSBox and HOTAS configuration files. docs - for documents. patch - to store any patches. When using the DOS version of the game, these management folders can be found in the following game folder (as an example): D:\Games\DOS\Wing Commander 3 When using the Windows version of the game (or converting to the Windows version, these management folders can be found in the following game folder (as an example): D:\Games\Win\Wing Commander 3 Setup HOTAS config Configuring axes may not be required if your HOTAS has 4 axes or less. When using a combination of devices totaling more than 4 axes, a virtual controller can be configured (with vendor software or Joystick Gremlin), limited to 4 axes. 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 controller is detected by DOSBox. [6][7][8]. There are separate configs for DOS and Windows versions. DOS editions This section of the guide deals with the DOS editions of the game and optimising the DOSBox and installation as much as possible. The DOS version may be preferable for a legacy retro experience or for MIDI music which has a variety of options. HOTAS config Only the joystick is supported with the DOS version. 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 DOSBox Staging config The DOS version is configured to run under the latest released DOSBox Staging version, v0.83.0-RC1 (at time of writing). # This is the configuration file for Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger. [render] deinterlacing = on [cpu] cpu_cycles_protected = 75000 cycleup = 500 cycledown = 500 [voodoo] voodoo = off [mt32] model = cm32l romdir = "D:\Midi\Versioned" [fluidsynth] soundfont = "Shan SGM Pro 15.SF2" soundfont_dir = "D:\Midi\Soundfonts" [soundcanvas] soundcanvas_model = sc55 soundcanvas_rom_dir = "D:\Midi\soundcanvas\ROMs" [midi] # Other valid options: mt32, fluidsynth, port mididevice = soundcanvas [joystick] joysticktype = ch timed = off swap34 = on deadzone = 0 [autoexec] @echo off # Hard disk folder # mount c "D:\Games\Dos\Wing Commander 3\hdd" # Digital edition install folder # mount c "D:\Program Files (x86)\GOG Galaxy\Games\Wing Commander III" # Retail CD images # mount d "D:\Games\Dos\Wing Commander 3\cd\wc3*.iso" -t cdrom # Merged retail CDs image # mount d "D:\Games\Dos\Wing Commander 3\cd\data.dat" -t cdrom # Digital edition CD image # mount d "D:\Program Files (x86)\GOG Galaxy\Games\Wing Commander III\data.dat" -t cdrom mixer master 100 /noshow d: wc3.exe pause exit The following zip file contains this example DOSBox Staging config. It should be changed to match your hardware and personal preferences. DOSBox Staging introduces a new deinterlacer feature to remove black lines from full motion videos (FMVs). This is enabled in the [render] section of the config, there are additional settings to control the strength of the deinterlacing. The cpu_cycle setting of 75000 as recommended in the DOSBox Staging wiki. cycleup/down settings are changed to values rather than percentages. Voodoo emulation isn't required and is disabled. The mixer settings are a personal preference. WC3 supports a wide variety of MIDI sound devices including Roland MIDI and general MIDI devices. Sound Blaster is also another option for music. The default Sound Blaster settings are appropriate for Sound Blaster music and digital sounds. Multiple general MIDI devices are configured in the [mt32], [fluidsynth] and [soundcanvas] sections. A Win10 MIDI synth can also be used with DOSBox Staging (see Compatibility tools). The optimum Roland sound settings use the CM32L device, as described in List of MT-32-compatible computer games. The FluidSynth soundfont is a personal preference. In the above example, Shan SGM Pro v15 is used, an excellent general purpose soundfont. DOSBox Staging v0.83.0-RC1 introduces Sound Canvas support. The Sound Canvas config, like the Roland MIDI config, requires a model to be selected and a folder containing the Sound Canvas ROMs to be specified. The MIDI section specifies a the soundcanvas MIDI device as this was the original hardware the game was designed for as noted in List of MT-32-compatible computer games. Alternate DOSBox MIDI components can be chosen or an external Win10/11 MIDI synth (see VirtualMIDISynth and MIDIMapper). The joystick settings are a personal preference and suitable for my joystick hardware. A ch joystick type allows the joystick hat to be used in-game. The autoexec mount settings are examples only, demonstrating how to mount multiple floppy disk images or a cd image for CD or digital editions. The mixer setting restores the master volume to 100%. The game is run from the CD/image. If game config settings aren't available, this will run the installation and configuration utility built into the game. Installation and configuring The DOS version has an unusual installer integrated into the game executable and most game files remain on the CD/image. The first time WC3 is run there are no config files available and the installer utility is run, which created these config files. If the config files are available, the game is run without invoking the install utility. To run the install utility the first time, simply run the game: D:\> wc3.exe Once config files are created the installation utility can be run again with: D:\> wc3.exe -i The steps to configure and install are shown in the gallery below: Retail CD edition For the retail CD version the following mount commands should be used: [autoexec] ... # Hard disk folder mount c "D:\Games\Dos\Wing Commander 3\hdd" # Retail CD images mount d "D:\Games\Dos\Wing Commander 3\cd\wc3*.iso" -t cdrom ... It's assumed the names given to the WC3 CD images will start wc3. The wildcard in the mount command mounts all CD images to the same drive, use Ctrl + F4 to swap between images. Merging discs To prevent CD image swapping mid-game the 4 x CD images can be merged into a single image. The process to do so in Win10 is: Mount the CD image of WC3 disc 1 in Win10 and copy the contents of the CD image to a folder, e.g. D:\Games\DOS\Wing Commander 3\cd\merged Do this for each of the other 3 CD images, replacing duplicate files as required. Use a CD burning/imaging utility (e.g. ImgBurn) to create a CD image of the merged folder contents. Note: only the folder contents/files should be added to the CD image, not the folder itself. Open the new single CD image in Win10 and make sure files can be seen and accessed, e.g. open the readme.txt file. Eject the CD image. The final single CD image can be renamed to data.dat. This creates a suitable CD image suitable for conversion to a Windows version. The following mount command replaces the earlier CD mount command: [autoexec] ... # Merged retail CDs image mount d "D:\Games\Dos\Wing Commander 3\cd\data.dat" -t cdrom ... Digital edition The digital edition should installed using the digital platform client app (e.g. gog.com Galaxy) or digital platform offline installer package. This guide uses the following folder as a digital edition installation folder example: D:\Program Files (x86)\GOG Galaxy\Games\Wing Commander III For the digital version the following mount commands should be used: [autoexec] ... # Digital edition install folder mount c "D:\Program Files (x86)\GOG Galaxy\Games\Wing Commander III" # Digital edition CD image mount d "D:\Program Files (x86)\GOG Galaxy\Games\Wing Commander III\data.dat" -t cdrom ... Sound options WC3 supports a wide variety of digital sound and music options. The WC3 Launcher can swap between MIDI devices during a DOSBox session, and coupled with VirtualMIDISynth allows switching between soundfonts 'on-the-fly'. However once a preference has been settled on, you may wish to make this the default without having to choose the preferred sound/music devices each time. When reconfiguring music/sound devices the following command should be used: D:\> wc3 -i Sound Blaster Can be selected for music and sound. The default DOSBox config Sound Blaster settings are Ideal. Music/sound should be set in the config utility to Sound Blaster 16. Sound Blaster 16 digital settings: Digital I/O port: 220 Digital IRQ: 7 Digital DMA Lo: 1 Digital DMA: Hi: 5 Sound Blaster 16 music settings: N/A, simply select Sound Blaster 16 as the music device. Roland music This includes the Roland MT-32 and Roland Sound Canvas. Can be selected for music only. The music setting for both devices is: I/O port: 330 Roland MT-32/LAPC-1 In the DOSBox Staging config, the optimum Roland MT-32 setting is the cm32l device, as described in List of MT-32-compatible computer games. [mt32] model = cm32l romdir = "D:\Midi\Versioned" [midi] mididevice = mt32 In the config utility, under music device, select: Roland MT-32/LAPC-1. Roland Sound Canvas In the DOSBox Staging config, the optimum Sound Canvas setting is the sc55 device, as described in List of MT-32-compatible computer games. [soundcanvas] soundcanvas_model = sc55 soundcanvas_rom_dir = "D:\Midi\soundcanvas\ROMs" [midi] mididevice = soundcanvas In the config utility, under music device, select the dedicated MIDI driver: Roland RAP-10/SCC-1 or the general MIDI driver: MPU-401 General Midi. General MIDI music Can be selected for music only. In the config utility, under music device, select: MPU-401 General MIDI. The music setting for General MIDI devices is: I/O port: 330 DOSBox Staging built-in MIDI devices includes FluidSynth or Sound Canvas, e.g. [fluidsynth] soundfont = "Shan SGM Pro 15.SF2" soundfont_dir = "D:\Midi\Soundfonts" [midi] mididevice = fluidsynth # or mididevice = soundcanvas DOSBox Staging also supports external (to DOSBox) MIDI devices. For further info consult, DOSBox Staging and MIDI, e.g. [midi] mididevice = port midiconfig = 0 VirtualMIDISynth and MIDIMapper These are optional MIDI tools that can be used by DOSBox Staging and WC3, as General MIDI (GM) is supported as a WC3 music option. The built in features of DOSBox Staging can do the job of these tools but they may make things easier for those who wish to try out multiple soundfonts (VirtualMIDISynth) or switch between different Win10/11 MIDI synths (MIDIMapper). For a further discussion on using these tools with the latest DOSBox Staging, see DOSBox Staging and MIDI. WC3 Launcher This is a batch file menu launcher (wc3menu.bat) that performs a number of functions: Start the game. Run the install/setup utility to reconfigure music/sound settings. Switch to a different DOSBox MIDI device (MT32, FluidSynth or Sound Canvas). Switch to an external (Port) MIDI device (e.g. VirtualMIDISynth, MIDIMapper). Return to the DOSBox command prompt. Close DOSBox. This launcher should be compatible with cd retail and digital editions. It allows switching MIDI devices to try out various MIDI options, to find a preference. Installing Download the launcher below: In Win10./11, extract the menu to the game installation folder. Change the WC3 DOSBox Staging config as shown: From [autoexec] ... d: wc3.exe pause exit To [autoexec] ... c: cd \ call wc3menu.bat Windows editions The WIndows version of WC3 includes the Kilrathi Saga edition or a DOS edition converted into the Windows version. The Windows version replaces MIDI for digital music, losing the ability to change MIDI synths or soundfonts. The enhanced version also adds native controller support allowing the game to support stick, throttle and rudder pedals. The steps to install and enhance the Kilrathi Saga or converted DOS versions are as follows: Wing Commander Loader (DOS editions) For those converting a DOS edition, the first step is download and install the Wing Commander Loader (WingLoader). Download Wingloader and extract the contents of the zip archive. An example folder used in the rest of this guide is: D:\Games\Win\WingLoader Within the WingLoader installation folder create a Wing Commander III folder, e.g. D:\Games\Win\WingLoader\Wing Commander III Retail CD version Th retail CD version is not officially supported by WingLoader, however the digital (gog.com) edition is. This section covers creating a 'digital edition like' install compatible with WingLoader, from an existing CD retail install. Creating a WingLoader compatible install These steps should be performed in Win10/11: Copy the following files from the following game folders in Win10/11: D:\Games\DOS\Wing Commander 3\hdd\WC3 OBJECTS.TRE WC3.CFG WC3.CON D:\Games\DOS\Wing Commander 3\cd DATA.DAT Into the WingLoader WC3 folder: D:\Games\Win\WingLoader\Wing Commander III Digital version The digital edition is compatible with WingLoader but it recommended to create a fresh install in the WingLoader WC3 folder. The WingLoader and Enhancement patches will apply comprehensive changes. Using the original digital edition installation folder is possible, but if the game install is validated or reinstalled after patching, then all the patch changes will be lost. A fresh install in a new folder means the patch changes cannot be accidentally lost. Creating a fresh install These steps should be performed in Win10/11: Copy the following files from the following digital edition game folder in Win10/11: D:\Program Files (x86)\GOG Galaxy\Games\Wing Commander III OBJECTS.TRE WC3.CFG WC3.CON DATA.DAT Into the WingLoader WC3 folder: D:\Games\Win\WingLoader\Wing Commander III Kilrathi Saga edition The Kilrathi Saga edition is already a Windows edition of the game. There is no need for the WIngLoader patch to convert this edition. The Kilrathi Sage uses a 32-bit installer app making it compatible with Win10/11. When installing, only WC3 needs to be installed in a suitable installation folder of your choosing. For the rest of this guide the following example is used: D:\Games\Win\Kilrathi Saga\Wing Commander III Installing Wing Commander III Enhancement Patch (all editions) These steps should be performed in Win10/11: Download the Wing Commander III Enhancement Patch and extract the contents of patch into the WingLoader WC3 folder or Kilrathi Sage installation folder: D:\Games\Win\WingLoader\Wing Commander III D:\Games\Win\Kilrathi Saga\Wing Commander III Download the Wing Commander III Enhancement Patch VLC libraries and extract the contents of patch into the WingLoader WC3 folder or Kilrathi Sage installation folder. Optional: Installing Wing Commander 3 HD Video Pack (all editions) If the optional Wing Commander 3 HD Video Pack is to be installed and used in-game, follow these steps in Win10/11: Download the Wing Commander 3 HD Video Pack and extract the contents of patch into the WingLoader WC3 folder or Kilrathi Sage installation folder. Download the Restored Scenes IFF Packs and extract the contents of patch into the WingLoader WC3 folder or Kilrathi Sage installation folder. Patching with Wing Commander Loader (DOS editions) The following gallery shows the WingLoader patching steps: Go to the WingLoader folder: D:\Games\Win\WingLoader Run WingLoader.exe. Once patching is complete, simply close the WingLoader window. Running When running the Kilrathi Saga or converted DOS editions the following game executable should be used: D:\Games\Win\WingLoader\Wing Commander III\wc3w.exe D:\Games\Win\Kilrathi Saga\Wing Commander III\wc3w.exe Configuring With the addition of the patch and native controller support, there's some additional configuration to optimise the game. Enhancement patch config (optional) There is a separate config file (wc3w_en.ini) for the Wing Commander III Enhancement Patch. Each setting is explained in the file, however the following settings were used in combination with the Wing Commander 3 HD Video Pack: [MOVIES] SHOW_ORIGINAL_MOVIES_INTERLACED=0 ENABLE_ORIGINAL_MOVIES_LIMITED_SCALING=0 ENABLE_ORIGINAL_MOVIES_LINEAR_UPSCALING=1 In-game config Configuration options are shown in the gallery below. In-game config options set from the Main Terminal (in-game). The Joystick Calibration button now opens a new native controller configuration dialog. Finally when on a mission (or in the in-game simulator) Alt + O will open the in-flight options. HOTAS config (optional) The new controller support means the game can now support stick, throttle and rudder pedals. It would seem there is no need for an external HOTAS config, however, the Controller Setup dialog will list all controller devices as 'HID compliant device'. This makes configuration 'trial and error' until the correct controller and axis is located. Note: this is an entirely optional step. Creating a virtual controller with the 4 axes supported in-game means only a single controller is available with only the required 4 axes, which may make thing easier. This also allows the advanced facilities available to the HOTAS profiling software to be used, e.g. button macros, chained commands, etc. It is recommended to map physical to Windows axes 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 Documents The following documents are available: Digital edition Additional resources downloaded separately. 'Victory Streak' manual. Playguide. Reference Card. Warbirds (fighter datasheets). Extras WC3 Behind the Scenes Tape. WC3 Deleted Scenes. WC3 Script. WC3 Wallpaper. The Wing Commander Universe Bible. Novels Fleet Action. Strategy guides Origin's Official Guide to Wing Commander III. Wing Commander III Authorized Combat Guide. Kilrathi Saga edition Kilrathi Saga manual, pdf download. Wing Commander CIC, Wing Commander Encyclopedia, Wing Commander: The Kilrathi Saga Manual Other editions 'Victory Streak' manual, pdf download. Internet Archive, Wing Commander III (Victory Streak) Wing Commander CIC, Wing Commander Encyclopedia, Victory Streak Playguide, pdf download. Wing Commander CIC, Wing Commander Encyclopedia, Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger Playguide Reference Card, pdf download. Wing Commander CIC, Wing Commander Encyclopedia, Wing Commander III Reference Card (PDF) Warbirds datasheets, jpg/pdf download. Internet Archive, Wing Commander III (Foldout) Wing Commander CIC, Wing Commander Encyclopedia, Warbirds (JPG) Wing Commander CIC, Wing Commander Encyclopedia, Warbirds (PDF) Wing Commander III Additional Troubleshooting, pdf download. Internet Archive, Wing Commander III (Troubleshooting) Strategy guides Origin's Official Guide to Wing Commander III. Internet Archive, Wing Commander III Guide Wing Commander III Authorized Combat Guide. Internet Archive, Wing Commander III Combat Guide Wing Commander III The Ultimate Strategy Guide Internet Archive, Wing Commander III The Ultimate Strategy Guide Example videos Wing Commander III in DOSBox Staging v0.83.0-RC1 Wing Commander III running natively in Win10 Finally... Credit and thanks for all the hard work involved goes to: Wing Commander CIC, for all the patches, forums, contributors, documents, in fact the premiere resource for Wing Commander franchise information on the Internet. Internet Archive for hosting documents and patches. NStriker. for Windows 2000 Update (Kilrathi Saga edition) fan patch. 'Mash' Matt Wells for Movie Crashing Patch (Kilrathi Saga edition), Wing Commander III Enhancement Patch and associated fan patches. Jari Komppa (Sol) for the DDHack fan patch. Destro for the Wing Commander Loader. ODVS for the Wing Commander 3 HD Video Pack. John Novak and the DOSBox Staging team for DOSBox Staging v0.83.0-RC1. CoolSoft developers for VirtualMIDISynth and MIDIMapper. Good hunting!

Jane's Fighters Anthology (JFA) has received a couple of new widescreen patches recently. These patches allow the cockpit to be shown in a widescreen resolution. These are file replacement patches replacing the original fa.exe file. There are three patches: FA_Widescreen_zip: Created by ohyeah2389. FA_Widescreen_1920x1080.zip: Created by ohyeah2389. FA_Widescren_nocd.zip: The widescreen patch modified by kuoyichen (hawke) so the CD is no longer needed, this does not support 1920x1080. FA_1920x1080_nocd.zip: The 1920x1080 widescreen patch modified by kuoyichen (hawke) so the CD is no longer needed. FAex.zip: A general purpose resolution and HUD patch by kuoyichen (hawke). The resolution can be specified in a config file. Patch release notes The widescreen patch has been created by ohyeah2389 and was released on the 24 June 2026. The following notes have been edited from those provided by ohyeah2389. So here's FA.EXE with the following changes: 16bit scanline counter 800x600 now runs at 1024x600 (with HUD support) 1024x768 now runs at 1280x768 (without HUD support) 640x480 was not changed to a widescreen variant as it's the mode the menus use, and it would corrupt their drawing. This WILL NOT WORK if your display driver does not support 1024x600/1280x768, which my system does not. You can work around this by using a DDraw wrapper that supplies this display mode, such as cnc-ddraw. Otherwise, FA will try to set the video mode a few times, and then fail with an error "Could not set video mode X". Note: The 1920x1080 resolution should be supported by a majority of display drivers, it replaces the original 1024x768 (without HUD support). Further notes Issues remain when trying to access the Jane's reference material in-game, this has been a long-standing issue with JFA. A previous article provided a workaround by using an alternative wrapper (not compatible with this patch). A suggestion is to take a copy of an existing JFA installation folder and apply the patch and cnc-ddraw wrapper to this new installation and use it for running missions. The existing JFA installation can be used to access the reference material. Obtaining Both patches can be obtained from the Internet Archive at the Jane's Fighters Anthology widescreen patch archive. They are also available at the Combat Flight Sim Tavern, janes-fa channel. Installation Installation is simple, the steps are as follows: Extract one of zip archives to the JFA installation folder. Optional: backup the existing fa.exe file. Rename the patch executable to fa.exe. cnc-ddraw As discussed in the release notes the patch requires a display driver support 1024x600/1280x768. The DirectX wrapper cnc-ddraw can provide this support if needed. cnc-ddraw can be obtained from the cnc-ddraw GitHub repository Releases. The cnc-draw zip archive should be extracted into the JFA installation folder. Screenshots There is no example video as recording with cnc-ddraw active, resulted in a video recorded in the original 4:3 aspect ratio. However, the following screenshots should provide examples of the patch. General purpose resolution & HUD patch This is a general purpose resolution patch (FAex.zip) created by hawke. From some (edited) notes supplied by hawke: We only have two resolutions supported (1920x1080, 1280x1024), maybe a startup program with config file will be a good solution. So here is the FAex. Here is 3 files you will need, FAex is written with python (include source), there is also a standalone version (FAex.exe), so you don't need install python env, the FA.exe just use 1.02F NOCD version. change the resolution in FAex_Config.txt file, then you can enjoy all different resolution. By the way, I also put the hudpatch in, if you set hudPatch = true in FAex_Config.tx, then you will have Hud in any resolution (still a little problem, the little round still in the middle of screen). Obtaining This can be obtained from the Internet Archive at the Jane's Fighters Anthology widescreen patch archive. They are also available at the Combat Flight Sim Tavern, janes-fa channel. Installation, configuration & running The patch allows the configuring a resolution supported by display drivers. As a valid display driver should be used, it can be used without cnc-ddraw, which means it is compatible with DxWrapper as used in the previous article, Bringing it all together with Jane's Fighters - Anthology. The steps are: Download and extract FAex.zip to the JFA installation folder. Open FAex_Config.txt and set the resolution and HUD settings. An example is shown below: # Thank ohyeah2389 in Discord # By kuoyichen (hawke), https://sites.google.com/site/fashape/home # Show HUD graphic regardless of resolution hudPatch = true bgPolyFix = false # Force specific resolution # Note that in sim options you must select 1024x768 to use thisforceResolution = true resolutionWidth = 1280 resolutionHeight = 720 Run the game with FAex.exe. Playnite config When using the Playnite game library manager, the scripts should be configured as follows: Playnite scripts The FAex.exe process ends after starting JFA. This causes Playnite to think the game has been quit, causing Playnite to become the active window. After the game starts a 20 second delay gives the game time to start the intro video, this will be interrupted by Playnite, but you can switch back to the game. Without this delay, the game hangs at the first splash dialog. Scripts to close any joystick/HOTAS profiling apps should not be used. These apps should be closed manually. Example video Playing in 1280x720 resolution with a HUD Finally... Huge credit and thanks for all the hard work, goes to: ohyeah2389, for creating the widescreen patch. kuoyichen (hawke), for creating the no CD version of the patch and the general purpose resolution patch. FunkyFr3sh, for cnc-ddraw. Good hunting!

A guide to running Rowan's Battle of Britain under Windows 10. This is a World War II flight sim set in the British theater during the Battle of Britain timeframe. Fly as a pilot or commander for the British RAF of German Luftwaffe with a dynamic campaign. There is a choice of the Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire for the RAF or Junkers Ju-87 "Stuka", Messerschmitt Bf-109 or Messerschmitt Bf-110 for the Luftwaffe. Generally considered one of the better WW2 flight sims on release, it had a dedicated fan following. Once Rowan stopped developing flight sims the source code for this (and MiG Alley) was released and development continued by the fan led Battle of Britain/MiG Alley Development Group (BDG). The rest of the guide will use BoB for Rowan's Battle of Britain. Contents Strategy Patch and version history Initial retail release (November 2000) CD-ROM copy protection fix (January 2001) Battle of Britain Mini-Patch (April 2001) Update patch (July 2001) BDG patch (November 2001) Xplosiv budget release (October 2002) Digital release (October 2008) Retail media Game management HOTAS config Installation Patching Compatibility tools DDrawCompat Compatibility settings Creative ALchemy In-game configuration BDG patch configuration Head tracking Running recommendations Mods and enhancements Graphics mod for original Rowan's BoB Cloud replacement fix D-type hangar fix Rowan's BoB Update 1 City texture mod Rowan's BoB 2024 mod Documents Example video Finally... Strategy This is a very tricky game to get running well in Windows 10. It may run in Windows 11 but this is untested. This game is very crash/freeze prone with most crashes/freezes occurring when exiting the 3D flight engine to return to menus/campaign. There seem to be specific settings and actions which seem to greatly increase the chance of a crash, so this guide includes 'rules' for running the sim, with recommended actions to reduce the likelihood of a crash and actions to absolutely avoid. There are also settings which may slightly increase the crash/freeze risk but you may wish to try with your own setup, including 3D sound, DirectSound wrappers (e,g, Creative ALchemy), CPU affinity and Compatibility settings. It is unlikely that a 'one size fits all' optimal solution could be found, applicable for every machine but this guide should provide a good starting point for your own setup. This first part covers running a fairly vanilla version and the second part covers the optional graphics mods available. Patch and version history The following is a brief patch and version history for BoB. The graphics mods are covered in Mods and enhancements. Initial retail release (November 2000) The initial retail release occurred in November 2000, developed by Rowan and published by Empire Interactive. The game required a Pentium II machine, Windows 95 and DirectX 7. This is version 1.00 of the game. This was distributed on a single CD-ROM. Like MiG Alley, BoB was released with native controller support. CD-ROM copy protection fix (January 2001) An official patch, released in January 2001. This patch was for systems having problem with the game's copy protection not detecting their CD-ROM drives properly. This corrects the copy protection, it is not a 'no-cd' patch. It is not a recommended patch having been superseded by later patches. It is available from: CNET Download, Windows, Games, Simulation, Rowan's Battle of Britain CD-Protection Fix UK patch. Battle of Britain Mini-Patch (April 2001) An official patch, released in April 2001. Taken from the release notes: This patch fixes the following problems: 1. Sky banding in 16 bit graphics modes has been fixed. 2. "Stuttering" seen on certain high-end PC configurations has been reduced. It is not a recommended patch having been superseded by later patches. Update patch (July 2001) An official patch, released in July 2001. Taken from the release notes: Previous stutter fixes - use 10,13,20, or 40 as minimum fametime in ms. If that does not remove your stutter then try reducing the 3d detail level. Improved range of supported 3D cards. Fixed campaign bugs to do with RAF squadron selection. Fixed missing damage report target names (English only). This patch preceded any BDG patch and is not a recommended patch, having been superseded. It is available from: The Patches Scrolls, Rowan's Battle of Britain, Patches. BDG patch (November 2001) The Battle of Britain Development Group (later the Battle of Britain/Mig Alley Development Group) (BDG) patch development began with the v0.60 patch released in November 2001. Development would continue until November 2004 with the v0.99 patch. Not so much a patch rather a fan led development effort, the extensive comprehensive changes are too numerous to list here, and resulted in an entire manual (BDG v0.99 Patch Manual) describing the patch changes, installed alongside the patch. This is the only recommended patch which incorporates or supersedes earlier patches. It is available from: Dropbox, bob_v099. Xplosiv budget release (October 2002) This budget release occurred in October 2002 and was published by Empire Interactive under the Xplosiv budget label. This was distributed on a single CD-ROM. This is identical to the initial retail release with the game remaining at v1.00. The CD also contained the Battle of Britain Mini-Patch and Update patch. Documentation is included with the BoB Manual and Key Guide. Digital release (October 2008) The game was released on the GamersGate platform in October 2008. This is the only known digital release at present. It's not known what this release includes. Retail media Due to the age or the media and the drives required to read it, it is recommended to rip CD-ROM media to image files, to save wear and tear on media and the mechanical drives. The CD-ROMs can be ripped to a data only .iso image format as there is no CD audio on the CDs. Game management It is recommended to use my game management strategy or similar strategy you may have developed. The recommended game management folders for BoB are: cd - for any cd images. conf - to store HOTAS configuration files. docs - for documents. patch - to store any patches. The BoB management folders can be found in the following game folder (as an example): D:\Games\Win\Rowans Battle of Britain Setup HOTAS config BoB supports 5 axes, X & Y stick axes, single throttle axis (for single engined fighters), split throttle axes (for the twin engined bomber) and a rudder axis. Fortunately BoB has native controller support so multiple controllers from multiple vendors are supported. However, this does mean some of the advanced functionality provided by profiling software will not be available if only native controller support is relied upon. First the bad news, the HidHide, vJoy and Joystick Gremlin suite has problems with BoB. Testing has revealed that, for some unexplained reason, changing the throttle axis/axes also affects the ailerons causing unwanted dramatic manoeuvres with the Thrustmaster Warthog. Therefore this controller software suite isn't recommended for BoB when using this controller. Alternative HOTAS controllers may function better, but testing is required. This issue does not affect the TM TARGET profiling software and software from other vendors may also be unaffected. For those with a multiple vendor setup, a combination of native controller support for axes plus additional software such as JoyToKey, or the BDG Keyboard Manager (included in the BDG patch) for button assignment may be sufficient. Native controller support means axes can be configured as required, the below is a suggested axes setup which is known to work. 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 (single) DX_Z_AXIS Throttle (split) DX_ZROT_AXIS Rudder DX_XROT_AXIS Note: Those with a DX_SLIDER_AXIS or DX_THROTTLE_AXIS may wish to use these axes instead, depending on the controller. Note: With my Thrustmaster setup there is better controller response using a single virtual controller rather than using each controller natively. Controller response seems to be linked to the number of controller used in the game, so the fewer the better. Note: One (for single engined fighters) or two (for the twin engined bomber) axes can be assigned to prop pitch if they are available. Installation BoB uses a 32-bit installer (setup.exe) compatible with Win10. Setup is straightforward and the setup steps are shown below: Patching The only patch required is the BDG v0.99 patch. This is a file replacement patch distributed as an executable (bob_v099.exe). The patching steps are shown below: Compatibility tools The following compatibility tools and settings are used to run BoB. DDrawCompat DDrawCompat is used at a DirectX wrapper, created and maintained by narzoul. The recommended version is the latest one, version v0.7.1 (at time of writing). DDrawCompat is available from the DDrawCompat GitHub repository, in Releases. The following DDrawCompat configuration (DDrawCompat.ini) is used: # DDrawCompat config file for Rowan's Battle of Britain ConfigHotkey = shift+ctrl+f11 StatsHotKey = shift+ctrl+f12 CpuAffinity = 1 CpuAffinityRotation = on The config and stats hotkeys are changed as the default hotkeys are also used by BoB. Only one of the CPU's is made available for the game as this seems to reduce crashes/freezes. The spread the CPU load/heat, CPU affinity rotation is enabled. Note: Ensure that Antialiasing is disabled as this causes very bad landscape 'pop-in' to occur and dramatically increases the risk of crashes. Multiple CPU's may causes crashes/freezes when the Remove cockpit view (F8) is active. If not used, then using multiple CPU's may be possible, with the following: CpuAffinity = all A copy of this config is included below: To install the ddraw.dll and DDrawCompat.ini files need to be copied into BoB installation folder. bob.exe compatibility properties Compatibility settings The following Windows compatibility settings were applied to the game executable (bob.exe). The compatibility mode is set to Windows XP (Service Pack 2) which allows intro movies to play full screen. Other settings seem to reduce the risk of crashes/freezes but you may wish to experiment with your own system. The following screenshot, shows the Compatibility tab of bob.exe Properties. Creative ALchemy BoB has support for EAX 2.0 which is no longer support in Win10 but can be enabled with the Creative ALchemy wrapper (for Creative sound cards) or Creative ALchemy Universal (for any sound card). DSOAL would be another option, if it didn't seem to increase the risk of a crash/freeze. So for now, DSOAL isn't recommended. If crashes/freezes occur you may wish to disable 3D sound and revert to Stereo. In-game configuration The following shows the in-game configuration menus. The following settings are considered mandatory to prevent crashes/freezes: Do not use anti-aliasing in the DDrawCompat wrapper. Do not use a resolution higher than 1280 x 1024 (5:4 aspect ratio). The aspect ratio is less important so 1280 x 960 (4:3), 1280 x 800 (16:10), 1280 x 720 (16:9) or lower should be ok. Either 16 or 32-bit colour depth should be fine. Always turn Ground Collisions: Off from the options. This prevents the 'spin of death' a known cause of crashes/freezes. Set Town and forest raises to Off when using BDG patch textures (BDG textures are enabled by default). When making config changes it is recommended to quit immediately afterwards as this ensures changes are written to the config file. BDG patch configuration Some of the BDG patch options are available through the in-game options above. Additional options can be found in the BDG patch configuration file (bdg.txt), located in the BoB installation folder. It is recommended to consult the BDG Patch 0.99 Manual in the Docs folder when changing BDG patch options. The following options differ from the default options initially set in this file: # (floating point) numbers : VIEW_DIST_FACTOR = 0.530000 INFOLINE_COLOUR = ffffffff # On/Off switches: ENEMY_POSITION_INDICATOR=ON DRAW_PADLOCK_CENTER_BOX=OFF GET_KEY_MAPS_FROM_FILE=ON HEAD_BOBBING=OFF SHOW_INFOLINE_BACKGROUND=ON BOB_DISABLE_STALL_HORN=ON REINIT_JOYSTICK_OFTEN=OFF SHORTENED_LABELS=ON HIDE_AMMO_COUNTER=OFF BOB_SMOOTHER_DEADZONE=OFF START_FROM_PEN=OFF HIDE_POWER_INFO=OFF # AutoGen stuff (experimental): ENABLE_AUTO_GEN=ON TEMP_AG_SN[14,0]=59 TEMP_AG_SN[15,2]=62 TEMP_AG_SN[15,3]=62 The INFOLINE_COLOUR and SHOW_INFOLINE_BACKGROUND are personal preferences to make info line text easier to read at higher resolutions. Head tracking Head tracking is supported through TrackIR. To enable head tracking enable the TrackIR setting in the BDG patch game options config menu (in-game), or enable it within the BDG patch config file (bdg.txt) with: # On/Off switches: TRACKIR=ON The AITrack and OpenTrack software is also compatible with BoB. However, enabling TrackIR may significantly increase the risk of a crash/freeze. Running recommendations The following recommendations are suggested to reduce the risk of freezes/crashes. They should not be considered definitive and may well depend on the machine/OS combination. These settings seem to work well for my machine, but feel free to experiment and let me know if you discover other settings which seem to help. Do not use anti-aliasing in the DDrawCompat wrapper. Do not use a resolution higher than 1280 x 1024 (5:4 aspect ratio). The aspect ratio is less important so 1280 x 960 (4:3), 1280 x 800 (16:10), 1280 x 720 (16:9) or lower should be ok. Either 16 or 32-bit colour depth should be fine. Always turn Ground Collisions: Off from the options. This prevents the 'spin of death' a known cause of crashes/freezes. Always quit a mission (Alt + X) from within the cockpit (F7). Do not try and quit from an external view. Gun camera footage can be recorded and played, with the following recommendations: Use the gun camera toggle (C) to enable/disable the gun camera. Disable before quitting. Wait 10-20 seconds after firing the guns and disabling the gun camera, before quitting the mission (from within the cockpit). After viewing the footage (from an internal or external view) return to the cockpit before quitting the playback (Alt + X) or using the eject button on the playback controls. Mods and enhancements Following the BDG patch a number of graphics mods were released to increase the fidelity of textures. These mods and fixes were taken from the The A2A Simulations Community, BOB2 General Discussion forum, GRAPHIC MOD FOR ORIGINAL ROWAN BOB post. All mods and fixes were created and released by rogeroger. The order of installation is important and each of the mods are described below. The order of installations is: Graphics mod for original Rowan's BoB. Cloud replacement fix. D-type hangar fix. Rowan's BoB Update 1. City texture mod. Rowan's BoB 2024 mod. Graphics mod for original Rowan's BoB The Graphics mod for original Rowan's BoB was posted in the forum on 14th May 2019. The Graphics mod for original Rowan's BoB is available from: MediaFire, RR ROWANBOB GRAPHICS MOD. Before installation it's recommended to backup the BDG patch config file (bdg.txt) and the Keyboard config (keys.xml in the KEYBOARD folder), if it has been edited, as this mod supplies alternative config files. In addition to the graphics mod it also includes BDG patch v0.98 and manual, BDG patch v0.99 and manual, alternative water textures and the creator's JoyToKey settings. To install: Extract the contents of the 7zip archive (RR ROWANBOB GRAPHICS MOD.7z). Copy the contents of the bob main folder into your BoB installation folder, replacing files as required. Optional: Extract the contents of the alternative water texture 7zip archive (alt water texture.7z) and copy the contents into the Landmap2 folder (in the BoB installation folder). Copy your backup BDG patch config file (bdg.txt) back into the BoB installation folder, replacing the graphics mod config file. Apply the following setting to the BDG patch config file (bdg.txt): # (floating point) numbers : ... VIEW_DIST_FACTOR = 0.530000 ... Delete the Keyboard config (keys.xml in the KEYBOARD folder) and replace with the backup. You can also delete the keys.xml file without replacing it, as a new default version will be created when the game is started. Cloud replacement fix This cloud replacement fix replaces one of cloud shapes with a hard outline with an alternative version. It was posted in the forum on 15th May 2019. This fix is available from: MediaFire, Cloud replacement fix Rbob. To install: Extract the contents of the 7zip archive (Cloud replacement fix Rbob.7z). Copy the .dds files into the Maskmap16 folder (in the BoB installation folder), replacing any existing files. D-type hangar fix This D-type hangar fix replaces the D-type hanger texture with a higher quality one. It was posted in the forum on 15th May 2019. This fix is available from: MediaFire, d type. To install: Extract the contents of the 7zip archive (d type.7z). Copy the .pcx file in IMAGEMAP folder (in the BoB installation folder), replacing the existing file. Rowan's BoB Update 1 This is a texture and sound update. It includes brighter terrain, tree, ME-109 and spitfire textures. The RAF cockpit sight texture has been changed. RAF and Luftwaffe engine sounds have been ported from Battle of Britain 2. Some additional textures have been changed. It was posted in the forum on 27th December 2019. This fix is available from: MediaFire, ROWANBOB UPDATE1. To install: Extract the contents of the 7zip archive (ROWANBOB UPDATE1.7z). Copy the folders into your BoB installation folder, replacing files as required. City texture mod This is an alternate city textures mod. It was posted in the forum on 28th December 2019. This fix is available from: MediaFire, city texture mod. To install: Extract the contents of the 7zip archive (city texture mod.7z). Copy the .dds files into the Landmap2 folder (in the BoB installation folder) replacing any existing files. Rowan's BoB 2024 mod This mod contains new terrain, water and road textures. It replaces missing textures on an airfield building. It was posted in the forum on 26th May 2024. This fix is available from: MediaFire, rowanbob 2024 mod. To install: Remove existing tree .txt files from the ObjectAdds folder (in the BoB installation folder). Extract the contents of the rar archive (rowanbob 2024 mod.rar). Copy the folders into your BoB installation folder, replacing files as required. Documents The game documentation is available in pdf format of the installation CD of the Xplosiv budget release. It consists of: Manual, pdf download. pdfcoffee, Rowan's Battle of Britain Key Guide The BDG Patch v0.99 also has a manual, installed alongside the patch. It is found in the Docs folder of the BoB installation folder. Example video Win10, with HOTAS, DDrawCompat, Creative ALchemy and TrackIR Finally... Credit and tanks goes to the following, for their contribution in getting the game running in WIn10: The Battle of Britain/MiG Alley Development Group for the BDG patches. narzoul for DDrawCompat. CNET, The Patches Scrolls, Dropbox and MediaFire for hosting patches. rogerroger for the graphics mods. NaturalPoint, AITrack and OpenTrack devs for head tracking software. And this is the 200th article on this website! Good hunting!

A guide to running ATAC: The Secret War Against Drugs in DOSBox Staging. Also known as Advanced Tactical Air Command, ATAC pits you against Colombian drug barons. Your job is conduct a strategic battle plan against the cartels utilising a fleet of F-22 Raptors and AH-64 Longbow attack helicopters. Once a mission is planned it's time to fly and fight! This marks a departure from the usual Microprose single missions career and introduces a strategic campaign to plan and execute (much like AV-8B Harrier Assault). Unfortunately it received fairly average reviews and never seemed to capture the interest of sim fans making it one of MIcroProse's lesser known sims. Contents Version & patch history Retail media Game management HOTAS config DOSBox Staging config Installation Running In-game configuration Documents Example video Finally... Version & patch history ATAC is unusual in there only having been a single retail release on 2 x 3.5"/5.25" High Density (HD) floppy disks or 3 x 3.5"/5.25" Double Density (DD) floppy disks. It was developed by Argonaut and published by MicroProse in 1992. There were no patches released for ATAC. The only compilation with ATAC appears to be Mile High Club 8, with the game distributed on a single CD-ROM. Again, no patches were produced for this edition. Retail media Due to the age or the media and the drives required to read the media, it is recommended to rip floppy disk 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 format compatible with DOSBox Staging. The CD-ROM can be ripped to a data only iso image format as there is no CD audio on the disc. Game management It is recommended to use my DOSBox game management strategy or similar strategy you may have developed. The recommended game management folders are: cd - for any cd images. fdd - for any floppy disk images. hdd - the folder used as the emulated DOSBox hard disk. conf - to store DOSBox and HOTAS configuration files. docs - for documents. These management folders can be found in the following game folder (as an example, and used in the rest of the guide): D:\Games\DOS\ATAC HOTAS config Configuring axes may not be required if your HOTAS has 4 axes or less. When using a combination of devices totaling more than 4 axes, a virtual controller can be configured (with vendor software or Joystick Gremlin), limited to 4 axes. 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 controller is detected by DOSBox. [6][7][8]. Stick, throttle and rudder are supported. 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 The DOS version is configured to run under the latest released DOSBox Staging version, v0.83.0-RC1 (at time of writing): # This is the configuration file for ATAC: The Secret War on Drugs. [cpu] cpu_cycles = 25000 cycleup = 500 cycledown = 500 [voodoo] voodoo = off [mixer] reverb = small chorus = light [mt32] model = cm32l romdir = "D:\Midi\Versioned" [midi] mididevice = mt32 [joystick] joysticktype = ch timed = off swap34 = on deadzone = 0 [autoexec] @echo off # mount a "D:\Games\Dos\ATAC\fdd\*.img" -t floppy # mount d "D:\Games\Dos\ATAC\cd\ATAC.iso" -t cdrom mount c "D:\Games\Dos\ATAC\hdd" mixer master 100 /noshow c: cd atac call atac.bat pause exit The following zip file contains this example DOSBox Staging config. It should be changed to match your hardware and personal preferences. Due to the revised defaults with this DOSBox version, most settings are now personal preference or optimal settings, such as sound or joystick settings. Only those settings that differ from the DOSBox Stagiing v0.83.0-RC1 default config are shown. The cpu_cycle setting of 25000 is suggested. It is equivalent to a 486DX/2 66Mhz machine. cycleup/down settings are changed to values rather than percentages. Voodoo emulation isn't required and is disabled. The mixer settings are a personal preference but a light chorus may be more suitable for aircraft engine sounds. The default Sound Blaster settings are appropriate for Sound Blaster music and digital sounds. The optimum Roland sound settings use the CM32L device, as described in List of MT-32-compatible computer games. The joystick settings are a personal preference and suitable for my joystick hardware. A ch joystick type allows the joystick hat to be used in-game. The autoexec mount settings are examples only, demonstrating how to mount multiple floppy disk images or a cd image. The mixer setting restores the master volume to 100%. The game is run using the installed atac.bat batch file. Installation To install from floppy or CD image run the following command, from the first floppy or CD in DOSBox: A:\> install.exe Note: there is no graphics or sound setup during the installation. The steps to install from floppy are shown below: The CD installation steps are shown below: Running Running the game is the same with floppy or CD editions, run the following batch file from the installation folder, e.g. C:\ATAC> atac.bat In-game configuration There are fairly minimal graphics and sound options configured in game, as well as joystick/HOTAS calibration as the following steps show: Documents The following documents are available: Manual, pdf document, rar archive Old-Games.RU, Games, ATAC: The Secret War Against Drugs, files Technical Supplement, pdf document, rar archive Old-Games.RU, Games, ATAC: The Secret War Against Drugs, files Key Guide, pdf document, rar archive Old-Games.RU, Games, ATAC: The Secret War Against Drugs, files Example video Instant action in ATAC: The Secret War Against Drugs Finally... Credit and thanks go to Old-Games.RU for hosting the documentation and to John Novak and the rest of the DOSBox Staging team for DOSBox Staging v0.83.0-RC1. Good hunting!

Falcon v3.05 title screen A look at the unofficial mods and tools that have been created for Falcon 3.0, MiG-29: Deadly adversary of Falcon 3.0 and Hornet: Naval Strike Fighter, over the years. Where a number of mods and tools were produced or distributed by the same individual or group, those mods and tools are grouped together as a collection. Where possible the product and version applicable to the mod or tool will be identified along with the distributed zip archive. Finally, the mods and tools applicable to the latest versions of Falcon, MiG-29 and Hornet will be listed. The purpose of this guide is to help bring a little order to the myriad of mods and tools at different versions, in different locations (and often unordered) to help new and old Falcon players alike, find the mods and tools that can help manage the Falcon experience and avoid those that are incompatible. Barnson collection Jay Barnson was the developer of the SARGE series of squadron/supply editors, comprising of FALCON SARGE, MIG SARGE and F-18 SARGE. Unfortunately FALCON SARGE is unavailable. MIG SARGE v1.00 Created May 1994 Version MiG-29 v1.03 Description (From the readme):This program allows you to view, edit, and print out information on your pilots and your supplies within a campaign for MiG-29: DEADLY ADVERSARY OF FALCON 3.0 by Spectrum Holobyte. Distribution migsarge.zip F-18 SARGE v1.00 Created April 1994 Version Hornet v1.01 Description (From the readme):This program allows you to view, edit, and print out information on your pilots and your supplies within a campaign for HORNET: NAVAL STRIKE FIGHTER by Spectrum Holobyte. Distribution f18sarge.zip F3Supply Developer Ian "Terminator" Kent Created August 1993 Version Falcon v3.02 Description (From the readme): F3Supply allows you, as the Squadron Commander, to requisition additional supplies of all stores, armament and F-16 aircraft for use in your Campaigns. It has been developed for use with Falcon 3.0 ver. 3.02 and it is intended to be just a simple, quick solution to your logistic problems. Distribution f3supply.zip Falcon 3.0 Startup Menu Developer Aaron "Pirate" Anderson Created January 1992 Version N/A Description (From the readme): As we all know, with the first release of Falcon 3.0 came many bugs and configuration problems. One of the big problems I encountered was a nasty tendency for F3 to trash all my Squadron Files and the FALCON3.DEF file. To solve this problem, I created a menu program that boots prior to F3. It allows me several ways of starting F3. I can back-up before boot, I can restore before boot, or I can go into F3 without any backup or restore. Distribution f3menu.zip Falcon Campaign Editor (FCE) Developer Frank W. Racis Created v0.9: August 1993 v1.0: March 1994 v1.1a: September 1994 v1.2: October 1994 v1.3: July 1995 Version v0.9: Falcon v3.02, MiG-29 v1.0 v1.0: Falcon v3.04, MiG-29 v1.03 v1.1a: Falcon v3.04, MiG-29 v1.03 v1.2: Falcon v3.05, MiG-29 v1.04, Hornet v1.02 v1.3: Falcon v3.05, MiG-29 v1.04, Hornet v1.02 Description (From the readme): Falcon Campaign Editor (FCE) is a program which allows you to change the characteristics of the pilots in your Falcon/MiG29 squadrons, as well as control the supply status of an ongoing campaign. Distribution v0.9: fce09.zip v1.0: fce10.zip v1.1a: fce11a.zip v1.2: fce12.zip v1.3: fce13.zip Flying Muffin Enterprises collection The Flying Muffin Enterprises collection comprises a number of tools and mods produced by various individuals. Some of those tools and mods would be repackaged as the Gold Falcon Utilities, see below. Courtesy of the Internet Archive and Wayback machine the Flying Muffin Enterprises website can still be found. 305FIX.EXE Developer Bill White Created January 1995 Version Falcon v3.05 Description (From the readme): 305FIX.EXE is a small file that will patch FALCON3.EXE or FALCONCD.EXE to eliminate the "Cannot Create File" error when playing multi-player comms in Falcon. It should (and can) be applied to version 3.05 only. Distribution 305com.zip, 305fix.zip F3 Missile Developer Bill White Created June 1995 Version Falcon v3.04, v3.05, MiG-29 v1.03, v1.04, Hornet v1.02 Description (From the readme): F3MSL.EXE will patch Falcon (ver 3.04-3.05), MiG (ver 1.03-1.04) and Hornet (ver 1.02) to make missiles act more realistically. Version 1.0 offers support only for the shoulder-launched weapons (SA-7s and Stingers). Distribution f3msl.zip Gold Falcon Utilities The 'Gold Falcon Utilities' comprises of FalcCalc, Falcon Mapper, F3Maps, F3Requisition, Show F3, and GFU Menu. These utilities were initially released for free/as shareware, until later versions were packaged together and sold commercially as the 'Falcon Commander Utilities' and 'MiG-29 Commander Utilities' from Keyboard Commander Corps (KCC). At some point KCC ceased offering the products and the latest versions of the utilities were repackaged as the 'Falcon Gold Utilities' and distributed as shareware by Flying Muffin Enterprises. FalcCalc Developer Bill White Created v2.51: March 1993 Version v2.51: Falcon v3.01, v3.01.1 Description The Falcon 3.01 Mission Planning Assistant. (From the readme): Was written using the data given in the various charts and pages of both Falcon manuals, the original and OFT. It gives you a lot of information to help you fly successful missions and wage a successful campaign. Distribution v2.51: flclc251.zip Falcon Mapper Developer Greg Prete Created v3.1: April 1992 v3.1d: May 1992 v4.1: October 1992 Version v3.1: Falcon v3.0c v3.1d: Falcon v3.0d v:4.1: Falcon v3.01.1, OFT v3.01.1 Description (From the readme): Falcon Mapper is a freeware tool that allows you to painlessly modify FALCON3.EXE and change the geographical locations for Instant Action (IA) and Red Flag (RF) modes to any part of the Falcon world. Distribution v3.1: f3mp31.zip v3.1d: f3mapr.zip v4.1: f3mapr.exe SHOWF3 Developer Steve Kramp Created v1.0: March 1992 Version v1.0: N/A Description (From the readme): SHOWF3 is a utility to allow viewing of the screen shot files that are produced from the Falcon 3.0 debug screen. Distribution v1.0: showf3.arj, showf3.zip Gold Falcon Utilities package Developers Craig Allen (Gold Falcon Utilities Menu v1.2) Steven Kramp (SHOWF3 v2.2) Greg Prete (Falcon Mapper v8.0) Bill White (FalcCalc v3.55, MiGCalc v1.05, F18Calc v1.02, F3 Requisition v1.55, MiG Requisition v1.05, F18 Requisition v1.02) Created June 1995 Version FalcCalc v3.55: Falcon v3.02 - v3.05 MiGCalc v1.05: MiG-29 v1.00 - v1.04 F18Calc v1.02: Hornet v1.00 - v1.02 F3 Requisition v1.55: Falcon v3.02 - v3.05 MiG Requisition v1.05: MiG-29 v1.00 - v1.04 F18 Requisition v1.02: Hornet v1.00 - v1.02 Falcon Mapper v8.0: Falcon v3.01 - v3.05, MiG-29 v1.00 - v1.04, Hornet v1.00 - v1.02 Gold Falcon Utilities Menu v1.2: N/A SHOWF3 v2.2: N/A Description (From the readme): The GOLD FALCON UTILITIES is a set of irreplaceable helpers for the Spectrum Holobyte(r) family of flight simulators! Formerly commercial, now shareware, they include the latest versions FalcCalc, F3Maps, F3Requisition, Show F3, and GFU Menu. This fully integrated package brings out many of the best features of Falcon 3.0(t), MiG-29(t), and Hornet(t). F3, MiG, F18 Requisition: Squadron and Supply Management Utilities. (From the readme): With F3 Requisition you never have to worry about running out of aircraft, weapons, fuel, or qualified pilots. But that's not what sets it apart. F3 Requisition is different from other Falcon resupply programs because it can be a true "Requisition Simulator," as well as a straight "data editor," (otherwise known as a cheat program!). Gold Falcon Utilities Menu v1.2: A Powerful DOS Based Menu for Flight Simulation Enthusiasts. (From the readme): The Gold Falcon Utilities menu is a powerful DOS based menu which puts you just a keystroke or mouse click away from running your favorite program. SHOWF3: The Falcon 3 File Viewer. (From the readme): SHOWF3 is a Falcon 3 utility that allows you to do two things: 1) View screen shot files that are produced from Falcon 3's own screen-capture program (Yep! It's been on your hard drive all along!) 2) Convert screen shot files to standard PCX or GIF format. Distribution gfutil.zip Strategic FALCON (demo version) Developer Bill White Created October 1994 Version Falcon v3.05 (assumed, based on created date) Description (From the readme): This will give you a taste of what Strategic Falcon is all about. It's a working demo; it does just about everything but allow you to save your changes to Falcon 3.0. Even without the save capability, this is an extremely useful information gathering and planning tool. What you can learn about a campaign using only this demonstration file is much greater than any data you can get with any other "free" software. (In other words, it *is* worth the download!) Distribution sfdemo.zip FTP-SET Developer Victor "Duke" Zaveduk Created August 1995 Version Falcon v3.05 (assumed, based on requirements) Description The FALCOMM and FTPCOM utilities mentioned, form part of the Stinger collection (see below). (From the readme): A file management program for Falcon competitions using the new series of FALCOMM and FTPCOMM TSRs. SET-FALC will help manage your ARMSDATA directory and your AIRVARS file in order to make using the new communication/competition TSRs easy. In order for FALCOMM and FTPCOMM to work properly, very specific files must be installed in your FALCON and ARMSDATA directories. The TSRs rely on having matching files on both ends of the connection, or your CRC values will not match. If your CRCs don't match, you're not in compliance with current ladder rules. Distribution ftp-sets.zip Heittman collection Rob "Orinoco" Heittman was the developer of Falconer. During the development of Falconer v3.0, there was a another release of v2b which also packaged the GAS-UP utility, a Falcon tactics document and a transcript of a publicly hosted chat with Falcon developers. The chat transcript provides an interesting snapshot of Falcon history and what the future plans were, at the time. Falconer Created v2b: January 1992 v2b (later release): February 1992 v3.0: May 1992 v3.1: September 1992 Version v2b: Not listed v3.0: Falcon v3.0d v3.1: Falcon v3.0d. v3.01 (Operation Fighting Tiger) Description (From the readme): Falconer is a freeware tool that lets you control every important aspect of your FALCON 3.0 ("F3") squadron. You can: Automatically reorganize the roster Automatically create "super squadrons" with max abilities for each pilot, and no fatigue Automatically eliminate all fatigue from your squadron Edit pilot ability scores Edit pilot rank Edit pilot status (KIA, MIA, Active, etc.) Export a single pilot to a file Give or rescind any pilot's awards Import a single pilot from a file Print a pilot dossier Print your Sierra Hotel sheet Print a squadron roster Reactivate/resurrect lost pilots Replenish any planes lost in combat Distribution v2b: falcnr.zip v2b (later release): fal3util.zip v3.0: falcnr_d.zip v3.1: falcnr.zip GAS-UP Created February 1992 Version Not listed Description (From the readme): you give this thing your squadron number (as Falconer supplies it), and it will charge up your squadron with 290,000 gallons or so (not an exact science here)... so you can keep rocking until the cows come home. Distribution fal3util.zip Howard collection Investigation has so far revealed, two tools that were released by Richard A. Howard, Convert and the Falcon Squadron Manager. Convert Created August 1993 Version Falcon v3.02, MiG-29 v1.0 Description A utility to convert Falcon v3.01.1 squadrons to Falcon v3.02 squadrons. Distribution convert.zip Falcon Squadron Manager Created v1.6: August 1993 v1.8: January 1994 Version v1.6: Falcon v3.02, MiG-29 v1.0 v1.8: Falcon v3.03, MiG-29 v1.02, Hornet v1.0 Description (From the v1.6 readme): This program will allow you to modify your pilot roster for Falcon 3.02 and MiG-29 1.0 during a campaign. You can create an all-powerful super squadron that will wreak havoc on the enemy or, for a serious test of skill, create a weak group of last-in-the-class trainees. Either way, FSM 1.6 gives you the flexibility you need. Included are some utilities to give you an edge or take one away. (From the v1.8 readme): This program allows you to modify your squadron rosters for Falcon 3.03, MiG-29 1.02, & Hornet 1.0 during a campaign. Distribution v1.6: fsm.zip v1.8: fsm18.zip Jungle Camo v2.0 Developer Eduardo "Edster" Mangual Created June 1993 Version Falcon v3.01 (Operation Fighting Tiger and later but no definitive versions) Description (From the readme): The files in the junglef3.zip file will allow you to change the color of your F-16 and other planes to match the environment of the Israel, Kurile Islands, and Panama campaigns. Distribution junglef3.zip Maps of the Falcon world v2 Developer Don Tatarelli Created April 1993 Version N/A Description (From the readme): These maps are taken right from the Falcon screen. On them, you can plan missions, plot flight paths, note radar ranges, make notes while in flight of enemy activity, etc. You can note your waypoints and those of other flights you've planned. You can maintain your orientation in relation to everything around you. The maps are in PCX format. There is one color map of each theater which shows the entire theater. There is one black and white map of each theater which shows the entire theater. The remaining are maps of zoomed target areas in each theater. Distribution mapsf3v2.zip NITE_EYES Developer Jason "Desperado" Irby Created October 1993 Version Not listed Description (From the readme): This is just a little program I did just for fun one night that I thought you'all might like to play with. I've always had trouble with night missions (i.e. running into the ground!) and I find it real hard to get gun kills. This program alters the night palette so that it simulates the pilot wearing infra-red night vision goggles. It makes thing a little easier to see. Really cool to take through terrain at night like the Canyon. The program makes it easy to take back off if you don't like it so give it a try! Distribution niteeye2.zip PCGamingWiki Addon Launcher Developer Unknown Created Unknown Version N/A Description A startup menu for Falcon, MiG-29 and Hornet. Allows squadrons, high scores and config options to be reset. Allows an allied campaign to be saved. Can load the TM-STICK utility. Distribution PCGamingWiki Polymap Developer Jay Lee Created February 1994 Version Falcon v3.02 - v3.04 (assumed MiG-29 v1.0 - v1.03, Hornet v1.0 - v1.01) Description (From the readme): Polymap is a shareware utility that allows you to re-map Red Flag and Instant Action theatres from the default of Nellis and Kuwait. Polymap works with Falcon3, MiG29, and Hornet. All versions of MiG29 and Hornet are supported. Falcon versions F3.02 through F3.04 are supported. When mapping Hornet Red Flag theatres, the file "NELLIS.MSF" is copied to the new theatre. i.e., if you re-map RF for India, "NELLIS.MSF" is copied to "INDIA.MSF". I'm not positive just what the .MSF file DOES, but Hornet won't function without it. Distribution polymap.zip "Stinger" collection Ken "Stinger" Richardson was a prolific developer of Falcon utilities. The TM-STICK utility is not included, as although originally written by Ken, it was subsequently jointly developed with Thrustmaster and eventually became an official utility and was distributed with official patches and releases. It is described in the earlier Falcon 3.0: Version & patch history blog post. In addition to individual releases, a suite of utilities would be packaged together as a compilation release. CHATTSR Created January 1993 Version Falcon v3.01.1 Description (From the readme): CHATTSR is a terminate and stay resident program that allows "canned" messages to be sent to another player connected via modem or other comms modes. Distribution f3chat.zip F3COOLIE Created August 1993 Version Falcon v3.02 Description (From the readme): F302COOL is a Terminate and Stay Resident (TSR) program that will work with the ThrustMaster FCS allowing you to program the "Coolie Hat" and Buttons 3 and 4 to any keystroke on the keyboard, (including SHFT/CTRL/ALT keys). You can also program "double-click" functions to any button or hat position. Distribution f302ch.zip F3PADLK F3PADLK was initially released without the COM port remap functionality, which was added to later releases. Created For Falcon v3.01.1: February 1993 For Falcon v3.01.1 with COM remap: May 1993 For Falcon v3.02: August 1993 Version Falcon v3.01.1, v3.02 Description (From the readme): F3PADLK is a terminate and stay resident program that will add small indicator lights to Falcon's Padlock view. These lights indicate when your Afterburners are on or when your AirBrake is extended. The Afterburner light is located in the upper left of the centre window in Falcon's padlock view and is Yellow in color. The Brake light is located in the upper right of the same window and is Red in color. Distribution For Falcon v3.01.1: f3pad.zip For Falcon v3.01.1 with COM remap: f3pad2.zip For Falcon v3.02: f302pad.zip FALCOMM & FTPCOMM These are utilities used by the FTP-SET utility. Created August 1995 Version Falcon v3.05 Description (From the readme): FALCOMM & FTPCOMM provide Falcon with the capability to use high speed communications and will significantly reduce your connect times as well as give you smoother game play. FALCOMM & FTPCOMM eliminate potential "cheats" or "abuses" of the rules used by most competitions. Specific keys and key combinations have been blocked. Weapons Effectiveness settings are forced to "LOW" levels. Radar mode choice is displayed to ensure that players are abiding by settings specified in the rules. And checks are made to ensure that players are using approved flight models, weapons load-outs and visuals and that "Falcon Test Pilot" (FTP) has not been used to modify these files. Distribution f3-comm.zip M29COOL Created August 1993 Version MiG-29 v1.0 Description (From the readme): M29COOL is a Terminate and Stay Resident (TSR) program that will work with the ThrustMaster FCS allowing you to program the "Coolie Hat" and Buttons 3 and 4 to any keystroke on the keyboard, (including SHFT/CTRL/ALT keys). You can also program "double-click" functions to any button or hat position. For example: By default the Hat is programmed to switch between forward, back, right and left views depending on what direction you push it. If you push the Hat up twice, it will switch to Padlock view. Distribution m29ch.zip, m29coo.zip M29PAD Created August 1993 Version MiG-29 v1.0 Description (From the readme): M29PAD is a terminate and stay resident program that will add small indicator lights to MiG-29's Padlock and "Scrolled up" views. These lights indicate Afterburners, AirBrake, Radar, and ECM. Each indicator has it's own color for easy identification. Distribution m29pad.zip V42 patch The V42 communication patch was known as V42PATCH or F302V42. The earlier V42PATCH v1.01 also included the CHK_UART utility which would identify the UART chipset of a PC. In compilation releases it would also be named F302COMM, M29COMM or COMMTSR. Created V42PATCH v1.01: October 1992 F302V42: August 1993 Version V42PATCH v1.01: Falcon v3.01.1 F302V42: Falcon v3.02 Description The V42 patch improves Falcon multiplayer communication when using a modem supporting the V.42bis standard. (From the readme): V42PATCH will make numerous changes to Falcon 3.01.1 to enable Falcon to check the CTS line before it attempts to send data. It will allow data to be transferred between the two computers error free and up to 57,600bps. It will rename your original FALCON3.EXE file to F3ORIGIN.EXE. Then it will create a new FALCON3.EXE file with the V42 patch installed. You will need 1.3Meg of free disk space. Distribution V42PATCH v1.01: f3v42a.zip F302V42: f302v42.zip Falcon compilations Created For Falcon v3.01, v3.01.1: August 1993 For Falcon v3.02: September 1993 For Falcon v3.04: February 1994 Version Falcon v3.01, v3.01.1, v3.02, v3.04 Description (For Falcon v3.01, v3.01.1): F3PADLK for FALCON 3.0 version 3.01.1 F3COOLIE for FALCON 3.0 version 3.01.1 V42PATCH ver 1.01 CHK_UART V1.0 (For Falcon v3.02): F3PADLK for FALCON 3.0 version 3.02 F3COOLIE for FALCON 3.0 version 3.02 F302COMM for Falcon version 1.00 (a later version of the V42 patch, version number refers to F302COMM version) (For Falcon v3.04): PADLOCK for FALCON/MIG/HORNET Version 1.02 COOLIE for FALCON/MIG/HORNET Version 1.02 COMMTSR for Falcon/MiG/Hornet Version 1.03 (V42 patch) Distribution For Falcon v3.01, v3.01.1: f3hat.zip For Falcon v3.02: f32pak.zip, f32pak2.zip For Falcon v3.04: f304comm.zip MiG-29 compilations Created For MiG-29 v1.0: September 1993 For MiG-29 v1.01: November 1993 Version MiG-29 v1.0, v1.01 Description (For MiG-29 v1.0): M29COMM for MiG-29 version 1.00 (V42 patch) M29COOL for MiG-29 version 1.0 M29PAD for MiG-29 version 1.0 (For MiG-29 v1.01): M29COMM for MiG-29 version 1.01 (V42 patch) M29COOLIE for MiG-29 version 1.01 M29PAD for MiG-29 version 1.00/1.01 Distribution For MiG-29 v1.0: m29pak.zip, m29pak3.zip For MiG-29 v1.01: m101pk.zip All products compilations (simpak) Compilations compatible with Falcon, MiG-29 and Hornet, also known as simpaks. Created Jan 94 release: January 1994 Aug 94 release: August 1994 Version Jan 94 release: Falcon v3.03 (and later), MiG-29 v1.02 (and later) Aug 94 release: Falcon v3.03 (and later), MiG-29 v1.02 (and later), Hornet v1.0 (and later) Description (Jan 94 release): COMMTSR for Falcon/MiG/Hornet Version 1.00 (V42 patch) COOLIE for FALCON/MIG/HORNET Version 1.00 (also compatible with Hornet v1.0 and later) PADLOCK for FALCON/MIG/HORNET Version 1.00 (compatible with Falcon v3.02 and later, MiG-29 v1.01 and later, Hornet v1.0 and later) (Aug 94 release): COMMTSR for Falcon/MiG/Hornet Version 1.04 (V42 patch) COOLIE for FALCON/MIG/HORNET Version 1.03 PADLOCK for FALCON/MIG/HORNET Version 1.03 (compatible with Falcon v3.02 and later, MiG-29 v1.01 and later, Hornet v1.0 and later) Distribution Jan 94 release: simpak.uue Aug 94 release: simpak.zip, simpk2.zip Compatible mods & tools This is a brief summary of the unofficial mods and tools which are compatible with the latest releases, those being, Falcon v3.05, MiG-29 v1.04 or Hornet v1.02. Given those versions are released digitally on the Steam and GOG platforms, they are the versions most likely to be used by new Falcon players. Assuming the release notes for each mod and tool are accurate. Where more than one version is compatible, the latest version will be listed. The following are listed as compatible: Falcon Campaign Editor v1.3 F3 Missile Gold Falcon Utilities package Strategic FALCON (demo version) simpak (Aug 94 release) The following are listed as compatible (for multiplayer games), but not confirmed: 305FIX.EXE FTP-SET FALCOMM & FTPCOMM The following tools and mods 'might' be compatible, but not confirmed: Jungle Camo v2.0 NITE_EYES The following tools do not require a specific version of Falcon, MiG-29 or Hornet: Falcon 3.0 Startup Menu PCGamingWiki Addon Launcher Maps of the Falcon world v2 Finally... If you notice anything wrong or misleading or just plain confusing, please let me know, so I can fix it. Hopefully this provides a useful resource to help navigate the myriad of old Falcon tools hiding in the recesses of the Internet! Good hunting!

VirtualMIDISynth and MIDIMapper are optional MIDI tools that can be used by DOSBox Staging and games supporting MIDI music. However with the latest config changes in DOSBox Staging v0.83.0-RC1 it may be worth taking another look at DOSBox MIDI both built-in and external synths in Win10/11. Further information on obtaining and installing these tools can be found in VirtualMIDISynth and MIDIMapper. They are not required and existing DOSBox facilities can do the job but these tools may prove more convenient. VirtualMIDISynth is a Win10/11 software MIDI synth that supports soundfonts. It does the same job as FluidSynth built into DOSBox Staging (which also supports soundfonts). However, with VirtualMIDISynth the soundfont can be changed 'on-the-fly' as the game is running allowing many soundfonts to be tried and tested. Changing soundfonts with fluidsynth requires shutting down DOSBox changing the soundfont in the config and restarting DOSBox. MIDIMapper is a Win10/11 MIDI synth selector. It can be used to select the default Microsoft Synth, VirtualMIDISynth or another MIDI synth that may be installed in Win10/11 (e.g. a Yamaha synth). This is another optional tool as the DOSBox config and DOSBox commands can be used to send MIDI music to a specific Win10/11 synth. Alternatively DOSBox can sent MIDI music to the MIDIMapper and let it decide the Win10/11 synth that should be used. The following example demonstrates how the same result can be achieved using the different tools: DOSBox is configured to send MIDI music to the built-in FluidSynth. FluidSynth is using soundfont X. DOSBox is configured to send MIDI music to VirtualMIDISynth. VirtualMIDISynth is using soundfont X. DOSBox is configured to send MIDI music to MIDIMapper. MIDIMapper is configured to send MIDI music to VirtualMIDISynth. VirtualMIDISynth is using soundfont X. Example DOSBox config For the purposes of this article we'll assume there is an example DOSBox config with MT32, FluidSynth and Sound Canvas components configured, as shown in this config: [mt32] model = cm32l romdir = "D:\Midi\Versioned" [fluidsynth] soundfont = "Shan SGM Pro 14.SF2" soundfont_dir = "D:\Midi\Soundfonts" [soundcanvas] soundcanvas_model = sc55 soundcanvas_rom_dir = "D:\Midi\soundcanvas\ROMs" [midi] mididevice = mt32 midiconfig = 0 Finding MIDI components We can find a list of MIDI components configured in DOSBox by running the following DOSBox command: C:\> mixer /listmidi From this we get the following pages of results: The mt32 section shows the valid Roland devices available from the Roland ROMs found in the Roland ROM path. The the mt32 section we can see an active CM32L device (in green text). This is the device set in the config file. The soundcanvas section shows the valid Sound Canvas devices available from the Sound Canvas ROMs folder. The fluidsynth section shows all of the soundfonts discovered. The win32 sections shows external (to DOSBox Staging) MIDI devices in Win10/11. Device 0 is the MIDIMapper device, a MIDI synth selector. Device 1 is the default Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth always present in Win10/11. Device 2 is VirtualMIDISynth. Using DOSBox Staging MIDI components The [midi] section of the DOSBox Staging config determines the built-in component that will handle MIDI music. Some examples: [midi] mididevice = mt32 mididevice = fluidsynth mididevice = soundcanvas The midiconfig setting has no effect when using a built-in component. The Roland MT32 option is strictly speaking not a General MIDI (GM) device but a General Standard (GS) device. General Standard is General MIDI but with a lot of propriety Roland extras added. The difference in General MIDI (GM) and General Standard (GS) devices is why there is often a Roland sound (MT32, CM32L or LAPC-1) option and a General MIDI option when installing or configuring games. Each option has its own section in the DOSBox config for configuring the device, e.g, [mt32], [fluidsynth] or [soundcanvas]. Using external MIDI components By external we mean external to DOSBox Staging, so not an internal built-in DOSBox component. The [midi] section of the DOSBox Staging config allows the use of external MIDI components with: [midi] mididevice = port Or the following DOSBox command can be run from within DOSBox: C:\> config -set midi mididevice=port The mixer /listmidi command has provided a list of Win10/11 MIDI devices: Device 0: MIDIMapper. Device 1: Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth Device 2: VirtualMIDISynth We can choose a synth to use directly with the midiconfig setting, the midiconfig setting matching the device to use, e.g. to use VirtualMIDISynth: [midi] mididevice = port midiconfig = 2 Or the following DOSBox command can be run from within DOSBox: C:\> config -set midi midiconfig=2 We don't have to choose a MIDI synth, we can select the MIDIMapper and let it decide which Win10/11 MIDI synth should be used. To use the MIDIMapper: [midi] mididevice = port midiconfig = 0 Or the following DOSBox command can be run from within DOSBox: C:\> config -set midi mididevice=port C:\> config -set midi midiconfig=0 Finally... Credit and thanks go to: The CoolSoft developers of VirtualMIDISynth and MIDIMapper. John Novak and the rest of the DOSBox Staging team. Good hunting!

A guide to running the classic space sim Frontier Elite II (FE2) on modern hardware with DOSBox Staging and natively in Win10. Frontier: Elite II marked a significant departure from the existing Elite universe. The game-like space flight controls are replaced with Newtonian physics. The species making up GalCorp are replaced with a simulation of the galaxy populated by the human only Federation and Empire superpowers. There is no plot to follow, so you have the freedom to become a trader, miner, pirate or a freelance agent for the Federation or Empire, some or all of the above! Note: This article is only covering Frontier: Elite II, the sequel Frontier: First Encounters is not covered. Strategy The DOS version will run in the latest version of the DOSBox Staging emulator (v0.83.0-RC1 at the time of writing). The Windows port of FE2 is glFrontier, it does not require the DOS version to run. Version & patch history Initial UK release (October 1993) The initial UK release was supplied on 1 or 2 x 3.5" Double Density (DD) floppy disks. The first disk containing the game and installer and the optional second disk containing 5 alternate starting scenarios. This was considered a rushed release and the game contains a number of bugs including: Passenger bug. Wormhole bug. Bribe bug. ELITE bug. Mining bug. Imperial ship bug. Cemiess negative price bug. Despite these issues some FE2 veterans still consider this to be the optimum version as it was believed the wormhole bug enhanced the game. This is not a recommended version, as later versions have most of these bugs fixed. Most full priced retail version included a manual, quickstart guide, a gazetteer (a list of notable systems) used in conjunction with the systems map and 'Stories of life on the frontier', a collection of short stories set in the FE2 galaxy. Mining bug patch (October 1993) A patch created by Steve Critchlow that fixed the mining bug that would cause a crash after leaving an unattended MB4 mining machine in a system. This is a file replacement patch, once downloaded the zip archive is extracted into the game folder replacing a single file. This patch is only recommended for the initial UK release. This patch is available from: First Encounters (courtesy of the Wayback Machine). Frontierverse. Internet Archive. CD release (March 1994) The CD release has most bugs fixed, with only the bribe bug remaining. Distributed on a single CD. This version included all the FE2 documentation. This is a recommended version. International release (August 1994) The worldwide release has most bugs fixed, with only the bribe bug remaining. Distributed on 1 or 2 x 3.5" Double Density (DD) floppy disks. This version included all the FE2 documentation. This is a recommended version. Digital release (June 2001) Also known as the shareware release, it was distributed as a zip archive. This was an official distribution via the Elite Club website. This version is fully patched and includes the copy protection codes. This is a recommended version and probably the easiest to obtain. This version does not include complete documentation, however it is complemented with a version of the manual in html format, and a separate copy protection document, available from Elite Club. This version can be obtained from: Elite Club (game, manual and copy protection, courtesy of the Wayback Machine). FrontierAstro. Frontierverse. Life on the Frontier (game, manual and copy protection). Retail media Due to the age or the media and the drives required to read the media, it is recommended to rip floppy and cd-rom media to image files, to save wear and tear on media and the mechanical drives. The floppy disks should be ripped to a DOSBox staging compatible .ima or .img image format. The cd-rom can be ripped to a data only .iso image format as there is no cd audio on the cd. Game management It is recommended to use a DOSBox game management strategy or similar strategy you may have developed. The DOS game folder is: D:\Games\DOS\Frontier Elite II The recommended game management folders for the DOS version are: cd - for any cd images. fdd - for any floppy images. hdd - the folder use as the emulated DOSBox hard disk conf - to store DOSBox and HOTAS configuration files. docs - for documents.. The Windows port, glFrontier has an installation folder, and a separate setup folder as shown below. The setup folder is used to store any setup files, e.g. HOTAS config or docs. You may wish to try a similar setup: D:\Games\Win\glFrontier D:\Games\Win\glFrontier setup HOTAS config Only the Joystick is supported by the DOS version. Configuring axes may not be required if your HOTAS has 4 axes or less. When using a combination of devices totaling more than 4 axes, a virtual controller can be configured (with vendor software or Joystick Gremlin), limited to 2 axes. When using a physical controller with 4 axes or less, the game should be able to correctly identify the 2 joystick x and y axes. 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 controller is detected by DOSBox. [6][7][8]. The physical axes to Windows axes were configured as follows: Physical axis Stick & throttle Joystick x-axis DX_X_AXIS Joystick y-axis DX_Y_AXIS Note: There is no HOTAS config for glFrontier, discussed below. DOSBox config This is using a configuration compatible with DOSBox Staging v0.83.0-RC1. [cpu] core = simple cpu_cycles = 25000 cycleup = 500 cycledown = 500 [voodoo] voodoo = off [mixer] reverb = small chorus = light [mt32] model = cm32l romdir = "D:\Midi\Versioned" [midi] mididevice = mt32 [joystick] joysticktype = 2axis timed = off swap34 = on deadzone = 0 [dos] xms = off [autoexec] @echo off # mount a "D:\Games\DOS\Frontier Elite II\fdd\*.img" -t floppy mount c "D:\Games\DOS\Frontier Elite II\hdd" # mount d "D:\Games\DOS\Frontier Elite II\cd\frontier.iso" -t cdrom mixer master 100 /noshow c: cd frontier autotype -w 1 y 1 call frontier.bat exit The following zip file contains an example DOSBox Staging config. It should be changed to match your hardware and personal preferences. Due to the revised defaults with this DOSBox version, most settings are now personal preference or optimal settings, such as sound or joystick settings. Only those settings that differ from the DOSBox Stagiing v0.83.0-RC1 default config are shown above. The cpu is set to simple for increased compatibility. It is suggested by fan sites and an earlier DOSBox guide to set cpu_cycles to at least 20000. To prevent any speed issues this has been increased slightly to 25000 cycles. Voodoo emulation isn't required and is disabled. The mixer and joystick settings are a personal preference and suitable for my joystick hardware (see HOTAS config). The game supports Roland or Adlib/Sound Blaster sound. The default Sound Blaster settings are appropriate. The optimum Roland sound settings use the CM32L device as described in List of MT-32-compatible computer games. The game requires EMS memory and requires XMS memory to be disabled, as described in the DOSBox Staging wiki, Game does not run properly or at all because EMS is not set. EMS is enabled by default. XMS must be disabled in the [dos] section. The autoexec has example mount commands for mounting installation floppy disk images, a hard disk folder and a cd image of the game. As there are multiple installation floppies a wildcard is used to mount all floppy disk images. As the shareware version of the game is used, the autotype commands automates the config menu selection when the game is run. After waiting 1 second, y accepts the shareware agreement and 1 selects Roland CM32L sound (2 could be used to select Adlib/Sound Blaster sound). Installation Retail floppy/CD The retail floppy/CD images should be installed using DOSBox. The first installation floppy and CD has an installer utility to copy files to an appropriate hard disk folder. The install utility is run with: install c Where c is the emulated DOSBox hard disk. The CD install requires an additional language selection during installation. Shareware The shareware version can be downloaded and the contents extracted using Win10/11. The extracted files and folders should then be copied into the DOSBox hard disk folder. Patching Only the initial UK release requires patching, however using an alternative pre-patched release is preferrable. If you wish to use the patch on the initial UK version: Download the patch zip archive and extract the contents, which should be a single file. Copy this into the appropriate FE2 installation folder replacing the existing file. Running & configuration The cd and floppy version is run from DOSBox with the following command: C:\FRONTIER> frontier.exe The digital/shareware version is run from DOSBox with the following batch file: C:\FRONTIER> frontier.bat The digital/shareware version requires confirmation of the shareware licence by selecting Yes. All version require a sound selection, there is a choice of: 1. Roland CM32L sound board. 2. Adlib / SoundBlaster compatible sound board. 3. PC internal speaker. 4. No sound. It is recommended to select 1 or 2, whichever is preferred. Autotype The autotype command in the DOSBox config assumes the shareware/digital version is used and automates the shareware licence confirmation and selection of Roland CM32L sound. Quitting Ctrl-C quits the game. Documentation The following documents are available digitally: Original retail documents Manual, pdf download. Internet Archive, Frontier Elite II Manual. The Gazetteer, pdf download. Internet Archive, Elite II Frontier The Gazetteer PC. Life on the Frontier, Frontier Universe Fiction, Frontier: Elite 2, The Gazeteer. Quick start card, pdf download. Internet Archive, Frontier Elite II Quick Start Card. Life on the Frontier, Frontier Universe Fiction, Frontier: Elite 2, Misc, FE2 Quick Reference Card (PC). Stories of Life on the Frontier, pdf download Life on the Frontier, Frontier Universe Fiction, Frontier: Elite 2, Stories of Life on the Frontier. Galaxy map, jpg image Life on the Frontier, Frontier Universe Fiction, Frontier: Elite 2, Misc, FE2 Galaxy Map. Digital/shareware documents Manual, zip download. Elite Club, Downloads, FRONTIER: ELITE II - Manual (HTML format). Life on the Frontier, Downloads, FE2 Manual Copy protection codes, txt download. Elite Club, Downloads, FRONTIER: ELITE II - Copy protection codes. Strategy guides & FAQs The Secrets of Frontier Elite, Tony Dillon, pdf/rar download Internet Archive, Frontier Elite 2 Guide PDF. FRONTIER (ELITE II) Game Info, compiled by Christoph Tietz, txt download. Jades (Wayback Machine), Frontier FAQ. Tutorials Frontier Fundamentals, JimPlaysGames, YouTube video tutorial series. Mods Most mods are of the save game variety allowing an advantageous starting position, or cheat based mod, increasing funds or changing game parameters (reducing space requirements of equipment, etc). One notable exception is the control mod, which adds manual control of left/right lateral thrusters and top/bottom thrusters. This allows for manoeuvres including a vertical takeoff from a planet spaceport or circle strafing an enemy during combat. Created by Andrea Villa, this enhancement to FE2 is available from: FrontierVerse, Control mod. Further information The following sites provide additional information on FE2 as well as patches, mods and utilities to enhance gameplay.: FrontierAstro. First Encounters (courtesy of the Wayback Machine). Frontierverse. Life on the Frontier. glFrontier Created by Tom Morton, glFrontier is a highly re-engineered/reverse engineered Windows port of the Atari ST version of the game. It utilizes code from the Hatari emulator and the SDL library, to support OpenGL graphics. As it is based on the Atari ST version there are no textures giving the game a very 'clean' look. glFrontier @ 1920x1080 glFrontier does suffer from significant glitches and issues and it is left to personal preference as to whether glFrontier or the DOS version of FE2 is used. There are currently three glFrontier releases: The original glFrontier by Tim Morton. A later Win32 release, GLFrontier-win32 from Kochise. The GLFrontier-Extended from Brett Wilson that adds Android support and touch screen controls. As glFrontier is reversed engineered from the Atari ST version, the DOS version is not required to run glFrontier. Obtaining The original glFrontier can be obtained from the following sites: GLFrontier Project Page (courtesy of the Wayback Machine). FrontierAstro. SpaceSimCentral (requires registration). The Win32 release, GLFrontier-win32 can be obtained from: The GLFrontier-win32 GitHub repository. GLFrontier-Extended can be obtained from: The GLFrontier-Extended GitHub repository. Running The original glFrontier will often fail to setup the window or screen resolution properly resulting in an immediate crash. The game may need to be restarted multiple times until it is successful and the intro movie begins. GLFrontier-win32 and GLFrontier-Extended seem to employ a more robust setup that fails less often. GLFrontier-win32 seems to have particular problems with saving progress. At present compatibility options don't seem to solve this problem. Command line options The following command line options are supported across all versions: Usage: frontier [options] Where options are: --help or -h Print this help text and exit. --fullscreen or -f Try to use fullscreen mode. --nosound Disable sound (faster!). --size w h Start at specified window size. Note: the usage should state: glfrontier [options] Additional in-game commands These are glFrontier commands only: F11 Toggle fullscreen. Ctrl-E Toggle hardware GL / original software renderers. Ctrl-M Toggle mouse grabbing. F Toggles some debug info & fps readout. Ctrl-Q Quits the game. Joystick issues According to the code in the glFrontier project, there doesn't seem to be any support for joystick or HOTAS devices despite the Joystick control option present in the in-game options menu. Example video Example video showing the digital/shareware version of FE2 with joystick support and the Control mod applied. glFrontier @ 1920 x 1080 Finally... Credit and thanks for the FE2 information goes to: Frontier Developments for the digital/shareware release of FE2 and supporting documents. George Hooper for the First Encounters fan site. Robin Sharrock for the Frontierverse fan site. The creator/maintainer of the FrontierAstro fan site. The creator/maintainer of the 'Life on the Frontier' fan site for info and hosting documents. The Internet Archive for hosting patches, documents and the Wayback Machine. The DOSBox Staging wiki maintainers for FE2 game issues and solutions. Tony Dillon for The Secrets of Frontier Elite. Christoph Tietz for compiling the FE2 FAQ and the Jades fan site for hosting it. JimPlaysGames for the Frontier Fundamentals video series. Andrea Villa for the Control mod. Credit and thanks for the glFrontier information goes to: Tom Morton for glFrontier. Kochise for GLFrontier-win32. Brett Wilson for GLFrontier-Extended. FrontierAstro and SpaceSimCentral for hosting glFrontier. Good hunting/trading/mining/piracy!

A guide to running the Rowen & Spectrum Holobyte developed, 1990 sim, Flight of the Intruder in DOSBox Staging. Based on the book and film of the same name, Flight of the Intruder (FotI) is a sim of the naval carrier aircraft F-4 Phantom II and A-6 Intruder based in the Vietnam theater during the war. In 1990 there was little to choose from graphics-wise between the Amiga and PC, with the introduction of VGA although the Amiga still retains superior sound. As a DOS only sim DOSBox Staging is used. This game was considered the spiritual successor to the original Falcon (from Spectrum Holobyte) before the release of Falcon 3.0. Version & patch history The versions and patches released for FotI are listed below. Initial release The initial release was in July 1990 and distributed on 3 x 5.25" floppy or 3 x 3.5" floppy disks. There is no version listed for the game in the credits but is believed to be version 1.0, given the subsequent version numbering. The first disk is used to install/run with CGA graphics, while the remaining two disks are used to install the EGA/VGA version. Version 1.1 A re-release occurred in August 1990 and was again distributed on 3 x 5.25" or 3 x 3.5" floppy disks. The version is listed at the end of the credits. Like the initial release the first disk is the CGA version while the remaining two disks allow the EGA/CGA version to be installed. There are no release notes accompanying this version. Update disk (version 1.2) An update disk was released in December 1990 on a single 3.5" floppy, which updated the game to version 1.2. The version is listed at the end of the credits. The update was applicable to the EGA and VGA versions. There were no release notes accompanying the update disk. This is a recommended update for versions 1.0 and 1.1. Version 1.2 Releases occurred throughout the 1990's with version 1.2 release on cd-rom in May 1995. The minimum spec also being raised a 386 processor and VGA graphics only. The game is first run from the cd, with the game installed to the hard disk as part of running the game. The game can be played later from the cd-rom or hard disk. The version is listed at the end of the credits and there are no release notes detailing changes or enhancements. Digital release The game was re-released digitally on the gog.com platform in 2024. The digital edition uses version 1.2. Retail media Due to the age or the media and the drives required to read the media, it is recommended to rip floppy and cd-rom media to image files, to save wear and tear on media and the mechanical drives. The floppy disks should be ripped to a DOSBox staging compatible .ima or .img image format. The cd-rom can be ripped to a data only .iso image format as there is no cd audio on the cd. A digital edition of the game is available on gog.com. Game management It is recommended to use my DOSBox game management strategy or similar strategy you may have developed. The recommended game management folders for the DOS version are: cd - for any cd images. fdd - for any floppy images. hdd - the folder use as the emulated DOSBox hard disk conf - to store DOSBox and HOTAS configuration files. docs - for documents.. HOTAS config Joystick, throttle and rudder pedals are supported. The game supports either a stick and throttle scheme or a stick, throttle and rudder scheme. Configuring axes may not be required if your HOTAS has 4 axes or less. When using a combination of devices totaling more than 4 axes, a virtual controller can be configured (with vendor software or Joystick Gremlin), limited to 4 axes. 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 controller is detected by DOSBox. [6][7][8]. The physical axes to Windows axes were configured as follows: Physical axis Stick & throttle Stick, throttle & rudder Joystick x-axis DX_X_AXIS DX_X_AXIS Joystick y-axis DX_Y_AXIS DX_Y_AXIS Throttle DX_Z_AXIS DX_Z_AXIS Rudder N/A DX_XROT_AXIS DOSBox config The DOS version is configured to run under the latest released DOSBox Staging version, v0.83.0-RC1 (at time of writing). [dosbox] vmem_delay = 500 [cpu] core = simple cycleup = 100 cycledown = 100 [voodoo] voodoo = off [mixer] reverb = small chorus = light [sblaster] sbtype = none oplmode = opl2 [joystick] joysticktype = 4axis timed = false swap34 = true deadzone = 0 [autoexec] @echo off # mount a "D:\Games\DOS\FLight of the Intruder\fdd\disk*.img" -t floppy mount c "D:\Games\DOS\FLight of the Intruder\hdd2" mount d "D:\Games\DOS\FLight of the Intruder\cd\intruder.iso" -t cdrom mixer opl 1000 /noshow mixer master 100 /noshow d: intruder.exe pause exit The following zip file contains an example DOSBox Staging config. It should be changed to match your hardware and personal preferences. Due to the revised defaults with this DOSBox version, most settings are now personal preference or optimal settings, such as sound or joystick settings. Only those settings that differ from the DOSBox Stagiing v0.83.0-RC1 default config are shown. The vmem_delay is set to improve the timing issues within the sim. The credits scroll too quickly without this setting, with it the sim is slowed to a better pace. The cpu is set to simple as it is optimised for, and provides better compatibility with older real mode games. Voodoo emulation isn't required and is disabled. The Sound Blaster settings emulate an AdLib Music Synthesizer Card as described in the DOSBox Staging wiki Sound cards. The mixer and joystick settings are a personal preference and suitable for my joystick hardware. The autoexec has example mount commands for mounting installation floppy disk images, a hard disk folder and a cd image of the game. The Adlib sound is extremely quiet in-game, possibly due to the game expecting the Adlib audio to be played through amplified speakers (according to the FotI manual). In order to hear the Adlib audio, the master volume is restored to 100% and the OPL volume is increased to 1000%. Note: It is recommended to increase this volume in increments from 100% until a suitable OPL volume is found, to prevent a volume that may damage speakers. In this example config the cd version of the game is run. Floppy release The floppy release includes the CGA, EGA and VGA versions of the game. The CGA is run/installed from a single disk. The EGA/VGA versions are installed from the remaining two disks. Installation and patching are dependent on version. Installation The CGA version is installed onto a hard disk by copying the contents of the CGA disk into a suitable hard disk folder. The EGA and VGA versions must be installed from the remaining two floppy using the DOS installer app (install.exe). Patching Only the EGA and VGA versions can be patched to version 1.2. The patch was distributed as a separate floppy update disk. The image of this disk should be mounted in DOSBox and the update utility (update.exe) run from within DOSBox. Running The game is run from the installation folder (the default is intruder) with: C:\INTRUDER> intruder.bat CD release CD menu The CD release uses a unique combined installation and running process. When the game is first run from the cd, it installs on the hard disk, before running the game. When subsequently run from the CD, the hard is checked for the game folder and files and if they exists the game is run. This means the game can be run from the CD or directly from the hard disk folder created by the installation process. To run the game from the cd: D:\> intruder.exe And directly from the hard disk: C:\INTRUDER> intruder.bat Configuration All configuration is performed in-game. THe sound source can be selected from the File menu and the optimum setting is Adlib. The Control menu allows the selection of graphics, sound and control settings as shown below: Documentation Theater map The following documents are available for this sim in pdf format: Manual. Special installation instructions and addendum. Quick reference (keyboard command & cockpit layout). Map. They should be obtained as they are essential to use the sim, which differs significantly from modern aircraft sims. Example Video Finally... Credit and thanks to John Novak and the rest of the DOSBox Staging team. Good hunting!