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A guide to running Jane's Longbow Gold and Jane's Longbow Anthology with the Glide patch in the 86Box emulator. Since there are still issues running the Glide versions of Gold or Anthology natively in Win10, the following article looks at some other methods, using other emulators, before describing the configuration of 86Box. Strategy The following alternatives were also tested before settling on 86Box as a recommended solution: BoxedWine, a limited Linux VM running Wine, taken from the Steam M1 Tank Platoon 2 release. Runs but without controller support. Qemu with 3Dfx support. Runs but crashes to Win98 desktop once mission starts. PCem v17, crashes to Win10 desktop once mission starts. DOSBox-X with internal 3Dfx emulation, runs and mission can start but extremely choppy visuals, unplayable. DOSBox-X with Glide passthrough to nGlide v2.10. Runs, mission can start successful but random crashes during mission. DOSBox-X with Glide passthrough to dgVoodoo2 v2.86. Runs, mission can start but opens in partial 640x480 window, cannot toggle to full screen, unplayable. DOSBox Staging is not an appropriate solution and not tested, as it does not support a Win95/98 platform required by a Glide patched Gold/Anthology install. 86Box 86Box running Win98SE The heart of the solution is the x86 emulator, 86Box. The 86Box website describes it as: 86Box is a low level x86 emulator that runs older operating systems and software designed for IBM PC systems and compatibles from 1981 through fairly recent system designs based on the PCI bus. This article assumes the latest version (at writing) will be used, v4.2.1. This version is available from 86Box.net . This website should be the first site to visit to learn more about this emulator. An important point to note is that it is a single threaded emulator, so the single thread performance of your machine and the specs of the machine being emulated will have a major impact on the gameplay of Longbow. Installation and configuration 86Box installation should be straight-forward although if you have the choice between SSD or mechanical drives an SSD is recommended for optimum performance. Once installed you'll need to obtain a rom set before you can use 86Box. The ' Getting started ' section of the 86Box documentation describes how. The docs are linked from 86Box.net or can be found directly at the 86Box documentation site. Instructions should be followed to place the roms in a suitable rom folder under 86Box. This concludes the installation and configuration of 86Box. Credit and thanks go to Miran Grča and the 86Box developers . 86Box Manager 86Box Manager The 86Box website recommends the use of a manager app to assist in configuration and management of multiple 86Box virtual machines (VM). A list of suitable manager apps can be found on the 86Box website for each platform. This article recommends the latest version of 86Box Manager v1.7.4. It is available for download at the 86Box Manager GitHub repository . Installation and configuration 86Box Manager is distributed as a zip file and only requires extracting to a suitable folder to complete installation. The few simple configuration steps are listed on the 86Box Manager GitHub page. Credit and thanks go to daviunic/Overdoze and the 86Box Manager contributors . Virtual machine specs As stated previously, the single thread performance of your machine and the specs of the machine being emulated will have a major impact on the gameplay of Longbow. Therefore we want to strike a balance between a virtual machine that meets or exceeds the recommended specs of Longbow, but not excessively to the point that a Win10/11 host PC struggles to emulate the virtual machine and performance suffers. For reference purposes my host machine uses an i7-7700K processor @ 4.2Ghz. 64MB of memory using an XMP memory profile @ 3.2Ghz (maybe, IIRC). Nvidia RTX 3060 and SSD storage. Based on comparison with your own hardware you may wish to change the virtual machine specs below. The emulated machine is described using 86Box/86Box Manager configuration entries. Where an entry is not listed, the default setting can continue to be used. Joystick/HOTAS configuration is discussed separately. Machine Machine type: [1997] Slot 1 Machine: [i440BX] Gigabyte GA-686BX CPU type: Intel Pentium Pro Frequency: 166 Memory: 128MB Display Video: [PCI] S3 ViRGE/DX (375) Memory size: 4MB Bilinear filtering: enabled Dithering: enabled Voodoo 1 or 2 Graphics: enabled Voodoo type: 3Dfx Voodoo Graphics Framebuffer memory size: 4MB Texture memory size: 4MB Bilinear filtering: enabled Dither subtraction: enabled Screen filter: disabled Render threads: 4 SLI: disabled Recompiler: enabled Input devices Mouse: Standard PS/2 Mouse Buttons: Wheel Joystick: discussed later, see HOTAS config Sound Sound card # 1: [ISA16] Sound Blaster 16 All options left as default Use FLOAT32 sound: enabled FM synth driver: Nuked (more accurate) Storage controllers HD Controller: Internal controller FD Controller: Internal controller Hard disks Select a 'New...' hard disk. File name: choose a suitable file name Size (MB): 3200 Cylinders, Heads and Sectors will be configured once Size is chosen Image Format: Dynamic-size VHD (.vhd) Speed: [1998] 5400 RPM Floppy & CD-ROM drives Floppy drives First: Type: 3.5" 1.44M Others: None CD-ROM drives First: Bus: ATAPI Speed: 32x Type: 86BOX CD-ROM 1.00 Others: Disabled Creating the virtual machine The virtual machine will be using Windows 98 Second Edition (Win98SE). Before creating the virtual machine it may be useful to take a look at the excellent YouTube tutorial video by PhilsComputerLab, PCem Windows 98 Setup . Even though it covers the alternative PCem emulator the steps for configuring the bios and installing Win98SE will be identical. The virtual machine bios should be configured to boot from the CD-ROM first and then the C drive. As usual all credit for the excellent YouTube tutorial and PhilsComputerLab website should go to Phil. Windows 98 Second Edition You will need to obtain the OEM full edition which allows the PC to be booted from the CD-ROM. By following the advice provided by PhilsComputerLab and the YouTube video,   PCem Windows 98 Setup you should end up with a clean Win98SE installation. Device drivers Now it's time to optimise the hardware using appropriate hardware device drivers, installed in the order below, for the following devices: Intel chipset Sound Blaster 16 3Dfx Voodoo Accelerator It's worth remembering Win98SE does not include support for opening zip files. So it is recommended to do this with Win10/11 by following the steps: Download copies of the device drivers. Extract each zip file on your Win10/11 machine, into a separate folder. Shutdown the virtual machine if it is running. Mount the virtual hard disk in Win10/11 by opening the vhd hard disk file (created earlier when configuring the virtual machine in 86Box Manager). Copy the folders containing the device driver and any downloaded executable (.exe) files containing device drivers, onto the mounted virtual hard disk. I would recommend copying into the 'My Documents' folder on the virtual hard disk. Eject the virtual hard disk, unmounting it from Win10/11, otherwise you won't be able to start Win98SE on the virtual machine. Start up the virtual machine and once Win98SE has started, begin installing the device drivers. Intel chipset drivers The Intel chipset drivers for the 440BX chipset can be found on the PhilsComputerLab website. The specific drivers are 2001 drivers, supporting Windows 9x, 2000 and XP ( 3.20.1008.zip ). As the drivers are distributed as a zip file, it should be extracted in Win10/11 first before being copied to the virtual hard disk. The executable file ( infinst_enu.exe ) should be run to install the drivers. Sound Blaster 16 drivers The Sound Blaster 16/AWE32 Driver Update for Win98 can be found on the VOGONS Vintage Driver Library. As the drivers are distributed as a zip file, it should be extracted in Win10/11 first before being copied to the virtual hard disk. This distribution includes an installer app ( upddrv95.exe ) which will install the drivers. 3Dfx Voodoo Accelerator drivers The Voodoo Accelerator drivers can be found on the PhilsComputerLab website. The specific drivers are the May 1999 - Latest Reference drivers ( voodoo_graphics_driver_kit_version_3.01.00.zip ) As the drivers are distributed as a zip file, it should be extracted in Win10/11 first before being copied to the virtual hard disk. Win98SE may have already installed 3Dfx Voodoo drivers, but they should be replaced by this version. You will have to open the Voodoo device in Device Manager and upgrade the drivers. AmnHLT driver There is an additional virtual device driver that can be installed to increase the performance of the 86Box emulator. Quoting the VOGONS post by Jo22: AmnHLT is a third-party VxD that issues a HLT (halt) instruction to the CPU whenever Windows 9x is idle. It's meant to avoid a 100% processor usage in VMs - and emulators. HLT is supported by late 486 processors and higher. It can be obtained from the VOGONS post by SA1988. AmnHLT.7z is a 7zip archive. Only the amnrefr.vxd file is required from the archive. The following installation instructions were provided in a VOGONS post by 0x6A7232: In Win98SE, open regedit. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VxD . Create a key named AmnHLT . Create a binary value named Start with a value of 00 inside the AmnHLT key. Create a string value named StaticVxD with a string of AMNREFR.VXD inside the AmnHLT key. Shutdown the operating system and close the emulator. Copy amnrefr.vxd driver into the C:\Windows\System folder of the virtual hard disk. Start the Win98SE virtual machine. Credit and thanks go to VOGONS members Jo22, SA1988 and 0x6A7232. Preserving the virtual machine At this point we have a clean Win98SE virtual machine (VM) using optimised device drivers. It is recommended to take a copy of the 86Box VM configuration and the virtual hard disk (vhd) file. This provide a clean VM you can use to try out with other 3Dfx/Glide games that struggle to run natively in Win10 with Glide/DX wrappers, or with other emulators, without having to repeat the above to create the VM. Longbow media As usual I recommend converting physical media to images to save wear and tear on disks and drives. The Gold and Anthology cds can be ripped to an iso, data only cd image, format as there is no cd audio/music tracks on the Longbow discs. Longbow installation Either Gold or Anthology versions can be installed. The first cd images should be mounted within 86Box. If the cd does not auto run the installer app, it can be started manually by opening it from the 86Box emulated cd drive. Installation should be straightforward and complete without issue. During the Gold/Anthology installation, graphics and textures options can be set to high. Longbow Anthology will ask for a normal or custom install. Choose a custom install and only install the Longbow (not Longbow2) components. Later you will be asked if the GoldFX(A) patch should be installed, do not install the patch at this point, it will be done later. Note : the virtual hard disk has been sized to allow the Gold or Anthology cd images to be copied to the virtual hard disk, but not both. Longbow patches Longbow Gold The Glide version of Longbow Gold uses the GoldFX patch only, no other patches are required or should be installed. This patch can be found at soggi.org  as a 7zip archive or as a self extracting archive in this VOGONS post from feda, so a big thank you to both. Installation should be straight-forward and complete without issue. Longbow Anthology The Glide version of Longbow Anthology uses the GoldFX(A) patch only, no other patches are required or should be installed. This patch can be found on the first Longbow Anthology cd or cd image. Installation should be straight-forward and complete without issue. Issues If either patch complains a suitable Voodoo Accelerator cannot be found, ensure the recommended Voodoo drivers have been installed. Longbow fixes For those familiar with the VOGONS post, Janes AH-64D Longbow 1 & 2 without CD inc Memory Fix (Windows) may be wondering why the memory fixes are not applied. These fixes are required for modern machines with over 365MB of memory, however the 86Box Win98SE VM configured earlier, is only using 128MB, so is not affected. If you really want to apply them, they will not affect the game under 86Box. CD emulation The developers of Longbow, left in a functional cd emulation facility. If you are using cd images the performance difference will be minor/negligible, however as a convenience, it removes the necessity to mount/unmount cd images in 86Box, so is recommended. To use it, copy the contents of each Longbow cd to a folder (e.g. C:\Janes\Lbcd1) within Win98SE. Note : for Anthology this will be the first two Longbow 1 cd/images (not the Longbow 2 cd/images) Longbow Gold For Longbow Gold create a file CDEmu.ini  in the Longbow installation folder (in my case C:\Janes\Lbgold) and specify the folder for each of the three Longbow Gold cds, like so: [CDEmulate] CD001=C:\Janes\Lbcd1 CD002=C:\Janes\Lbcd2 CD003=C:\Janes\Lbcd3 Longbow Anthology For Longbow Anthology create a file CDEmu.ini  in the Longbow installation folder (in my case C:\Janes\Lba\Longbow) and specify the folder for both Longbow 1 cd/images (but not the Longbow 2 cd/images), like so: [CDEmulate] CD001=C:\Janes\Lbcd1 CD002=C:\Janes\Lbcd2 HOTAS config Configuring axes may not be required if your HOTAS has 4 axes or less. When using devices totaling more than 4 axes, a virtual controller  can be used, limited to 4 axes. 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 86Box configuration 86Box Manager joystick config The 86Box HOTAS configuration is very similar to the PCem HOTAS configuration described in Controllers and retro sims part 5: PCem . However 86Box HOTAS configuration is easier with a single 4-axis, 4-button joystick available, which is exactly what the virtual controller is configured to be and what many physical HOTAS controllers are. To configure a HOTAS within the 86Box Manager, the following settings were used in the 'Input devices' section: Joystick: 4-axis, 4-button joystick Joystick 1 Device: set to the virtual controller, which was the only device present. Axes: set to the corresponding virtual controller axes except z and zX axes (see below) Buttons: set to the corresponding virtual controller buttons. During creation and calibration of a custom controller in Win98SE it became apparent that the 3rd and 4th axes required swapping. This was done in the 86Box joystick config by swapping the z and zX axes (see screenshot). Win98SE configuration The steps to create a custom controller in Win98SE are the same as those discussed in Controllers and retro sims part 5: PCem in the section, Adding a controller to Windows 98 . Once the custom controller is calibrated the HOTAS configuration is complete in Win98SE. Video Here's a brief test video showing Longbow Gold running, prior to joystick setup. Good hunting!

A discussion on the use of vJoy and Joystick Gremlin as an alternative to vendor profiling software or native controller support within sims. This article is probably long overdue after the previous five instalments. An overview It's useful to take a overview and see where vJoy & Joystick Gremlin fits into controller handling, as the following diagram shows: Physical devices The actual physical device sitting on your desk that you'll control. These can be multiple devices like a Warthog joystick, Warthog throttle and rudder pedals each connecting to your PC with it's own USB cable. Earlier HOTAS devices were single devices like the Saitek X-52 HOTAS with the throttle connecting to the joystick and a single USB cable running from the joystick to the PC. Windows devices These devices are how Windows sees your physical devices. Depending on the device(s) it may see them as a single device (Saitek X-52) or as multiple devices (Warthog joystick and throttle). Joystick Gremlin Joystick Gremlin is the application which listens for data from your Windows devices (caused by moving the physical device or pressing a device button), modifies it (if configured to do so) and sends it to the vJoy virtual joystick/controller. Joystick Gremlin allows profiles to be created allowing you to customise the axes shape or button assignments for a particular app, sim or game. vJoy vJoy is the application which creates and configures one or more virtual joystick/controller devices. These virtual devices take data from Joystick Gremlin and send it to your app/sim/game. vJoy devices can be configured with different axes, buttons or hats and can be configured as force-feedback devices if supported by the physical device. Application/sim/game or emulator The final stage is the app/sim/game you want to control with your physical device! You may have to configure the game to use the vJoy device as you would any other controller. If the app is DOSBox or an emulator (PCem, 86Box), it may do it's own joystick input handling before passing it to the game! Without vJoy/Joystick Gremlin games would receive data direct from the Windows device (configured in-game). vJoy vJoy vJoy is essentially a virtual joystick/controller which can take its inputs from another application. vJoy was originally designed to provide an open-source replacement for PPJoy. The original vJoy project has been taken up by several maintainers over the years, to add support for Win10, add/improve force-feedback capabilities and the current version has effectively been somewhat sponsored by a commercial interest to get Win10/11 driver signing approved. Where can you find it? The current version can be found on the BrunnerInnovation/vJoy GitHub repository  in the Releases  section. This should be an installer executable you can run to install on Win10/11. vJoy should be installed before Joystick Gremlin. Usage These aren't detailed instructions and there are far better tutorials to consult. But an important point to note: The vJoy virtual device is the device communicating with the game, so you'll want to configure the vJoy device accordingly. If the game only supports 3 axes and 1 hat, then you'll want to configure a vJoy device with 3 axes and 1 hat (buttons are less important so you can configure it with many (e.g. 32) buttons). Tutorials will normally show a virtuals device with all axes and 4 hats selected (which is fine for a general purpose tutorial) however some sims may try to auto-assign axes and make a mess of it if there are additional axes and hats. For sims with better controller support you can create a virtual controller with all axes/hats/lots of buttons and assign them in-game as required. You can configure up to 16 virtual devices with vJoy so more than enough given the number of axes/hats won't change that much between games. Joystick Gremlin Taken from the manual (as it'll be more accurate than I am!): Joystick Gremlin is a program that allows the configuration of joystick like devices, similar to what CH Control Manager and Thrustmaster's T.A.R.G.E.T. do for their respectively supported joysticks. However, Joystick Gremlin works with any device be it from different manufacturers or custom devices that appear as a joystick to Windows. Joystick Gremlin uses the virtual joysticks provided by vJoy to map physical to virtual inputs and apply various other transformations such as response curves to analogue axes. Effectively Joystick Gremlin is a vendor independent HOTAS profiling app! Where can you find it? Joystick Gremlin  should be obtained from the website . vJoy should be installed before Joystick Gremlin. Usage There is a manual  which explains in detail how to get started with Joystick Gremlin. Essentially Joystick Gremlin allows the creation of HOTAS profiles mapping from Physical/Windows devices to the vJoy virtual device, so for example: Map the Warthog joystick x-axis to the vJoy x-axis. Map the X-52 throttle z-axis to vJoy z-axis. Map the TFRP pedals z-axis to the vJoy z-rotation axis. Map the Warthog joystick button 1 to vJoy button 1. Map the Warthog joystick button 5 to keypress 'G'. Now, it would be sort of strange to use an Saitek X-52 throttle with a Warthog joystick but it gives you an idea of the flexibility available! A brief example In the below gallery shows a vJoy configuration, Joystick Gremlin configuration pages and finally vJoy use within MiG Alley. Even though we don't hide the physical/Windows devices (so vJoy is essentially an extra device), this is not a problem for MiG Alley as you can choose the controllers to use or ignore. In this example the vJoy device is used and all other physical/Windows HOTAS devices are ignored. A note on HidGuardian/HidHide If you explore Joystick Gremlin you may see references to HidGuardian. HidGuardian is windows device firewall. It effectively hides devices from applications! This may be useful if the game you wish to control tries to auto-detect your devices. The game may find your vJoy virtual device and the Windows device. This may result in the ' double-input ' issue where pressing a joystick button results in the game receiving a button press from both the vJoy and Windows device! HidGuardian allows you to hide the Windows devices from your game, so only the vJoy device is visible. Although JG has built in support for HidGuardian, it's no longer recommended having been superseded by HidHide, which adds support for Win10/11, more features and has a friendlier interface. HidHide is available from DualShock4Windows, HidHide and there is some useful background info and installation instructions. To be honest I'm 'on the fence' when it comes to HidHide, my initial attempts at using it were successful, but didn't seem to have much effect with the sims I was testing with at the time. Since returning to vJ/JG I haven't really had the need to try it again, as I prefer to use TM TARGET when I need to hide or disable HOTAS devices. However this is a later version of HidHide than I tested with, so you may have a different experience with it, depending on the sim. So your vJoy/Joystick Gremlin combo may become a vJoy/Joystick Gremlin/HidHide combo! Tutorial Here's a useful YouTube Joystick Gremlin - Quick Start Guide , covering vJoy, Joystick Gremlin and HidHide. Credit and thanks to RedLir Live. Setting a preferred device As some sims may try to auto-detect and assign controllers, they may be more successful if you set a preferred device in the joystick control panel (run joy.cpl from the Start menu). In the advanced properties select the vJoy device. Although not guaranteed to work (it depends on how the sim was developed), the auto-detecting/auto-assigning sim may use the preferred vJoy device instead of any others. Remember to switch back if you swap between vJoy and other devices. The joystick control panel dialog boxes are shown below: When to use vJoy & Joystick Gremlin There are no hard and fast rules as to when you should vJoy/Joystick Gremlin and your decision may be based on what 'feels' subjectively best to you or the method you're most comfortable with. Instead, here are some points to consider in deciding whether or not to use vJ/JG. There is a choice of three approaches, although not all hardware setups or sims may support all three: Native controller support (in-game support). Vendor profiling software. vJoy/Joystick Gremlin (vJ/JG). Higher end applications or sims may have comprehensive native controller support, e.g. DCS, Falcon BMS or Oolite. Some sims may have good controller support but lack features (mode and/or axis shaping), so vJ/JG may provide a solution to enable these features. MiG Alley has good native support but limited button assignment (for multiple devices) so vJ/JG is a good solution in this case (and it seems to hate TM TARGET). Earlier sims may have limited controller support, lack features (mode or axis shaping) or may try to auto-assign controllers/axes, so you may wish to use vendor software or vJ/JG. Those with a multi-vendor setup (WInWing joystick, TM Throttle, CH pedals) may not be able to use vendor software to create a single virtual controller. Native support or vJ/JG may provide the solution. Vendor software and/or sim native controller support may lack features you wish to use (mode or axis shaping), vJ/JG may be the only solution. vJ/JG supports 8 axes, this should be sufficient for nearly every sim, I'm struggling to think of one that would make use of more axes. Falcon BMS may use more, if you include split throttle, MFD mouse control (on throttle) and left/right toe brakes but in that case you would normally use Falcon BMS native controller support. Some sims that assign controller/axes 'auto-magically' may be tricky to configure. Vendor software or vJ/JG allows the creation of a virtual controller with only the axes/hats/buttons expected by the sim. vJ/JG may be more susceptible to the 'double-input' issue. Vendor software is effective at disabling vendor hardware when creating a virtual controller. Combining vJ/JG with HidHide may provide a solution to this issue. Where more than one approach can supply all the needed features, it may come down to what subjectively 'feels' best for you when flying. Don't be afraid to try vJ/JG, any setup can be quickly and easily reversed. In summary, vJoy/Joystick Gremlin can be easily setup with a little practice. Is fairly easy to configure for a basic axes/hat/button setup (which is a good starting point) and can enhance sim control by provide mode or axis shaping features which may not be natively supported by the sim. For any sim enthusiast vJoy/Joystick Gremlin is worth investigating! Finally... A huge thank you to all the developers and maintainers of vJoy, Joystick Gremlin, HidGuardian and HidHide, your hard work is appreciated!

This article covers some of the recently released PixelWings mods for the Microprose sim, F-117A Nighthawk Stealth Fighter 2.0 and Black Knight: Marine Strike Fighter from SE Software. This will be covering the mods from PixelWings only, for setup guides you'll want to take a look at: Stealthily approaching 100: F-117A Nighthawk Stealth Fighter 2.0 . Black Knight: Marine Strike Fighter . On to the mods... Cockpit Panel & Palette Mod for F-117 Stealth Fighter 2.0 This mod changes the cockpit graphics and makes substantial changes to the outside environment palette, best described by PixelWings (and taken from the readme): This is a modification for MicroProse F-117 Stealth Fighter 2.0 that replaces the default cockpit panel with a new custom drawn one, and improves the overall color palettes used by the game. This creates a completely new look for the outside view during dawn, day, dusk and night, as well as adding dim lighting to the panel in the dark hours. New symbology in the MFD tactical maps is also added. In the desert scenarios the night time will not be completely dark, due to some quirks of the palette system used there. But the European and North Cape scenarios and certain other world areas will. These are now also changed to resemble winter time, the as requested by the community. There is a lot of love for this feature, as used in the Amiga version. It is my hope that these changes will bring some needed variety and "realism" to this excellent old game. Enjoy! This mod is available from PixelWings . Installation instructions are included in the readme file, supplied with the mod. Here's a side by side comparison of the original unmodded game and with the PixelWings mod: f117menu This is a quick (and entirely optional) DOS batch file game menu I've put together to allow the mod to be installed, removed and reinstalled, whenever you want, prior to playing the game. It has six options: Play the game. Backup the original files to an unmod folder. Once backed up this option is replaced with a message telling you the original files are in this folder. Install the mod, or if not installed this option is replaced with a message telling you to install the mod to a pwmod folder. Remove the mod and return to using the original unmodified files. The PixelWings mod can be reinstalled at any time. Return to the DOSBox command prompt. Exit DOSBox. If you use this menu you'll need to: Backup the original files with the menu, before using the mod. Create a pwmod folder in the game installation folder and extract the mod to this folder. You can find the menu below, just extract it to your game installation folder and run it from DOS with: f117menu Or put it at the end of your DOSBox conf file with: call f117menu.bat Black Knight - Palette Mod This mod changes the environment palette to a brighter, desert setting. Again best described by PixelWings (and taken from the readme): This mod changes the dark and gloomy daytime palette of the game to a brighter look, more fitting of a flight sim. It also changes the game to a desert setting instead of the default green scenery you would normally see. This mod is available from PixelWings . Simple installation instructions are included in the readme file, supplied with the mod. Here's another side by side comparison of the original unmodded game and with the PixelWings mod: bkmenu This is another quick (and entirely optional) DOS batch file game menu I've put together to allow the mod to be installed, removed and reinstalled, whenever you want, prior to playing the game. It has six options: Play the game. Backup the original files to an unmod  folder. Once backed up this option is replaced with a message telling you the original files are in this folder. Install the mod, or if not installed this option is replaced with a message telling you to install the mod to a pwmod  folder. Remove the mod and return to using the original unmodified files. The PixelWings mod can be reinstalled at any time. Return to the DOSBox command prompt. Exit DOSBox. If you use this menu you'll need to: Backup the original files with the menu, before using the mod. Create a pwmod folder in the same folder as the bk.bat file and the unmod folder and extract the mod to this pwmod folder. You can find the menu below, just extract it to your game installation folder and run it from DOS with: bkmenu Or put it at the end of your DOSBox conf file with: call bkmenu.bat Finally... Last but certainly not least, this article wouldn't be complete without credit and huge thanks to PixelWings for all the hard work in making these mods for these classic sims. It is very much appreciated! Thank you! Good hunting!

My guide on running Myst IV: Revelation under Windows 10. Originally released in 2004, Myst IV required a minimum of a Pentium III, Windows 98 SE and DirectX 9.0. The retail version used the SafeDisc DRM no longer supported under later versions of Windows. This guide will result in Myst IV running under Windows 10, scaled appropriately for a high resolution display while retailing the original aspect ratio. Mouse control issues caused by a high DPI display are also resolved. Patches and fixes were installed in the order shown below. Warning : Make sure your are comfortable doing this, this is for informational purposes only. I can't take responsibility for any loss or damage incurred. This is working on my particular machine and setup, your experiences may differ. Version The US and European retail version is the one I'm using, supplied on 2 DVDs. As I prefer not to use the original discs, both discs have been converted to .iso images. I'm using Daemon tools to mount the images on a virtual DVD drive. Setup & official patches Run the installer from the first disc and perform a full install. Once installed download and install the v1.00 to v1.03 patch available from the PCGamingWiki . No cd patch As the original discs aren't being used, a no cd patch was used to run under Windows 10. They can be found easily with a little help from google. The no cd patch is for v1.03 and replaces 2 files in the /bin folder. Windows 10 fixes The following fixes help with Windows 10 compatibility. IndirectInput Created by Rafael Rivera, IndirectInput is a simple DirectInput wrapper to work around a Windows 10 device enumeration bug. Download and add the dll to the /bin folder. dgVoodoo2 The dgVoodoo2 utility is used to scale to the desktop resolution. The version currently used isv 2.82.5. Download and extract files to a folder. Copy the following files to the Myst IV installation /bin folder. dgVoodoo.conf dgVoodooCpl.exe \MS\x86\D3D8.dll \MS\x86\D3D9.dll \MS\x86\D3D9.dll \MS\x86\D3DImm.dll \MS\x86\DDraw.dll Note: only copy the files to the installation /bin folder, don't copy the MS folder or sub-folders. dgVoodoo2 has been configured as follows: The game will start in a window but can be scaled to full screen with + . You may wish to enable the dgVoodoo watermark to ensure dgVoodoo2 is being used, then disable it later. Note: These settings may not be optimal, they work for me. If you have any suggestions feel free to get in touch. MS Compatibility Administrator If there are issues with controlling the mouse, this may be due to a high DPI display and display scaling being enabled in Windows settings. The scaling options can be found under Settings > System > Display > Scale and layout. You can set the scaling to 100% but this becomes a chore having to switch scaling options every time you wish to play. Alternatively download and install the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (Windows ADK) (this was previously the Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT)). It comes with 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the Compatibility Administrator tool. When running under dgVoodoo2, Windows automatically identified and added a compatibility entry for Myst IV. The entry was added to the 'Per User Compatibility Settings' section under my username. The fixes applied were HighDpiAware and WinXPSp3, as shown below. Myst IV settings in Compatibility Administrator To manually add a fix, take a look at the example Microsoft article ' How to use the Compatibility Administrator utility in Windows '. It's an older article referencing the ACT, but the example section was a useful guide. The HighDpiAware and WinXPSp3 fixes were selected manually. As Myst IV is a 32-bit application the 32-bit version of the Compatibility Administrator has to be used.

This is the last of the releases to be covered, Falcon BMS. Falcon BMS is the current generation development of Falcon 4.0. However, BMS is no longer the community driven mod or addon to Falcon 4.0, but has transcended that classification to become an entity in it's own right. This articles takes a quick look at the history of BMS and instead of concentrating on a BMS release, (which is done far better by the BMS team on their website), it takes a look at an addon for the addon, EF2000 RETRO. History Falcon BMS history BMS began as an continued development of SuperPak 3. SuperPak 3 would be the mod/addon to provide a vast majority of the functionality changes, while SuperPak 4 would produce the vast majority of vehicle/weapon database changes. So it would make sense for BMS to be initially developed from SuperPak 3. Beta versions would be released until BMS 1.0 in December 2003. BMS would later include patches to integrate SuperPak 4 with the release of BMS 2.0 in May 2004. After the legal issues around BMS it would continue to be developed, but was not released directly, instead providing a basis for both FreeFalcon and OpenFalcon releases. The last version of OpenFalcon v4.7 would be build on BMS 3.9.1.6. With the agreements reached between rights holders and the BMS team. BMS received a new lease of life as BMS 4.32. Current development has continued since v4.32 with the latest version being v4.38 (at time of writing). For a more detailed look at the Falcon 4.0 history the Falcon Epopee is recommended at Falcon 4 history . For more information on BMS the dedicated BMS website is the recommended source for all things BMS. EF2000 RETRO Rather than cover the Falcon BMS directly, an addon to the BMS addon may have passed under the radar of many. That being the EF2000 RETRO addon, created by Scorpion82! What is it? This is best described by Scorpion82 (taken from the EF2000 RETRO discord): EF2000 RETRO is an Add-On inspired by Digital Image Design's EF2000 PC based combat flight simulator, first released on 29th November 1995. The EF2000 RETRO Add-on aims to introduce a distinct EF2000 flair to Falcon BMS. It is designed as an Add-on theater that seamlessly integrates with Falcon BMS, without adversely impacting the stock Falcon BMS installation, or any other Add-On theater you may have installed. In principle EF2000 RETRO for 4.37 is a memorial release commeorating the original EF2000 (30th anniversary). EF2000 BTO is mainly a separate mod that transfers the work on the EF2000 to 4.38 (not by default included). At present there are two streams of development, one for BMS 4.37 and one for the latest version BMS 4.38. There continue to be two versions as EF2000 Retro (for BMS 4.37) uses a Nordic theater just like the original EF2000. This is due to the public availability of theater creation tools for BMS 4.37. BMS 4.38 being the latest major version release of BMS uses theaters created/modified with tools that haven't been publicly released yet. This version of EF2000 RETRO (for BMS 4.38) uses the Balkans theater. Having these two versions is also useful for those with older hardware who may wish to use the less performance intensive BMS 4.37. It is some truly amazing work by Scorpion82, so if you're a BMS fan or an old EF2000 fan, or both, I'd highly recommend getting this and trying it out! Huge thanks to Scorpion82 for creating EF2000 RETRO! Where can you get it? Again shamelessly using Scorpion82's release notes: For BMS 4.37 RELEASE EF2000 RETRO v1.11 - 25th September 2025 EF2000 RETRO v1.11 is out. IMPORTANT!!! EF2000 RETRO v1.11 is a FULL release, it is recommended to make a fresh install, but you can also install it on top of v.1.10. This should have no other consequences then increasing the memory consumption due to a couple of now superfluous files! EF2000 RETRO v1.11 is compatible only with Falcon BMS 4.37.8! INSTALLATION: Download the EF2000 RETRO v1.11_FULL.zip Unzip the EF2000 RETRO v1.11_FULL to your "Falcon BMS 4.37" installation directory, ensure "complete path information" is enabled Changelog v1.21 FM with new Lift/Drag tables, Add. Sec. updates Alignment of EF2000 aircraft and cockpit Model and Texture numbers with EF2000 BTO Cockpit data update: default view point, DOF movement and panning limits, HUD data update Download (2.32 GB) For BMS 4.38 EF2000 BTO v1.00 for Falcon BMS 4.38 RELEASED - 30th August 2025 The EF2000 BTO v1.00 Add-On for Falcon BMS 4.38 is now available. This Add-on is conceived as an aircraft centric, dependent add-on theater. That means it requires the Balkans Theater of Operations to be installed. The objective of this add-on was to transfer my work on the EF2000 for to the BMS 4.38 environment. Pre-requsites: Falcon BMS 4.38.0 installed Balkan Theater v1.08.0 + Hotfix 3 installed Installation: Extract the EF2000 BTO v1.00.zip onto your "Falcon BMS 4.38\Data" main installation directory Start Falcon BMS Launcher and select EF2000 BTO as the Theater Launch game with above selected Theater Changes (compared to Balkans Theater Baseline): UI background/splash screens EF2000 Sound Tracks for UI Instant Action and Dogfight Mode implementation More EF2000 Squadrons in "Joint Guard" Campaign (Save5.cam) TacRef update Badges covering all EF2000 wings and squadrons German, British, Italian, Spanish and Austrians variants updated / introduced incl.: EF2000 Advanced Flight Model EF2000 Cockpit EF2000 aircraft models (not latest PBR state, but with more skin sets and model fixes) New EF2000 Rack data Custom cockpit audio and voice warnings Weapon updates (Brimstone I & II, IRIS-T, ASRAAM, METEOR, 1000L SFT, ALARM, TAURUS, AAQ-28) New weapon GBU-48 Enter/Leave load screens for EF2000 Instant Action implementation Known issues/limitations: Models (11000 onwards), Textures (11000 onwards) and Cockpit folder (EF2000) are installed into stock Balkans Theater (no over-writting of existing files) Download (533.58 MB) News and releases As EF2000 RETRO is still in active development, the best place for the latest news and release info is the EF2000 RETRO discord . Example video Here's a quick example test video, playing EF2000 RETRO (for BMS v4.37). No real idea about what I'm doing! You can see much higher quality flying from Scorpion82 on the EF2000 Retro channel ! Finally, to the BMS team... Although putting these articles together and trying out old Falcon 4.0 releases has been fun, there has been a bit of uncomfortable realization about how much has been lost to time. During this process I began to compile what I had into patch collections and upload them to the Internet Archive to preserve what I had found. Now the BMS team is comprised of volunteers with their own lives to lead and precious free time, so I can wholeheartedly understand the viewpoint of concentrating on only the most current releases to prevent queries/work generated from older releases 'diluting' the development effort. It's probably the most sensible/practical approach to take. However I would humbly suggest that they consider either archiving their older BMS versions publically, (on the Internet Archive for example). Or if they feel this may affect their current development, archive older versions privately and later archive these older versions publically at a time of their choosing (when they feel it would not affect their current development). I suggest this, as I've seen how easy it has been for important releases in the Falcon 4.0 history to disappear over time and the older BMS versions are an important part of this continuing Falcon 4.0 history. And all that's left to say is, incredible work guys! Good hunting!

This will be the first in a series of articles covering the 1998 MicroProse sim Falcon 4.0 and the 2005 Lead Pursuit sim, Falcon 4.0: Allied Force. This first article is a primer detailing what will be covered in the following articles and providing some useful historical background to the sim. History It's quite a history! Before discussing builds it's essential to have some understanding of the history or Falcon 4.0 and how each release fits into the overall history. The best resources for a history of Falcon 4.0 is the dedicated Falcon 4 history site, they do a better job than I ever could. For a visual overview of the Falcon 4.0 history the graphical timeline of Falcon 4 development should be consulted. Within we see the development release, official patches, iBeta and Realism patches, eRazor patches branching from the v1.07 code, culminating in the merging and development of the Unified Team SuperPak's. After SuperPak 3 the branches diverge again, with FreeFalcon, the initial BMS patches until BMS 2.03, ViperOps, which would soon become Falcon 4.0: Allied Force and laterly the SuperPak 4 release, which could later be integrated with BMS 2.0. Later the branches would settle into three, FreeFalcon/RedViper, OpenFalcon and the continuing patching of Allied Force. FreeFalcon and OpenFalcon would be integrated into what became the present day BenchmarkSims Team with BMS 4.32. FreeFalcon and Allied Force would fall by the wayside leaving the BMS as the driving force in Falcon 4.0 development. For a more in-depth discussion of the history of Falcon 4.0, The Falcon Epopee by SpyHawk, is highly recommended. In case anyone is wondering 'Epopee' is a noun of French origin that means epic, particularly an epic poem or epic poetry. It can also refer to an adventurous and intrepid journey. When discussing the history of Falcon 4.0, epic, poetic, adventurous and intrepid certainly seems an apt way of describing it! Releases As can be seen from the history, Falcon 4.0 has undergone a monumental change from it's first release. As the Benchmark Sims team pushes ever forward, making incredible developmental strides with Falcon 4.0, the 'retro' Falcon 4.0 versions risk being lost to time. For that reason these articles exist, to go back and rebuild the simpler retro versions of Falcon 4.0 that once existed and allow them to be experienced once again. There will be a series of articles on 'building' a number of Falcon 4.0 'releases' and getting them running well under Win10. Each release will mark a particular milestone in the Falcon 4.0 history allowing a release to be chosen, built and played under Win10. Trying multiple releases If you wish to try out different releases it is highly recommended to completely uninstall and clean the machine of any remnant of a previous release. A recommended app to do so is Revo Uninstaller Free . If the advanced uninstall option is chosen, then after running the uninstall, Revo Uninstaller will analyze leftover registry entries and folders and give you the option to remove them. For this reason, later articles will suggest placing downloads into a Falcon4-setup folder (for storage) and then copying them into the Falcon installation folder (for use). If a complete clean up is not performed, then there is a risk of leftover registry entries affecting future release installations. Further articles The following articles will make up the rest of this Falcon 4.0 series. Hopefully these mark the major releases, developed by a huge number of individuals from around the globe and flown by many others. Falcon 4.0 Official patched version . Official/iBeta release . Understanding the F4Patch utility . Realism Patch . eFalcon . SuperPak . SuperPak MP . SuperPak BMS . FreeFalcon . OpenFalcon . BMS and EF2000 RETRO . Falcon 4.0: Allied Force Official release . Skunkworks release . Addons Documentation A wide variety of manuals covering a large number of Falcon 4.0 releases can be found on a flight sim pdf GitHub repository . The following releases have manuals within the repository: Falcon 4.0 retail. Realism Patch. SuperPak 3/4. BMS. FreeFalcon. OpenFalcon. Falcon 4.0: Allied Force retail. Credit and thanks to Trent Nelson for this resource. A call to arms These articles aim to be as comprehensive as possible. That may not be possible initially but the articles today can be amended, added to annd revised. So if there is a critical patch or enhancement missing, by all means get in touch, I'd be happy to add it to these articles. Finally... Credit and thanks for to SpyHawk for The Falcon Epopee. There are probably others that should be credited and thanked for the Falcon History site, so feel free to get in touch if you wish to be added to this article! Good hunting!

DRAFT ONLY: There are no links to any of the BMS patches, awaiting responses to queries. To be updated when appropriate. This is a guide on building and running the SuperPak 4/(early) BMS release of Falcon 4.0. This guide will only be covering retro BMS v1.0 and v2.0 releases. The current Falcon BMS v4.3x release can be found on the Benchmark Sims, Falcon BMS homepage . History BMS history Following the release of SuperPak 3, the BenchMarkSims team was created to update the graphics engine of Falcon 4.0. At this point in time the licence was held by G2Interactive but would be returned to Atari if no product was released. The BMS updates are compatible with SuperPak 3. Beta releases starting with v0.5 began in September 2003 until the final beta, v0.99 in November 2003. The first major release was BMS v1.0.0 in December 2003, with the final v1 release (v1.0.3) in January 2004. The only release of BMS v2.0.0.3 was in May 2004. Around the same time the Falcon 4.0 licence returned to Atari who requessted the BMS v2 release be removed from public access. After the release of SuperPak 4, additional compatibility patches were created for BMS v1. The final compatibility patch being SP4.1 BMS data 1.4 in July 2004. A single SuperPak 4.2 BMS v2 compatibility patch, SP4.2 BMS data 1.0 was released in November 2004. For a far more detailed and accurate description, The Falcon Epopee is highly recommended. Why two releases? There are two releases with the recommended Win10 release using BMS v1.0.3.. BMS v2.0.0.3 installs and can be played, however the z-buffering (which can be turned off in BMS v1), is mandatory in BMS v2 and causes texture issues, with textures missing/transparent or in the wrong order. I've also tested BMS v2 on a WinXP legacy machine with an nVidia 9800 GTX and the texture issue wasn't present. Wrappers either cause more problems or don't fix the issue alone. It requires a combination of DxWrapper and ReShade to partially fix the textures in flight, however they remain broken in the menu screens and in the ACMI utility. The Falcon 'dance' The Falcon dance is name given to the rather involved process in building a Falcon 4.0 release given the huge number of patches, skins, cockpits, terrain and theaters that could be installed. Below is the summary of the dance involved in building BMS v1 and BMS v2. When building either release optional skins, cockpits or terrain must be installed before the BMS update. BMS uses a different texture mechanism so these optional patches must be added before BMS converts their textures. BMS v1.0.3 To build the BMS v1.0.3 release the following steps are required: Install the retail release from cd or cd image. Update to the last official patch, v1.08us. Update to SuperPak 4 ( not 4.2) using the SuperPak 4 installer. Update to the unofficial SuperPak 4.1a using SP4.1 BMS data v1.4. ( Optional ) Install any skins, cockpits, HiTiles terrain. Update to BMS v1.0.3 using the installer. Apply the SuperPak 4/BMS v1.0.3 compatibility patch, using SP4.1 BMS data v1.4. I believe (but not 100% sure) that installing the unofficial SuperPak 4.1a update allows the High Fidelity Flight Models (HFFM) to be added as a patch with the BMS config editor. BMS v2.0.0.3 Building the BMS v2.0.0.3 is a little easier. To build this release the following steps are required: Install the retail release from cd or cd image. Update to SuperPak 4.2 using the One Click Installer (OCI). ( Optional ) Install any skins, cockpits, HiTiles terrain. Update to BMS v2.0.0.3 using the installer. Apply the SuperPak 4.2/BMS v2.0.0.3 compatibility patch, using SP4.2 BMS data v1.0. Apply the BMS v2 radar fix. High Fidelity Flight Models (HFFM) are included in SP4.2 BMS data v1.0 and can be added with the BMS config editor. BMS v1.0.3 Prerequisites The folder prerequisites are listed below: C:\Falcon4-setup\utils\joystick-gremlin C:\Falcon4-setup\utils\cinepak C:\Falcon4-setup\patches\official C:\Falcon4-setup\patches\superpak C:\Falcon4-setup\patches\bms Release patches The following patches are required for this build: The last official v1.08us patch ( f4108us.zip ).. Copy this to C:\Falcon4-setup\patches\official . The SuperPak 4 installer. ( FalconSP4_Installer.zip ) Copy this to C:\Falcon4-setup\patches\superpak . The SP4.1 BMS data 1.4 patch. Copy this to C:\Falcon4-setup\patches\bms . The BMS v1.0.3 installer. Copy this to C:\Falcon4-setup\patches\bms . Starting point The starting point for the release is the cd retail release patched with the last official patch. Building this release is covered in the article, The official patched version . Building The first part of this build requires installing the SuperPak updates. The steps to follow are: Extract the contents of the SuperPak 4 installer, FalconSP4_Installer.zip and run the installer executable, FalconSP4_Installer.exe . The installer will run the Config editor/F4Patch utility. Check the SuperPak 4 patches, Apply the patches and Exit the installer. SuperPak 4 is now installed. Extract the contents of SP4.1 BMS data 1.4 patch, ( SP4.1BMSdataV1.4.zip ) and run the unofficial update executable, SP4.1aUnofficialUpdate.exe . The installer will run the Config Editor/F4Patch utility. Check the SuperPak 4.1 update patches, Apply  the patches and Exit  the installer. SuperPak 4.1 is now installed. The optional second part of the build, is when any optional cockpits, skins, and/or terrain updates can be applied. For example, this is when HiTiles would be installed. Theaters should NOT be installed at this point. The final part of the build is the installation of BMS. The steps to follow are: Extract the contents of the BMS installer, F4-BMS1.03-Setup.zip and run the installer executable, F4-BMS1.03-Setup.exe . Exit the installer once complete. The F4-BMS Config Editor will run. If the executable isn't set to F4-BMS.exe , then Browse and select it. In the Editor, tick the '(SP) Falcon Configuration' check-box, Apply the patches then Exit the program. From SP4.1 BMS data 1.4 patch, ( SP4.1BMSdataV1.4.zip ), run the SuperPak 4.1/BMS data update, SP4.1BMSdataV1.4.exe . Run the F4-BMS Config Editor. In the Editor, select and tick the update patches check-boxes, Apply the patches then Exit the program. HOTAS config The HOTAS config remains unchanged from the SuperPak HOTAS config , with the in-game throttle axis set to the slider axis. The vJoy/Joystick Gremlin combination continues to be used. The vJoy configuration is set to use the slider axis, as shown. This enables the throttle within the game. Graphics config The nVidia control panel was used to try and optimise the graphics, identical to the SuperPak release graphics config . In the Manage 3D Settings a new program entry was added for FalconSP.exe. The following limited settings were used: Image Scaling: On Antialiasing Mode: Enhance the application setting Antialiasing Setting: 8x There may be far better settings, in which case feel free to let me know! I'm assuming there is similar functionality in software supplied with AMD/Intel graphics cards. Video patching Video patching remains unchanged from The official and iBeta releases . The intro video and campaign videos both work well in Win10. Track IR Support Travk IR settings in F4-BMS Config Editor Track IR support is built into BMS. With BMS v1.0.3, Track IR support is enabled through the F4-BMS Config Editor as shown. Track IR can be enabled for both 2D and 3D cockpits. Track IR pitch/yaw percentages and sample frequency can be adjusted through the F4-BMS Config Editor as shown. The Track IR software should be running before starting the game. It is still recommended to use the Yassy BMS profile. The Yassy profile is available from the Falcon BMS forum in the TrackIR 4/5 BMS Profile by Yassy  topic. The first message uses a Dropbox location , however there are multiple alternatives throughout the thread. Running With the change in executable the command to run Falcon 4.0 becomes: F4-BMS.exe In-game config here are issues to be aware of when configuring the settings. BMS graphics settings If texture issues occur you may try switching the video card option to Direct3D HAL. The SuperPak Fast 2D-Cockpit has been renamed to Rendered 2D Cockpit. It should be disabled for improved cockpit visuals. Z-Buffering should be disabled to prevent texture issues. Texture Quality can be set to DDS Pool, a set of pre-compiled textures that can improve frame rates. To use this option the Compress Texturess should be clicked and then select Apply. Compressing the textures can take a few minutes or longer. Realistic avionics This issue remains from SuperPak. In the SIMULATION settings, Avionics must be set to Realistic to prevent text problems on the DED. Documentation The SuperPak release documentation is also available in this release, in the Docs folder. There is an additional BMS manual, F4-BMS Manual.pdf . The same manuals that should be read in conjunction with the SuperPak manuals apply to this release and the BMS manual as well. The SuperPak ramp start trainer also remains available. Example video BMS v1.0.3 demo in Win10 with HiTiles, Track IR BMS v2.0.0.3 Prerequisites The folder prerequisites are listed below: C:\Falcon4-setup\utils\cinepak C:\Falcon4-setup\patches\superpak C:\Falcon4-setup\patches\bms Release patches The SuperPak 4.2 One Click Installer (OCI).  ( SP42_OCI.zip ) Copy this to C:\Falcon4-setup\patches\superpak . The BMS v2.0.0.3 installer ( F4-BMS_2.0.zip ). Copy this to C:\Falcon4-setup\patches\bms . The SuperPak 4.2/BMS v2.0.0.3 patch ( Sp4.2_BMS_DATA_v1.0.zip ). Copy this to C:\Falcon4-setup\patches\bms . The BMS 2.0 radar fix patch ( BMS2.0ALLversionsradarfix.rar ). Copy this to C:\Falcon4-setup\patches\bms . Starting point The starting point for the release is the cd retail release which will require patching with SuperPak 4.2 or a completed SuperPak 4.2 build. Creating the SuperPak 4.2 build is covered in the article, The SuperPak release . Building Assuming the starting point is a SuperPak 4.2 release, the building process is relatively straight-forward. The first optional step is the installation of any 'old style' cockpits, skins or terrain that were built for a SuperPak or earlier release. BMS uses a different texture mechanism, so old style textures will be converted to BMS textures during the BMS install and can't be added afterwards. The steps are then: Extract the contents of the installer zip file ( F4-BMS_2.0.zip ) and run the installer, F4-BMS_2.0-SETUP.exe . Once installed the LxFixer and TexCompress tools will run, allow them to complete. The F4-BMS Config Editor will run. Ensure the executable in the editor is set to F4-BMS.exe . Tick the (SP) Falcon Configuration patches and Apply them. Select any additional patches, Apply them and Exit the Config Editor. Extract the contents of the SuperPak 4.2/BMS v2.0.0.3 patch zip file ( Sp4.2_BMS_DATA_v1.0.zip ) and run the installer, Sp4.2_BMS_DATA_v1.0.exe . Open the F4-BMS Config Editor. Tick the SP4 BMS patches and select any required sub patches. Apply them and Exit the Config Editor. Extract the contents of the BMS 2.0 radar fix rar file ( BMS2.0ALLversionsradarfix.rar ) and run the installer, BMS2.0 ALL versions radar fix.exe . The F4Patch utility will be opened. Ensure the executable in the editor is set to F4-BMS.exe . Select the BMS 2.0.0.3 Radar Bug Fix , Apply  it and Exit  the F4Patch utility. HOTAS config BMS v2.0.0.3 has native controller support which means it can use the controller devices present in Windows. For those with separate stick, throttle and rudder pedals, each axis for each device can be configured in game. BMS v2.0.0.3 even supports axis shaping so vendor profiling software may not be needed at all (see In-game config ). This also means the vJoy/Joystick Gremlin combo used inn earlier builds is no longer necessary or recommended. However as a test, a TM TARGET profile was added, this may provide higher precision than the default precision provided by Windows, so may feel 'subjectively' better. The axes were configured as follows: Physical axis DX axis Stick x-axis DX_X_AXIS Stick y-axis DX_Y_AXIS Throttle DX_Z_AXIS Throttle (2nd engine) DX_ZROT_AXIS Throttle slider DX_SLIDER_AXIS Rudder pedals DX_XROT_AXIS Due to the ability to split the throttle for twin engined aircraft, DX_ZROT_AXIS is assigned as a second throttle axis. This means an axis is required for the rudder pedals, in this case DX_XROT_AXIS. In the game configuration menus, this axis is assigned as the rudder (see In-game config ). Wrapper config DirectX wrappers alone cannot solve the BMS v2.0.0.3 texture issues under Win10. It takes a combination of DxWrapper and ReShade to get working textures in the flight engine only, with the textures remaining broken in menus and the ACMI utility, DxWrapper This build uses the latest version of DxWrapper, v1.4.7900.25. It can be found on the DxWrapper GitHub repository, in the Releases section. Credit and thanks go to Elisha for continued work on DxWrapper. DxWrapper is used to provide compatibility and conversion to DirectX9 only. It is not used to make enhancements. The DxWrapper configuration file used in this build: To install, the following DxWrapper files were copied into the Falcon installation folder: ddraw.dll dxwrapper.dll dxwrapper.ini ReShade This build uses the latest version of Reshade, v6.5.1. It can be found at the ReShade website. Reshade is intercepting the DirectX9 calls and with it's depth buffers handling, it is able to display the textures properly. ReShade just needs to be installed using the DirectX9 API (provided by DxWrapper) and that is sufficient. Like DxWrapper, ReShade is not used to make enhancements, so addons and effects don't need to be selected. Once you have confirmed the textures are displayed correctly you may wish to add ReShade enhancements like antialiasing. To install: Copy ReShade_Setup_6.5.1.exe into the Falcon installation folder and run this installer. Select the F4-BMS.exe file aas the executable Select DirectX 9 as the API. The remaining defaults are sufficient. To test, run F4-BMS.exe and select the Tactical Engagement and the lesson 02 Takeoff . This will start on the runway, giving you lots of time to check out ReShade without having to worry about flying. Switch to the Orbit or Chase external views. The textures should be displayed correctly. If not open the ReShade overlay, open the Addons section and ensure in the General Depth section, a depth buffer is shown. Checking for a depth buffer must be done within the flight engine as no depth buffers can be found within the menu screens. Opening ReShade within the Tactical Reference menu means ReShade is unable to find a depth buffer. Video patching Video patching remains unchanged from The official and iBeta releases . The intro video and campaign videos both work well in Win10. Track IR Support Track IR support is built into BMS. With BMS v2.0.0.3, Track IR support is enabled through the in-game configuration menus. Track IR can be enabled for both 2D and 3D cockpits. The Track IR software should be running before starting the game. It is still recommended to use the Yassy BMS profile (see Track IR Support above ). Running With the change in executable the command to run Falcon 4.0 becomes: F4-BMS.exe In-game config The following is brief look at some of the most noteworthy config options for running under Win10. For a more detailed explanation the FreeFalcon manuals should be consulted. Graphics options Graphics options Graphics card selection is simplified. Resolution can be increased to 1600x1200. All advanced options should be selected, especially Render GM to Texture and Rendered 2D Cockpit . Without these options there are compatibility issues with DxWrapper and ReShade. Controller Options Controller options, note the advanced menu option under the key bindings. The controller options allow you to specify the joystick device and test the calibration. If you were using native controller support you should select your joystick device. As I was testing with a virtual controller that is shown as the device in the screenshot. The Advanced controller options are accessed from this menu. View controls View controls A clickable 3D cockpit can be enabled. Screen screen enables Track IR for both 2D or 3D cockpits. Custom axis shaping can also be enabled. Flight controls Flight controls The rudder and throttle controls can be set on this page. If you were using native controller support you would select your rudder and throttle devices and appropriate axes. As I was testing a virtual controller the axes shown are virtual controller axes. In the screenshot my rudder is set to the X rotation axis described earlier in HOTAS config . Avionics controls Avionics controls On this screen you can set the secondary axes, like the range and antenna dials on a TM Cougar or the slider on a TM Warthog. Documentation The SuperPak release documentation  is also available in this release, in the Docs folder. There is an additional BMS manual, F4-BMS_2.0-Manual.pdf . The same manuals that should be read in conjunction with the SuperPak manuals apply to this release and the BMS manual as well. The SuperPak ramp start trainer also remains available. Example video BMS v2.0.0.3 demo in Win10 with Deuky's terrain, Track IR Finally... Credit and thanks go to the BenchMark Sims Team for the BMS updates and the individuals who have provided additional SuperPak compatibility patches. Good hunting!

Jane's Fighters - Anthology A guide to running Jane's Fighters Anthology in Windows 10 with DirectX wrappers and PCem emulation. To give it, it's full title, Jane's Combat Simulations: Fighters Anthology is the complete compilation, 1997 release of the products in the Jane's Fighters series of sims. It comprises of US Navy Fighters '97 (1996), the native Windows remake of US Navy Fighters Gold, the 1995 DOS compilation release of the DOS sims, US Navy Fighters (1994) and the expansion Marine Fighters (1995). It also includes Jane's Combat Simulations ATF: Advanced Tactical Fighters Gold (1997), the native Windows remakes of the DOS sims ATF: Advanced Tactical Fighters (1996) and the expansion, NATO Fighters (1996). Jane's Fighters Anthology (JFA) has remained popular for years and there are a huge variety of mods, tools and additional campaigns/missions, however this guide will concentrate on running a vanilla version of the game under Windows 10. DirectX wrappers This section will describe configuration and installation suitable for DirectX wrappers, followed by installation and configuration of the wrappers themselves. The following wrappers will be covered: DxWrapper, which has a number of advantages over the previous method. dgVoodoo2, which has been the tried and trusted method in the past. Only one wrapper should be chosen. HOTAS configuration Despite being a Windows native game, JFA does seem to benefit from a virtual controller, if there is more than one physical device. JFA comes from an era when HOTAS controllers were usually a seen by Windows as a single device. The following shows the virtual controller mappings from physical to DX axes. The HOTAS config is valid for either wrapper. Physical axis DX axis Joystick x-axis DX_X_AXIS Joystick y-axis DX_Y_AXIS Throttle DX_Z_AXIS Rudder pedals DX_ZROT_AXIS Installation As usual the cd's have been ripped to cd images to save wear and tear on disks and drive. The cd's can be ripped to a data only iso format as there is no cd audio on the disks. The setup.exe installer can be run from the first disk and should complete without issue. During the installation you'll be asked to choose between a full install with digital music or a smaller install with midi music. This choice is left to personal preference, although there are additional patches required for midi music. During the installation process DirectX should NOT be installed. Latest official patch The next step is to install the latest official patch ( fae102.exe ) bringing the game version to 1.02F. This patch has kindly been hosted by Damsonn on a Google Drive . The patch can be installed normally and should complete without issue. Unofficial midi music patches Both patches have been kindly supplied by Damsonn on a Google Drive . FA_MIDI_patch If the smaller install and midi music was selected during the installation, there is an unofficial midi fix required. This patch uses a Compatibility Administrator (32-bit) database to apply the CorrectSoundDeviceId compatibility fix. Running the PatchInstall.bat file will install the patch. The patch can be uninstalled by running the PatchUninstall.bat  file. USNF music for FA The is also a USNF music fix for JFA, which replaces some ATF midi music with USNF midi music. This requires the FA_MIDI_patch to have been installed first. This is an additional file patch requiring the USNF_MUS.LIB library file to be copied into your JFA installation folder. This patch is not mandatory and use of this patch is a personal preference. DxWrapper patching FA Dir - Patch+NoCD Some additional patches can be installed when running JFA with DxWrapper. The first is a no-cd patch which also integrates the official v1.02F patch ( FA Dir - Patch+NoCD.zip ) allowing play without the use of physical cd's or cd images. The patch is a file replacement patch and can be found on a Google Drive kindly hosted by Centurian. Simply extract the files to the JFA installation folder to install. This patch will add library (.lib) files which are empty. In order to have access to the Jane's reference material and intro movies, files will need to be replaced with the original library files from the cd or cd image. From JFA cd 1 (blue): FA_4C.LIB FA_7.LIB From JFA cd 2 (red): FA_3.LIB FA_10.LIB FA_10B.LIB FA_11.LIB FA_11B.LIB DxWrapper installation The latest version of DxWrapper is used, at time of writing v1.2.7500.25. This can be found on the GitHub DxWrapper project releases page. The following files should be extracted from the dxwrapper.zip archive and added to the JFA installation folder: ddraw.dll dinput8.dll dxwrapper.dll Once again thanks go to Elisha for the work on DxWrapper. DxWrapper setup The following config file (dxwrapper.ini) is used when running JFA with DxWrapper, it should be copied to the JFA installation folder: Update : With integer scaling the images is scaled to an integer 2x, 3x, 4x, etc. Without integer scaling DxWrapper is free to choose an appropriate scale, 2.2x, 3.5x, 4.1x, etc. The above config will run DxWrapper without integer scaling which fills the screen vertically and retains the aspect ratio but may introduce artifacts/scaling or lower quality visuals. Some have obtained better results by using integer scaling, which reduces the image size but improves graphics quality. The ideal option will depend on a combination of your hardware and personal preference. To use integer scaling in DxWrapper, set the following in dxwrapper.ini file: [Dd7to9] DdrawIntegerScalingClamp = 1 Credit and thanks to clach04 for this info! DxWrapper issues Using DxWrapper allows the Jane's reference material to be accessed without crashing to the desktop, using a DxWrapper configuration that handles exceptions. However switching to/from the Janes's reference material and missions will slowly begin to introduce graphical artifacts into the game. Once any artifacts appear simply quit and restart the game. dgVoodoo2 patching The no CD patch is recommended when using dgVoodoo2, however the libraries should not be replaced from those on the CD's. The files in the zip archive just need to be copied to the JFA installation folder. dgVoodoo2 installation dgVoodoo2 has been a tried and trusted wrapper for use with JFA. Although there are additional issues, they do not affect the gameplay, and may be useful if DxWrapper does not work with a particular setup. The latest version of dgVoodoo2 is used, at time of writing v2.86. This can be found on the GitHub dgVoodoo2 project releases  page. The following files should be extracted from the dgVoodoo2_86.zip archive and added to the JFA installation folder: MS\x86\D3D8.dll MS\x86\D3D9.dll MS\x86\D3DImm.dll MS\x86\DDraw.dll dgVoodoo.conf dgVoodooCpl.exe The folders/sub folders indicate where the file resides in the zip archive. The folders/sub folders do not need to be copied into the JFA installation folder, just the files themselves. Once again thanks to Dege for his continued work on dgVoodoo2. dgVoodoo2 setup The following screenshots show the required dgVoodoo2 configuration: General settings DirectX settings dgVoodoo2 issues Attempts to access the photos and videos of the Jane's reference material will not work due to the empty library files. Using library files from the CD's will cause a crash to desktop. PCem emulation Despite JFA being able to run natively in Windows 10, using the PCem emulator may be preferable if: Your modern multi-axes/multi-button HOTAS controller is incompatible, resulting in a crash to desktop when you try to use it. Your particular Windows 10 setup has issues with the DirectX wrappers used to run JFA. PCem can help by: Supporting 2 joysticks (4 axes), which allows us to specify the 4 axes of any physical hardware in a consistent way such that Windows 98 / JFA only deals with the PCem virtual joysticks rather than a myriad of physical devices. Emulates hardware at a lower level providing emulated period correct hardware closer to the physical hardware the game originally worked with. PCem setup If you're completely new to setting up PCem or need a refresher, I highly recommend the excellent YouTube tutorial video by PhilsComputerLab, PCem Windows 98 Setup . Once you have a basic, clean Windows 98 virtual machine and hard disk image, I recommend: Taking a copy of the basic virtual machine to create a game specific virtual machine. Taking a copy of the basic hard disk image to create a game specific image. Use PCem and reconfigure the game specific virtual machine to use the game specific hard disk image. If things go badly wrong, you'll always have the basic image to try again with and it'll save a lot of time and effort if you ever want to try a different game. Installation Once the emulated machine is running, change the cd device settings in PCem, to use either your physical drive (if you have a physical cd), or a cd image. Then it's just a case of running the setup.exe installer. Installation should complete without any issues. Again you can select a full (digital music) or smaller (midi music) install. DirectX should already be installed, so DirectX installation can be skipped. Patching If you've followed Phils tutorial video, you know how easy it is to mount the PCem hard disk image (.vhd) file in modern Windows, and copy any games patches into it. Windows 98 doesn't have built in zip file support, so extract files from any zip archives in modern Windows before copying into the mounted hard disk image. The following patches are recommended for PCem emulation: The official v1.02F patch . The following patches can be installed as a personal preference: The USNF music for FA patch (if midi music was selected for the install). Note: the FA_MIDI_patch is not required due to the more period correct Windows 98. The no CD patch is not recommended for PCem, as PCem is a fallback solution (so using fewer unofficial patches is preferable, to make the install as compatible as possible) and CD's or CD images can be mounted, changed or swapped through PCem. HOTAS setup In-game options Take a look at my Controllers and retro sims part 5: PCem  guide for installing HOTAS controllers in PCem, rather than the HOTAS config discussed earlier. Once you have a custom calibrated Windows 98 controller the hard work is done. Control options are limited to keyboard, mouse or joystick. Devices/axes can be configured through game options as shown in the screen shot. Additional patches and fixes In addition to the patches mentioned above there is a Shapefix patch. Shapefix patch This patch uses aircraft models imported from some of earlier games comprising the anthology to improve aircraft models in JFA. The patch is an additional file patch, to install the patch, the SHAPEFIX.LIB library is copied into the JFA installation folder. This patch has kindly been hosted by Damsonn on a Google Drive . It is not recommended until the Ukraine campaign is complete, as it can cause crashes in particular missions (e.g. mission 8) of the Ukraine campaign. It may affect other missions as well. Update : Do NOT use SHAPEFIX.LIB with the usnraptor Playset nor any usnraptor stand-alone campaigns. Documentation Much of the documentation can be found in electronic form. The minimum documentation to obtain would be: The manual. The keyboard reference. Which can both be found on a Google Drive hosted by Centurian. The strategy guide, maps and other docs can also be found there, so a big thank you to Centurian for hosting these docs. Additional information This guide has primarily been about providing advice to get the vanilla version of JFA running on a modern Windows 10 platform. JFA has been very popular for a very long time and there are a huge number of mods available. Some of the best resources (not already mentioned) are listed below: The Combat Flight Sim Tavern discord. The pinned messages in the fighters-anthology and fa-information channels provide additional resources including... The Fighters Anthology Resource Center and forums by John K. "Zephyr" Peterson. USNRaptor's Jane's Fighters Anthology website and Google Drive by USNRaptor. As usual, a big thank you to those hosting these resources! If there are any mistakes or omissions, in this guide, please get in touch and let me know. Good hunting!

This is not a complete release guide for OpenFalcon due to the issues that have to date, defied a suitable solution and limitations in trying to use an emulation solution. Instead this guide will briefly cover the history, the patches and how to build the release. The attempts to solve issues with both DirectX wrappers and emulation will be discussed. OpenFalcon is a product of its time, old enough to suffer from legacy DirectX issues but too new to be a suitable candidate for emulation. Hopefully in the future the information presented here can be revisited, with perhaps later versions of DirectX wrappers, which will allow OpenFalcon to run without issue. Testing was performed with an nVidia graphics card, testing with AMD or Intel cards may yield different results. OpenFalcon v4.7 is based on BMS 3.0, with the version presented below using BMS 3.9.1.6. History OpenFalcon history The OpenFalcon Group comprised of the remnants of the Realism Patch Group, the Unified Team (responsible for the SuperPaks) and some members of the BMS team. The aim was to create an optimum version of Falcon 4.0. At the time there were competing interests with the FreeFalcon team and the Lead Pursuit commercial offering Allied Force. The first versions of OpenFalcon, beginning with v4.1 in August 2006 were distributed by word of mouth and/or peer-to-peer file sharing. Subsequent releases would follow a similar pattern culminating in the semi-official v4.5 release in August 2007. The OpenFalcon community would continue to push hotfixes with v4.6 with the final community version of OpenFalcon v4.7 being released in December 2008. For a far more detailed and accurate analysis, The Falcon Epopee  is highly recommended. Release patches There are two patches that are applied for this release. The first is the OpenFalcon v4.5 installation patch, which is the main OpenFalcon patch/packaged installer. The second is the OpenFalcon v4.7 community update. Neither patch is available on the Internet Archive as they seem to violate the terms of service and are removed. To find these patches requires searching the Internet for: OF4.5.zip (OpenFalcon v4.5 installer) OF47Update.exe (OpenFalcon v4.7 update) Optionally there is a multiplayer enhanced launcher app: RAPACE_LAUNCHER_OF.zip Starting point The starting point for the release is an install of the cd retail release only. There is no need to apply the last official patch or any other patches. Building The following steps are used to build the release under Win10 or a legacy WinXP machine: Optionally install the full version of HiTiles using the HiTiles installer to create a HiTiles installation folder. This is not the HiTiles installer used to apply tiles from the HiTiles installation folder to a Falcon 4.0 installation. Optionally update the full HiTiles installation with the HiTiles Balkan update. Run the OpenFalcon v4.5 installation package to create the OpenFalcon installation. Select the full HiTiles option when shown. Run the OpenFalcon v4.7 update package to update the OpenFalcon installation. DirectX wrappers The following DirectX wrappers were used to try and fix texture issues without success, hopefully a future version of a wrapper will be able to fix the texture issues. This list is included to identify existing wrappers that have been tested. Actively developed and/or comprehensive wrappers that have been used for many other games: DxWrapper (v1.3.7700.25 & v1.4.7900.25) tested alone and with ReShade 6.5.1. DDrawCompat v2.0, v2.1, v3.2 as part of DxWrapper. ForceD3D9On12 as part of DxWrapper. DDrawCompat (v0.6.0) dgVoodoo2 v2.86.2 (using the configuration app from v2.86.1. The v2.86.2 app generates a virus warning under Win10. This may be a false positive). DxWnd v2_06_10_fx Less popular/not as actively developed wrappers: DXGL v0.5.24 d3d8to9 v1.13.0 cnc-ddraw WINE based wrappers: WineD3D for Windows v10.15 BoxedWine v20.1.2 Emulation The following emulators were used to create WinXP virtual machines, and used to run OpenFalcon, either without success or without correcting the texture issue: PCem v17 86Box (v4.2.1 & v5.1) Legacy build The legacy build followed the build instructions listed earlier. It was run on a legacy Win XP Home Edition SP3 machine, Core 2 Duo 6600 @ 2.40GHz, 4GB memory, SSD disk, nVidia GeForce 9800 GTX+. GeForce graphics drivers v340.52 did not suffer the texture problems present on the Win10 machine. A Logitech X-52 Pro HOTAS was used, utilising native controller support. Track IR was supported in-game, however the Track IR hardware was not compatible with the last Track IR WinXP drivers. HOTAS config OpenFalcon has native controller support which means the it use the controller devices present in Windows. For those with separate stick, throttle and rudder pedals, each axis for each device can be configured in game. OpenFalcon supports axis shaping so vendor profiling software may not be needed at all (see In-game config ). However as a test, a TM TARGET profile was added, this may provide higher precision than the default precision provided by Windows, so may feel 'subjectively' better. The axes were configured as follows: Physical axis DX axis Stick x-axis DX_X_AXIS Stick y-axis DX_Y_AXIS Throttle DX_Z_AXIS Throttle (2nd engine) DX_ZROT_AXIS Throttle slider DX_SLIDER_AXIS Rudder pedals DX_XROT_AXIS Due to the ability to split the throttle for twin engined aircraft, DX_ZROT_AXIS is assigned as a second throttle axis. This means an axis is required for the rudder pedals, in this case DX_XROT_AXIS. In the game configuration menus, this axis is assigned as the rudder. However, the above config limits the number of axes. The advantage of native controller support is the greater number of axes that can be configured (see In-game config ), e.g. rudder x and y axes can be configured as left and right toe brake. For WinXP this was tested with native controller support using a Logitech X-52 Pro. All stick and throttle axes worked as expected. The stick 'twist' axis was used as the rudder. Additional axes present on the throttle could also be used without issue. Track IR support F4-BMS config editor Track IR support is built into OpenFalcon and is enabled through the in-game configuration settings with additional settings available with the F4-BMS Config Editor as shown. The Track IR software should be running before starting the game. It is still recommended to use the Yassy BMS profile. The Yassy profile is available from the Falcon BMS forum in the TrackIR 4/5 BMS Profile by Yassy  topic. The first message uses a Dropbox location , however there are multiple alternatives throughout the thread. Track IR support functioned normally under Win10 but could not be tested under WinXP as mentioned earlier. Running With the change in executable the command to run OpenFalcon becomes: F4-BMS.exe There is no need for any command line options. In-game config The following is brief look at some of the most noteworthy config options for running. In this example, native controller support is used to assign all of the stick, throttle and rudder axes. Graphics options Graphics options panel You can use the T&L facilities of your graphics card. Resolution can be increased to 1600x1200. Sound options Sound options panel There are new sound options that can be selected: UI Radio Chatter New Engine Sounds. Enable Doppler Effect Internal Sounds Outside Cockpit Controller options These next panels show examples of the comprehensive native controller support. Controller options panel This is a reskinned but very similar panel to the standard Falcon 4.0 controller options. The advanced button provides access to further options. Advanced options: View control View control panel This panel allows selectins an axis to control the field of view or zoom. 3D cockpit options are shown here. Axis shaping can be enabled on this panel. Track IR settings can also be configured. Advanced options: Flight control Flight control panel Throttle and rudder axess are configured here. A split throttle for twin engined aircraft is supported. In this example the rudder x/y axes control the left and right toe brakes. Advanced options: Avionics control Avionics controls panel Further axes can be configured here. In this example the antenna elevation is controlled with the throttle slider axis. The MFD x/y cursor movement is controlled with the throttle x/y axes. Documentation OpenFalcon comes with a comprehensive set of documents including (but not limited to): Realism Patch 5 manual. SuperPak 3 manual. SuperPak 4 manuals. BMS 2.0 manual BMS-34 manual HFFM manual. Airport layout and navigation charts. Keymap layouts. HOTAS layouts. Mirage 2000 manual. Eurofighter Typhoon manual. Multi-Command handbook. OpenFalcon noob guide. OpenFalcon v4.7 update guide. That should be enough to be getting on with! Example video OpenFalcon v4.7, Win XP SP3 Core 2 Duo 6600 @ 2.40GHz, nVidia GeForce 9800 GTX+, Logitech X-52 Pro HOTAS Finally... Credit and thanks go to the OpenFalcon Team for all their hard work in creating this upgrade to Falcon 4.0. We can only hope a future DirectX wrapper will allow us to fully enjoy it under Win10/11. Good hunting!

A guide on building the FreeFalcon release of Falcon 4.0. This build will use the final version of FreeFalcon, FreeFalcon 6 rev d. Unlike the other builds there is no retail install or starting point release as with FreeFalcon 6 the entire release is distributed as a standalone installer. FreeFalcon 6 provided a number of graphical enhancements to previous Falcon releases. In addition native controller support was added allowing devices and axes to be selected. Track IR support is also included, so there is no need for a third party app. History FreeFalcon 1 was released in April 2003 and was developed from SuperPak 3. Further internal development would occur culminating in FreeFalcon 3 in July 2004. Changes in BMS 2.03 would result in the CobraOne 1.0 patch that would be incorporated into FreeFalcon 3.1/Cobra 1.1, released in March 2005. FreeFalcon 4/RedViper 1 would add the High Fidelity Flight Models (HFFM) in .January 2007. Internal development would continue with the last major release being FreeFalcon 5.5.5 in February 2011. The final version, FreeFalcon 6 would mainly be a repacking of FreeFalcon 5.5.5, with a new easy to use installer in April 2012. Prerequisites Only the following folders are required to store the FreeFalcon 6 installer and optional HiTiles: C:\Falcon4-setup\patches\freefalcon C:\Falcon4-setup\patches\hitiles Release patches The self contained release installer can be found on the Internet Archive in Falcon 4.0: FreeFalcon patch collection : FreeFalcon 6 rev d installer ( FF6d.7z ). Optional patches One of the following optional HiTiles patches can also be installed to supplement this release installation: The full HiTiles packages for Falcon 4.0 ( HiTiles.exe ), it can be found at the Internet Archive in Falcon 4.0: HiTiles patch collection . The full HiTilesAF packages for Falcon 4.0:Allied Force ( HiTilesAF.exe ), it can be found at the Internet Archive in Falcon 4.0: Allied Force HiTilesAF patch collection . The following optional patches can also be added to this release, after installation: FreeFalcon 5 Cockpit Pack v1.5 ( FreeFalcon5_Cockpit_Pack.rar ) can be found at the Internet Archive in  Falcon 4.0: FreeFalcon patch collection . Optional Theaters The following theaters are available for FreeFalcon 6, all thraters can be found at the Internet Archive in  Falcon 4.0: FreeFalcon patch collection . Theaters should be added after installation. Balkans ( BalkansFF6-6.7z ) Aegean ( Aegean13.7z ) Israel ( ITO2-V4c.7z ) Taiwan ( TaiwanFF6-3.7z ) Starting point No previous release is required to build this release, due to the fully self-contained installer. Building Before installing FreeFalcon 6 the optional first step is to install HiTiles or HiTiles AF. The FreeFalcon 6 installer will find any full versions of HiTiles or if no full versions are available, the free/limited version of HiTiles can be selected. The Hitiles (HiTiles.exe ) or HiTiles AF ( HiTilesAF.exe ) installers should be run. The installation should complete without issue. Note : terrain generation can take quite a long time, even on relatively modern hardware. The steps to install FreeFalcon 6 are: Extract the contents of the 7z archive into a sub-folder of C:\Falcon4-setup\patches\freefalcon . Run the installer ( FreeFalcon6.0_Installer.exe ). The installer will attempt to find and remove any earlier versions of Falcon 4.0, F4Patch and their registry entries. If it finds any, confirm the removal. During the installation, select Free HiTiles , HiTiles or HiTIles AF to generate the terrain. Those options not already installed will be disabled. The installer should continue, generate the terrain (which can take a long time) and then complete successfully. Patch selection Once built, patch selection is handled by F4Patch, renamed the FFViper Config Editor ( FFViper Config Editor.exe ) in this release. Like the earlier SuperPak release, the F4Patch folder already exists, so the FFViper Config Editor should not be run in expanded mode. Applying additional patches/theaters Each patch/theater is a self-contained installer making installation straight-forward. The steps to install the patches/theaters: Extract the contents of the 7z archive into a sub-folder of C:\Falcon4-setup\patches\freefalcon . Run the installer. For example to install the FreeFalcon 5 Cockpit Pack v1.5, run the FreeFalcon5 Cockpit Pack v1.5.exe . The installers will verify the data is valid and check for a valid FreeFalcon installation before continuing. The installer should continue and complete successfully. HOTAS config FreeFalcon 6 has native controller support which means the FreeFalcon can use the controller devices present in Windows. For those with separate stick, throttle and rudder pedals, each axis for each device can be configured in game. FreeFalcon 6 even supports axis shaping so vendor profiling software may not be needed at all (see In-game config ). This also means the vJoy/Joystick Gremlin combo used inn earlier builds is no longer necessary. Using vJoy/Joystick Gremlin introduced controller issues and is not recommended. However as a test, a TM TARGET profile was added, this may provide higher precision than the default precision provided by Windows, so may feel 'subjectively' better. The axes were configured as follows: Physical axis DX axis Stick x-axis DX_X_AXIS Stick y-axis DX_Y_AXIS Throttle DX_Z_AXIS Throttle (2nd engine) DX_ZROT_AXIS Throttle slider DX_SLIDER_AXIS Rudder pedals DX_XROT_AXIS Due to the ability to split the throttle for twin engined aircraft, DX_ZROT_AXIS is assigned as a second throttle axis. This means an axis is required for the rudder pedals, in this case DX_XROT_AXIS. In the game configuration menus, this axis is assigned as the rudder (see In-game config ). Graphics config The nVidia control panel was used to try and optimise the graphics. In the Manage 3D Settings a new program entry was added for FFViper.exe . The following limited settings were used: Image Scaling: On Antialiasing Mode: Enhance the application setting Antialiasing Setting: 8x There may be far better settings, in which case feel free to let me know! I'm assuming there is similar functionality in software supplied with AMD/Intel graphics cards. Further config This release requires no DirectX wrappers or video config. TrackIR support is already included in the release. Running With the change in executable the command to run FreeFalcon 6 becomes: FFViper.exe There is no need for any command line options. In-game config The following is brief look at some of the most noteworthy config options for running under Win10. For a more detailed explanation the FreeFalcon manuals should be consulted. Graphics options Graphics options You can use the T&L facilities of your graphics card. Sliders also have new maximums. And resolution can be increased to 1600x1200 with the cockpit pack. Controller Options Controller options, note the advanced menu option. The controller options allow you to specify the joystick device and test the calibration. If you were using native controller support you should select your joystick device. As I was testing with a virtual controller that is shown as the device in the screenshot. View controls View controls A clickable 3D cockpit can be enabled. Screen screen enables Track IR for both 2D or 3D cockpits. Custom axis shaping can also be enabled. Avionics controls Avionics controls On this screen you can set the secondary axes, like the range and antenna dials on a TM Cougar or the slider on a TM Warthog. Flight controls Flight controls The rudder and throttle controls can be set on this page. If you were using native controller support you would select your rudder and throttle devices and appropriate axes. As I was testing a virtual controller the axes shown are virtual controller axes. In the screenshot my rudder is set to the X rotation axis described earlier in HOTAS config . Documentation FreeFalcon 6 comes with a complete set of documentation including: In the Docs folder: Mission statement. SuperPak 3 supporting documents, including the ramp start guide. Keyboard references. In _the _ MANUAL folder: Falcon 4.0 manual. FreeFalcon 4 manual. FreeFalcon 5/6 companion manual. Flight companion manual for various aircraft. Cockpit manuals for various aircraft. Flight model manuals for various aircraft. It is also recommended to have read: The Realism Patch 5 manual available at the Internet Archive. Example video FreeFalcon 6 takeoff, CAP and landing demo video. Finally... Credit and thanks go to the FreeFalcon Team for all their hard work in creating an amazing upgrade to Falcon 4.0, in the FreeFalcon series of releases. Good hunting!

Skunkworks logo A guide to building the Skunkworks release of Falcon 4.0: Allied Force (F4AF) and the configuration steps to run it under Win10. This release will use the previously difficult to find, Skunkworks v2.0 patch. This release is based on the earlier last official patch release, with much of the configuration remaining unchanged from that release, due to the nature of the Skunkworks patches. History Skunkworks history The Skunkworks v1.2 and v2.0 patches were data patches. The executable code wasn't changed and functional enhancements were not added. Instead this was an attempt to update the sim data and model skins to try and bring F4AF to a somewhat comparable level as FreeFalcon, BMS or OpenFalcon. The first Skunkworks patch was v1.2 released in August 2010, with the second and final patch v2.0 released in February 2011.. This final patch would mark the end of community driven F4AF development. For a far more detailed and accurate description, The Falcon Epopee  is highly recommended. Prerequisites The folder prerequisite is listed below: C:\f4af-setup\patches\skunkworks Release patches The following patch is required to build this release: Skunkworks v2.0 patch ( AF_SkunkworksMOD_v2.rar ). This can be found at the Internet Archive in Falcon 4.0 Allied Force: Skunkworks patch collection . This patch should be copied to C:\f4af-setup\patches\skunkworks and the executable extracted. Starting point This build is based on the earlier Falcon 4.0: Allied Force official release, using the last official patch. Details on how to build this release can be found in the earlier Official release . Building The following describes how to build this release: The first optional step is to install the HiTiles for Allied Force terrain addon, if not done so already. The Skunkworks patches are fully compatible with an existing HiTiles for Allied Force installation. Extract the contents of AF_SkunkworksMOD_v2.rar  and run the patch installer, falcon4_AF_SkunkworksMOD_v2.exe . The patch should run and complete successfully under Win10. Note : 7zip can be used to extract the contents of rar archives. Configuration & running Due to the Skunkworks patches being data patches much of configuration remains unchanged from the earlier Official release . The various configuration sections link to the previous article section: HOTAS config . TrackIR Support . Wrapper config . Running . In-game config . Skunkworks campaigns In order to allow switching between the default sim and the Skunkworks mod, the Skunkworks changes are installed as additional campaigns within F4AF. There are Skunkworks Balkan and Korea campaigns accessible through the Battlefields menu. Once the battlefield is selected, load the Skunkworks saved campaign file and commit. Skunkworks v1.2 used the name 'Use_This_One' while v2.0 uses a default name. Documentation The documentation listed in the official release is also applicable. Unfortunately there is severely limited information on the Skunkworks mods, but what is available is: A brief readme found within the patch archive, AF_SkunkworksMOD_v2.rar . PMC tactical forum topic . SimHQ forum topic . Example video Skunkworks v2.0 Finally... Credit and thanks go to the Skunkworks development team for the Skunkwork patches and the data enhancements to Falcon 4.0: Allied Force. Good hunting!

A guide to building the last officially patched release of Falcon 4.0: Allied Force (F4AF). This release will be built using a retail cd/cd image install. In addition the configuration steps to run it under Win10 will also be covered. Falcon 4.0: Allied Force is the first version to support widescreen resolutions natively, including both 16:9 and 16:10 aspect ratios. Native TrackIR support is included. The controller support is less comprehensive than other releases of the time (BMS or FreeFalcon). There is a form of native controller support, requiring the physical axis to use, to be detected. Virtual controllers can also be used like earlier SuperPak or eFalcon releases. History Falcon 4.0: Allied Force history Falcon 4.0: Allied Force was announced by Atari in April 2005. Developed by Lead Pursuit with an emphasis on stability, it was a convergence of the ViperOps development, itself an offshoot of SuperPak 3 and the MP series of multiplayer enhancements, again developed from SuperPak 3. The retail release was v1.01 in June 2005, followed by a series of 12 patches, starting with v1.0.2 in August 2005 until the final patch v1.0.13 in January 2008. For a far more detailed and accurate description, The Falcon Epopee  is highly recommended. Prerequisites The folder prerequisites are listed below: C:\ f4af-setup \patches\official C:\f4af-setup\patches\trackir Release patches The following patch is required to build this release: Version 1.0.13 patch ( falcon4af_patch_1.0.13.zip ). This can be found at the Internet Archive in Falcon 4.0 Allied Force: Official patch collection . This patch should be copied to C:\f4af-setup\patches\official  and the executable extracted. Starting point This build is based on a simple Falcon 4.0: Allied Force cd installation. Installation should be from cd or cd image. The cd image can be a data only iso format as there is no cd audio on the retail cd. Building The following describes how to build this release: Perform a full/complete install from cd or cd image. The installer ( Setup.exe ) can run under Win10 and complete successfully. If given the option, DirectX should NOT be installed. Extract the contents of falcon4af_patch_1.0.13.zip and run the patch installer, Falcon4AF_patch_1.0.13.exe . The patch should run and complete successfully under Win10. Install any optional mods, e.g. HiTiles for Allied Force. Patching F4AF HOTAS config F4AF has native controller support which means it can use the controller devices present in Windows. For those with separate stick, throttle and rudder pedals, each axis for each device can be configured in game. This requires F4AF to detect when the axis is moved (see In-game config ). However, should F4AF fail to detect an axis then vendor profiling software can be used to create a virtual controller. The vJoy/Joystick Gremlin combo is not recommended as the F4AF axis detection will not be able to determine whether the vJoy or native controller axis should be selected as both axis will register movement. As a test, a TM TARGET profile was added, this may provide higher precision than the default precision provided by Windows, so may feel 'subjectively' better. The axes were configured as follows: Physical axis DX axis Stick x-axis DX_X_AXIS Stick y-axis DX_Y_AXIS Throttle DX_Z_AXIS Throttle slider DX_SLIDER_AXIS Rudder pedals DX_ZROT_AXIS TrackIR Support Native TrackIR support is included in F4AF. The TrackIR software provided by NaturalPoint should be run before running F4AF. There is no need for any 3rd party utilities to interface between the vendor TrackIR software and F4AF. TrackIR comes with a selection of pre-configured profiles. However there are better profiles, one of the best and added to a later Falcon 4.0 BMS release, is the Yassy BMS profile. The Yassy profile is available from the Falcon BMS forum in the TrackIR 4/5 BMS Profile by Yassy  topic. The first message uses a Dropbox location , however there are multiple alternatives throughout the thread. Download and store the profile in the C:\Falcon4-setup\patches\trackir  folder. This should then be copied to TrackIR profiles folder in Win10, which would normally be: \Users\Appdata\Roaming\Natural Point\TrackIR 5\Profiles The next time TrackIR is started Yassy BMS should be an available profile. Falcon 4.0 should be configured to use this profile within the TrackIR software. Credit and Thanks to Yassy for an excellent TrackIR profile. Wrapper config This release runs perfectly well under Win10 and DirectX wrappers are not required, however the following is an optional DirectX wrapper to improve visuals. dgVoodoo2 config dgVoodoo2 can be used to increase antialiasing and scale to a higher resolution. The following dgVoodoo2 config shows this: dgVoodoo2 config In the GenneralExt tab the System hooks has the Cursor option checked to prevent multiple mouse pointers appearing in game. The config can be downloaded below: Running The command to run F4AF is: FalconAF.exe In-game config The following is brief look at some of the most noteworthy config options for running under Win10. Graphics options Graphics options The graphics options for F4AF are all located on a single page. When using the dgVoodoo2 wrapper, this is the only graphics driver/card option. The resolution is set to the highest widescreen resolution 1920x1080. All graphics sliders are set to the maximum. All graphics options are enabled. Controller options Controller options All the controller options are set on a single page. This is an example of native controller with axes from separate joystick, throttle and rudder pedals all set through this screen. Additional axes, like the throttle slider axis can be set here. Using Track IR within the 2D cockpit is also set here. Documentation A vast wealth of documentation is included with this release including: Full size Falcon 4.0 Allied Force manual in PDF format. Addendum manual with version 1.08 changes. FAC Addendum manual. Flight Lineup form for printing. Controller manual. Keyboard commands Reference Card. Keyboard layout for a variety of keyboard layouts. These manuals can be found in the docs folder of the F4AF installation folder. In the Falcon 4.0 Allied Force: Official patch collection on the Internet Archive the following documents are available: Key map for Battlefield Operations. Ramp start guide. As F4AF is based on SuperPak 3, the manuals that are recommended to be read in conjunction with the SuperPak 3 manual may also be of interest: Realism Patch v5 manual , for the guiding principles and design decisions forming the basis of SuperPak (and F4AF). The Falcon 4.0 Tactical Reference Munitions Handbook . These manuals are available from Falcon 4 History . Example video An F4AF vanilla release using the last official patch Finally... Credit and thanks go to the Lead Pursuit development team for Falcon 4.0: Allied Force, the MP dev team for the MP series of patches and the F4 Unified Team for the SuperPaks on which both of these are based. Good hunting!