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Playnite A quick guide to Playnite scripting. One of the advantages of running with Playnite is the ability to run scripts before a game starts, after a game starts and after quitting a game. This means that HOTAS profiles can be loaded or cd images mounted before a game starts and then closed or unmounted once a game has been quit. Starting a game now becomes a one button click instead of having to preconfigure various utilities before you can play. Playnite currently supports PowerShell 5.1 scripts, installed on Windows 10 machines by default. We'll take a look at a couple of uses and then a complete example with Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). HOTAS profiles TARGETGUI is the app used to load profiles for my TM Warthog HOTAS. Depending on your HOTAS supplier you may have to use a different profiling app. Loading a profile Loading a HOTAS profile will depend on your suppliers software. In this example Thrustmaster TARGET will be used. The Start-Process command runs an executable, it has two arguments, the -filepath argument which specifies the full file path to the executable and the -ArgumentList parameter which specifies the arguments to pass to the executable. As the file path argument contains spaces the file path is surrounded by " (double quotes). The ArgumentList parameter contains a file path to the HOTAS profile (surrounded with double quotes). As the HOTAS profile file path uses double quotes the ArgumentList must use ' (single quotes) to surround all of the arguments, as shown below: Start-Process -FilePath "C:\Program Files (x86)\Thrustmaster\TARGET\x64\TARGETGUI.exe" -ArgumentList '-r "D:\Games\Dos\Falcon Gold\conf\Advanced.fcf"' Start-Sleep -Seconds 5 As this is for the DOSBox emulated game, Falcon Gold, the HOTAS profile sits in the D:\Games\Dos\Falcon Gold\conf folder. As this app can take a few seconds to start and load a profile, we want to make sure it is fully loaded before starting the game. The Start-Sleep command allows the script to pause for 5 seconds before starting the game, ensuring the HOTAS profile is loaded. Unloading a profile When we quit a game we want to unload the profile, so we can run another game that may use a different profile. We do this by closing the TARGETGUI process that was started earlier, with the following command: Stop-Process -Name "TARGETGUI" Cd images A cd mounting app that supports running from the command line is required for scripting purposes. Some examples include WinCDEmu and Daemon Tools Lite . Mounting cd images Again the Start-Process command is used with an argument list. WinCDEmu uses the batchmnt command: Start-Process -FilePath "C:\Program Files (x86)\WinCDEmu\batchmnt" -ArgumentList "D:\Games\jsf setup\Joint Strike Fighter.cue" No need for single quotes around the ArgumentList this time as there is only a single argument which is the cd image. Daemon Tools Lite uses the DTCommandLine command: Start-Process -FilePath "C:\Program Files\DAEMON Tools Lite\DTCommandLine.exe" -ArgumentList '--mount --ro --path "D:\Games\jsf setup\Joint Strike Fighter.cue"' Double quotes surrounds the file path (with spaces) argument, which means single quotes surround the whole argument list. Unmounting cd images When quitting a game the cd image should be unmounted to leave your system in a clean state ready to mount another cd image from another Paynite script should the game require it. To unmount we just need to run the same commands again but with the unmount option present. For WinCDEmu we use batchmnt again: Start-Process -FilePath "C:\Program Files (x86)\WinCDEmu\batchmnt" -ArgumentList '-umount "D:\Games\jsf setup\Joint Strike Fighter.cue"' And we use the DTCommandLine command again for Daemon Tools Lite: Start-Process -FilePath "C:\Program Files\DAEMON Tools Lite\DTCommandLine.exe" -ArgumentList '--remove_all' Putting it all together In this example used for Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) a script is run before starting a game to mount a cd image with WinCDEmu and start a TARGET profile. Start-Process -FilePath "C:\Program Files (x86)\WinCDEmu\batchmnt" -ArgumentList "D:\Games\jsf setup\Joint Strike Fighter (Europe).cue" Start-Process -FilePath "C:\Program Files (x86)\Thrustmaster\TARGET\x64\TARGETGUI.exe" -ArgumentList '-r "D:\Games\jsf setup\conf\JSF.fcf"' Start-Sleep -Seconds 5 After quitting the game the following script is run to close the TARGET profile and unmount the cd image. Stop-Process -Name "TARGETGUI" Start-Process -FilePath "C:\Program Files (x86)\WinCDEmu\batchmnt" -ArgumentList '-umount "D:\Games\jsf setup\Joint Strike Fighter (Europe).cue"' These scripts are added to the relevant section in the Scripts tab of the Edit Game Details dialog in Playnite, as shown below: Playnite Scripts tab Further information The following may provide further useful information: Scripting support , Playnite user manual. PowerShell 5.1 documentation . WinCDEmu command line tutorial . Command line , DAEMON Tools Lite Help. To see a list of TARGETGUI command line options, run the following from a command line: "c:\Program Files (x86)\Thrustmaster\TARGET\x64\TARGETGUI" -help This assumes TARGET is installed in the default installation folder.

Falcon 3.0 Gold, all manuals available! A recent update on the availability of Falcon 3.0 Gold manuals. Until recently the availability of digital versions of the Falcon 3.0 Gold manuals consisted of Falcon 3.0 and Hornet: Naval Strike Fighter (and Hornet took an awful lot of digging around the web to find). Operation Fighting Tiger and Mig-29 manuals couldn't be found in a digital format. However some kind soul, who shall remain nameless ;) has scanned in the Operation: Fighting Tiger and MiG-29: Deadly Adversary of Falcon 3.0 manuals and compiled them into pdf docs. If that weren't enough VOGONS forum member rfnagel has added these manuals to his already impressive Falcon 3.0 documentation to create Falcon 3.0 Gold: COMPLETE Documentation (link to VOGON's post). The documentation is best described in his own words: This archive includes ALL of the quick reference cards, manuals, maps, posters, support documentation, FAQs, and readmes for Spectrum Holobyte's "Falcon 3.0", "Operation: Fighting Tiger", "Hornet: Naval Strike Fighter", and "MiG-29: Deadly Adversary Of Falcon 3.0". The archive ALSO includes ALL of the strategy guides that were published for the simulations, including the "Art Of The Kill" strategy guide that was included with the "Falcon Gold" CD-ROM (as well as all of the "Art Of The Kill" videos combined and recorded to a SINGLE VIDEO in "MP4" format for playback using your video player of choice). Here's the link to download the Falcon 3.0 Gold: COMPLETE Documentation . Note: depending on your browser you may have use 'Save target as...' or 'Save link as...' to save the zip archive. So a huge thank you to rfnagel for the complete Falcon 3.0 Gold manuals and supporting docs!

VirtualMIDISynth A guide to adding VirtualMIDISynth to DOSBox Staging. This guide briefly covers installation, configuration and usage. It should be an easy and straightforward process. Why VirtualMIDISynth? Although DOSBox Staging has a built in MIDI synth, fluidsynth, configurable through the DOSBox configuration file, there remain some minor MIDI issues. Trying out a new soundfont requires quitting the DOS app, setting a new soundfont in the config file and restarting the DOS app. WIth VirtualMIDISynth some of these minor MIDI issues are resolved and the soundfont can be changed during playback which makes finding the optimum soundfont easier. Obtaining VirtualMIDISynth and further info The best place to obtain VirtualMIDISynth is from the CoolSoft VirtualMIDISynth page . In addition to download links, there is an introduction and main features list, FAQ's and troubleshooting guides, reference and links to other tutorials and usage guides. It's the one page for all VirtualMIDISynth info. VirtualMIDISynth is free for personal use with a donation suggested for professional use. At time of writing the latest version is v2.13.9, which is the version used in this guide. Installation Once the appropriate installation package is obtained it only needs to be run to install VirtualMIDISynth under Windows 10. It should be a straightforward install and complete without issue. Running for the first time The first time VirtualMIDISynth is run, it should complain about a lack of soundfonts (none having been configured yet). It may also complain that the default shortcut keys (CTRL + ALT + m) used to open the VirtualMIDISynth MIDI mixer are already in use for something else. Configuration Configuration is mostly just telling VirtualMIDISynth about all of your soundfonts. To configure open the VirtualMIDISynth Configurator app. The first panel ' Soundfonts ' is used to specify all the soundfonts on your system. This shows the SGM X48 v2.0 soundfont is enabled, with the others disabled. As I keep all my soundfonts in the same folder (as described in a previous article DOSBox MIDI ) these were all added (as shown in the screenshot). The button on the left hand side is used to toggle the soundfont to enabled (green) or disabled (grey). Note, you can enable multiple soundfonts, but this isn't recommended as it can end up sounding like a weird din! If you receive the warning that the MIDI mixer shortcut is already assigned, you can use the ' Shortcut ' panel to change it to another key combination, (e.g CTRL + ALT + SHIFT + m). Once happy, click ' Apply ' to save the settings. Soundfonts The CoolSoft VirtualMIDISynth page also provides a fairly comprehensive list of soundfonts you may wish to try out. DOSBox Staging Configuration Configuring DOSBox Staging to use VirtualMIDISynth is straightforward. Firstly start DOSBox Staging, no special config is needed and you can use the default DOSBox Staging shortcut created during installation. At the DOSBox prompt issue the command: mixer /listmidi Using the mixer /listmidi command to show MIDI devices. to see all the midi devices DOSBox Staging knows about (as shown in the screenshot). They are: ' fluidsynth ', the built in DOSBox Staging fluidsynth MIDI component. ' mt32 ', the DOSBox Staging component providing Roland MT32 and CM32L device emulation. ' win32 ' refers to MIDI devices available on your Windows machine. We can see there are two such devices: Device ' 0 ', which is the newly installed VirtualMIDISynth. Device ' 1 ', Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth which is a default MIDI device provided by Windows (but which doesn't sound great). Note: the order of the win32 MIDI devices may differ to that shown. Game Configuration We now have the information required to allow a game to use VirtualMIDISynth. The following is a DOSBox Staging config fragment with the changes required: [midi] mididevice = win32 midiconfig = 0 ' mididevice ' is set to win32 as the mixer command tells us VirtualMIDISynth is a Windows MIDI device. ' midiconfig ' is set to 0, the device number for VirtualMIDISynth, as shown by the mixer command. Note: this may be different on your own machine. Testing Soundfonts can be changed as a game is running, useful for testing and finding the optimum soundfont for a particular game. If you start a game which has been configured to use MIDI music (recommended to be run in a window rather than fullscreen, while testing), you can also open the VirtualMIDISynth Configurator app. Within the 'Soundfonts' panel you can disable the current soundfont and enable a different soundfont. Click apply and shortly you should hear the effect of the new soundfont on the MIDI music! Congratulations, you have successfully integrated VirtualMIDISynth with DOSBox Staging! Happy listening!

Title page A guide to running the NovaLogic sim, F-22 Raptor in the PC emulator PCem. This guide explains why PCem is the preferred emulator, PCem changes required by the game, installation, patching and finally HOTAS setup are covered. As usual I recommend working from cd images rather than the physical cd to save wear and tear on the cd and drive. The cd can be ripped as a data only iso cd image as there is no cd audio on the Raptor disc. Background F-22 Raptor is the second game in the F-22 flight sim series by NovaLogic. It is a reworking of the original F-22 Lightning II DOS sim into a Windows 95 application. At the time there was some criticism, whether this development justified a release as a separate game. The preferred method of running is with the PCem emulator. This is because the sim only supports legacy gameport joysticks. PCem allows the emulation of modern HOTAS controllers as legacy gameport devices, making it an ideal solution for running this game. The sim does not have 3dfx/Glide support, relying of the MMX facilities provided by Pentium MMX processors and above, so the Glide capabilities of PCem will not be used. 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 with PCem. Sound card If you have followed the PCem tutorial video, there should be a new clean Windows 98 virtual machine, ready for this specific game. However the sim seems to experience frequent crashes to desktop with the Soundblaster PCI 128 sound card which has been configured in the virtual machine. The sim is far more stable using a Creative AWE 32 sound card. Windows 98 drivers for the AWE 32 can be found at the VOGONS Vintage Driver Library . To install: Start the virtual machine and remove the Soundblaster PCI 128 software.. Stop the machine and change the sound card to an AWE 32. Mount the virtual hard disk in Windows 10 and copy the AWE 32 drivers onto it. Unmount the virtual hard disk and restart the virtual machine. Run the AWE 32 driver installer app. You may have to reboot the virtual machine a couple of times during the installation process. Once complete you may wish to take a copy of this clean Windows 98 AWE 32 machine and hard disk, for future games that struggle with the Soundblaster PCI 128. Installation There seem to be two versions available on cd, the original retail release seems to be v1.00.05.00r. Later releases/compilation releases use a later v1.00.21.00r. In this guide, a v1.00.21.00r release is used. Once PCem is correctly configured, mount the F-22 Raptor cd image and install as normal. Installation should be straight-forward and complete without issue. Patching The is a single patch to update the NovaLogic Integrated Battle Space (IBS) standalone multiplayer app. This allows F-22 players to fly and fight alongside F-16 Multirole Fighter and Mig-29 Fulcrum players. I'm not certain if this changes the single player game but I recommending installing it anyway. The patch is available from The Patches Scrolls . The patch should install without issue under PCem. Setup options To prevent/reduce crashes to desktop you may find it is more stable, when DirectSound is turned off. From the F-22 Raptor readme file: To change the game to not use DirectSound, exit the Raptor game and use any text editor to edit the file "RAPTOR.CFG" which is in the installed game directory on your hard drive. Find the line in this text file which reads: DIRECTSOUND = 1 Change the number 1 on this line to a 0 (zero) and resave the file. Now when you start Raptor, all music will be played through Windows default drivers. All other options are set in-game. HOTAS setup Take a look at my Controllers and retro sims part 5: PCem  guide for installing HOTAS controllers in PCem. Once you have a custom calibrated Windows 98 controller the hard work is done. As long as the 3rd axis is the throttle and the 4th axis is the rudder, which can be checked in the Windows 98 control panel in the Game controllers section, then the game will correctly assign the axes. Just remember to calibrate the custom controller in Windows 98 first and then select Joystick, throttle and rudder pedals enabled, within the in-game options. Virtual controller For those with HOTAS controllers with more than 4 axes, you'll need to use your profile software to limit the total number of axes to four. The below example is how my Warthog joystick, throttle and rudder pedals were configured as a virtual controller: DX_X_AXIS (Joystick x-axis) DX_Y_AXIS (Joystick y-axis) DX_Z_AXIS (Throttle) DX_XROT_AXIS (Rudder pedals) This virtual controller was used to set up the twin joysticks in PCem. Documentation The later retail releases supplied all documentation as pdf files, these included: The manual. The reference card. A single page release addendum. A keyboard overlay. Good Hunting!

This is a tech refresh article describing any changes since the original article ' Gunship 2000: Getting it (hopefully) right ' was published. Since the original article the version of DOSBox Staging has changed from v0.81.0 to v0.82.0. In addition, since the Gunship 2000 guide was the first, much of the information was subsequently split into smaller, later articles which we will refer to in this tech refresh guide. Which version of Gunship 2000? The original guide was written in responsive to a rather sub-optimal release of Gunship 2000 by the publisher. It recommended a cd rather than a digital release. The reasons being: The cd release was the latest 469.085 version. It includes the base game and Islands & Ice expansion, with the mission editor. The copy protection GPS codes aren't required, so the in-game map 'just works'. There is a complete high quality pdf manual with expansion and mission editor sections. Since publishing the digital release has undergone major changes and has become the latest version with the expansion included. I don't own a digital release but I believe either the copy protection was removed or is included in the revised manuals. Which version of DOSBox? This guide will concentrate on the latest version of DOSBox Staging v0.82.0 which provides excellent 'out of the box' emulation settings. Installing midi components Installing midi components is covered in the separate DOSBox midi article. How I set things up This section was split into a separate, more generic article, DOSBox game management . Setup Joystick/HOTAS Controllers This section was split into a series of articles covering various aspect of setting up a joystick/HOTAS controller for retro sims, including: Controllers and retro sims part 1: Axis of confusion Controllers and retro sims part 2: Virtual controllers Controllers and retro sims part 3: Setup advice Controllers and retro sims part 4: DOSBox The original article suggested the joystick to Windows mappings with a screenshot which although correct, lacked detail. The joystick axes to Windows axes mappings are shown below: Physical axis Windows axis Joystick x-axis DX_X_AXIS Joystick y-axis DX_Y_AXIS Throttle DX_Z_AXIS Rudder pedals DX_XROT_AXIS DOSBox Staging configuration The following is the modified DOSBox Staging config for v0.82.0. The config covers differences from the default config and any settings of particular interest. [sdl] output = opengl host_rate = vrr presentation_mode = vfr [render] glshader = crt-auto aspect = auto integer_scaling = auto viewport = fit [cpu] cpu_cycles = 10000 cycleup = 100 cycledown = 100 [voodoo] voodoo = false [mixer] reverb = large chorus = normal [midi] mididevice = mt32 [mt32] model = auto romdir = "D:\Midi\Versioned" [joystick] joysticktype = 4axis timed = true swap34 = true deadzone = 0 [autoexec] # Each line in this section is executed at startup as a DOS command. mount c "D:\games\dos\Gunship 2000\hdd2" imgmount d "D:\games\dos\Gunship 2000\cd\CQ-SKIES.cue" -t cdrom c: cd \mps\gs2000cd gs2000.com exit The sdl section now uses opengl by default. The host_rate and presentation_mode are suitable for a variable refresh rate monitor. You may wish to leave them as default or omit them if you don't have a variable refresh rate monitor. The render options are all defaults and can be omitted, they are included in case you wish to experiment and try different rendering options. The cpu section uses a fixed 10000 cycle count and small incremental cycleup/down settings rather than percentages. Depending on your setup you may wish to change these settings but these values should provide a good starting point. The voodoo card in the voodoo section isn't needed and can be disabled. The mixer chorus and reverb are a personal preference, but I believe it adds to the music and audio. The midi and mt32 sections specify an emulated MT32 device. Gunship 2000 supports the LAPC1 card based on a CM32L device which is the model chosen by default with the auto setting. The joystick settings are specific to my setup, the 4axis type allows for joystick, throttle and rudder pedals. Timed, swap34 and deadzone work well for my setup although you may need to test and change for your own controllers. The autoexec settings are valid for installing the game from a cd image onto a new emulated c drive as described in the previous article. If you have a digital release you may want to use mount and imgmount commands that use your Gunship 2000 digital release installation folder and cd image. The remaining commands go to the emaulated c: drive, then change to the Gunship 2000 installation folder, before running the game. Once the game is quit, the exit command closes DOSBox. High Frame Rate settings are not recommended as they may result in slow downs during the non-flight portions of the game. Existing installation advice The existing installation advice, in the ' Installing Gunship 2000' section remains valid. If you are using a digital release you may wish to skip the installation steps and use Gunship 2000 from the existing digital release installation folder. Additional patches This is a list of additional patches which have been discovered since the original article was published. All patches were taken from an archive of the MicroProse ftp site , hosted on the Internet Archive. True Speed patch (truesped.zip) This is a file replacement patch changing maximum helicopter speeds to match the information printed in the manual using the realistic flight model. This patch is compatible with the EGA edition. Using this patch is a personal preference. From the ftp archive description: A patch file of sorts, contains upgrades for the various helos used in Gunship 2000. Contains six "patchs" that when copied into the GS2000 subdirectory over-write the existing files. When they do, each helo will then fly at the speed listed in the manual. Example; the apache will usually only fly at about 126 kph fully loaded in real flight, with the patch, it will fly at 147 to 152 kph fully loaded and approx. 159-163 kph empty of weapons. Have tried this file personally and can attest that it does work, beautifully. Missions that used to take upwards of 35 minutes can now be completed in under 25. To use, simply copy the six "patches" into your GS2000 sub-directory and fly as normal. Easier Enemy Troops patch (gseasy.zip) Using this patch is a personal preference. From the ftp archive description: This patch for Gunship 2000 Islands and Ice Scenario provides for easier enemy troops. To implement the patch unzip the file to the GS2000 Directory and re-run SETUP. Additional utilities This is a list of additional utilities which have been discovered since the original article was published. Use of these utilities is a personal preference. All utilities were taken from an archive of the MicroProse ftp site , hosted on the Internet Archive. Pilots Workbench (pwb200.zip) From the ftp archive description: Pilots WorkBench v2.00 for Gunship 2000. This is a great editor with Full mouse support. Compatible with both GS 2000 and GS 2000 Islands & Ice add on. This is the second Series of the PWB from SilverSoftware. Roster Editor (gs2Ked.zip) From the ftp archive description: This is a second party Roster Editor for GS2000 that will allow a number changes to your and your crews parameters. NOTE : This Editor is not a product of MicroProse and the User assumes all responsibility for its use. Roster Editor (gs2krev2.exe) From the ftp archive description: This is a new version of GS2kRE. It can edit some more things and has some fixes and added features. Just put this file in your GS2000 directory and type in 'GS2KREV2'. The file will uncompress and then you just type GS2KRE to run the editor. The original remains available in the archive (gs2krev1.exe) with the description: This is a self extracting file for a Gunship 2000 roster editor. The editor allows you to edit your pilot and wingmen as well as print a record of your squadron to printer or disk. You can also import and export wingmen to disk. Existing setup advice The existing Gunship 2000 setup advice in the ' Setup Gunship 2000' section remains valid as does the later joystick/HOTAS/controller setup advice in the 'Setup Gunship 2000 again!' section. This setup advice should still be followed for a digital release as often the settings are not optimal and you will want to setup Gunship 2000 using the facilities provided by DOSBox Staging. EGA edition The EGA edition of Gunship 2000 has been found by PixelWings so a huge thank you there! A couple of YouTube videos have been created by PixelWings, ' Gunship 2000 EGA - The LOST release! ' and ' Merry Christmas to Everyone! ' well worth checking out. If you wish to try it out, the following info may be helpful. In this example I used the zip archive with the latest 02 update applied so it was version 1469.02. DOSBox Staging configuration changes These are changes to the above earlier DOSBox Staging configuration to run this EGA release. [dosbox] machine = ega [render] glshader = crt-auto-machine [cpu] core = normal cputype = 386_prefetch cpu_cycles = 8000 cpu_cycles_protected = auto [autoexec] mount c "D:\games\dos\Gunship 2000\hdd-ega" c: cd gs2000 gs2000.com exit Note : As this is based on the earlier DOSBox configuration in this post, variable refresh rates and high frame rate settings are still being used. The machine unsurprising should be changed to an EGA machine for the EGA release. The render setting chooses an appropriate CRT setting based on the EGA machine type. The CPU settings were suggested by PixelWings and worked when I tested them, I was able to start and fly around in mission, so another thank you to PixelWings for these settings. The cpu_cycles_protected setting will just use the same cycle count as cpu_cycles. Setting the core to normal allows the 386_prefetch cputype to be used. The default setting of auto will use a normal core, so this setting could be omitted, but for clarity this has been specified in the config. I used a different folder for the EGA edition and the autoexec mount command reflects that. Setup There is a setup.exe configuration utility included in this release. It can be used to set audio, music and controller options. It also allows controllers to be calibrated. Documentation The copy protection mechanism is still intact in this release, so you'll need a manual with the appropriate GPS Authenticator codes present. Controller configuration You can continue to use the 2 joysticks, Joystick and collective and Joystick and rudder options, present in the VGA edition. However the proportional collective option which makes using the throttle as a collective far easier, is not present in this EGA edition. This means the centre point of the throttle is static collective, increasing throttle increases collective until returned to centre, however the altitude will continue to increase due to the higher collective setting. Reducing throttle and collective works the same way. It's tricky to describe and easier to understand if you try it out. Without the proportional collective option it may be easier to use the keyboard for collective control. Good hunting!

A quick guide to running Independence War (I-War) with ReShade in Windows 10. Before using this guide it's suggested to take a look at the earlier ' Independence War: Running in Windows 10 ' article. The I-War version I use in this guide is the gog version, but physical retail copies and other digital versions should work as well. A good starting point would be to get I-War running with dgVoodoo2 as described in the previous guide . Changes to dgVoodoo2 dgVoodoo2 setup There is a recommended change to the dgVoodoo2 setup. In the ' General ' tab, in the ' Rendering ' section, the ' Output API ' option should be set to ' Direct3D 11 (feature level 11.0) ', as shown in the screenshot. All other options remain unchanged from the previous guide. Adding ReShade The latest version of ReShade is v6.4.1 (at time of writing) and is available from the ReShade website. The guide uses this latest version. The ReShade installer was copied into my I-War installation folder and run. The installer only adds ReShade files to the game installation folder. During the setup process you have to select the I-War executable ( IWar.exe ), not the I-War launcher executable (iwar_start.exe). Then the rendering API is selected, (because we have specified dgVoodoo2 to use Direct3d 11), you should select ' DirectX 10/11/12 '. Once installed just click ' Finish '. Running I-War with ReShade I-War should be run using the same parameters as detailed in the previous guide. In summary: \IWar.exe" -b -16 -800x600 Note the Reshade banner at top of screen When I-War starts you should see the Infogrames intro video and the ReShade banner should appear at the top of the screen for a moment (see screenshot). Congratulations, ReShade is installed and running, the Home key can be used to open and close the ReShade overlay. Adding ReShade presets There aren't any specific presets for I-War so I used those for Independence War 2: Edge of Chaos courtesy of Alakelele. They can be found on the Presets link on the ReShade homepage which takes you to the SweetFX Settings DB . Selecting a preset Download and extract into your I-War installation folder, it should be: SweetFX_Settings_b'Independence War 2_ Edge of Chaos'_b'ReShadePreset IWAR2'.txt Select the preset using the overlay controls (highlighted top right in the screenshot). It should be saved when you close the overlay. Adding ray tracing I managed to get a hold of the CompleteRT v1.6.0.9 shader courtesy of Alakelele on the EoC Discord on the I-War Discussion # general channel. Download CompleteRT_1_6_0_9.zip and extract the contents to: \reshade-shaders Restart I-War and open the overlay, COMPLETE RT [COMPLETE_RT.fx] should be added to the list of shaders. Enable the shader and close the overlay to save. The COMPLETE RT shader hints suggest using the ReShade_MotionVectors shader for good results, however this couldn't be found. The second suggestion being the qUINT_MotionVectors shader which was available, but seems to have been superseded by the qUINT_opticalflow shader. The shader can be found on the martymcmodding/ReShade-Optical-Flow GitHub . Download as a zip and again extract the Shaders folder to the same reshade-shaders folder: \reshade-shaders Restart I-War and open the overlay, qUINT_opticalflow [qUINT_of.fx]  should be added to the list of shaders. Enable the shader and close the overlay to save. Configuring ray tracing The shader order was changed to: qUINT_opticalflow [qUINT_of.fx] COMPLETE RT [COMPLETE_RT.fx] The rest of the shaders remained in the existing order. The only configuration I changed was the COMPLETE RT config: 'C_RT_UI_DIFFICULTY' was enabled (change 0 to 1) to show more options. 'Exclude Sky from RT' was disabled. After all we're in space, really it's all sky! Once changed close the overlay to save. The result I'm not a ReShade expert at all, but with the EoC presets and some complete guesswork on my part, here is the result. This is what I managed, if you try this, feel free to experiment with ReShade, you may find better results! A Routine Patrol with ReShade Good hunting!

Before F-22 Total Air War, before EF2000 and even before TFX, Digital Image Design (DID) created a sim. That sim was F29 Retaliator. Created in 1989 and published by Ocean in the same year, F29 brought smooth frame rates and fluid flying to the 286 and 386 PC's. If you were around, back in those days, playing games on the PC, chances are you came across it. The sim includes the F-22, (which looks nothing like an F-22 as the game pre-dates it) and the F-29 which is actually the X-29 experimental aircraft. The original release came on 2 x 5.25" Double Density floppy disks or a single 720k 3.5" DD floppy. A later re-release was distributed on a single cd-rom, with a lot of spare capacity! These days the easiest way to obtain a copy would be with the digital release on Steam . It looks like it was originally released without the manual (which is absolutely necessary to play) but that has been rectified with the addition of a manual to the Steam guides . Controller setup The game only supports a joystick, sso the controller setup is straight-forward as shown below: Physical axis Windows axis Joystick x-axis DX_X_AXIS Joystick y-axis DX_Y_AXIS If your HOTAS profile software does not allow you to disable axes you may wish to use a 4 axes controller configured as a 4axis joystick device in DOSBox. Having additional axes configured shouldn't matter as the game won't use them. DOSBox Staging config This guide assumes DOSBox Staging v0.82.0 will be used. Changes from the default configuration are shown below: [sdl] host_rate = vrr vsync = off presentation_mode = vfr [dosbox] dos_rate = 1000 [cpu] core = simple cputype = 386 cpu_cycles = 3000 cpu_cycles_protected = auto cycleup = 100 cycledown = 100 [voodoo] voodoo = false [mouse] dos_mouse_immediate = true [mixer] reverb = off chorus = off [midi] mididevice = mt32 [mt32] model = auto romdir = "D:\Midi\Versioned" [joystick] joysticktype = 2axis timed = false deadzone = 0 [autoexec] imgmount a "D:\Games\Dos\F29 Retaliator\fdd\disk1.img" -t floppy -ro imgmount d "D:\Games\Dos\F29 Retaliator\cd\f29.iso" -t iso mount c "D:\Games\Dos\F29 Retaliator\hdd" c: cd f29 call f29.bat exit The [sdl], [dosbox] and [mouse] enable high refresh rates as described in this article by Omniclyde. The [cpu] settings are appropriate for a game of this age. 3000 cycles is the default and can be omitted. The cpu_cycles_protected setting will use the same value as cpu_cycles. The [mixer] settings are a personal preference as the digital audio is provided by the default Soundblaster settings and the engine sound can be a bit grating. The [midi] is provided by an emulated MT32 device with the setup described in the DOSBox midi article. The joystick is set to a 2axis device as the game only supports a joystick. You may wish to change joystick settings depending on your HOTAS setup. Deadzone is a personal preference. The [autoexec] section contains example lines for mounting a floppy disk image and a cd image. The mounted folders follow the DOSBox game management strategy. The final commands just run the game and close DOSBox once the game is quit. Installation Since F29 is a very old game installation is dependant on your particular copy. It may include a hard disk install utility. If so this should be run from within DOSBox to install the game onto the mounted c: drive. It may be called install.exe or hdinstal.exe . If there is no install utility then you can copy the contents of the disk onto the mounted c: drive. Setup There is no separate setup utility, so the midi device configured in DOSBox will be automatically used. The Soundblaster configured in DOSBox will be automatically used for digital audio. In addition there are in-game commands to control: Sound. Graphics detail. Control schemes (keyboard, mouse or joystick). Control precision. The manual/keyboard reference should be consulted for a list of commands. Documentation The manual is absolutely necessary to play, as it lists mission objectives which are not listed in-game, a manual can be found within the Steam guides . A pdf manual does exist for the Amiga and Atari ST versions with the missions being identical. There is also a keyboard reference included in the manual. Some later releases provided a readme file with additional key commands. The digital release has a keyboard reference within the Steam guides . However, it looks like some keys have been reconfigured in this digital release. Good hunting!

A guide to running the Simis Limited sim, KA-52 Team Alligator, natively in Windows 10. KA-52 Team Alligator is the successor to the earlier Simis Apache sim, Team Apache. As usual I'll using a cd image rather than physical cd to install and setup. Version The only version I've been able to find is the original big box retail edition, released in 2000 and subsequent budget release. This is the release used in this guide. I haven't found any patches for this sim. Th ere are two fan made patches that improve the flight model and joystick deadzone (see below). The original specs for this game call for an Intel Pentium 200MMX to Intel Pentium II 450, 32MB to 128MB of ram, 3D accelerator and 100% compatible DirectSound card running Windows 95 or 98 and DirectX 7. Windows ME or XP are listed as incompatible. Mounting the cd image The cd image is mounted with DAEMON Tools Lite, as it supports many of the common cd copy protection components, in use when the game was released. Installation To install the following compatibility options should be set on the setup.exe file: Run this program in compatibility mode for: Windows 98 / WIndows ME. Reduced color mode 8-bit (256) color. Disable fullscreen optimization. Once set, the setup.exe file should be able to install the game without issue. DirectX wrappers To run this under a Windows 10 machine, a wrapper will need to be employed to wrap the DirectX7 calls and convert them to their modern equivalents. After testing both DxWnd and dxwrapper, my current wrapper of choice is dxwrapper, because: dxwrapper does not suffer from HUD issues on fullscreen where the HUD lines will suddenly originate from the top left corner. DxWnd suffers from audio issues affected by the vsync setting, dxwrapper does not, and sound is unchanged whether vsync is on or off. The frame-rate can be controlled which helps with audio issues. dxwrapper dxwrapper was created by Elisha, so a huge thank you for all the hard work there and can be found at the dxwrapper GitHub repository . The wrapper is configured to convert dx7 calls into dx9 calls. It's also configured to wrap the dsound library. The dxwrapper is configured with dxwrapper.ini , the configuration options are documented within the dxwrapper wiki . A zipped version I used can be found below: You may need to change options depending on your own setup. To install the wrapper, the following files need to be copied into the Team Alligator game folder: dxwrapper.dll dxwrapper.ini ddraw.dll With the dxwrapper configured, there is no need to set compatibility options through the Team2.exe properties. Patches (update) There are 2 fan made patches for the game, the Zero G flight model fix and the joystick deadzone patch. The joystick deadzone patch includes the Zero G flight model fix, making it the one and only recommended patch. Both patches are available from www.helosim.com in the downloads page. You may want to download both, as the Zero G flight model fix has a readme document providing some interesting background to the fix (there is a different readme document in the joystick deadzone patch). The joystick deadzone patch is language specific, there being German, UK and US versions, the readme document for each describes how to determine the version you need. The installation instructions are in the patch readme document, but there are some additional steps needed to install in Windows 10. The joystick deadzone part of the patch uses a 16-bit patcher app, which cannot run under Windows 10. These are the steps taken to install the patch: Using the PCem v17 emulator, create a Windows 98 virtual machine. The Phils Computer Lab YouTube channel has an excellent video on creating a suitable virtual machine. Install KA-52 Team Alligator onto the virtual machine. Shutdown the virtual machine and open the virtual hard disk (.vhd file) in Windows 10. Unzip the patch to a folder and copy the folder onto the virtual hard disk. Start the virtual machine and follow the patch instructions, theTeam2.exe application should be patched in Windows 98. Shutdown the virtual machine again and reopen the virtual hard disk in Windows 10. Copy the patched Team2.exe file to the game folder in Windows 10, (take a copy of the original Team2.exe file first). The Zero G flight model fix part of the patch is a file replacement, so just follow the instructions in the readme document to replace the required file. And finally, a big thank you to Zero G and Jonathan Wright for their work on creating these patches. Game setup options The launcher app can be used to enable/disable sound hardware acceleration. You can also manually edit the sound.ini file. No compatibility options are required to be set through the launcher.exe properties. The in-game options allow the limited selection of various graphics and sound options. Controller setup A 4 axes HOTAS should be able to be picked up and automatically configured by the game. If there are more that 4 axes then you may have to use your HOTAS profile software to limit it to 4 axes. There are no in-game options to select controller axes. With TARGET I've configured by axes as follows (note: this game prefers the z rotation axis rather than the x rotation axis): Controller axis DX axis Flight control Joystick x-axis DX_X_AXIS Cyclic roll Joystick y-axis DX_Y_AXIS Cyclic pitch Throttle DX_Z_AXIS Collective Rudder pedals DX_ZROT_AXIS Rudder Issues Sound issues remain, the start of speech can be clipped, however the sound seems to be affected by the frame-rate and limiting the frame-rate to 25fps seems to help somewhat. Key-presses that generate speech, (e.g. landing gear toggle) will only result in audio twice. Toggling a third time will be without speech until an amount of time has passed. I'm not sure if this is intended behaviour or an issue with the game or DirectSound. Documentation (update) In addition to patches the  www.helosim.com website has a very handy pdf key chart available at the downloads  page. This is not the an official key chart since one was never produced, so a big thank you to the anonymous creator. Good hunting!

This is a tech refresh article describing any changes since the original article ' A-10 Tank Killer: Running in DOSBox ' was published. Since the original article the version of DOSBox Staging has changed from v 0.80.1 to v0.82.0. In addition, the expansion for A-10 Tank Killer v1.0 is now available. A-10 Tank Killer Simulation Systems Module 1 An expansion in the form of an additional campaign was created for A-10 Tank Killer. Known as the Simulation Systems Module 1 . It was distributed through the Dynamix BBS at the time and has since been added to the Internet Archive. This expansion is compatible with the version 1.4 patch. The missions are identical to the second Western Europe mission set included with A-10 Tank Killer Version 1.5. Installation The contents of the zip archive should be extracted to a folder within the DOSBox hard disk folder. From within DOSBox the readme.bat file should be run to view the installation instructions. If the game resides within the DOSBox C:\DYNAMIX\A10 folder the expansion can be automatically installed, otherwise the manual installation instructions will need to be followed. Patching A-10 Tank Killer Version 1.5 These patches are not required for the cd release. However they may be useful for disk based releases. They may also be useful if A-10 is being run on period correct legacy hardware. All patches are available from the Sierra Help Pages . A-10 Tank Killer Config The CONFIG.EXE contained in this ZIP file will allow you to override the SmartStart installation and manually choose the options for your system. This is not a guaranteed fix, but it has been very successful. A-10 Tank Killer Update 1 (a10patch) This patch upgrades the game to v1.52b1.  This patch contains a new joystick driver which corrects joystick problems, primarily those associated with using a faster computer (386/33 or better) with a game card that does not offer speed calibration. It also corrects problems seen when using certain mouse drivers. A-10 Tank Killer Update 2 (a10click) This patch will resolve the clicking sound that is heard on some systems when playing A-10 Tank Killer. DOSBox configuration The following is an updated configuration for DOSBox Staging v0.82.0. [sdl] host_rate = vrr presentation_mode = vfr [cpu] core = simple cpu_cycles = 6000 cycleup = 100 cycledown = 100 [voodoo] voodoo = false [mixer] reverb = large chorus = normal [midi] mididevice = mt32 [mt32] model = mt32_old romdir = "D:\Midi\Versioned" [joystick] joysticktype = 4axis timed = true swap34 = true deadzone = 0 [autoexec] mount c "D:\Games\Dos\A-10 Tank Killer\hdd" # specific to the release I use C: cd sierra\a10 call a10cd.bat exit The sdl settings are appropriate for a variable refresh rate monitor. They can be left as default or omitted for standard monitors.

Version 1.0 splash screen This post will be taking a look the versions of A-10 Tank Killer that have been released, what some of the changes are and what it means for playing on modern machines. For the sake of clarity it's worth noting the title of the game changed. For versions prior to v1.5 the game was named 'A-10 Tank Killer', for versions 1.5 and later, it became 'A-10 Tank Killer Version 1.5'. A-10 Tank Killer Version 1.0 menu The original game had a neutral / Western Europe interface. There was only a single Western Europe campaign of 7 missions and the game intro was different. During flight there were no engine noises resulting in a different audio landscape. Physical releases of A-10 were versions 1.0 and 1.1. Usually released on both 2 x double density (DD) 3.5" (720k) disks and 4 x double sided, double density (DS, DD) 5.25" (360k) disks. My original UK copy of A-10 is version 1.1. These days, disk images are more likely to be available. 2 x 720k or 4 x 360k disk images would normally be version 1.0 or 1.1. This version isn't recommended for DOSBox, it is very speed sensitive and requires a lot of cycle tweaking to get it to run 'acceptably'. Setting cycles too high results in weapons always missing their target and SAM's that never do! Version 1.4 If there's a definitive version of 'A-10 Tank Killer' this is it. Speed sensitivity issues are resolved and the joystick and mouse handling routines are improved. The game 'look and feel' remains the same. Version 1.4 is available as a patch (and I've only seen it as a patch). You'll need to google and look for A1014.ZIP or A1014.EXE and apply it to an existing v1.0/1.1 installation with DOSBox. If you want to run the original 'A-10 Tank Killer' in DOSBox, you'll want to use this version. The joystick handling doesn't get any better than this in the series, so a joystick is usable! A-10 Tank Killer Simulation Systems Module 1 An expansion in the form of an additional campaign was created for A-10 Tank Killer. Known as the Simulation Systems Module (SSM) 1 or Module 1. It was distributed through the Dynamix BBS at the time and has since been added to the Internet Archive. The additional campaign comprise of 8 missions within the Western Europe theater and would later be integrated into Version 1.5 as the second Europe campaign. This expansion is compatible with the version 1.4 patch. A-10 Tank Killer Version 1.5 Version 1.5 menu This is the version most people are probably familiar with. The UI is different with the 'Desert Storm' make-over. There are now 3 campaigns the original Western Europe, a second Western Europe and the Desert Storm campaigns. Engine noises are now present leading to a better audio landscape. MobyGames shows a v1.51 release although I'm not sure what the differences are. Version 1.5 is most likely be be encountered as a 4 x 720k disk images or a zipped installation folder. This version runs perfectly well under DOSBox, but suffers from the updated v1.5 joystick code. The developers added a huge dead-zone (approximately 10%) to the centre of joystick movement. Changing DOSBox settings doesn't help as the problem is in the game, not DOSBox, as Version 1.4 proves. It makes for a really spongy flying experience to the point many people are more comfortable playing with keyboard (myself included). Version 1.52b1 The final version, included revised joystick/mouse handling code. From the README introduction: This patch file will update your current version of A-10 Tank Killer to include a new joystick driver which corrects joystick problems, primarily those associated with using a fast computer (i.e. 386/33) with a game card that does not offer speed calibration. In addition, it corrects the problem of certain mouse drivers not being recognized in the simulation. This version is available as a patch, for existing installations, google for A10PATCH.ZIP. The A-10 v1.5, included in the cd compilations 'Aces: The Complete Collector's Edition', 1995 and 'Aces: Collection Series', 1997 already include this patch. This version runs perfectly well under DOSBox, but like the earlier v1.5 suffers from the large joystick dead-zone making keyboard controls the preferred control scheme.

This is a guide to running the Amiga version of the 1991 Dynamix sim, A-10 Tank Killer Version 1.5 under WinUAE emulation. This guide assumes a working emulated Amiga, with a hard disk based Workbench as created in the earlier article, Amiga emulation with WinUAE . Why play the Amiga version? The PC has one major issue which was the introduction of an excessive joystick deadzone within the game itself which could not be worked around. In fact the deadzone is considered so bad that most playthroughs of the game used the keyboard flight controls in preference to a joystick. This marred what would have been an excellent addition to franchise on the PC. The original PC version 1.0 has a v1.4 patch which improved speed sensitivity and provided much improved joystick handling. Why they decided to change it and include such a excessive deadzone remains a mystery! The Amiga v1.5 has a rather more sensible joystick deadzone and seems to provide some quite responsive joystick handling. So if you wish to play A-10 v1.5, with a joystick the Amiga version may be the optimum one to play. Version This guide assumes a copy of A-10 Tank Killer Version 1.5 pre-patched for hard disk use with WHDLoad. Converting a disk/disk image copy of A-10 with the relevant WHDLoad support files into a patched 'hard disk supported' version is beyond the scope of this guide. The recommended version of the WHDLoad patch files is v2.0. The prepatched WHDLoad distribution is normally packaged as an LHA  (LH Archive) file. The workbench installation created earlier, supports LHA files. WHDLoad dialog The original game was distributed on 3 x 880 KB 3.5" Amiga floppy disk. Various copies may be encountered utilising the TOSEC naming convention WinUAE setup The following is a list of differences from the Workbench configuration in the  Amiga emulation with WinUAE  article. It is recommended to load the Workbench configuration file and save it as a separate configuration file specifically for A-10. Make sure to load this new configuration file before continuing and give it a suitable description. CPU and FPU The ' CPU Emulation Speed ' section should be set to ' Approximate A500/A1200 or cycle exact '. In the ' Cycle-exact CPU Emulation Speed ' section, the ' CPU Frequency ' should be set to ' 4x (A1200) '. You may wish to set this to A500 speeds if you think it's too fast. Chipset In the ' Chipset ' section make sure ' Cycle-exact (Full) ' and ' Cycle-exact (DMA/Memory access) ' are both checked. Display As A-10 Tank Killer v1.5 was developed by Dynamix, a US game developer, it was probably written for an NTSC based Amiga. In the ' Settings ' section the ' Refresh ' drop down menu should be set to ' NTSC '. Sound I've encountered sound crackle in other games and I believe these settings reduce/eliminate it. However you should feel free to experiment with sound drivers if you continue to experience crackle. The top drop down menu was set to ' DSOUND: Primary Sound Driver '. In the ' Settings ' section, ' Frequency ' was set to ' 44100 ' and ' Audio filter ' was set to ' Always on (A1200) '. In the ' Drivers ' section, only ' DirectSound ' was checked. Filter The filter settings selected should be compatible with the refresh setting selected on the 'Display' page. As NTSC was selected, the filter settings should be compatible with emulating a NTSC display. For a discussion of filters and slider settings, John Novak's article,   Achieving period-correct graphics in personal computer emulators — Part 1: The Amiga  should be consulted. The 4.0x NTSC filter was chosen, ' D3D: CRT-A2080-NTSC-4.0x '. Depending on your display or personal preference, you may wish to choose a smaller 3.0x or 3.5x multiplier. The ' Horiz. size ' slider was set to ' 2000 ' and the ' Vert. size ' slider was set to ' 2800 ' as required by the NTSC 4.0x filter. Finishing up Don't forget to save your new A-10 WinUAE configuration with these revised settings. Installing Firstly you should create a new folder (or drawer in Amiga terms) on the System disk to store any games, if it doesn't already exist. The next steps are: Open WinUAE or the configuration utility (if WinUAE is started) and go to the ' CD & Hard drives ' page. Click on the ' Add Directory or Archive... ' button. Add the archive file as shown in the screenshot. The 'Device name ' will be DHx where x is the next device no. (so DH2 in this case). Make sure the ' Read/write ' and ' Bootable ' options are unchecked. The ' Select Archive or Plain File ' button is used to select the A-10 archive file. This example shows how the F-16 Combat Pilot archive was added. Once selected, start the emulated machine, or if it is already started use ' Reset ' to reset the machine. The archive should appear on the Workbench desktop as a new disk. Open it and copy the A-10 Tank Killer folder/drawer into the Games folder/drawer. That's it the game is now installed! You don't need to save this configuration, once the folder is copied onto the Amiga hard disk. HOTAS setup This next section is more advice than hard facts as I believe the exact settings you'll need will depend on your particular HOTAS setup. This will describe how I set up my Warthog HOTAS and things to consider when setting up your own. A-10 Tank Killer Version 1.5 was written for both analogue and digital joysticks. The analogue joystick setting was used within WinUAE and selected from in game preferences. WinUAE also has native controller support, with the HOTAS devices seen by Windows also being available to WinUAE. However using the native controller in WinUAE had a more 'sluggish' response. If I used the TARGET profiling software to create a virtual controller, it had a far more sensitive response. This suggests the virtual controller uses a larger scale across axes than the default one provided by Windows. For this reason I opted to use a virtual controller. HOTAS axes The HOTAS axes were set as follows: Physical axis Windows axis Joystick x-axis DX_X_AXIS Joystick y-axis DX_Y_AXIS The throttle and rudder pedals were added to the TARGET profile but all of their axes were disabled. Throttle The throttle is controlled by the keys 1-9 which obviously does not map well to a throttle. However t hrottle buttons can be mapped to the throttle up/down keys within A-10. I also suggest supplementing them with buttons for: Takeoff (9). Cruise (7). Attack run (4). Rudder pedals The rudder controls are particularly important for A-10 when conducting a strafing run on enemy vehicles. If you wish to use a rudder axes I would suggest mapping them with t he rudder axis split into 3 sections, and configured as follows: Axis percentage Action/Keypress 0-40 Yaw left 41-59 Deadzone 60-100 Yaw right The rudder key-presses are active as long as held, so map well to this rudder control scheme. WinUAE configuration On the ' Game port s' page the Joystick should be set in Port 2 as your virtual controller. The type should be set as ' Analog joystick '. Manual configuration Not all configurable options are available from the config utility. The configuration file (.uae) can be edited from a text editor. The following settings: input.joystick_deadzone=33 input.analog_joystick_multiplier=18 input.analog_joystick_offset=-5 control analog joystick response, only the following setting was changed: input.joystick_deadzone=5 However, depending on your setup you may wish to experiment with the other settings. Running To run the game, open the System disk and your games folder/drawer. Within the games folder/drawer there should be an A10TankKiller folder/drawer. Within this folder there will be a game icon which looks like the box cover (this is a facility provided by NewIcons). In game preferences Simply double click to start the WHDLoad config for the game. A WHDLoad dialog box should appear and the game will start shortly. In the preferences dialog box the joystick should be set to 'ANALOG JOYSTICK' and calibrated. The graphics settings can be set to optimum as shown. Be sure to check out the rather nifty 3d credits crawl! Documents It's recommended to try and obtain digital copies of the following documents: The manual. There aren't separate DOS and Amiga manuals, just a single manual with some technical sections applicable to DOS or Amiga only. The earlier v1.0 manual is approx 48 pages with the later v1.5 manual expanded to 100 pages. Either can be used as a sim reference, with the v1.5 manual containing more background and historical content. Quick reference card, which provides a summary of the sim controls. Good hunting!

This is a guide to running the Amiga version of the MicroProse 1990 classic sim, F-19 Stealth Fighter under WinUAE emulation. This guide assumes a working emulated Amiga, with a hard disk based Workbench as created in the earlier article, Amiga emulation with WinUAE . Why play the Amiga version? There are a number of issues with the PC version of F-19 Stealth Fighter comprising of: A certain degree of speed sensitivity. Running the game at too high a speed under emulation can result in weapon misses, such as the normally reliable AMRAAM or Sidewinder missing enemy aircraft. This requires some careful tweaking of DOSBox cycles. Buggy weapon delivery. Certain weapons have a history of being very buggy, with a valid lock and proper delivery, LGB's should almost always hit, sadly this is not the case with the PC version. This results in a tendency to stick with the same reliable weapons continuously, in preference to better suited weapons, e.g. Mavericks rather than LGB's or Harpoon's. The VGA version of the game sticks to a rather EGA inspired colour palette. All of these weapons are usable in this version. The Amiga version doesn't suffer from either of these issues, has fairly fluid gameplay when emulating a cycle exact A1200 and a more VGA like colour palette. There's also: Nostalgia, nothing like revisiting a classic sim. Unfinished business. If you've always wanted to complete a 99 mission career but never managed to, now is the ideal opportunity! Version This guide assumes a copy of F-19 Stealth Fighter pre-patched for hard disk use with WHDLoad. Converting a disk/disk image copy of F-19 with the relevant WHDLoad support files into a patched 'hard disk supported' version is beyond the scope of this guide. The recommended version of the WHDLoad patch files is v3.1. The prepatched WHDLoad distribution is normally packaged as an LHA  (LH Archive) file. The workbench installation created earlier, supports LHA files. The original game was distributed on 2 x (UK release) or 3 x (US release) 880 KB 3.5" Amiga floppy disks. Various copies may be encountered utilising the TOSEC naming convention . WinUAE setup The following is a list of differences from the Workbench configuration in the  Amiga emulation with WinUAE  article. It is recommended to load the Workbench configuration file and save it as a separate configuration file specifically for F-19. Make sure to load this new configuration file before continuing and give it a suitable description. CPU and FPU The ' CPU Emulation Speed ' section should be set to ' Approximate A500/A1200 or cycle exact '. In the ' Cycle-exact CPU Emulation Speed ' section, the ' CPU Frequency ' should be set to ' 4x (A1200) '. You may wish to set this to A500 speeds if you think it's too fast. Chipset In the ' Chipset ' section make sure ' Cycle-exact (Full) ' and ' Cycle-exact (DMA/Memory access) ' are both checked. Display As F-19 Stealth Fighter was developed by MicroProse, a US game developer, it was developed for both PAL and NTSC based Amigas. In the ' Settings ' section the ' Refresh ' drop down menu should be set to ' PAL ' or ' NTSC ' depending on the version you have. Sound I've encountered sound crackle in F-19 and other games and I believe these settings reduce/eliminate it. However you should feel free to experiment with sound drivers if you continue to experience crackle. The top drop down menu was set to ' DSOUND: Primary Sound Driver '. In the ' Settings ' section, ' Frequency ' was set to ' 44100 ' and ' Audio filter ' was set to ' Always on (A1200) '. In the ' Drivers ' section, only ' DirectSound ' was checked. Filter The filter settings selected should be compatible with the refresh setting selected on the 'Display' page. As I'm using an NTSC version of F-19, NTSC was selected. The filter settings should be compatible with emulating an NTSC display. For a discussion of filters and slider settings, John Novak's article,   Achieving period-correct graphics in personal computer emulators — Part 1: The Amiga  should be consulted. The 4.0x NTSC filter was chosen, ' D3D: CRT-A2080-NTSC-4.0x '. Depending on your display or personal preference, you may wish to choose a smaller 3.0x or 3.5x multiplier. The ' Horiz. size ' slider was set to ' 2000 ' and the ' Vert. size ' slider was set to ' 2800 ' as required by the NTSC 4.0x filter. For a PAL based F-19 version the setting would be: Filter: ' D3D: CRT-A2080-PAL-4.0x ' or the 3.0 or 3.5x filters. ' Horiz. size ' slider: ' 2000 ' for the 4.0x filter. ' Vert. size ' slider: ' 2000 ' for the 4.0x filter. Finishing up Don't forget to save your new F-19 WinUAE configuration with these revised settings. Installing Firstly you should create a new folder (or drawer in Amiga terms) on the System disk to store any games, if it doesn't already exist. The next steps are: Open WinUAE or the configuration utility (if WinUAE is started) and go to the ' CD & Hard drives ' page. Click on the ' Add Directory or Archive... ' button. Add the archive file as shown in the screenshot. The 'Device name ' will be DHx where x is the next device no. (so DH2 in this case). Make sure the ' Read/write ' and ' Bootable ' options are unchecked. The ' Select Archive or Plain File ' button is used to select the F-19 archive file. Once selected, start the emulated machine, or if it is already started use ' Reset ' to reset the machine. The archive should appear on the Workbench desktop as a new disk. Open it and copy the F-19 Stealth Fighter folder/drawer into the Games folder/drawer. That's it the game is now installed! You don't need to save this configuration, once the folder is copied onto the Amiga hard disk. HOTAS setup This next section is more advice than hard facts as I believe the exact settings you'll need will depend on your particular HOTAS setup. This will describe how I set up my Warthog HOTAS and things to consider when setting up your own. F-19 was written for analogue and digital joysticks. The analogue joystick setting was used within WinUAE and selected from game startup menu. WinUAE also has native controller support, with the HOTAS devices seen by Windows also being available to WinUAE. However using the native controller in WinUAE had a 'sluggish' response. If I used the TARGET profiling software to create a virtual controller, it had a far more sensitive response. This suggests the virtual controller uses a larger scale across axes than the default one provided by Windows. For this reason I opted to use a virtual controller. HOTAS axes The HOTAS axes were set as follows: Physical axis Windows axis Joystick x-axis DX_X_AXIS Joystick y-axis DX_Y_AXIS The throttle and rudder pedals were added to the TARGET profile but all of their axes were disabled. Throttle Throttle buttons were mapped to the throttle up/down keys within F-19. Rudder pedals The rudder pedals aren't used in F-19, but were added to the profile to ensure they would be disabled. WinUAE configuration On the ' Game port s' page the Joystick should be set in Port 2 as your virtual controller. The type should be set as ' Analog joystick '. Manual configuration Not all configurable options are available from the config utility. The configuration file (.uae) can be edited from a text editor. The following settings: input.joystick_deadzone=33 input.analog_joystick_multiplier=18 Were changed to: input.joystick_deadzone=0 input.analog_joystick_multiplier=20 Custom configurations An alternative is to create a custom configuration. This allows you to map multiple physical axes and buttons from native controllers to virtual Amiga joysticks in ports 1 and 2. The Game port section should be left unchanged and a new custom configuration created on the ' Input ' page. Running To run the game, open the System disk and your games folder/drawer. Within the games folder/drawer there should be an F19StealthFighter folder/drawer. Within this folder there will be a game icon which looks like the title screen (this is a facility provided by NewIcons). Simply double click to start the WHDLoad config for the game. A WHDLoad dialog box should appear and the game will start shortly. Career progress will be recorded in the F19_Roster save file within the F19StealthFighter folder/drawer. Documents It's recommended to try and obtain the following documents: Amiga manual for a complete list of instructions for all aspects of the sim, including keyboard commands. Or: Amiga key reference, for a list of keyboard commands DOS manual for a complete list of instructions for all aspects of the sim except keyboard commands. You should also be able to find digital versions of the ONC Maps that were distributed with the retail game. Libya ONC map Good Hunting!