Retro PC gaming on Windows 10, technical aspects, flight sims and space sims a speciality
Search Results
137 results found with an empty search
- Amiga emulation with WinUAE
Amiga Workbench 3.1 Some of the oldest classic flight sims look and play best, not on PC but on the Amiga. While the PC was using CGA or EGA graphics, the Amiga had resolutions approaching VGA (albeit with fewer colours). The sound capabilities would continue to outstrip the PC until the advent of Adlib/Soundblaster dedicated soundcards! This is a general purpose guide on setting up Amiga emulation with the WinUAE emulator. It will cover installing the WinUAE emulator, setting up the Amiga Workbench on an emulated hard disk along with a number of utilities to improve the look and feel. Finally, it will cover enhancing the CRT look and feel of an emulated Amiga. There some excellent resources and tutorials that cover the above, so instead of re-inventing the wheel, those guides and tutorials will be referenced. This guide assumes you are installing onto a Windows 10 host PC. Installing WinUAE and the Amiga Workbench One of the best available WinUAE and Amiga Workbench installation guides are those at the Green Amiga Alien Guide . Absolutely essential reading for anyone new to Amiga emulation, they were created by Paul, who sadly is no longer with us. Without these guides, I don't think I would have been able to get Amiga emulation working as easily as I did. They were last updated around 2006/2007 and even today they are still incredibly useful for anyone wanting to try Amiga emulation. They are based on WInUAE 1.3.4 and because development has continued, the current release is WinUAE 5.3.1, so I'll be adding supplemental information for the later version. WinUAE tutorials All of the general WinUAE guides are worth reading, if you're new to Amiga emulation. Supplemental to WinUAE installation When it comes to installing WinUAE, you can follow Paul's guide. Additionally, you need to get WinUAE 5.3.1 64 bit release from the WinUAE site. The Interchange Preservation Format (IPF) is a format optimised for preserving floppy disks and popular for preserving Amiga disk images. The library mentioned is available from the Software Preservation Society , you'll want to go to the downloads page and get the User Distribution, Version 5.1 Windows 64 bit. I ended up installing WinUAE in a different folder, outside of the default Program Files folder. e.g. D:\Games\Amiga\WinUAE 5.3.1\ Supplemental to other guides Although some of the screenshots will differ from the current WinUAE version, the information contained within is still accurate. Setting paths WinUAE paths The paths section of the WinUAE config utility allows individual paths to be set for each of the file types stored on disk, e.g. configurations, screenshots, Kickstart ROMs, videos. Each folder was set as sub folder within the WinUAE installation folder as the screenshot shows. Adding help A Windows help file can be added to your WinUAE installation. The online help and an offline help file can be found at the WinUAE help site. Once the offline help file is downloaded, it should be placed in the WinUAE installation folder. It should be opened from the installation folder and confirmed it is safe to access, otherwise opening help from within WinUAE will show an empty content frame in the help window. Installing Workbench Installing Workbench involves creating an emulated Amiga hard disk, installing Workbench onto it, along with a number of other enhancements. I followed Paul's guides to create a Workbench 3.1 installation. What I used This is what I used to create my Workbench installation: Kickstart ROM: KS ROM v3.1 (A1200) rev 40.68 (512k) Workbench: Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1994)(Commodore)(M10) As I'm not an Amiga expert there may be better alternatives, but this seems to work well (at least from my limited experience). The Workbench disks used the TOSEC Naming Convention (TNC) and the disks I used had the [!] flag, indicating a verified good dump. The guides I followed These are the guides I followed to create my emulated Amiga: Introduction: To get the necessary software. Chapter 1: To configure WinUAE Chapters 2 & 3: To install Workbench. Chapter 4: To install the Installer. Chapter 5: To install Picasso96. Chapter 7: To install ClassAct. Chapter 8 (Method 2): To install NewIcons with ClassAct. Chapter 10: To install WHDLoad. It's also worth reading Chapter 11, as this gives a excellent step by step introduction to using WHDLoad. Supplemental to Introduction The WHDLoad_usr.lha package can be obtained from the WHDLoad Support Page . Supplemental to Chapter 1 Although the ROM properties look different, the information in the guide is accurate. The 'Hard drives' properties are now called 'CD & Hard drives', however the information in the guide remains accurate. WinUAE CPU and FPU settings The CPU properties are now called the 'CPU and FPU' properties. This page has changed over time and the settings I used are shown in the screenshot. CPU is set to 68020. 24 bit addressing is unchecked. JIT is unchecked. MMU is set to None. FPU is set to None. In CPU Emulation Speed, Approximate A500/A1200 or cycle exact is checked. In Cycle-exact CPU Emulation Speed, CPU Frequency is set to 4x (A1200). WinUAE RAM settings The RAM properties we set as shown in the screenshot. In Memory Settings: Chip is set to 2 MB. Slow is set to 512 KB. Z2 Fast is set to 8 MB. The RTG properties have moved to the RTG board section. The Chipset properties no longer have an Faster RTG option, which has been moved to the Miscellaneous properties. WinUAE Display settings The Display properties have changed considerably, settings can be seen in the screenshot. It is recommended to set RTG to Windowed, as this makes it easier to follow the guides. Fullscreen resolution is left as a personal preference and/or capabilities of your display. Default refresh rate is selected in the dropdown menu. Centering is unchecked for Horizontal and Vertical. WinUAE Sound settings The Sound properties have also changed, settings can be seen in the screenshot. The dropdown menu is set to Paula. The Sound Buffer Size is set to 8. The Drivers section is set to WASAPI but other drivers may also be available depending on your setup. Audio Filter is set to Always on (A1200) as this seems to reduce audio crackle. The Misc properties have been renamed to Miscellaneous. The Faster RTG option can be found here and should be checked. Windowed style should be set to 'Standard', 'Direct3D 11' and 'Hardware D3D11' in the dropdown menus. WinUAE RTG board settings There are RTG board properties, they are set as shown in the screenshot. In the RTG Graphics Card section: Board is set to UAE (Zorro III). VRAM size is set to 32 MB. Refresh rate is set to Chipset. Other Chapters The step by step guides for the remaining chapters remain completely accurate. I was able to follow the guides step by step without any issues whatsoever! Additional WHDLoad information There's an excellent article, Demystifying WHDLoad by Chris, on the Pure Amiga site. Well worth a read for getting some background and instructions for WHDLoad. Kickstart support files Chris' guide mentions some older games will require the older Kickstart v1.3 ROM and .pat and .rtb support files. Aminet currently hosts the support files . Period correct graphics Now you have a working Amiga Workbench, this next section is optional and down to personal preference, but highly recommended. When it comes to achieving period correct Amiga graphics, I recommend this guide from John Novak, Achieving period-correct graphics in personal computer emulators — Part 1: The Amiga . With an almost academic level of detail, it's some excellent work. It discusses the Amiga, aspect ratios, CRT shaders, phosphor and shadow masks and finally bloom and glow. If you follow the guide you'll have some authentic Amiga CRT emulation. This section will add some supplemental information, I found useful when going through his guide. However before embarking on the guide I recommend taking a copy of your current WinUAE Workbench 3.1 configuration settings. Supplemental advice When you read the 'CRT shader' section look out for the link to get the WinUAE Commodore 1084S Shader Pack v2. Editing tooltypes In the 'Running games in NTSC' section, it briefly mentions setting WHDLoad tooltype options . To open/edit tooltype options: Click on the game icon. Go to the Workbench bar. Select the Icons menu. Select the Information... option. ReShade shaders When it comes to installing ReShade , the latest version (v6.3.3 at time of writing) is compatible with the guide. Update : Version 6.4.0 is also compatible. ReShade settings It took me some time to work out how to enable the shaders. You'll want to open up the ReShade configuration panel. On the settings page you need to add the path to the new Shaders added with the Shader Pack v2. If you have followed the guide advice, the Shader Pack v2 should have been extracted to your WinUAE installation folder. The 'Effect search paths' to add will be: \ReshadeShaders You can now configure the shaders as described in the guide. It might also be worth setting the ReShade screenshot folder to your WinUAE screenshot folder. Finally... A huge thank you to the maintainers of Paul's Green Amiga Alien Guide. To John Novak for making a modern LCD display look like an Amiga and to Chris for demystifying WHDLoad!
- F-16 Combat Pilot (Amiga version)
Box cover This is a guide to running the Amiga version of the 1989 Digital Integration sim, F-16 Combat Pilot 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 . Version This guide assumes a copy of F-16 Combat Pilot pre-patched for hard disk use with WHDLoad. Converting a disk/disk image copy of F-16 Combat Pilot 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 v1.5. 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 a single 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 F-16 Combat Pilot. 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-16 Combat Pilot was developed by Digital Integration (DI), a UK game developer, it was probably written for a PAL based Amiga. In the ' Settings ' section the ' Refresh ' drop down menu should be set to ' PAL '. Sound I've encountered sound crackle in F-16 Combat Pilot 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 PAL was selected, the filter settings should be compatible with emulating a PAL 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 PAL filter was chosen, ' D3D: CRT-A2080-PAL-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 ' and ' Vert. size ' sliders were both set to ' 2000 ' as required by the PAL 4.0x filter. Finishing up Don't forget to save your new F-16 Combat PIlot 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. 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-16 Combat Pilot 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-16 Combat Pilot 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-16 Combat Pilot was I believe written for Amiga digital joysticks, not analogue joysticks like your HOTAS joystick. WinUAE has two joysticks types, joystick and analogue joystick. F-16 works with a joystick type but not an analogue joystick type, however WinUAE seems to do an excellent job of converting inputs 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. There are also two control schemes supported by F-16, a single joystick and dual joystick schemes. When set to dual joysticks, the second joystick acts as throttle and rudder. However this control scheme did not map well to physical or virtual devices, so I opted for the single joystick control scheme. 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-16, with a toggle mapping the same buttons to throttle full/afterburner and idle. The throttle up/down keys were sent to a hold type keypress as game polling tended to miss inputs when key-presses were sent as a pulse. Rudder pedals The rudder axis was 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 ' Joystick '. Game port settings 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 from their defaults to: input.joystick_deadzone=5 input.analog_joystick_multiplier=5 The dead-zone was reduced to improve responsiveness from the severe 33%. The multiplier seems to reduce analogue inputs by this multiplier when converting to digital inputs. Smaller multipliers increase sensitivity while larger multipliers reduce sensitivity. The following setting: input.analog_joystick_offset=-5 seems to be required as an offset between analogue joystick input to digital joystick input, required in-game, and should be left unchanged. 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 F16CombatPilot 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 with a Buttonwait option, this can be checked or left unchecked and the game will start shortly. Buttonwait Buttonwait is a WHDLoad option. Due to the speed increases possible with emulation, title and credit screens, that may have appeared on screen for short amounts of time with a physical Amiga, can appear and disappear in an instant. If buttonwait is checked, these title/credit screens will remain on screen until a button press or mouse click is detected. Documents It's recommended to try and obtain the following documents: Amiga manual or Amiga key reference. To have a list of Amiga key commands. Some Amiga manuals may be budget versions or extremely limited in content, however the important part is the key commands. DOS manual. To have a long form version of the manual with complete content, to learn how to play the sim and fly the aircraft! Good Hunting!
- Stealthily approaching 100: F-117A Nighthawk Stealth Fighter 2.0
The YouTube poll to decide what the 100th article should be, selected another DOS sim to receive the website treatment. Given I have quietly approached 100 articles, F-117A with it's stealthy 99 mission (plus 1 training mission) pilot career seems the ideal sim for this 100th article. One of my first setup guides was for the Mac version of F-117A, so I've finally gotten around to the PC version, nearly 100 articles later! The second place choice was for a surprise article, so for the 101st article, we'll cover something completely new and different! This article will be a discussion of running the PC version of the 1991 MicroProse classic, F-117A Nighthawk Stealth Fighter 2.0 in DOSBox Staging v0.82.0. It will cover the versions and suggested patches for retail and digital releases on modern or legacy hardware. There will also be a brief section covering enhancements. I'll be using a gog.com release of the game. Those interested in running the later Mac version should take a look at Running the Mac version of F-117A Nighthawk Stealth Fighter 2.0 with MAME . F-117A is the 'sequel' to, or redevelopment of, the earlier MicroProse sim F-19 Stealth Fighter. Featuring upgraded graphics (VGA version), a host of bug fixes and far less sensitivity to higher CPU speeds making it more compatible with later/faster hardware. HOTAS Config F-117A supports a single joystick, it does not support a throttle or rudder pedals. However, since I have a joystick, throttle and rudder pedals, I configured them as part of the virtual controller, even if they won't be used. This will make it easier for DOSBox to assign the correct virtual controller axes to the DOSBox joystick device axes. Configuring axes may not be required if your setup has 4 axes or less. 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 Game management I recommend using my DOSBox game management strategy. For a digital gog.com/Steam release the recommended game management folders are: conf - to store any DOSBox or HOTAS configuration files. docs - to store any additional docs not provided by the digital release. patches - to store any patches. Given the patches and enhancements discussed later, you may wish to copy the game files from your gog or Steam installation folder into a new hdd folder, to preserve the gog/Steam installation and use this hdd folder in DOSBox Staging instead. For a retail release the above folders will be required and additionally: cd - to store any cd images ripped from a retail cd. fdd - to store any floppy images ripped from retails floppy disks. hdd - the DOSBox emulated hard disk folder, to install the game to. DOSBox Staging config This DOSBox Staging config for F-117A assumes the latest version (at time of writing), v0.82.0 will be used. The changes to the default config are shown below: [sdl] host_rate = vrr vsync = off presentation_mode = vfr [cpu] cpu_cycles = 12000 cpu_cycles_protected = auto cycleup = 100 cycledown = 100 [voodoo] voodoo = false [mixer] reverb = medium chorus = normal [midi] mididevice = mt32 [mt32] romdir = "D:\Midi\Versioned" [joystick] joysticktype = 4axis timed = true swap34 = false deadzone = 0 [autoexec] # retail release # imgmount a "D:\Games\Dos\F-117A\fdd\*.img" -t floppy -ro # imgmount d "D:\Games\Dos\F-117A\cd\*.iso" -t cdrom # mount c "D:\Games\Dos\F-117A\hdd" # c: # keyb us # cd mps # call f117.bat # exit # gog.com digital release mount C "D:\Program Files (x86)\GOG Galaxy\Games\F-117A" mount C "D:\Program Files (x86)\GOG Galaxy\Games\F-117A\cloud_saves" -t overlay c: keyb us f117.com exit We don't use high frame rate settings as the intro runs at a painfully slow pace. Instead the [sdl] settings are appropriate for a variable refresh rate monitor. If you don't have such a monitor the settings can be left at their default values. In [cpu] settings, 12000 cycles seems appropriate for my setup, however you may need to tweak this setting to find an optimum speed for your setup, so 12000 cycles is a good starting point. The cpu_cycles_protected setting will use the same cycle count as cpu_cycles when set to auto. Voodoo emulation isn't required and can be disabled. The [mixer] settings can be changed to enhance sound and music to personal preference. The [midi] and [mt32] settings enable high quality Roland midi music. The model value, auto, will default to a CM32L device. F-117A supports a CM32L device, so the model can be left as default. The midi roms folder is described in the DOSBox midi article. The [joystick] settings are appropriate for my HOTAS setup so you may need to alter these. The timed setting must be set to true for my HOTAS. The deadzone setting is a personal preference. If you only have a joystick this could be changed to a 2axis device. The [autoexec] has example imgmount commands for the floppy images which may be needed for a retail edition. As there are multiple floppy images the imgmount command uses the '*' wildcard. There is also an example cd imgmount command if you have a cd retail copy ripped to a cd image and a mount command for the emulated hard disk folder. The retail imgmount/mount commands make use of a folder structure described in my DOSBox game management article. The keyboard is set to a US keyboard with the keyb us command to prevent incompatibilities that may exist with other countries keyboards. The retail release settings change to the MPS folder, created by the retail installer, if the default installation folder is used, and calls the batch file to run the game. As a gog.com digital edition is being used, the mount command refers to the installation folder under the gog.com Galaxy client. gog.com releases often provide a facility to save your game in the cloud, it does this by providing an overlay mount in the GOG DOSBox config. I've recreated this mount in the DOSBox Staging config. I'm not 100% sure if it works correctly (it seems to), so please be aware and don't rely on it! The gog digital release runs the game from the mounted c: drive folder. EGA edition The following changes should be made to the above config for the EGA edition: [dosbox] machine = ega [render] glshader = crt-auto-machine [cpu] cputype = 386_prefetch cpu_cycles = 8000 [autoexec] mount C "D:\Games\Dos\F-117A\hdd-ega" keyb us c: cd f117 f117 exit 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 are similar to those used for the EGA edition of Gunship 2000. The default core setting of auto will use a normal core, allowing the 386_prefetch cputype to be used. I used a different folder for the EGA edition and the autoexec mount command reflects that. Editions and versions EGA edition F-117A is available as an EGA graphics edition and a VGA graphics edition. The EGA edition has been recently rediscovered and is available, although cannot be purchased digitally at present. The VGA version is far more common with retail editions being available on marketplaces and also available digitally through the gog.com and Steam platforms. VGA versions Like many earlier MicroProse titles the version number starts with a MicroProse product code, for F-117A this is 473. The following versions are known to exist: v473.01 was the initial retail release version. v473.02 was a later retail release, it is not known what bug fixes or enhancements are included in this release. v473.03 was a later release including the addition of digitized speech. cleaned up graphics in opening screens and bug fixes. In addition the readme file listed some previously undocumented commands. This version was also available as a patch. v473.04 was the final release. This version corrects the stealth mountains, no-credit for cargo drops, and all other reported problems. This version is available as a patch. EGA versions The EGA edition used a slightly different product code 1473. Only a single version is known to exist v1473.01 . Installation Digital releases should be installed using the appropriate gog.com offline installer, Galaxy client or Steam client. Installation should be straight-forward and complete successfully. gog.com digital release The gog.com digital release was updated on 28 October 2015 to include a missing climbin.pic file. Verifying the game files did not add this file, and the game had to be uninstalled and reinstalled before it appeared. If you are missing this file and midway through a pilot career you may wish to backup the roster.fil file before uninstalling and reinstalling the game. Retail releases I recommend ripping the installation media (cd or floppy) to cd/floppy images to save wear and tear on disks and drives. The media is already very old and may eventually fail due to aging. The game should be installed through DOSBox using the installer app present on the first floppy disk or cd and should complete without issue. Patches The following is a list of patches and the applicable versions they can be applied to. All patches are present in an archive of the MicroProse FTP site held at the Internet Archive . Version 3 update (f11703.zip) The version 3 patch upgrades earlier versions to v473.03. It should only be applied to earlier versions. Digital releases do not require this patch. It adds digitized speech. cleaned up graphics in opening screens and bug fixes. In addition the readme file lists some previously undocumented commands. This version is a cumulative patch applied using an update utility so must be run from within DOSBox or on legacy hardware. it is not applicable to the EGA edition. Version 4 update (f11704.zip) This is also known as the 'Version 3 to version 4 update' and must be applied to v473.03. This patch upgrades v473.03 to v473.04. According to patch notes: This version corrects the stealth mountains, no-credit for cargo drops, and all other reported problems. This is a file replacement patch replacing the vgame.exe file. It can be extracted in Windows and copied into the appropriate installation folder. This replacement file is identical in size to the gog.com digital release vgame.exe file so may already be patched, but can be applied again. It's not known if it is applicable to the Steam digital release. Note : The setup menu will continue to show the version as v473.03. This is not applicable to the EGA edition, which uses an egame.exe file, instead of a vgame.exe file. Interrupt settings patch From the patch notes: Because the new driver was a retrofit, we had to settle for using the factory default interrupt setting (IRQ 7). A small percentage of users have changed the interrupt setting on their cards because of interrupt conflicts in their computers. These drivers allow for use on interrupts 2,3,5 and 6. This patch should not be used if the game is running under DOSBox emulation. It is only applicable to those running the game on legacy hardware that cannot use IRQ 7. This is a file replacement patch, replacing the asound.117 file with an alternative file using the appropriate IRQ setting. There is a version of this patch for the VGA edition ( a117irqv.zip ) and one for the EGA edition ( a117irqe.zip ). An earlier version of this patch for the VGA edition ( asndirqv.zip ) contained replacement files to use interrupts 3 or 5. Although this file is still listed, it no longer exists in the FTP archive having been superseded. Fast 486 Sound Driver Updates (486snd.zip) This is a set of replacement Adlib drivers for some earlier MicroProse games including F-117A. There are replacements for both the asound.117 and asound.log files. From the patch notes: The AdLib drivers (for AdLib, Sound Blaster, Pro Audio Spectrum, Covox and compatibles) of some of our older games have had problems with newer fast computers, especially 486/66s. This file contains a number of updated sound drivers that should work fine on all fast machines. The gog.com release uses files of a smaller size and this patch was released two years after the last version update patch, so this is a recommended patch. It is not known if it is needed by the Steam release, so files sizes/dates should be examined. It is not known if this patch is compatible with alternate sound card interrupt settings (see Interrupt settings patch ).. Enhancements There is an enhancement you may wish to try out but it is only applicable to the VGA edition. Secret airstrip mission fix The secret airstrip missions in Libya and North Cape theaters were disabled in the released games. In fact the F-19 Stealth Fighter manual discusses the location of secret airstrips in these theaters. In the later F-117A manual the references to these secret airstrips are removed, but they still exist in game. The game has been analysed by debugcom and a GitHub page created detailing the investigation into the secret airstrip missions. It's amazing work and well worth a read. The result of the investigation were changes required to three files to restore these missions. So a huge thank you to debugcom for his hard work! Fortunately we don't have to go changing hex values in binary files to get this to work because @damsonn has already done it for us and provided a Steam guide with a link to download the adjusted files! So another thank you to @damsonn for making things easier! For those interested in the F-19 Stealth Fighter secret airstrip fixes there is a download in the earlier ' F-19 Stealth Fighter: North Cape secret airstrip fixed? ' article. The fix was made to v473.03 files. It should be compatible with v473.04 as this update only replaced the vgame.exe file and the secret airstrip fix changes the following files: start.exe lb.wld nc.wld This is not applicable to the EGA edition, as the start.exe file is a completely different size. Secret airstrip mission briefing v473.04 Flying a secret sirstrip mission v473.04 Game setup Version 473.04 will continue to show 473.03 Each time F-117A is started you'll go through a setup menu which asks if you have a joystick and if so you'll to asked to calibrate it. You are then be asked to select a sound/music option. The DOSBox Staging config allows you to select either Adlib (Soundblaster compatible) or Roland options. The choice is left as a personal preference. The setup menu also shows the version number, the version 4 update does not change this version number, so it continues to show v473.03. Documentation Manual The gog.com digital release includes: The manual. The keyboard reference. The aircraft id chart. In addition there are various avatar, wallpapers, etc. The retail releases include a technical reference document but this doesn't provides any additional information for a digital release. The Steam release provides the manual, but it isn't clear what additional documents are also available. Maps Steam user LILEVO has kindly provided the theater maps in a Steam guide . The Libya, Persian Gulf, North Cape and Central Europe maps from F-19 Stealth Fighter are also applicable to F-117A. F-19 Stealth Fighter Libya ONC map Good hunting!
- MiG Alley: Running in PCem
A guide to setting up the Rowan flight sim MiG Alley in the PCem emulator. MiG Alley can be a tricky sim to get running natively in WIndows 10, and in many cases switching to PCem has provided an alternative solution. So I've supplemented my previous MiG Alley setup guide with this one. It will cover running running MiG Alley in Windows 98 SE within the PCem emulator and setting up HOTAS controllers, if required. It's recommended you take a look at the previous ' MiG Alley: Running in Windows 10 ' guide for background info and links to patches. Versions This guide assumes the use of the latest version of PCem v17, at time of writing. Either v1.0 or v1.1 cd retail versions of MiG Alley should be suitable. 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 . The only change I'd make to Phil's advice may be MiG Alley specific. Using the SB PCI 128 sound card in the emulated machine, resulted in terrible audio crackling when flying a mission. Instead I'd recommend switching to the AWE32 or SB16 soundcards, once I switched to the AWE32 the crackling disappeared. Obviously you'll need different sound card drivers once you switch and the ' Creative Sound Blaster sound card driver download links ' thread in the PCem forum provides a handy collection. Base game installation To install run up the emulated machine in PCem. I normally rip my cd's to a cd image to save wear and tear on disc and drive and just use the cd image, although PCem supports using your physical drive so either method can be used. Installation was as easy as installing on period correct legacy hardware. No issues encountered at all. 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 files you need into it. Windows 98 doesn't have built in zip file support so unzip in modern Windows before copying into the mounted hard disk image. You'll need to install the latest official patch and Battle of Britain / MiG Alley Development Group (BDG) patches in the following order: Latest official patch v1.23 BDG v0.85F (Bug fixes, QoL improvements, TrackIR support) BDG v0.85F2 (Specific Windows 98/ME updates to BDG v0.85F) All patches installed very easily, no issues at all. You should now have a fully installed, patched and working copy of MiG Alley running in Windows 98 under PCem! HOTAS setup These axes were correctly set automatically 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. All that remains is to open up the MiG Alley Preferences Controls menu and assign axes to your Windows 98 controller. If MiG Alley detects the Windows 98 controller, it takes a pretty good guess at automatically setting axes to flight controls. In this screenshot the assignments were all set automatically, I didn't have to change anything! Good hunting!
- M1 Tank Platoon: Getting the DOSBox hull down
The classic M1 Tank Platoon This is my guide to getting M1 Tank Platoon (M1TP) running under DOSBox Staging. Before beginning it's worth noting that getting M1 Tank Platoon running in DOSBox takes quite the effort, there are a lot of mis-steps that are easy to make, it's far too easy to get the patching wrong or miss DOSBox configuration settings and break the installation or fall foul of the copy protection. Hopefully this guide will help you avoid these pitfalls and get a working installation running under DOSBox Staging. Importance of versions Setup options and version number It's vitally important to know which version of M1TP you have as it will determine the patches you need to apply. Unfortunately you may not know this until until you either change some obscure DOSBox options and run it in a vanilla state or apply the Pentium update patch before you run it! The version is shown on the setup options screen as shown. There are two versions you're like likely to come across the initial release version v449.01 and a later v449.02 . I believe v449.02 includes the Firing patch, Adlib patch and Roland patch. Version 449.02 is the preferred version as it requires less patching. All the releases encountered so far, have been distributed by floppy disk image. They may be distributed as either 2 x 720k 3.5" disk images or 3 x 360k 5.25" disk images, but there may be others. I actually have the big box game but still use floppy disk images to save wear and tear on the disks. Game folders I use my DOSBox game folder scheme described in DOSBox game management . So in my case I have a D:\games\dos\M1 Tank Platoon folder with the following sub folders: conf (DOSBox Staging configuration file). docs (manuals, other docs, etc.) fdd (floppy disk drive, for the floppy images) hdd (hard disk drive, folder used by DOSBox to emulate a C: drive) patches (folder to keep the zipped patches) images (folder to keep the zipped floppy images) A cd folder isn't required as we won't be using a cd image. As I was testing both versions I used fdd and hdd for v449.01 and fdd2 and hdd2 for v449.02, but you'll only need a single fdd and hdd folder. Command line options M1TP supports a number of command line options. The following is taken from the technical supplement: /J Joystick will be used /NJ No Joystick is used /GE Graphics are EGA 16-color /GM Graphics are MCGA or VGA 256-color /GC Graphics are CGA 4-color /GT Graphics are Tandy 1000 16-color /GH Graphics are Hercules monochrome /AI Audio (sound) is IBM (emulated PC speaker) /AT Audio (sound) is Tandy 1000 /AA Audio (sound) is AdLib (emulated Soundblaster) /AN Audio (sound) is off (No sounds) /D0 Detail level is low /D1 Detail level is high /O Options are the same as last game (see below) /T Title screens are disabled (see below) Note, v449.02 has the Roland sound driver, but there is no command line option for it. The v449.01 version has the Roland sound driver added by patch (see Patching versions below). The /O and /T options are best described by the technical supplement: Options Repeat (/O): Every time you start the simulation saves a file titled “OPTS” that records your parameters (including joystick information). The /O parameter reads those saved parameters from the OPTS file. The option doesn’t work the first time, or when loading from an original disk. Title Screens (/T): This option parameter disables the title sequence and music. Initially you must use it with /O; that is, “TANK /O /T”. Thereafter it becomes part of the options repeat (/O) parameter. If you haven't played for a little while, you may wish to skip 'Options Repeat' if you wish to recalibrate your joystick. DOSBox Staging setup The DOSBox Staging video and rendering setup defaults provide a solid set of options that don't need to be tweaked for a really good gaming experience. You may find the 'out of the box' settings never need to be changed. Running vanilla versions (not recommended) If you wish to discover the version of M1TP you have, it's recommended to install M1TP then apply the Pentium update patch before running. It's not recommended to use the settings described below. If you are dead-set on the vanilla experience then there are some additional DOSBox settings to be aware of that normally aren't used. CPU setup M1TP is one of the few games to require the use of the 386_prefetch CPU type. Failure to select this option for a vanilla install will result in the game hanging. As we have to use the 386_prefetch CPU we must also use the normal core as it is the only core which supports this. Both of these options are in the cpu section of the config. [dosbox] setup I have a suspicion that the copy protection employed by M1TP will result in the TANK.COM executable writing data back to itself. DOSBox will detect this and generate a 'Corrupt MCB chain' error before terminating. To avoid this in the dosbox section of the config, the mcb_fault_strategy must be set to allow . Example config An example config suitable for running a vanilla M1TP installation has these additional config settings: [dosbox] mcb_fault_strategy = allow [cpu] core = normal cputype = 386_prefetch CPU setup This is my subjective opinion so your experiences may differ. The CPU settings are often overlooked and get left on auto, I know I normally did but I've recently discovered that the CPU settings may affect the gaming experience. In short, I think the simple core may be underused (but optimised) for older games not requiring protected mode, M1TP being one such game. If you have problems with the simple core, you can always switch back to an auto or normal core. You may wish to increase CPU cycles and control speed through the battle speed gameplay option (see Running below). Midi setup For a discussion on midi setup see DOSBox midi . For DOSBox Staging the versioned MT-32 roms are used. M1TP v449.01 with the Roland patch or v449.02 work well with the CM32L and MT32 new roms, so leaving the MT32 model , (in the mt32 section) as auto will default to CM32L roms. Controller Setup For an in-depth look at modern HOTAS controller configuration for retro flight sims, take a look at my series of posts, Controllers and retro sims . M1TP only uses 2 controller axes, the joystick x-axis and y-axis. No throttle or rudder axis is needed. Those with a HOTAS with an integrated throttle/rudder axes should be fine. I didn't need a TARGET profile to use my joystick, the game calibration found it and it doesn't make much sense to have a throttle or rudder axis for this sim. My example config This is my example config with the changes/options most likely to change from the DOSBox Staging default. [sdl] fullscreen = false fullresolution = desktop windowresolution = default viewport_resolution = fit [render] aspect = true glshader = crt-auto integer_scaling = vertical [cpu] core = simple cputype = auto cycles = fixed 3000 cycleup = 100 cycledown = 100 [midi] mididevice = mt32 [mt32] model = auto romdir = "D:\Midi\Versioned" # your dir may differ [joystick] joysticktype = 4axis timed = true deadzone = 0 # my preference [autoexec] # v449.01 # imgmount a "D:\Games\Dos\M1 Tank Platoon\fdd\disk1.img" "D:\Games\Dos\M1 Tank Platoon\fdd\disk2.img" "D:\Games\Dos\M1 Tank Platoon\fdd\disk3.img" -t floppy -ro # mount c "D:\Games\Dos\M1 Tank Platoon\hdd" # v449.02 imgmount a "D:\Games\Dos\M1 Tank Platoon\fdd2\disk1.img" "D:\Games\Dos\M1 Tank Platoon\fdd2\disk2.img" -t floppy -ro mount c "D:\Games\Dos\M1 Tank Platoon\hdd2" c: # call tank.bat call m1tpmenu.bat Installation Installation is straightforward, locate the INSTALL.EXE utility on the first disk and run it. Specify the C: drive and installation will begin. If you are using multiple floppy images, the install utility will ask you to switch disks. In DOSBox Staging will switch to the next disk in the imgmount list. Patching versions All patches were originally on the MicroProse FTP site, now no longer available on the internet. An archived version of ftp.microprose.com exists at the Internet Archive which is where these patches were sourced from. Recommended v449.01 patches: Pentium update patch Firing patch Adlib patch Roland patch Recommended v449.02 patches: Pentium update patch Pentium update patch (P5UPD.ZIP) This patch is strongly recommended for both v449.01 and v449.02. It provides compatibility fixes for Pentium class machines. It also seems to remove copy protection from M1TP. Once this patch is installed it should be easier to run in DOSBox. Firing patch (M1FIRE.ZIP) This patch is recommended for v449.01 and will break v449.02 by generating a request to supply the key disk. From the MicroProse FTP archive: This is a Zip File containing a fix for the continuous firing encountered with Version .01 on certain clones. Unzip and copy the file to your TANK Directory. Adlib patch (486SND.ZIP) This patch is recommended for v449.01 only. It may work on v449.02 but it will corrupt the Adlib menu option on the setup audio menu. I believe this may already be integrated into v449.02, judging from the file timestamps on v449.02 and the patch contents. From the patch README.TXT: The AdLib drivers (for AdLib, Sound Blaster, Pro Audio Spectrum, Covox and compatibles) of some of our older games have had problems with newer fast computers, especially 486/66s. This file contains a number of updated sound drivers that should work fine on all fast machines. Roland patch (MPSROL.ZIP) Option 1 would enable Roland sound This patch is recommended for v449.01 and isn't required for v449.02, having the Roland sound driver already built in. From the MicroProse FTP archive: This file contains Roland MT-32/LAPC-1/CM-32L drivers for the following older MPS games: F19 Stealth Fighter, F15 Strike Eagle II, Red Storm Rising, Knights of the Sky, Lightspeed, M1 Tank Platoon. See the readme file in the zip for installation info. To install this patch on v449.01 you must replace an existing sound driver, so the RSOUND.TNK file must be renamed to either ASOUND.TNK, ISOUND.TNK, NSOUND.TNK or TSOUND.TNK. My recommendation would be to replace either the ISOUND (IBM PC speaker) or TSOUND (Tandy) driver. You would then select the option replaced by the Roland sound driver in the M1TP setup menu. 'No key disk' patches (M1NOKEY.ZIP and MPSKEY.ZIP) These patches are not recommended, preference given instead to the Pentium update patch. However if you are dead-set on a vanilla experience or aim to run M1TP on period correct hardware you may wish to use them. MPSKEY.ZIP contains multiple patches for a variety of MicroProse sims including M1TP while M1NOKEY.ZIP is a patch for M1TP only. Enhancements The Desert scenery patch came from an archived version of ftp.microprose.com at the Internet Archive . Desert scenery (M1DESERT.ZIP) This patch allows you to choose between Europe and desert scenery. It is compatible with both version v449.01 and v449.02. From the MicroProse FTP archive: This is a Zip File containing the files required to change the VGA Color Palette of M1 from Europe to Desert. Unzip the files to the TANK Directory and Type "Runme". This is an optional patch, which is down to personal preference. Start-up menu m1tpmenu.bat I've created a start-up menu, very heavily influenced (if not downright copied in places!) by the work damson did for F-19 Stealth Fighter. It provides options for choosing the Europe/Desert scenery, running M1TP, running with existing options, running with existing options and skipping the intro, backup and restore of the roster. Usage: Unzip into the TANK installation folder and run M1TPMENU.BAT Documents M1TP has an extensive manual and you need this to play effectively. The technical supplement provides a useful summary of options and commands. They are available online but probably require a bit of work to hunt down. I keep these docs in my D:\games\dos\M1 Tank Platoon\docs folder and then place a shortcut to this docs folder on my desktop when playing. That way if I need to consult any docs, I can pause M1TP, switch from fullscreen to window, open the docs folder shortcut and check out any docs without having to hunt around for them. Running Battle Speed You may wish to experiment with increasing cycles while employing the battle speed option to slow gameplay. However, adjusting cycles while using a joystick will negatively affect the joystick calibration. The battle speed is best described by the Technical Supplement: M1 Tank Platoon has five internal speeds, from Level 0 to Level 4. From your standpoint as a player, lower levels accelerate the game, while higher levels slow things down. When you toggle in and out of accelerated time (“Alt a”) the speed level is displayed. Accelerated time goes to the next lower Level than normal time. However, on 8086 and 8088 machines where Level 0 is “normal” time, accelerated time has no effect (because there’s no Level -1). You can manually adjust the speed Level using the Insert key. On some machines you may find the simulation runs too fast. If so, use this key to change the speed to the next higher Level, which slows things down. You can return to the standard Levels by toggling Alt a between normal and accelerated speed, ending up with the normal speed setting once more. Finally Hopefully you have setup DOSBox Staging, installed and patched M1TP and it's working. If not check the steps you went through in this guide, it's easy to miss a step or mis-configure something. Remember the patches are very version specific so only use the patches recommended for your version. Good Hunting!
- TM TARGET scripting: Easy trimming
TARGET Script Editor I recently received an email from a fellow flight sim fan, Kurt Käferböck, who wanted to share his Thrustmaster TARGET script for easy trimming. So, in what may be the first in a new category of scripting articles, I present Kurt's script and his description (with a little bit of editing and formatting from me).. So a huge thank you to Kurt for kindly sharing his script and allowing it to be published here! I wanted to create two buttons within the TARGET script with which I can access two different rudder curves. I probably wouldn't have thought that I could solve the problem with Thrustmaster's centering software. My code getting real trimming easily by TARGET script. With this script you get realistic timing. Click the first mapped button and move the joystick or yoke to the middle position. That's it. The aircraft is trimmed. The yoke remains in this position as in reality; to reset the trim completely, simply click the second mapped button. This will lift the trim again and move it to the central position. This trim can even stay in when the autopilot on the Comanche 250 from A2A Simulations is activated; with other autopilots you would have to test it out or use the second mapped button before switching it on to bring it to the starting position and at the same time manually compensate with the MSFS trim or simply switch on the autopilot and let the trim slowly move towards 0 automatically using the function shown in the script. The time for this can be set in the script function. Add into the Main function: MapKey(&TCAYokeBoeing, Y_BTN1, EXEC("TrimElevator();")); MapKey(&TCAYokeBoeing, Y_BTN12, EXEC("TrimCenter();")); int TrimElevator() { LockAxis(&TCAYokeBoeing, DX_Y_AXIS, 1); Sleep(2000); // Time to center the Joystick TrimDXAxis(DX_Y_AXIS,CURRENT); LockAxis(&TCAYokeBoeing, DX_Y_AXIS, 0); } // Centers the Y axis slowly int TrimCenter() { int curValue = Axis[DX_Y_AXIS].trim; printf("curValue = %d", curValue); if(curValue > 0) { while(curValue > 0) { curValue = Axis[DX_Y_AXIS].trim; TrimDXAxis(DX_Y_AXIS, - 10); Sleep(100); } TrimDXAxis(DX_Y_AXIS, SET(0)); } else { while(curValue < 0) { curValue = Axis[DX_Y_AXIS].trim; TrimDXAxis(DX_Y_AXIS, + 10); Sleep(200); } TrimDXAxis(DX_Y_AXIS, SET(0)); } } Thrustmaster TARGET This is a brief description of the Thrustmaster TARGET profiling/scripting software and where to find it. Described by Thrustmaster as 'advanced programming software', in Thrustmaster's own words: T.A.R.G.E.T. (Thrustmaster Advanced pRogramming Graphical EdiTor) is a software program used to configure and customize Thrustmaster flight simulation game peripherals (joysticks, yokes, throttles and rudder pedals). The TARGET software can be found on the Thrustmaster support website. When you go to any of the current joystick, yoke or throttle support pages, there are download links to the TARGET software (this one is from the Warthog page). Good trimming!
- Independence War: Running in Windows 10
A setup guide for running Independence War (also known as I-War) under Windows 10. Independence War is a Newtonian lite, six degrees of freedom space sim produced by the developer Particle Systems, who also made the sequel Independence War 2: Edge of Chaos and the futuristic sub sim Subwar 2050. Versions The preferred modern version is the GOG version. Installation is straightforward, using the GOG installer. The CD retail version can be installed on Windows 10. Instructions can be found on PC Gaming Wiki . Once installed the latest v1.24 patch should be applied (it replaces earlier patches), it can be found on the i-war2.com fansite, in the patches section. Running with nGlide A version of nGlide is included with the both the GOG and Steam versions, however it is the earlier v1.03. The latest version of nGlide, at present, is v2.10. Disabling the bundled version Move the following files from the installation folder, into a sub-folder eg. old_nglide 3DfxSpl.dll 3DfxSpl2.dll 3DfxSpl3.dll glide.dll glide2x.dll glide3x.dll nglide_config.exe nglide_readme.txt nGlideEULA.txt These can always be copied back if you wish to use the bundled version of nGlide. Using a later version The latest version of nGlide can be found at zeus-software.com . The installer will install nGlide making it the default glide wrapper. Alternatively the executable installer can be opened in 7zip and the above files copied into the Independence War installation folder. There is no separate .ini config file. The nGlide configurator will apply changes to the relevant nGlide .dll file. With the nGlide configurator check the following settings: The screen resolution should be set appropriately for your monitor/resolution. The aspect ratio should be 4:3 otherwise the game looks too stretched (although this is personal preference). The refresh rate should be 'by app' (which should be 30Hz) the game will behave erratically at 60hz (PBC will cause no damage, ship overheating, etc). You may wish to turn on the 3Dfx logo splash screen, to check nGlide is being used, and turn it off later. Running with dgVoodoo2 Disable the bundled version of nGlide as described above. Download the latest version of dgVoodoo2 and extract the files to a folder. Copy the following files to the Independence War installation. dgVoodoo.conf dgVoodooCpl.exe /3Dfx/x86/Glide.dll /3Dfx/x86/Glide2x.dll /3Dfx/x86/Glide3x.dll There is a choice of x64, x86 or arm64 folders under the 3Dfx folder. Choose the x86 folder for Glide. Note: only copy the files to the Independence War installation folder, don't copy the 3Dfx folder or sub-folders. The settings I use are shown in the images below. Of particular note are: Enumerate refresh rates is set. Stretched, 4:3 Aspect ratio. Voodoo 2 (8MB/12MB, 2 TMUs) Resolution is 2880x2160, 30Hz. 2160 corresponds to the height resolution of my monitor with a width, 2880 matching a 4:3 aspect ratio. 30Hz was explicitly set as this is needed by the game. 60Hz causes erratic game behaviour. You may need to set a different resolution. You may wish to set '3Dfx Watermark' or '3Dfx Splash screen' options to check dgVoodoo2 is being used, then turn them off later. dgVoodoo2 General settings dgVoodoo2 Glide settings Command line options You will need to create an Independence War shortcut or add another GOG Galaxy executable. The default GOG executable runs iwar_start.exe which runs the intro movie and then the game, but doesn't support the command line options needed to enable Glide. The new executable should be IWar.exe which doesn't play the intro movie but does support the Glide command line options. -b -16 # to enable Glide -800x600 # higher resolution Glide output (Voodoo 2 only) For example (in my case) the shortcut 'Target' would be: "D:\Program Files (x86)\GOG Galaxy\Games\Independence War Deluxe\IWar.exe" -b -16 -800x600 HOTAS setup As a Windows game, the HOTAS controllers defined in Windows should be available to use. However you may want to edit axis or button assignments with either the manufacturers software, eg. TM TARGET or Joystick Gremlin (if you own hardware from 1 or more different suppliers). Axes The joystick y-axis is mapped to pitch up/down in game (intuitive). The joystick x-axis is mapped to yaw left/right in game (intuitive) although this can be toggled to roll, in game (intuitive). The throttle z-axis is mapped to thrust forward/reverse by default in game but will switch to a lateral thrust mode if the throttle exceeds max forward/reverse. This is unintuitive and makes flight more difficult. If the throttle z-axis is disabled the next available axis becomes thrust forward/reverse (unintuitive). Therefore I keep the default x/y axes unchanged. I changed the z-axis to be disabled. Forward/reverse are mapped to a throttle hat forward/reverse positions. Thrust override forward/reverse are mapped to a throttle hat up/down position. Rudder pedals are axis-mapped to roll left/right keys with a centre dead-zone.. In summary: Joystick x-axis, x-axis, yaw left/right (default). Joystick y-axis, y-axis, pitch up/down (default). Throttle hat forward, button, thrust forward (configured). Throttle hat back, button, thrust reverse (configured). Throttle hat up, button, thrust override forward (configured). Throttle hat down, button, thrust override reverse (configured). Rudder pedals, axis-mapped to roll keys, roll left/right (configured). Update : Currently experimenting with the following TM Warthog setup: Joystick x-axis, x-axis, yaw left/right (default). Joystick y-axis, y-axis, pitch up/down (default). Rudder pedals, axis-mapped to roll keys, roll left/right (configured). Throttle hat forward (with toggle out), button, thrust forward (configured). Throttle hat back (with toggle out), button, thrust reverse (configured). Throttle hat forward (with toggle in), button, thrust override forward (configured). Throttle hat back (with toggle in), button, thrust override reverse (configured). Joystick hat up (with toggle out), lateral thrust up (configured, due to toggle). Joystick hat down (with toggle out), lateral thrust down (configured, due to toggle). Joystick hat left (with toggle out), lateral thrust left (configured, due to toggle). Joystick hat right (with toggle out), lateral thrust right (configured, due to toggle). The joystick hat can be configured in game as the lateral thrust control, but it is configured through software, so as to allow the hat, with the toggle switch in, to control the power management through the TRI controls. References I-War (Independence War) Full Campaign 4K (with remastered intro) - Daimo - dgVoodoo2 settings.
- The Elite series: And now, Oolite
This article will be taking a look at Oolite, an Elite for the modern day. This article will be less instructional and more of a primer, covering my own experiences with Oolite. This article covers my second experience with Oolite, the first being back in 2014 and despite showing promise, it just didn't 'click' initially. It looked and felt too much like earlier versions of Elite and it left me with a feeling of 'been there and done it'. Fast forward to 2022 and the continued development of the base game and expansions resulted in completely different experience. With a Dangerous styled HUD and various graphics enhancements, I started playing a fairly 'vanilla' gaming experience. As time went on I experimented with a number of expansions, some came and went, but many more stayed adding to the Oolite universe. Today I've logged 500 hours in Oolite and the following explains why... Oolite: A primer In this first section, we'll take a look at some brief background, what is it is today and some of the major features that set it apart from other space sims. What is it? It wouldn't be Elite without a Cobra MkIII spinning on the title page! I'd describe it as Elite for the modern day and modern PC, or Elite for the 21st century. The Oolite website describes it as 'an open-world space opera'. While Wikipedia says the following, a free and open source 3D space trading and combat simulator "in the spirit of" Elite, a similar game published in the 1980s. All these are true, but barely scratch the surface of what Oolite provides. It's definitely the spiritual successor of the original 8-bit classic and the PC version, Elite Plus. Set in a universe that draws heavily from the originals and enhanced with the lore of the manuals and ' The Dark Wheel ' novella. If you're a game developer trying to write the next critically acclaimed space trading and combat sim, Oolite is what makes you feel nervous or downright worried! Controller support Comprehensive native controller support With any sim, immersion is important and the controllers used form an important part of that immersion. The controller support provided by Oolite is, in a word, excellent. There is native controller support, so if Windows can see your controllers, so can Oolite. Not only can you assign axes and each button individually but Oolite supports editing axes profiles! My TM Target profiling software doesn't get used in this game. Expansions A mere 776 expansion packs are available immediately in-game! The Oolite website states: one of the most important aspects of Oolite is customisation. In my opinion that's a huge understatement! At time of writing there are 776 expansion packs using the newer expansion OXZ format available through the in-game expansion manager. If the older OXP format is included (still valid for the latest release version, but installed manually) that figure rises to 1000+. Game changing, literally The sheer amount of customisation is incredible. In fact there are so many expansions they have to be grouped into various categories including: Activities Ambience Cheats Dockables (locations you dock at) Equipment HUDs Mechanics Miscellaneous Missions Retextures Ships (addition ships) Systems (changes to planetary systems) Weapons Want some serious eye-candy graphics, there are lots of expansions for that. Things a little too quiet on those long trade routes, install a space radio, with a large number of radio stations playing different music styles. Steampunk HUD, yes that's possible. A greater variety of ships and stations, yes. Military missions, it has you covered. Trading and courier navigation planning and assistance, again yes. Want to take a break and kick back with a good book, take a look at the ship's library. I could go on but you get the idea and I've barely scratched the surface! But what really sets things apart is the ability to make changes in game anytime you are docked in station. Worried about losing progress, you don't have to be. The expansions are compatible with your existing saves, all that hard won progress will remain unaffected. Commander DarkenedRoom has been around a bit! This means you can experiment with expansions, you can try them out, save progress and then remove them later if you prefer. With 500 hours, I've added and removed my fair share of expansions, often at the same time, tempting fate, and the saves were never damaged! In fact after a couple of weeks you will probably have expanded the game to the point where it is unique for you, customised to your preferences. In fact I don't think it's too much of a stretch to suggest the entire player base may be playing a game that's unique for each player. I can't think of another game which can even come close to suggesting that! An evolving game Which brings me to my next point, the gaming experience can evolve with the player. Really not sure about how to begin, install a couple of expansions to assist the beginner player, once you're a bit more experienced you can remove them. One pretty looking Coriolis station Commander DarkenedRoom an old, grizzled commander, started out with fairly vanilla trader life. I concentrated on trading and getting my iron-ass. Started taking on courier and passenger transport jobs. Made a move away from the venerable Cobra MkIII to a Wolf MkII, the 'Elegant Reprisal'. Started taking on military work, joining up with naval task forces to repel Thargoid incursions. Saw the effects of a well placed Q-bomb first hand. Traversed the ranks and made it to an Elite combateer. And now I travel the galaxy exploring and taking courier jobs using the navigation upgrades to plan the best routes, to pay for it, with a side-line in bounty hunting. The future as ever is uncertain, pilots are getting better all the time and those pirates can provide a challenge now (there's an expansion for that). My last bounty hunting job involved chasing a mark across 3 systems before I managed to destroy his ship and scoop his escape pod (he was coming back alive)! When I started out I had maybe 20 or so graphical and HUD enhancements and now I have 153 currently installed, the game and play style have evolved together in step with each other resulting in an experience which is unique for me! That's why I think Oolite is as revolutionary today as the original Elite was 40 years ago. How I play This is an export from Oolite Starter of the expansions I'm currently using, I wouldn't suggest this set for new players, but as an xml document it can be opened in a text editor and you can see some of the expansions I'm using or import it into Oolite Starter. It's available below as a zip archive. Game information The following section contains information on obtaining, installing and upgrading Oolite. It will also cover the Oolite Starter tool to help you manage Oolite. Where to get it Oolite is available digitally from the Oolite website . Installation packages are available for Windows, Mac and Linux platforms on the ' Download ' page. The recommended version, for those new to Oolite, is the latest stable release version v1.90. Installation Installation is straightforward, installing like any other Windows game, by running the installer package. Installation should be equally easy on other platforms. Upgrades Flying past an Anaconda convoy near a GalCorp station Although v1.90 is the stable release recommended for most players, (of the 500 hours I've played approximately 60% was with v1.90) there are v1.91 pre-release versions frequently built. If you consider yourself experienced with Oolite and wish to try a pre-release build, please be aware that there may be serious bugs in some pre-release builds. My recommendation is to keep your v1.90 installation folder and add a new v1.91 installation folder. Previously, I would then copy expansions and saved games into the new v1.91 release folder, being careful to copy into the required sub-folders. This still remains a valid method of upgrading. All you have to do is just start using the Oolite v1.91. However with the development of the Oolite Starter tool, managing expansions and save games across multiple installations may have become easier. Pre-release v1.91 builds are available from the Oolite GitHub, linked from the Oolite website download page. Oolite Starter Described by the Oolite website as: Oolite Starter is a versatile, open-source tool that is designed to simplify the process of setting up and managing Oolite. Oolite Starter, manage those expansions in style It allows starting a game from saved game, managing expansions, has support for flavours (a collection of related expansions), and has support for multiple Oolite installations allowing easy switching between installations. Expansions can be exported and imported, so your expansions for v1.90 could be exported, a new v1.91 installation created, added to Oolite Starter and the expansion you were using imported for use with v1.91. The recommended version is the latest version, which is (at time of writing), OoliteStarter v0.1.33-innocuous.3. It is available from the Oolite Starter GitHub, linked from the Oolite website download page. Both quickstart and detailed documentation is available on the Oolite Starter GitHub . Further information The first port of call for Oolite information should be the Oolite website , an excellent resource covering all aspects of the base game and also hosts a list of expansions. For new players there's the getting started guide , which ends with a list of more resources for the new player from the Oolite wiki. Then there is the Oolite wiki which forms part of the Elite wiki , quite the comprehensive Oolite reference. There are even guides to becoming an expansion developer! Forums Clearly a British run station with that level of queuing! No discussion of Oolite would be complete without mentioning the community. The people willing to help new players learn the intricacies of the game. The developers who have spent countless hours of work enhancing and the game and fixing bugs. And what seems like a huge army of expansion developers adding even more to the game on what seems like a daily basis! All can be found willing to give out helpful advice within the official Oolite forums . Finally... And finally a huge thank you to the developers of the base game and all those expansion developers and community members who have devoted time, energy and skill in making Oolite and the community what it is today! Truely an elite group!
- EF2000 Updated Part 1: A primer
This is the first in a series of articles about the Digital Image Design (DID) simulation EF2000, a simulation of the Eurofighter Typhoon. The simulation boasts an excellent dynamic campaign and fidelity such that DID was commissioned to create a TIALD simulator followed by flight simulators for the military and British Airways. An excellent sim that deserves to be enjoyed by older, current and future flight sim fans. However there have been a large number of releases of EF2000 and corresponding patches, so working out what you have (or want) and the patches required isn't straight forward without some research. These articles should help you navigate the various options you have, to play this sim on modern or legacy hardware. This first article covers the various retail releases and available patches. EF2000 How it used to look The original version of EF2000 was released in 1995 for DOS. Developed by Digital Image Design Ltd and published by Ocean Software Ltd. This can be considered v1.0 of EF2000, although when quitting the game a short message indicates it's v1.40 created by Col (possibly Colin Bell as he is credited in this version). The readme file is taken from the cd. To disambiguate it from other versions and releases, this will be referred to as EF2000: Original. There were 2 patches released for EF2000: Original, the v2.02 patch and the v2.04 patch. v2.02 patch The v2.02 patch was also known as the EF2000 Midlife Upgrade 2.02. The changes are extensive and include enhancements to: AI controlled aircraft. Weapons and combat. Damage. Flight envelope. Campaign. Multiplayer. Keys and controls. JTID colour. The 'running-in' experience. Minor changes to other aspects of the simulation. Thrustmaster joystick changes. This patch only seems to have been released for the english language version of the game. It can be found at the Internet Archive . The readme file for this patch is identical to the v2.02 section in the v2.04 patch readme below. This isn't a recommended patch as it was superseded by the later v2.04 patch. v2.04 patch The v2.04 patch was the last patch released for EF2000: Original, available in two variants. It came as a file replacement patch to patch EF2000 Original from v2.02 to v2.04, replacing an executable file, for the english language versions only. This patch doesn't include any enhancements just bug fixes according to the readme file. There is also a v2.04 cumulative patch available in english, french and german variants. This patch includes the bug fixes and v2.02 enhancements. The cumulative patch should be the only one needed, applied to a clean install of EF2000: Original. Until the release of TACTCOM this was the defacto standard for EF2000. These patches are only recommended if you wish to play the original EF2000 without the TACTCOM upgrade or GFX+ patch. All language variants of these patches can be found at the Internet Archive . EF2000: TACTCOM The TACTical COMmunication (TACTCOM) upgrade was a commercial product released on a single cd in 1996, developed by DID and published again by Ocean. It was not a standalone product and required a copy of the original EF2000. The enhancements provided by TACTCOM included: A new brushed aluminum interface. New tactical maps. Mission planning. Difficulty, detail, and player rating changes. Enhanced situational awareness. Weapons and radar. Enhanced debrief. A2A mission editor and multiplayer. SmartView and other view enhancements. Connectability with modem, net play, and direct serial connection. v2.04 patch bug fixes and v2.02 patch enhancements. For an in depth review of TACTCOM check out this CombatSim review . The readme file is taken from the TACTCOM cd . There were two patches released for TACTCOM, a french/german only TACTCOM fix patch and the GFX+ upgrade patch. TACTCOM fix A patch for french and german language versions only, it fixed what DID described as 'the' modem problem, it was not required for english language versions. This patch can be found at the Internet Archive . GFX+ upgrade patch This is a 3d graphics upgrade patch for the DOS version of TACTCOM (and equivalent releases), it is not compatible with EF2000: Original or Super EF2000. It has two options for Verite Rendition and 3dfx Voodoo chipsets, adding hardware driven smoke and fog effects and anti-aliasing as well as more ground objects to the sim. This patch has english, french and german language variants and all of them can be found at the Internet Archive . With the release of the EF2000 Reloaded application, the 3dfx version of EF2000: Original with TACTCOM (or equivalent release) became the preferred version for modern hardware. EF2000: Evolution Released in 1996, EF2000: Evolution is a combined EF2000: Original and TACTCOM upgrade distributed as a two cd package for the DOS platform. Patches This version was released before either of the TACTCOM patches, but is compatible with both patches (see TACTCOM fix and GFX+ upgrade patch above). Super EF2000 Released in 1996 for European audiences only, Super EF2000 (also known as EF2000: Special Edition) is a redevelopment of DOS EF2000: Original with TACTCOM upgrade for the Windows 95 platform, distributed as a single package. The graphics/sound have been converted to use the DirectX libraries and the documentation has been converted into online Windows 95 help documents. Due to these changes this release is incompatible with the GFX+ Upgrade patch. Super EF2000 fix patch There is a single patch for the french/german versions only. It is a small file replacement patch with no associated readme so it isn't clear what this patch enhances or fixes. It can be found at the Internet Archive . EF2000 V2.0 The final release was EF2000 V2.0 in 1997 for the US only. It is a comprehensive release featuring four different versions of EF2000. It includes: EF2000 V2.0 for DOS (equivalent to EF2000 Original with TACTCOM upgrade or EF2000: Evolution). EF2000 V2.0 for 3DFX (equivalent to EF2000 Original with TACTCOM and 3DFX GFX+ upgrades or EF2000: Evolution with 3DFX GFX+ upgrade). EF2000 V2.0 for Rendition (equivalent to EF2000 Original with TACTCOM and Rendition GFX+ upgrades or EF2000: Evolution with Rendition GFX+ upgrade). EF2000 V2.0 for Windows 95 (equivalent to Super EF2000). There are no patches required for this release. EF2000 (BT Wireplay distribution) A version of EF2000 distributed on the BT wireplay service, a modem based multiplayer matchmaking and gaming service. It is believed this may have been a multiplayer only version of EF2000, distributed via the service. The BT wireplay service was sold off and shutdown in 2014, although EF2000 may have removed from the service at an earlier date. Due to the defunct nature of this release, it won't be considered any further. Installation & patching strategies This should not be considered a set of instructions, it is merely a strategy with a list of installation media and patches required to create a specific version. It should be used to obtain the required cds (and convert them into cd images if you prefer) and any patches required. The next article will discuss the process of installation and patching. EF2000: Original only: Install EF2000: Original from cd or cd image. Install v2.04 patch (using appropriate language). EF2000: Original and TACTCOM upgrade: Install EF2000: Original from cd or cd image. Install EF2000: TACTCOM upgrade from cd or image. EF2000: Original, TACTCOM upgrade and GFX+ patch: Install EF2000: Original from cd or cd image. Install EF2000: TACTCOM upgrade from cd or image. Install GFX+ patch (using appropriate language). EF2000: Evolution: Install EF2000: Evolution from cd or cd image. EF2000: Evolution and GFX+ patch: Install EF2000: Evolution from cd or cd image. Install GFX+ patch (using appropriate language). Super EF2000 (Windows) Install EF2000: Special Edition from cd or cd image. Install EF2000: Special Edition patch (if required, using appropriate language). EF2000 V2.0 Windows installer EF2000 V2.0 (DOS without 3dfx graphics) Use the 'Full Installation for DOS' option (DOS installer) from cd or cd image. EF2000 V2.0 (DOS with 3dfx graphics) Use the 'Install for 3DFX' option (Windows installer) from cd or cd image. EF2000 V2.0 (Windows) Use the 'Install for Windows 95' option (Windows installer) from cd or cd image. And finally... Hopefully this clarifies the various releases and patches of EF2000 and how to find them. This should allow you to find the required components to create a particular version of EF2000. In later articles I'll discuss, creating an appropriate installation and how to use it with the EF2000 Reloaded app, DOSBox and PCem. Good hunting!
- F-19 Stealth Fighter: North Cape secret airstrip fixed?
North Cape Has a bug that prevented the North Cape secret airstrip missions been found and fixed? The GitHub user, debugcom has done some very impressive analysis work in figuring out how to trigger the secret airstrip missions in F-19 Stealth Fighter and F-117A Nighthawk Stealth Fighter 2.0. The analysis revealed that there was a bug in the North Cape theatre that prevented the missions from being completed. Part 2 of the analysis went on to identify and document the fix for the North Cape data file responsible for these missions, nc.wld , fixing a 34 year old bug! That's some pretty impressive work and it's well worth a read! You can find the analysis here on GitHub, debugcom / Hacking-F117A It's not known if there's anything else that may be preventing North Cape secret airstrip missions from working, but if this mission appears it should be completable now! I've applied the fix to this version of nc.wld . To use it, take a backup of your current nc.wld file, and unzip this one to your F-19 Stealth Fighter installation folder. Update : The article by debugcom has been expanded to four parts including a section specific to getting secret airstrip missions working in the Libya and North Cape scenarios of F-19 Stealth Fighter. I've applied the fixes detailed in the article and can receive secret airstrip missions, as the below screenshots show. Libya secret airstrip mission North Cape secret airstrip mission This zip archive includes the changed libya.wld and nc.wld files with secret airstrip missions enabled, it should be extracted to your F-19 installation folder: If you get these mission and manage to complete them, let me know! Finally a big thank you to debugcom for the work on fixing this bug!
- Tech refresh 2025: F-19 Stealth Fighter
This is a tech refresh article describing any changes since the original articles ' F-19 Stealth Fighter: Running in DOSBox ' and ' F-19 Stealth Fighter: Optimized settings for DOSBox Staging ' were published. Since the original article the version of DOSBox Staging has changed from v0.80.1 to v0.82.0. The only change is an updated DOSBox Staging configuration shown below, the rest of the advice in the previous articles remains valid. DOSBox Staging configuration These are the settings which differ from the DOSBox Staging defaults. Note : At higher cycles the weapons effectiveness drops and Air-to-air missiles and Mavericks will begin to miss targets, so testing with some training missions may be required and the cycles setting tweaked to ensure consistent weapons performance. This may be dependant on your setup, however the cycles shown below should be a good starting point. [sdl] host_rate = vrr vsync = off presentation_mode = vfr [dosbox] dos_rate = 1000 [cpu] core = simple cpu_cycles = 5200 cycleup = 100 cycledown = 100 [voodoo] voodoo = false [mouse] dos_mouse_immediate = true [mixer] reverb = medium chorus = normal [midi] mididevice = mt32 [mt32] model = auto romdir = "D:\Midi\Versioned" [sblaster] sbtype = sbpro1 [innovation] sidmodel = auto [joystick] joysticktype = 4axis timed = true swap34 = false deadzone = 0 [autoexec] loadfix mount C "D:\Program Files (x86)\GOG Galaxy\Games\F-19 Stealth Fighter" mount C "D:\Program Files (x86)\GOG Galaxy\Games\F-19 Stealth Fighter\cloud_saves" -t overlay mixer master 50 mt32 70 c: call f19scen.bat The sdl settings are appropriate for a variable refresh rate monitor. They can be left as default or omitted for standard monitors. The sdl, dos_rate and mouse settings are also applicable for high frame rates as described in this article by Omnicycle. The voodoo emulation is disabled as it isn't required. The mixer settings are a personal preference to enhance the music and audio. The Soundblaster type is changed to take advantage of the Soundblaster Pro dual OPL2 chips. Innovation sound is enabled as it supported by the game and can be selected at startup with the setup game menu, if you would like to try it out. Joystick settings will be dependant on your particular HOTAS setup and may require adjustment. In the autoexec section the mixer volumes are changed with the mixer command to a personal preference. The damson menu ( f19scen.bat ) is used to optimise startup options and allow aircraft model and scenario changes. Enhancements Earlier this year PixelWings produced a mod for F-19. In the words of PixelWings: This mod is a small and simple graphic and sound improvement, featuring a freshly drawn cockpit panel for the aircraft, new RWR type sprites for the tactical MFD screen, as well as a new original title screen, credits screen and a one-game advert screen. Even if you wish to use the vanilla cockpit initially, it's still worth getting this immediately, as the revised Roland MT32 rsound.exe file removes the annoying low altitude warning! So a big thank you to PixelWings, the mod can be found on the PixelWings website . Updates The ' F-19 Stealth Fighter: North Cape secret airstrip fixed? ' article has been updated following an update from the analysis author debugcom. The fixes have been implemented for the Libya and North Cape scenarios and a new download is available. Good hunting!
- Harrier Jump Jetting into DOSBox Staging
Harrier Jump Jet, MicroProse 1992 This is a guide to running the 1992 MicroProse Harrier sim, Harrier Jump Jet in DOSBox Staging. It will cover patching both the digital and retail releases to the latest version, the DOSBox Staging config and setting up a HOTAS. As usual floppy images will be used to save wear and tear on disks and drive. This guide references the earlier work by @damsonn in a Steam guide , so a big thank you for the hard work that went into that. Version The only retail version I have been able to find is v2.16. The digital release on gog.com is the same v2.16 version. I'm assuming the Steam release is also v2.16 given the game comes from the same publisher. Differences between digital and retail releases Despite digital and retail releases being at the same version there are some minor differences in the files present between the two releases, detailed in the table below. The descriptions of the differences are a subjective best guess. aces.dat An additional data file, present in the digital release, to change the entries on the Aces page in game. Following application of the v2.40 patch, this file is removed. frontend.exe This looks like an uncompressed and cracked version of the executable containing the manual based copy protection disabled in digital releases. The retail releases uses the original file with copy protection intact. Following application of the v2.40 patch this file is replaced with a new version with the copy protection intact. harrier.bat Created by the installer, so full and small installs create different harrier.bat files. intro.fli A file containing the intro movie visuals. This is present in the retail release but missing in the digital release. This suggests the digital releases were built using the small install option. t.1 This looks like a scratch file created as the digital release was being produced. This isn't present in the retail release. wwf.com This seems to be a remnant from the original third party copy protection crack. This isn't present in the retail release. readme.now A short readme explaining the differences between a full and small install. Not present in the digital release. xmusic.imp Present in digital and retail releases, but different sizes. I believe this is created once a music/sound option is chosen in the installer. So the default Soundblaster sound in the digital release may explain this. xsound.imp As xmusic.imp but for digital sound effects. *.cfg Game config files, differences in digital/retail game defaults result in different config files. *.$$$ Game temp files, expected to be different between individual copies. Patches There are two patches available, the v2.40 patch (also known as the US patch) provides bug fixes, controller and game enhancements. The v2.40 patch is an update patch which must be installed using DOSBox. The v2.41 patch (also known as the UK patch) provides a bug fix to rudder control. This is a file replacement patch, with files from the patch archive replacing existing files in the Harrier installation folder. I believe the US and UK patch names are inaccurate and both patches are applicable to either European/UK or US editions, depending on game version. I believe these names may have come about due to re-release versions of the game, which may have been different for European/UK and US markets. The patches are recommended for both digital and retail releases. The patching strategy is summarized below: Game version is v2.16, apply v2.40 (US) patch. Game version is (or patched to) v2.40, apply v2.41 (UK) patch. Game version is (or patched to) v2.41, patching complete. For specific installation and patching instructions, see ' Installation and patching ' below. HOTAS config As it is a DOS based sim a maximum of 4 axes are supported. Harrier supports all 4 axes, including throttle and rudder. When using HOTAS/controller profiling software to limit the controller to a maximum of 4 axes the following device axes to Windows axes mappings were used: Physical axis Windows axis Joystick x-axis DX_X_AXIS Joystick y-axis DX_Y_AXIS Throttle DX_Z_AXIS Rudder DX_XROT_AXIS DOSBox config This DOSBox Staging config for Harrier assumes the latest version (at time of writing), v0.82.0 will be used. The changes to the default config are shown below: [sdl] host_rate = vrr vsync = off presentation_mode = vfr [dosbox] dos_rate = 1000 [cpu] cpu_cycles = 12000 # cpu_cycles = 20000 cpu_cycles_protected = auto cycleup = 1000 cycledown = 1000 [voodoo] voodoo = false [mouse] dos_mouse_immediate = true [mixer] reverb = large chorus = normal [midi] mididevice = mt32 [mt32] romdir = "D:\Midi\Versioned" [joystick] joysticktype = 4axis timed = true swap34 = true deadzone = 0 [autoexec] imgmount a "D:\Games\Dos\Harrier Jump Jet\fdd\*.ima" -t floppy -ro mount c "D:\Games\Dos\Harrier Jump Jet\hdd" c: cd mps\harrier call harrier.bat The [sdl], [dosbox] and [mouse] settings are suitable for high frame rate gaming as described in this article by Omniclyde. These settings aren't strictly required and can be omitted to use the default settings. In [cpu] settings, 12000 cycles seems appropriate for my setup. @damssonn has recommended 20000 cycles in a Steam guide, so you may need to tweak this setting to find an optimum speed for your setup. The cpu_cycles_protected setting will use the same cycle count as cpu_cycles when set to auto. Voodoo emulation isn't required and can be disabled. The [mixer] settings can be changed to enhance sound and music to personal preference. The [midi] and [mt32] settings enable high quality Roland midi music. The model value, auto, will default to a CM32L device. Harrier supports a CM32L device, so the model can be left as default. The midi roms folder is described in the DOSBox midi article. The [joystick] settings are appropriate for my HOTAS setup so you may need to alter these. The timed setting must be set to true for my HOTAS, as the game has issues with timed set to false, although this may depend on your own setup. The deadzone setting is a personal preference. The [autoexec] has example imgmount commands for the floppy images which may be needed for a retail edition. As there are multiple floppy images the imgmount command uses the '*' wildcard. The imgmount and mount commands make use of a folder structure described in my DOSBox game management article. Installation and patching The digital release install is somewhat different, given the need to patch, clean up and repair the release. Both the retail and digital installs use my DOSBox game management strategy. The top level game folder is D:\Games\Dos\Harrier Jump Jet, with hdd (DOSBox hard disk), fdd (floppy disk image), patches and conf (config files) sub folders. Retail edition installation The game should be installed from within DOSBox. The first floppy disk has an installer ( install.exe ) which should run and complete without issue. It is recommended to select the 'Full install '. Game files are copied to C:\MPS\HARRIER (in DOSBox) or in my case D:\Games\Dos\Harrier Jump Jet\hdd \MPS\HARRIER (in Windows). Once files are copied the installer will require a music/sound option to be selected. The DOSBox config above supports Soundblaster or Roland music/sound, so this is left to personal preference. When exiting the installer, you may be asked to calibrate your joystick, if one is detected. At this stage, just skip through without calibrating properly. Digital edition installation The game should be installed in Windows using the appropriate gog or Steam client. My recommendation is then to copy the game files from this client installation folder into a suitable DOSBox hard disk, retail release folder (C:\MPS\HARRIER). So in my case, my gog digital edition was installed in D:\Program Files (x86)\GOG Galaxy\Games\Harrier Jump Jet\C\AV8B by the gog client. I copied the game files into D:\Games\Dos\Harrier Jump Jet\hdd \MPS\HARRIER (in Windows). So when I start DOSBox the Harrier game files can be found in C:\MPS\HARRIER . I recommend not patching or repairing the client installation directly, as using the gog/Steam client to verify or repair game files may remove any patches or fixes applied. Patching to v2.40 The v2.40 (US) patch can be found on the Internet Archive . The patch should be downloaded and the files in the zip archive copied into the DOSBox game installation folder, overwriting any existing files. So in my case the files would be copied to: D:\Games\Dos\Harrier Jump Jet\hdd\MPS\HARRIER Once copied the update utility ( update.bat ) should be run from within DOSBox. Once the update is complete the installer will be run again allowing music/sound options to be selected. When exiting the installer, you may be asked to calibrate your joystick, if one is detected. You will be asked the following: Use the detected joystick: Y. Is it a Thrustmaster Joystick (FCS): N. Is a Thrustmaster Weapons Control System present: N. Then follow the instructions to calibrate your joystick. Patching to v2.41 The v2.41 (UK) patch can be found on the Internet Archive . The patch should be downloaded and the files in the zip archive copied into the DOSBox game installation folder, overwriting any existing files. So in my case the files would be copied to D:\Games\Dos\Harrier Jump Jet\hdd \MPS\HARRIER (in Windows). As this is a file replacement patch, this completes the patching to v2.41. Cleaning up the digital release This is an optional step to remove unneeded files in the DOSBox game installation folder for the digital edition only. The following files can be removed: t.1 wwf.com Adding the intro movie back into the digital release This is an optional step for the digital edition only. The missing into movie ( intro.fli ) can be found in the Steam guide created by @damsonn . It should be copied into the DOSBox game installation folder. So in my case intro.fli would be copied to the Windows folder: D:\Games\Dos\Harrier Jump Jet\hdd\MPS\HARRIER Then the text in harrier.bat should be replaced with the text in full.bat (the commands are described in the Steam guide). If the game is run with full.bat or harrier.bat the intro movie will be played. Removing copy protection from the digital release This is an optional step for the digital edition only. The v2.40 patch replaced the cracked frontend.exe file with newer version with the copy protection enabled. To use the cracked version, copy it from your client game installation folder into your DOSBox game installation folder. So in my case, in Windows, I would copy frontend.exe from: D:\Program Files (x86)\GOG Galaxy\Games\Harrier Jump Jet\C\AV8B into: D:\Games\Dos\Harrier Jump Jet\hdd\MPS\HARRIER Quitting with the cracked frontend.exe Note: There are issues using the cracked frontend.exe with v2.41, so far I have only encountered the one issue described, however there may be others. The 'Exit to DOS (Y/N) screen is no longer shown. Selecting the quit option from the command centre, will change the colour palette in the command centre screen but won't show the 'Exit to DOS' screen. The options still work, so selecting Y will exit to DOS and N will return to a working command centre screen. My personal preference is to use the newer copy protection enabled frontend.exe. Thanks to a carefully laid out manual and being given the first letter of the copy protection word, finding it in the manual is straight-forward. However, it is left to personal preference as to whether the copy protection should be enabled or disabled. Running With the digital and retail releases the small.bat file will run the game without the intro movie, while full.bat will run it with the intro movie. With the retail release harrier.bat will run with the intro movie if a full install was selected and without if a small install was selected. With the digital release harrier.bat will run without the intro movie by default, or with the intro movie if the ' Adding the intro movie back into the digital release ' instructions were followed. Game setup Once the game is running, select the Fly mission option from the command centre screen. Once in mission, the pause menu can be used to: Check version Checking the version Select the Quit menu and About option to check the version. The version should be listed as v2.41 in the dialog box. Enable Controllers Select the Config and Control menus. There are options to select a joystick, enable throttle/rudders, change joystick sensitivity and re-calibrate the joystick. When enabling throttle and rudders the controllers must be centred. This is easy for rudder pedals and little more tricky for the throttle. The lowest throttle position should correspond to 26% RPM and at the highest throttle position, 100% RPM. It may take a few attempts to centre and optimise the throttle. The first time the throttle and rudders are enabled there may be some spurious aircraft movement. Simply move your controllers and then re-centre them and the spurious movement should settle. Enable all sounds At the start of each mission, engine sounds are disabled by default and can be enabled by selecting the Config and Sound menus and the All effects option or by using the keyboard shortcut listed in the manual. Documentation Manual The manual is absolutely essential for a MicroProse sim. Fortunately the manual has been added to the gog.com digital release. I'm not sure if this is the case for the Steam digital release but @damsonn comes to the rescue again with a link to the manual in the Steam guide ! Good hunting!