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These are my TM Warthog settings for playing Oolite. My HOTAS setup comprises a Warthog joystick and throttle and T-Flight Rudder Pedals (TFRP). In this guide only the internal Oolite controller support is used. TM or vendor agnostic profiling software or other utilities aren't used. The Oolite controller support is very comprehensive and additional software just isn't required. Major axes The following is probably standard. Yaw Joystick x-axis Pitch Joystick y-axis Thrust Throttle z-axis Roll Rudder pedals For those attuned to helicopter like controls, the following may be preferable. It requires far more coordination and major engagements can become quite tiring, but can be very immersive. The remaining axes are unchanged. Roll Joystick x-axis Yaw Rudder pedals Major buttons Major fire controls, ident and ECM are assigned to major buttons for speed. Fire lasers Joystick trigger Toggle weapons Joystick button 1 Fire missiles/bombs Joystick button 2 Ident system Joystick button 3 ECM Joystick button 4 Joystick hat clusters Joystick hats are used to cluster non-navigational related controls together. View controls (forward, aft, etc.) Joystick hat 1 Targeting controls (compass/ships) Joystick hat 2 Equipment Joystick hat 3 Weapons Joystick hat 4 Throttle hat clusters Throttle hats are used to cluster thrust and navigational related controls together. Thrust, torus, jump controls Throttle hat 1 Docking controls Throttle hat 2 Mappings The following pdf files show the HOTAS mappings in graphical and table format: Good hunting!

Chuck Yeager's Air Combat box cover A guide to running the standard DOS and Gravis UltraSound (GUS) optimized versions of the 1991 Electronic Arts/Brent Iverson sim, 'Chuck Yeager's Air Combat' in DOSBox Staging. In a list of classic sims that got large numbers of people into the flight sim genre, near the top, would be Chuck Yeager's Air Combat (CYAC). Created by sim designer Brent Iverson, who had already completed LHX: Attack Chopper, in 1990, and would go on to created the Jane's Fighter's series culminating in Jane's Fighters: Anthology and assisted by the man himself, Chuck Yeager, whose flight experience, testing and advice helped make CYAC the universally well regarded and classic sim it became. You can read more about it on MobyGames . Versions There are three DOS versions of interest (not counting the Mac version), two 'standard' DOS versions and a GUS optimised version. The initial commercial release was v1.0 in 1991. Released on 4 x 5.25" Double Density (DD) 360KB floppy disks or 2 x 3.5" DD 720KB floppy disks. A later commercial re-release increased the version to v1.1. Released on 2 x 3.5 DD floppy disks. Later re-releases, budget re-releases and compilation releases would include CD-ROM media. Version 1.1 made changes to joystick handling which makes it more DOSBox compatible. A list of other changes are listed in a readme file from a later release, and included below: A Gravis UltraSound (GUS) sound card optimised version, 1993, was never commercially released as a separate product, but came included with the GUS sound card. It was distributed on 4 x 3.5" DD 720KB floppy disks. This version still uses the v1.1 number within the flight menu, but uses GUS enhanced music and audio and lists the version as 'Advanced Gravis Ultrasound Version 1.0G' within the credits! The recommended version is v1.1/v1.0G and depending on the desired gameplay experience, either the standard or GUS version should be chosen. For those new to CYAC the GUS version is recommended. Media As usual I recommend ripping any floppy disk versions to an img or ima floppy image file that can be read by DOSBox. Physical cds can be ripped to a data only iso image as there is no cd audio/music on the disk (at least none used by CYAC if it's in a compilation release). The media, especially physical floppy disk media may be over 30 years old so saving wear and tear on disks (and drives) is important, so I recommend the use of floppy/cd images. Game management I recommend using my DOSBox game management strategy, the recommended game management folders are: conf - to store any DOSBox or HOTAS configuration files. docs - to store any documents, manuals, etc. cd - to store any cd images ripped from a retail cd (if using a cd image). fdd - to store any cd images ripped from floppy disks (if using floppy images). hdd - the DOSBox emulated hard disk folder, to install the game to. If you want to try both standard and GUS versions then add: hdd-gus - another DOSBox emulated hard disk folder, to install the GUS version to. HOTAS config Only the joystick is supported in the retail game, but throttle support can be added with a utility (see ' Patches and utilities '). Configuring axes may not be required if your HOTAS has 4 axes or less. When using devices totaling more than 4 axes, a virtual controller  can be used, limited to 4 axes. As I have rudder pedals I tend to configure all the devices in my virtual controller, even if they aren't used (like the rudder pedals in this case). This prevents DOSBox from trying to assign the rudder pedals as the joystick controller. The physical axes to Windows axes were configured as follows: Physical axis Windows axis Joystick x-axis DX_X_AXIS Joystick y-axis DX_Y_AXIS Throttle DX_Z_AXIS Rudder DX_XROT_AXIS DOSBox Staging config This guide assumes the latest version of DOSBox Staging is used, v0.82.1 at time of writing. This sections covers settings applicable to both the standard and GUS versions, which differ from the default DOSBox Staging config. [sdl] host_rate = vrr vsync = off presentation_mode = vfr [dosbox] dos_rate = 1000 [cpu] cpu_cycles = 10000 cpu_cycles_protected = auto cycleup = 100 cycledown = 100 [voodoo] voodoo = false [mouse] dos_mouse_immediate = true [mixer] reverb = medium chorus = normal [joystick] joysticktype = 4axis timed = false swap34 = true deadzone = 0 [autoexec] # Example image mount commands # imgmount a "D:\Games\Dos\Chuck Yeager Air Combat\fdd\*.img" -t floppy # imgmount d "D:\Games\Dos\Chuck Yeager Air Combat\cd\ChuckYeagersAirCombat.iso" -t cdrom # Example hard disk mount commands mount c "D:\Games\Dos\Chuck Yeager Air Combat\hdd" # mount c "D:\Games\Dos\Chuck Yeager Air Combat\hdd-gus" c: # CYAC joystick TSR utility # cd tsr # cyac_2ja # cd .. # Running CYAC, note the installation folder may be different # cd combat # yeager # Close DOSBox after quitting the game # exit The [sdl], [dosbox] and [mouse] settings are suitable for high frame rate gaming as described in this article  by Omniclyde. These settings aren't strictly required and can be omitted to use the default settings. In [cpu] settings, 10000 seems like a good setting for my machine but you may wish to change this to personal preference . 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 [joystick] settings are appropriate for my HOTAS setup so you may need to alter these. The CYAC joystick utility failed with timed set to true and false is generally preferable. Deadzone is set to a personal preference. The autoexec section contains disabled (commented out) examples, these should be enabled or tweaked depending on what images and/or utilities were used, it contains: Example imgmount commands for floppy disk and cd images. A second emulated hard disk folder for the GUS version (if required). Example commands for calling the CYAC joystick TSR. Example commands for running the game. Closing DOSBox after quitting. You should configure the game before running it from the DOSBox config file. Standard version This sections covers sound and music settings applicable to the standard version, which differ from the default DOSBox Staging config. [speaker] lpt_dac = covox The standard version will use Soundblaster for music and most sound, however the default settings do not have to change. CYAC supports the Covox Speech Thingy which provides enhanced speech. The lpt_dac setting enables Covox emulation. GUS version This sections covers sound and music settings applicable to the GUS version, which differ from the default DOSBox Staging config. [sblaster] sbtype = none [gus] gus = true [speaker] lpt_dac = none The GUS version will use GUS for music and sound so Soundblaster emulation should be disabled. In the 'gus' section, GUS emulation should be enabled, the remaining settings can remain at the default values. In the speaker section, the lpt_dac setting defaults to none (so not strictly required), however if you have copied the standard config, remember to disable this or remove it to revert to the default value. GUS driver installation As DOSBox Staging is used, with built in GUS audio support, additional drivers and patches are not required and can be omitted. Installation The floppy images usually have an installer app called install.bat or install.exe , depending on a particular release. These should be run with DOSBox. As there are multiple disk images you will have to use DOSBox to swap between images ( CTRL+F4 ) to complete the install. The floppy install should complete without issue. The cd/cd images may have a similarly named installer app or you may have to look for a suitable batch (.bat) or executable (.exe), e.g. runme.bat, dependant on the release. Once found run in DOSBox, it should complete without issue. The installer will normally copy files to C:\COMBAT or C:\EA\COMBAT , again dependant on release. Ensure the [autoexec] section of the DOSBox config reflects this. Patches & utilities At present I haven't been able to find a v1.1 patch which makes selecting the correct version even more important. If anyone has the patch or knows where it is or can even confirm it exists, please get in touch. CYAC joystick TSR There is a CYAC joystick TSR utility (cyac2j.zip) created by Heinz-Bernd Eggenstein (a familiar name in Tornado patches and utilities) that can be used to enable the throttle in game. Thanks to VOGONS forum rfnagel and some deep digging through his archives, it can be found in his post and to Heinz-Bernd for giving us a throttle in CYAC! The zip package comprises of: Running cyac_2ja cyac_2ja.com - for analogue throttles. cyac_2jd.com - for digital throttles (or second joystick). cyac_2j.doc - instructions. stick.exe - a stick and throttle test utility. The screenshot shows the cyac_2ja.com being run. The utility is also compatible with the GUS version. A suggested location to extract to is a TSR folder under the emulated hard disk folder. Running the utility can be automated through the DOSBox config [autoexec] section. Configuration The standard version of CYAC is configured through command line options. Once the game has started those options are written to a configuration file and used if the game is run without command line options. This means the command line options are only required the first time a the game is run but can be set as many times as needed by specifying options. The order of options does not matter as long as they are separated by a space. The standard version using the earlier DOSBox, config is run with: C:\COMBAT>yeager VGA FASTCARD JOYSTICK HIGH BLASTER COVOX1 LARGE The GUS version, does not support command line options. Using the earlier DOSBox config, it is run with: C:\COMBAT>yeager Command line options The command line options are included for reference: CGA Loads game with CGA graphics. EGA Loads game with EGA graphics. MCGA Loads game with MCGA graphics (Same graphics as VGA, but slower. Maintains compatibility with PS/2 25 and 30). TGA Loads game with Tandy graphics. VGA Loads game with VGA graphics. SLOWCARD When you are MCGA or VGA mode, if the game freezes on startup, or if you get sound but the wrong colors or no colors at all, try this parameter. It slows down the interface between the computer and the video card. FASTCARD Deactivates Slowcard. JOYSTICK Loads game with joystick flight control. KEYBOARD Loads game with keyboard flight control. MOUSE1 Loads game with mouse flight control. MOUSE2 Loads game with high-resolution mouse flight control. LOW Loads game in low graphics detail mode (less detail speeds up game play). MEDIUM Loads game in medium graphics detail mode (less detail speeds up game play). HIGH Loads game in high graphics detail mode. NOSOUND Loads game with sound turned off. NOSPEECH Loads game with digitized speech turned off. It also reduces the amount of disk swapping necessary when playing on four 360k floppies. PC Loads game with PC internal speaker sounds. ADLIB Loads game with AdLib sound card sounds. BLASTER Loads game with Sound Blaster sound card sounds. TANDY Loads game with Tandy 1000 sound. TANDYDAC Loads game in Tandy 1000 models equipped with DAC (such as the Tandy 1000 TL), which results in clearer digitized speech.  COVOX1 Loads game with loud speech driver for the Covox Speech Thing on parallel port 1. Note: there is no auto-detect for Covox, so this parameter is required if you want to use Covox. COVOX2 Loads game with loud speech driver for the Covox Speech Thing on parallel port 2. Note: there is no auto-detect for Covox, so this parameter is required if you want to use your Covox. CMS Loads sound driver for CMS music board. Note: there is no speech driver for CMS, so digitized speech will play through the PC’s internal speaker. Also, there is no auto-detect for CMS, so this parameter is required if you want to use your CMS Board. SMALL Use this if you have a computer with less than 640K of memory. It deletes complex versions of some shapes to speed up the simulation. LARGE  Deactivates Small. ALL If you want to be able to play all missions without having to win each one, type this parameter to make all missions available immediately. This is a default parameter. CAMPAIGN Starts new campaign. In order to advance in Campaign Mode, you will need to land safely at your home base after successfully completing each mission. (See p.25 in manual) If you quit the game in the middle of a Campaign, and you want to return to where you left off, be sure not to select the Campaign parameter the next time you start up the game, as that will put you at the beginning of a new campaign. Running Once command line options are set, either version can be run with: C:\COMBAT>yeager This can be added to the DOSBox config in the [autoexec] section. Configuration menu In-game configuration The final step is to check the in-game configuration. The easiest way to do this is start a test flight and access the in-flight menu to check all the options are set correctly. Control and graphics options should be checked. Options set here will also be written to the configuration file used by command line options. Documents There are digital copies of both the manual and reference card, obtaining both is recommended. The reference card lists the command line options and the manual is required to pass the copy protection check, being based on the stats of various aircraft encountered in the game. Some versions of CYAC may disable the copy protection but it is still enabled on the GUS version. Updates Thanks go to VOGONS forum member rfnagel for corrections to this guide. 'It's a great day for flying!' - Chuck Yeager

This is a tech refresh article describing additional testing since the original MiG Alley articles were published. The latest release of DDrawCompat v0.5.4 can be used when running under Windows 10. Testing The latest release of dgVoodoo2 v2.84 was also tested but continues to suffer from the same issues as earlier versions when initialising the flight window. The latest release of DxWrapper v1.2.7400.25 was tested but could not initialise the flight window and crashed to the desktop. DXGL v0.5.23 was also tested but could not run the game. Conclusion The advice remains unchanged for MiG Alley with the DDrawCompat wrapper remaining the wrapper of choice. The advice given in the following articles remains valid: MiG Alley: Running in Windows 10 MiG Alley: HOTAS Controllers If there are problems running MiG Alley natively in Windows 10 then the advice to use the PCem emulator remains appropriate: MiG Alley: Running in PCem Update: DDrawCompat v0.6.0 Following the latest release of DDrawCompat v0.6.0 from Narzoul, this version was installed and tested with MiG Alley. Like the previous version, it seems to work particularly well. The latest version can be found on the GitHub project releases page. Configuring DDrawCompat The original configuration ( DDrawCompat.ini ) has been changed to take advantage of this new version and is shown below: SupportedResolutions=800x600,1024x768,1600x1200,2048x1536 ConfigHotkey=shift+f11 Antialiasing=msaa8x(0) DpiAwareness=unaware DisplayRefreshRate=60 The support resolutions remain unchanged but the resolutions are suitable for my monitor and you may wish/need to change for your own setup. The DDrawCompat overlay has been re-enabled and can be accessed by using the config hotkey combination. Anti-aliasing has been increased to 8x. DPI awareness has been disabled as this results in appropriately sized menu pages in the game. Display refresh rate has been set at 60Hz. Again this is suitable for my monitor and you may wish/need to change for your own setup. So a big thank you to Narzoul for the continuing work in enhancing DDrawCompat. Update: Further lessons learned Installation When installing the game if the installer freezes at around 74% then opening Task Manager and using Analyze wait chains will indicate the process the installer is waiting for. In my case it was an Explorer.exe process. This process can be killed off which will cause the installation to complete normally. Loading a mission crash When loading a mission the game may crash with an error message: 'Unable to read data format of analogue device '. This indicates the device either is not calibrated or has lost calibration. In my case the rudder pedals lost calibration and needed to be re-calibrated using the vendor calibration tool. The remaining advice in earlier articles remains valid.

EF2000 Reloaded A guide to using VirtualMIDISynth with EF2000 Reloaded. This guide assumes properly installed and configured EF2000 Reloaded and VirtualMIDISynth apps. In earlier articles VirtualMIDISynth was used with DOSBox Staging, ' DOSBox Staging and VirtualMIDISynth ' and with DOSBox-X in the article, ' Jetfighter III: Tech refresh 2025 '. EF2000 Reloaded is based on a highly modified and patched version of vanilla DOSBox, called DOSBox-EF2000 (see EF2000 Updated Part 3: EF2000 Reloaded & DOSBox ). So, if vanilla DOSBox supports Window synths, then so should DOSBox-EF2000 and so should the Reloaded app. DOSBox-EF2000 configs The Reloaded app uses two config files to setup DOSBox-EF2000, a default DOSBox-EF2000 config file and a launcher DOSBox-EF2000 config file. When the launcher starts the default settings are applied and then the launcher settings are applied, replacing any default settings. If we take a look at the Reloaded installation folder, we can see a number of files and folders, some of the more interesting ones include: The Reloaded launcher app (EF2000_Launcher.exe). DOSBox-EF2000 (dosbox-EF2000.exe). The launcher DOSBox-EF2000 config file (EF2000_Launcher_User.conf). Config settings panel My installation folder is D:\DiD\EF2000 Reloaded, but obviously this will depend on where you installed EF2000 Reloaded. The launcher DOSBox-EF2000 config file is written each time a change is made to the config settings panel (see screenshot) in the EF2000 Reloaded app. The VirtualMIDISynth changes should not be made here as they will be overwritten when changes are made in the config settings panel. So any VirtualMIDISynth changes should be made to the default DOSBox-EF2000 config file. This configuration file is usually hidden away in a DOSBox folder in user settings in Windows. On my Win10 machine this was: C:\Users\\AppData\Local\DOSBox Where will be your own username. The AppData folder is normally hidden by default so you may need to unhide it with Windows Explorer. Within this folder you should see the default config file (dosbox-EF2000.conf). VirtualMIDISynth setup The first step is change the default config file ( dosbox-EF2000.conf ) to use Windows MIDI devices, by applying the following change: [midi] mididevice=win32 Now we need to find the device number. To do so, run DOSBox-EF2000 ( dosbox-EF2000.exe ) NOT the launcher app. This will start DOSBox-EF2000. At the DOSBox command prompt issue the command: Z:\>mixer /listmidi mixer /listmidi The results should be similar to the screenshot. We now know the VirtualMIDISynth device is device 0. ( Note : depending on the software installed on your machine it may show a different device number). We can now complete the changes to dosbox-EF2000.conf by setting the MIDI device number in the 'midiconfig' setting as shown: [midi] mididevice=win32 midiconfig=0 That completes setting up VirtualMIDISynth in EF2000 Reloaded! Below is a demonstration of changing MIDI soundfonts with VirtualMIDISynth as EF2000 Reloaded is running, but mostly using the expansive Timbres of Heaven soundfont. Good hunting!

Air Power title screen A guide to running the Rowan 1995 steampunk sim, 'Air Power: Battle in the Skies' in DOSBox Staging. This guide covers installation and configuration. Considered by some to be a spiritual precursor of the more popular Microsoft game, Crimson Skies. Both games take place in alternative timelines but roughly within the same time period, 1930 for Air Power and 1937 for Crimson Skies. Crimson Skies takes place in the New World of the Americas, whereas Air Power chooses the Old World of European states and noble families vying for a throne as its setting. Huge airship carriers provide a base of operations in both games. It also shares elements in common with the Domark sim, 'AV8B Harrier Assault' with both sims including strategy elements in their respective campaigns. Some consider it a bizarre sim due to the steampunk setting and the uncommon strategy aspects of the campaign. It seems to have generated polarizing reviews, when released, with some considering it a worthy sim, whilst others hated it! Something it shares in common with other Rowan sims. You can read more about it at MobyGames . Credit where it's due The vast majority of this guide is due to the work done by VOGONS forum member ragefury32, detailed in the VOGONS post, ' Airpower: Battle in the skies - a config guide and game review '. Air Power had a reputation for being difficult to configure and setup on legacy hardware and within DOSBox, so a huge thank you to ragefury32 for figuring out how to get it working. I've taken ragefury32's guide and tweaked it for DOSBox Staging and added a few more sections to this guide. Media Air Power was distributed on a single cd, but as usual cd images will be used in preference to physical media, to save wear and tear on discs and drive. Physical cd's should be ripped to the cue/bin image pair format, as cd audio tracks are on the disc. At present there are no digital releases of Air Power. Game management I recommend using my DOSBox game management  strategy, the recommended game management folders are: conf - to store any DOSBox or HOTAS configuration files. docs - to store any documents, manuals, etc. cd - to store any cd images ripped from a retail cd. hdd - the DOSBox emulated hard disk folder, to install the game to. HOTAS config Joystick, throttle and rudder pedals are supported. Configuring axes may not be required if your HOTAS has 4 axes or less. When using devices totaling more than 4 axes, a virtual controller can be used, limited to 4 axes. The physical axes to Windows axes were configured as follows: Physical axis Windows axis Joystick x-axis DX_X_AXIS Joystick y-axis DX_Y_AXIS Throttle DX_Z_AXIS Rudder DX_XROT_AXIS DOSBox Staging config This guide assumes the latest version of DOSBox Staging v0.82.1. Changes from the default configuration are detailed below: [sdl] host_rate = vrr vsync = off presentation_mode = vfr [dosbox] machine = svga_et4000 # or machine = svga_s3 memsize = 32 dos_rate = 1000 [cpu] cpu_cycles = 62500 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] model = auto # or model = cm32l romdir = "D:\Midi\Versioned" [joystick] joysticktype = ch timed = false swap34 = true deadzone = 0 [autoexec] mount c "D:\Games\dos\Air Power\hdd" imgmount d "D:\Games\dos\Air Power\cd\AIRPOWER.cue" -t cdrom c: cd airpower airpower exit The [sdl], [dosbox] and [mouse] settings are suitable for high frame rate gaming as described in this article  by Omniclyde. These settings aren't strictly required and can be omitted to use the default settings. The [docbox] machine is set to either ET4000 or S3. In the post from ragefury32, the ET4000 seemed to produce a clearer image. The ' Installation ' section will detail the changes required for either setting, if S3 is preferred. Memory size is increased to help performance. In [cpu] settings, 62500 cycles was suggested by ragefury32 . 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 (Air Power supports a LAPC1/CM32L device), although you can specify a 'cm32l' device if you wish. 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 'ch' joystick type allows the use of stick, throttle and rudder. The deadzone setting is a personal preference. The [autoexec] has example imgmount commands for the cd image (which uses the cue file of the cue/bin pair) The mount and imgmount commands use the ' Game management ' folder structure. The rest of the commands run Air Power and close DOSBox after quitting the game. These should be omitted until after installation and configuration is complete. Installation Installation is the key to getting Air Power to run successfully. The installer can be found on the cd/cd image ( install.exe ) and should be run from within DOSBox. Checks and installation options The installer will make various checks and it may fail both the cdrom speed check and the EMS memory check, however the warnings can be ignored. It's recommended to install into the default folder ( c:\airpower ). The CD installation type should be set to ' Large ' to allow limited cd access for radio chatter and animations. Selecting 'Full' will result in no cd access and those enhancements will be missing. Starting the install Choosing an installation type Music & sound Soundblaster or Roland options can be chosen for MIDI music, either should work with the DOSBox config. Roland is recommended, for higher quality music. If Roland is chosen for MIDI music, Soundblaster can be chosen later for digital audio/sound effects. The Soundblaster settings for base address ( 220 ), IRQ ( 7 ) and DMA ( 1 ) should be chosen. Note : the installer may suggest different defaults, make sure you select the correct settings. Music settings Audio settings Graphics The resolution is the next option to select. The resolution is limited to VGA or SVGA in the airship and in the air. SVGA should be chosen for airship and flight aspects of the game for optimum graphics. The 1st driver selection menu will be shown, with a large list of drivers. At this point the process differs for S3 or ET4000. Resolution selection 1st driver selection menu S3 SVGA settings From the 1st driver selection menu select ' Advance ' (option D ). The next screen is a description of the SVGA graphics test to be run. 2nd driver selection menu (only applicable to ET4000) ET4000 SVGA settings From the 1st driver selection menu select ' Go Back ' (option S ). This presents a 2nd driver selection menu, select ' ET4000 '. The next screen is a description of the SVGA graphics test to be run. From the SVGA test description screen, hit any key to continue. The SVGA test screen should look like the screenshot shown below. Due to the high DOSBox cycle count, the disc will spin and numbers change rapidly. After 15 seconds the test concludes and you are presented with the final driver selection menu. Select ' Install selected driver ' to complete the installation. SVGA test description SVGA test Final driver selection menu Running Run the game from the DOSBox installation folder with: C:\AIRPOWER>airpower Changing settings If you wish the change the music, sound or resolution options, Air Power can be run with a command line option: C:\AIRPOWER>airpower ? Note: this option cannot change sound card address, interrupt or DMA settings or the graphics card SVGA driver. During installation, the installer utility ( install.exe ) was copied to the DOSBox hard disk folder and can be rerun from this folder as many times as needed. The installer utility allows the sound card address, interrupt and DMA settings to be changed and allows a different graphics card driver to be selected. In-game configuration The in-game configuration is available from the main menu. The configuration menu is shown in the screenshot below. The following are some recommendations for testing or if you haven't played Air Power before: Vulnerability Off Control Type FlightStick Pro Arms Unlimited Joystick Sens. (itivity) Low Targets Soft Sep. (arate) Rudder On Enemy Activity Low Auto Detail Off Mouse Sens. (itivity) Low Auto Window Off Radio Chat On Configuration menu Turning down the difficulty allows you to get a handle on the flight model. It's also recommended to turn down mouse and stick sensitivity for similar reasons. A FlightStick Pro provides stick and throttle controls with the rudders provided by the separate rudders options. The first time a stick is chosen, you'll be asked to calibrate the stick/throttle/rudders. You may receive a warning about the calibration, just choose ' Accept ', it normally seems to be fine. There is also a ' Recalibrate ' option under the Control Type menu for the stick/throttle/rudders. The game will automatically try to adjust the detail and window size in order to maintain FPS. This is distracting and unnecessary, so should be turned off. Radio Chat should be ' On ' (at least initially) to test cd/cd image access. Testing The Scramble option provides instant action and is recommended for testing. Use the ' D ' or ' L ' keys to test speech, streamed from the cd/cd image, during flight. Joystick testing jtest tool The flight model is challenging, but if you believe the calibration is seriously 'off' or a calibration warning was received during in-game configuration, there is a 'very' simple joystick test tool included. From what I can gather if all the axes reach a similar minimum and maximum then I believe calibration should be good. Note : the visual indication from the test tool will be substantially different depending on the joystick 'timed' setting in DOSBox. Run the game from the DOSBox installation folder with: C:\AIRPOWER>jtest Use the ' Esc ' key to quit the tool. Documents Digital versions of the manual and reference card are available and are very strongly recommended. The view system alone has a learning curve (very complex) which makes the reference card a 'must have' and there's a strategic campaign to run. Finally... To be honest I'm still not sure about the joystick handling or whether it is just the flight model used in the game, to the point where I might try it in PCem, just to see if it is significantly different. If anyone who has played it on legacy hardware could shed some light on this, I would appreciate it! Good hunting!

Jetfighter III Platinum title page An updated guide for Jetfighter III. This guide covers running Jetfighter III in DOSBox Staging with 3DFX Glide and using VirtualMIDISynth with DOSBox-X. This guide uses a fully patched Jetfighter III Platinum install detailed in the previous Jetfighter III guide, ' Jetfighter III: Running in DOSBox-X with Glide passthrough '. DOSBox Staging & 3DFX Glide A recent release of DOSBox Staging has increased the version to v0.82.1. One of the most notable features listed in the release notes is: The CPU usage of the 3dfx Voodoo emulation has been reduced by about 50%. Quite an increase in performance efficiency and worthy of investigation, so this guide covers the DOSBox Staging configuration required to run Jetfighter III with Glide enabled. The previous guide, ' Jetfighter III: Running in DOSBox-X with Glide passthrough ', should be followed for installation, setup and patching advice, the one exception being the Glide library discussed below. HOTAS configuration The HOTAS configuration remains unchanged from the previous article, both DOSBox-X and Staging can use same axes assignments, as shown below: Physical axis Windows axis Joystick x-axis DX_X_AXIS Joystick y-axis DX_Y_AXIS Throttle DX_Z_AXIS Rudders DX_XROT_AXIS Configuration The following config shows the changes applied to the default DOSBox Staging v0.82.1 configuration file specifically for Jetfighter III: [sdl] host_rate = vrr vsync = off presentation_mode = vfr [dosbox] memsize = 32 dos_rate = 1000 [cpu] cpu_cycles = 48500 cpu_cycles_protected = max cycleup = 1000 cycledown = 1000 [voodoo] voodoo_memsize = 12 [mouse] dos_mouse_immediate = true [mixer] reverb = large chorus = normal [midi] mididevice = fluidsynth [fluidsynth] soundfont = "D:\Midi\Soundfonts\Shan SGM-X48 v2.0.sf2" [joystick] joysticktype = 4axis timed = false swap34 = true deadzone = 0 [autoexec] mount c "D:\Games\Dos\Jetfighter 3\hdd-staging" imgmount d "D:\Games\Dos\Jetfighter 3\cd2\jf3p.cue" -t cdrom c: cd jf3 call jf3 exit The [sdl], [dosbox] and [mouse] settings are suitable for high frame rate gaming as described in this article  by Omniclyde. These settings aren't strictly required and can be omitted to use the default settings. In [cpu] settings, cpu_cycles cycles seems appropriate for my setup. As Jetfighter III is a protected mode game the cpu_cycles_protected settings increased to max seems to work well and increases frame rates to around 30fps. Voodoo memory is increased to the maximum to increase performance The [mixer] settings can be changed to enhance sound and music to personal preference. In the [midi] section, the fluidsynth device is used for MIDI. This allows the use of soundfonts to enhance the audio experience. Although Roland sound is supported in the Jetfighter III config utility the VOGONS wiki article ' List of MT-32-compatible computer games ' lists it as bugged/non-functional. The [fluidsynth] soundfont setting is set to a good general purpose soundfont for retro games although you should feel free to experiment and find a personal preference. The [joystick] settings are appropriate for my HOTAS setup so you may need to alter these. The deadzone setting is a personal preference. The [autoexec] has example imgmount commands for a cd image. The imgmount and mount commands make use of a folder structure described in my DOSBox game management article. The hard disk folder is a copy of the DOSBox-X folder so DOSBox Staging specific setup changes can be applied (see Setup and Glide Library ). The rest of the commands to go the appropriate folder and run the game. After quitting the game, exit will close DOSBox. Setup and Glide Library If you are already using Jetfighter III with DOSBox-X and Glide passthrough, it's recommended to take a copy of the emulated hard disk folder for uses with DOSBox Staging to apply the Staging specific changes. Then you can try both and choose your preferred DOSBox variant. In the Jetfighter config utility the 3D Accelerator Setup should be set to ' 3Dfx Voodoo card '. The Glide library, glide2x.ovl used for DOSBox-X is a special version specific to DOSBox-X and is incompatible with DOSBox Staging. An appropriate glide2x.ovl exists in the Jetfighter III Platinum cd image (this is the only one I've found that works). To use it: Mount the cd image in Windows 10. Go to the 3DFX folder. The G24RTVG.EXE file is a self extracting archive that can be opened in 7zip with the '7zip > Open archive' option. In the archive, go to the Drivers\Voodoo\Dos folder and copy glide2x.ovl to your Jetfighter III installation folder. DOSBox-X and VirtualMIDISynth The current version of DOSBox-X has some quirks which makes using VirtualMIDISynth the preferred option with Jetfighter III, as: SDL doesn't seem to be compatible with HOTAS devices with the 64-bit versions of DOSBox-X. The 32-bit versions are compatible with HOTAS devices but seem to have a bug with the fluidsynth component causing it to sound strange. Using VirtualMIDISynth allows you to use HOTAS devices, have working MIDI music and retain the Glide passthrough facility of DOSBox-X. VirtualMIDISynth can be used with DOSBox-X quite easily as it's installed and available on Windows 10/11. To install and configure (if not already) refer to the previous article ' DOSBox Staging and VirtualMIDISynth '. DOSBox-X configuration The steps for configuring DOSBox-X are a different to DOSBox Staging. Staging will show all MIDI device types while, DOSBox-X only shows MIDI devices of the currently enabled MIDI device type. So the first step is to tell DOSBox-X to use Windows MIDI devices, with the configuration file setting: [midi] mididevice = win32 Then you can start DOSBox-X and run the following mixer command. to list all the MIDI devices of that type: mixer /listmidi in DOSBox-X Once we have the list of devices (see screenshot) we can specify the VirtualMIDISynth device id in the midiconfig setting: [midi] mididevice = win32 midiconfig = 0 Setup In the Jetfighter config utility the Music Device Setup should be set to ' General MIDI '. Note: the test option may not work but MIDI music should play in-game. And that's the DOSBox-X config complete. Notes on testing can be found in ' DOSBox Staging and VirtualMIDISynth '. Happy hunting!

Battlecruiser 3000AD v2.0 A guide to running Battlecruiser 3000AD v2.0 under PCem emulation. The Battlecruiser franchise has had a long and tumultuous history. The original Battlecruiser 3000AD went through a number of publishers before a very broken commercial release. Controversy followed and the rest, as they say, is history. Version 2.0 (v2.09 to be exact) was made free to download in July 2001. So rather than cover old ground, this is a guide to get it running under Windows 10 (Win10) using the PCem emulator. A chance for a new generation of players to give a try, if they wish. This guide will cover PCem setup and configuration, obtaining Battlecruiser 3000AD v2.0 (or BC3KAD), installation, configuration and where to find further information. 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 . Before following the steps in the tutorial, take a look at the advice in the Sound card section below. Once you have a basic, clean Windows 98 (Win98) virtual machine and hard disk image, I recommend: Taking a copy of the basic virtual machine to create a game specific virtual machine. Taking a copy of the basic hard disk image to create a game specific image. Use PCem and reconfigure the game specific virtual machine to use the game specific hard disk image. If things go badly wrong, you'll always have the basic image to try again with and it'll save a lot of time and effort if you ever want to try a different game with PCem. Sound card The sound card specified in the tutorial is the Soundblaster PCI 128, however running BC3KAD with this emulated card results in distorted audio during gameplay. It's recommended to replace the PCI 128 with a Creative AWE 32 sound card. The PhilsComputerLab website has drivers for the AWE 32 as a self extracting archive executable. When installing drivers, Win98 may request the Win98 installation cd, so make sure it is mounted in the virtual PCem cd drive. The process to follow is: Shutdown the PCem emulated machine if it is running. Download the AWE 32 drivers, from the link above. Mount the PCem emulated hard disk in Win10 (open the .vhd file in Win10). Copy the driver executable file to a new subfolder under 'My Documents'. Eject the hard disk in Win10. Change the PCem emulated machine config to use an AWE 32 soundcard. Start the PCem emulated machine. Once Win98 has started, run the driver executable file to extract the contents of the zip archive. It extracts to the current directory, which is why it was placed in it's own sub folder. Use the 'Add hardware wizard' to search for the AWE 32 soundcard. The AWE 32 is not plug and play so you need to use the wizard. Specify the location of the AWE 32 drivers, if asked (the subfolder under My Documents mentioned earlier). Restart the machine when instructed, as new AWE 32 hardware is installed. Once complete you may wish to take a copy of this clean Win98 AWE 32 machine config and hard disk, for future games that struggle with the Soundblaster PCI 128. Additional software Once BC3KAD is installed, it includes a complete manual, however many of the documents will be in pdf format. Win98 does not have a default pdf viewer, so if you wish to view documents within PCem, a pdf viewer will need to be installed. Alternatively the documents can be copied to Win10 after BC3KAD installation. A recommended pdf viewer is Foxit PDF Reader v2.3.3309. This older Win98 compatible version can be found at OLDVERSION.COM . Note: despite the website stating this version is not compatible with Win98, it does work. The process is similar for the sound card drivers: shut down the emulated machine, mount the emulated hard disk in Win10, copy the installation executable onto the hard disk, eject the hard disk and run up the emulated machine. Installation within Win98 should be straightforward and complete without issue. Battlecruiser 3000AD v2.0 The latest version is v2.09 which was released for free in July 2001. It is available from FILEPLANET . Once again the executable installer should be copied onto the virtual hard disk before the starting the emulated Win98 machine. A list of old download locations is available on a BC3K page still hosted by 3000ad.com . Installation The most important point to note about installation is that it can take longer than usual. It may seem as if the installer has frozen, but remain patient and it will eventually complete without issue. Running the installer will update the Win98 installer components. This will result in a Win98 restart. Following the restart, the installer will automatically continue and begin installing the game. It's worth stressing again, this can take some time, so remain patient, give it a few minutes, it will eventually complete without issue. Recommended patches There is a single recommended patch for v2.09, the 'BC3K 2.09 Freeware intro anim fix'. It removes the CD check when not running in debug mode and fixes a crash in the intro movie. The patch is available at FILEPLANET . Again, the executable patch should be copied onto the virtual hard disk before the starting the emulated Win98 machine. Like the installer, it can take some time, so some patience is needed. The patch should complete without issue. Finishing touches Debug mode With v2.09, both the software rendered and Glide versions of the game have the debug mode enabled by default. Debug mode may cause unforeseen problems and issues, so it is recommended to disable debug mode. Debug mode is disabled by removing the debug flag ( d1 ) in the batch (.bat) files used to run the game. For software rendering, the bc3k.bat file should be edited, with the line: bc3000ad /d1 becoming: bc3000ad And for the Glide batch file, bc3k3dfx.bat , the line: bc3000ad /g /v1 /d1 becomes: bc3000ad /g /v1 DOS extender The Game Builder System (GBS) uses the old (and buggy by today's standards) DOS extender DOS/4G and can be replaced by DOS/32 Advanced DOS Extender. The dos4gw.exe files present in the GBS and GBS\BIN folders should be renamed, as a backup (e.g. dos4gw.bak). A modern DOS/32 extender and utilities can be found at the amindlost/dos32a  GitHub repository in the binw  folder. Download the dos32a.exe  DOS extender, copy it into the GBS and GBS\BIN folders and rename it dos4gw.exe . If the modern DOS/32 extenders cause issues they can be deleted, and the old DOS/4G extenders returned to their original filename. Game icons As a purely optional and cosmetic step the bc3k and bc3k3dfx shortcuts do not set the icon properly. The shortcuts can be changed to use the bc3k.ico icon file in the game folder. Windows versions There are native Windows 9X versions present and packaged in the bc3k209win.zip file, located in the game folder. However the Windows executables were always unsupported, lack certain features and exhibit spurious issues and can only run in a software rendered mode. As such they are not recommended. Configuration Configuration covers the sound, in-game options and finally HOTAS setup. Sound configuration Configuring sound options Before running the game the sound options should be set by running the 'BC3K Sound Setup' from within Win98. As the emulated machine is using the AWE 32 sound card, the Auto Detect option can be used to set the digital device to 'Sound Blaster 16/AWE 32'. The MIDI device should be set to 'Sound Blaster AWE 32' (as shown in the screenshot). Both digital audio and MIDI can be tested to ensure they are working. In-game configuration Configuration options In-game configuration options are available from the title screen 'Configure' option. Most (if not all) graphics options can be set to their maximum settings (see screenshot). HOTAS setup The previous article ' Controllers and retro sims part 5: PCem ' covers creating a suitable virtual controller and adding it to PCem as a custom 4-axes, 4-button controller. Once complete, I found the 'CH Flightstick Pro' joystick option (in the in-game configuration) provided joystick and throttle control (see screenshot). You may need to experiment with your own setup to find a suitable option. You may be asked to calibrate the controllers in-game before continuing. The 'Xtreme Carnage' option drops you straight into a fighter, which is useful for testing. Running After installation and patching the following should be completed before running the game: Sound configuration Disabling the debug flag (see Finishing touches ) As the PCem emulated machine includes an emulated 3dfx card, the game can use the Glide version available from the Win98 start menu ' BC3K v2.09 Freeware ' folder as ' BC3K 3DFX Glide '. The software rendered version is available as ' BC3K '. Manuals and further information The game comes with a manual found in the ' BC3K v2.09 Freeware ' start menu folder, under the ' BC3K Docs ' folder. Alternatively the 'BC3K Docs' folder can be copied to Win10 after BC3KAD installation, if you wish to view docs without PCem. There is a steep learning curve, so new players may appreciate a gentler introduction and tutorial provided by Tim Howgego on his Battlecruiser 3000AD page . Tim's info is based on BC3KAD v2.0. Thank you to Tim for his newbie friendly info. There is also a FAQ/guide available at GameFAQs on the Battlecruiser 3000AD v2.0 page . Good hunting!

Tornado splash screen A guide to running the 1993 classic DOS sim, Tornado by Digital Integration (DI) in DOSBox Staging. The guide will take a quick look at the different versions of Tornado, required patches, running in DOSBox Staging, with particular emphasis on sound and HOTAS configuration. Continued development and documentation will also be covered. Versions & official patches There are at least five retail versions of Tornado available, each one will be briefly described with any patches appropriate to the release. Each PC version was v1.0 suffixed with a letter, although a later Amiga release may have used v1.1 as the version. Version 1.0a Tornado v1.0a/c Digital Integration box art The initial big box retail release from Digital Integration (DI) around June 1993. It was supplied on 3 x 3.5" High Density (HD) floppy disks or a single CD-ROM. This release used the silver/grey Tornados on the box cover. Version 1.0b patch The elusive v1.0b patch was released in September 1993 for the European release only. It provides a number of bug fixes and enhancements to the game and hardware support. It is only applicable to v1.0/v1.0a. It is available from the Internet Archive . Version 1.0c patch The v1.0c patch was released a month after the 'b patch' in October 1993. There were separate patches for the European and North American editions. The European patch is a cumulative patch including the v1.0b patch with an almost identical patch readme but including additional Soundblaster bug fixes. The North American patch is a comprehensive patch including the previously unreleased 'b patch' bug fixes and enhancements. This version seems to fix many of the reported Soundblaster issues, with only some Soundblaster 16 issues remaining. This patch is only applicable to v1.0a and v1.0b. It is available from the Internet Archive . Version 1.0c A updated/re-released retail edition from DI was available around October 1993, comprising the pre-patched game. Again supplied on either 3 x 3.5" HD floppy disks or a single CD-ROM. It features an identical box cover to v1.0a making it indistinguishable from the earlier release although a v1.0c sticker may be added to the media. Operation Desert Storm v1.0d Operation Desert Storm retail box The only expansion to Tornado, bringing the version number to v1.0d, features an additional campaign in the Desert Storm theater. Released by DI in 1994 on a single 3.5" Double Density (DD) floppy disk, in a slim orange coloured retail box. Tornado Limited Edition A later, 'Tornado Limited Edition' was released by DI in 1994 combining Tornado and the Operation Desert Storm expansion. Media was either 3 x 3.5" HD and 1 x 3.5" DD floppy disks or a single CD-ROM. The packaging used an identical design but with gold Tornados on the box cover. Version 1.0e patch Another comprehensive patch was released for v1.0d only, upgrading to v1.0e, comprising of further bug fixes and enhancements based on customer feedback. It is available from the Internet Archive . The patch readme explicitly states this patch is not applicable to the American Spectrum Holobyte twin pack (v1.0f) edition. Version 1.0e Amiga box identical to the PC version This version was released as European budget edition on the Action Sixteen label featuring Tornado and Operation Desert Storm pre-patched to v1.0e. It was available as either 3 x 3.5" HD and 1 x 3.5" DD floppy disks or a single CD-ROM. The Steam version is very similar (if not identical) to this version, being compatible with the Action 16 SB patch. There were still some Soundblaster 16 issues with this release with Soundblaster support being partially or completely disabled, relying instead on Adlib sound. The American Trimark release has Soundblaster support removed. Version 1.0e is the preferred version due to the Action 16 SB patch. The Tornado Falcon 3 Twin Pack (v1.0f) This was a Spectrum Holobyte compilation cd retail release, featuring Tornado v1.0f, Falcon 3.0d and Merlin, a lightweight DI sim of landing the Merlin helicopter on a frigate, initially developed as a Royal Navy recruitment tool. This version does not include the Operation Desert Storm expansion and is not compatible with the v1.0e patch. The file timestamps seem to indicate it is based on v1.0c although the readme file contains the same bug fixes and enhancements as v1.0e (it even mentions the missing Desert Storm expansion), so this suggests it may be the v1.0c base game patched to a v1.0e standard. Unofficial patches, mods & tools The first section covers critical patches recommended for a fully functional game under DOSBox Staging. There are other patches listed that add enhancements or fix particular bugs on some versions. As many are down to personal preference, they are listed in the 'Other patches, mods & tools' section. All of these patches can be found at the TornadoGame GitHub page . Critical patches Action 16 SB patch This restores Soundblaster support to the Action Sixteen v1.0e release. Created by Heinz-Bernd Eggenstein. Tornado Joystick Doctor This improves joystick responsiveness on fast machines (fast meaning anything faster than a 486DX @ 33Mhz). This is recommended for use with DOSBox Staging running at 20k cycles. Created Heinz-Bernd Eggenstein in 1995. Other patches, mods & tools A host of other patches, mods and tools exist, including the Tornado Command and Staff College (TCSC) strategy guide, additional campaigns and other tools to enhance your Tornado experience. As they are optional, use of these is personal preference. Here is a brief list of the many available: Tornado Map Fax Machine Soundblaster Cannon patch Generic Tornado Patcher The Logbook Editor A Safer Keyboard Layout Soundblaster Auto-detect patch An image tool, showPT2 TCSC (For Windows 3.1/Windows 98) Tornado Spouse Reminder Tool Tornado Ordinance Management TCSC add-on: Desert Storm: Gulf '96 add-on campaign Time Compression TSR program Liberation Campaign Morale patch Terrain Following Realism patch Default Speed patch BDA patch Tornado Mission Exchange Tool Mission Summary Text Extractor Continued development No Tornado guide would be complete without mentioning the incredible development work done by Frankie Kam. The source code to v1.0a of the flight engine was released as open source. Frankie has spent eight years examining the assembly code and developing a huge number of enhancements. As of 13th October 2024, Frankie has developed and released an incredible 210 mods! Truly an incredible achievement, a huge thank you to Frankie for all his hard work on this classic sim! You can find out more about all the mods at the Dogs Of War Vu, Tornado forum under the Modding Tornado topic. Probably the easiest way to download the latest flight engine is to join the Digital Integration Tornado Discord where you should be able to find the latest flight engine in the latest_flight_exe channel. This guide uses the v1.0e version for an initial vanilla experience, after which you may want to use Frankie's version of Tornado with all it's enhancements and improvements! Running in DOSBox Staging This section will discuss the basic DOSBox Staging settings required required for installation and patching, followed by specific settings for music, sound and HOTAS/joystick. This requires a combination of DOSBox and game settings to be applied. Basic settings There are remarkably few changes to be applied from the DOSBox Staging default settings. The settings differing from the default are shown below: [dosbox] memsize = 31 [cpu] cycles = fixed 20000 cycleup = 1000 cycledown = 1000 [autoexec] mount c "D:\Games\Dos\Tornado\hdd" C: Memory size is increased to ensure there is far more than enough required (it will run with the default 16). The cpu cycles is an important setting as, too high, contributes towards sluggish joystick response. In my config file, 20000 works well. You may need to tweak your setup but 20000 is a good starting point. Cycles up/down is a personal preference. The autoexec mounts a folder used as the DOSBox emulated hard disk. I use my DOSBox game management strategy. These settings will allow the game to run and patches to be applied, the sections below cover installation and specific optimisations. Installation & patching When installing from floppy disk (or floppy image). images should be mounted in DOSBox and installed using the installer and config app on the first disk. You may need to run the Operation Desert Storm installer separately. More likely the release is on cd (or cd image). It can be ripped as an iso data only format, as there is no cd music present. You may have noticed there is no imgmount command to mount a cd (or cd image). The cd editions of Tornado use an installation method where only config files are written to the hard drive, with the game running from the cd. This makes applying patches problematic. To install from cd (or image), it should be mounted in Windows and then the contents of the cd copied into the DOSBox emulated hard drive folder, in my case 'D:\Games\Dos\Tornado\hdd'. This completes the installation and makes the game available under DOSBox. DOS setup utility To run Tornado, there is normally a batch file ( go.bat being a popular name across cd releases) that allows the sound to be configured during a first run and then runs the game. During the first run, Soundblaster should be selected as the audio device. To reconfigure settings run setup.exe in the tornado.cd sub-folder. Patching It is recommended to apply the Action 16 SB patch first with the Tornado Joystick Doctor. only being applied after completing the HOTAS/joystick config. For the Action 16 SB patch, the instructions in the patch readme should be followed. It is a file replacement patch resulting in additional flight__.exe and desert__.exe files, in the flight sub-folder. The files can be replaced under Windows. Music and sound settings These are the mixer settings: [mixer] negotiate = true reverb = large chorus = normal Reverb and chorus is personal preference while negotiate is set to true to try and optimise audio throughput. Preference page with sound and joystick options The default DOSBox Staging soundblaster options are ideal and don't require changes. On the game Preferences page, the Soundblaster option should be selected (if it isn't already). Roland only settings The game supports the Roland LAPC1 device (which is essentially a CM32L device) providing higher quality music. However the CM32L will also replace the Soundblaster flight engine sounds. First the DOSBox midi settings should change to: [midi] mididevice = mt32 [mt32] model = cm32l romdir = "D:\Midi\Versioned" For some background, consult the earlier, DOSBox midi post. To reconfigure settings, run  setup.exe  in the tornado.cd  sub-folder and select the Roland LAPC1 device. On the game Preferences page, the Roland option should be selected (if it isn't already). Roland & Soundblaster settings To get the best of both worlds, Roland music and Soundblaster flight engine sounds. The DOSBox midi settings can be changed as follows: [midi] mididevice = mt32 [mt32] model = mt32_new romdir = "D:\Midi\Versioned" The mt32_new model is less capable than the cm32l and is unable to provide flight engine audio while still providing better midi music. For some background, consult the earlier, DOSBox midi  post. To reconfigure settings, run  setup.exe  in the tornado.cd  sub-folder and select the Soundblaster device. On the game Preferences page, the Soundblaster option should be selected (if it isn't already). You can now select the Roland option as well. The game may need to be restarted before the Roland midi music is used. HOTAS configuration This will cover the physical and virtual controller setup in Windows, followed by DOSBox Staging settings and finally game settings and applying the Tornado Joystick Doctor patch. TARGET settings Like many other DOS sims, Tornado requires a HOTAS setup limited to 4 axes. For those with 4 axes or less this won't apply. For those with a HOTAS with more than 4 axes, HOTAS profiling software will need to be used to limit axes. In my case I'm able to use TM TARGET to create a suitable profile for a virtual controller with only 4 axes. They are specified as follows: Physical axis Windows axis Joystick x-axis DX_X_AXIS Joystick y-axis DX_Y_AXIS Throttle DX_Z_AXIS Rudder pedals DX_XROT_AXIS If you can't use TM Target or your HOTAS supplier profiling software, then other profiling software, like Joystick Gremlin may provide a suitable alternative. DOSBox settings The following changes are made to the joystick section of the DOSBox configuration file: [joystick] joysticktype = 4axis timed = false swap34 = true deadzone = 0 4axis allows the use of throttle and rudder pedals in flight. Timed false is appropriate for my setup with the Tornado Joystick Doctor patch applied. You may wish to set to true, if your particular HOTAS setup doesn't require the use of the patch and/or setting to false results in joystick drift. Again swap34 true was appropriate for my setup, however you may need to test your particular HOTAS to see if this is required. The deadzone setting is personal preference and works well for my HOTAS. Game settings and testing VSI on HUD, G-meter on panel To configure the joystick/throttle and rudder controls, go to the Preference page and select the Joystick 2 option (a misleading name IMO) in the Control Devices menu and click on Standard to calibrate the devices. Note : The throttle and rudder pedals/control must be calibrated together. It's not known whether this option allows the calibration of a throttle only. The first flight may reset to keyboard flight control, requiring Joystick 2 to be selected from the in-flight kneepad options. To test, start a simulator mission and ensure a joystick pitch up can reach near maximum VSI on the HUD and near maximum G on the G-meter (see screenshot). Tornado Joystick Doctor patch If joystick response seems overly sluggish and high VSI or G can't be reached, you may wish to try the Tornado Joystick Doctor patch. The patch readme says it should be unzipped into the flight folder, but this failed in my case and had to be unzipped into the flight parent folder. On Windows this was: D:\Games\Dos\Tornado\hdd\TORNADO.CD And within DOSBox this was: C:\TORNADO.CD A backup of the flight folder should be taken before performing the following steps: Read the enclosed patch instructions, to determine how to use the patch. I ended up using the patch for all axes. Run the Tornado Joystick Doctor ( t_jsp_p.exe ) from within DOSBox. Follow the on-screen instructions. The patch will be applied to various areas of the existing flight and desert exe files. The patch is also compatible with the Action 16 SB patch and will select the correct files to patch. Re-calibrate controllers from the game Preferences page. Re-test the controllers checking VSI and the G-meter in flight. If it is too sensitive there is also a t_jsp2_p.exe with 75% sensitivity, or you may wish to only apply the patch to certain axes. This will be dependant on your HOTAS setup. My configuration My DOSBox Staging configuration is shown below, the rest of the config follows the default DOSBox Staging configuration: [dosbox] memsize = 31 [cpu] cycles = fixed 20000 cycleup = 1000 cycledown = 1000 [mixer] negotiate = true reverb = large chorus = normal [midi] mididevice = mt32 [mt32] model = mt32_new romdir = "D:\Midi\Versioned" [joystick] joysticktype = 4axis timed = false swap34 = true deadzone = 0 [autoexec] mount c "D:\Games\Dos\Tornado\hdd" C: call go.bat pause # read the goodbye msg exit # close DOSBox Documents The Tornado manual and Operation Desert Storm manual are available from the VOGONS Vintage Driver Library, thanks to Stiletto and Frankie Kam. The Tornado maps and keyboard reference are available as a Steam guides, many thanks to Hiuuz for providing them. Further Info This guide written to help you get up and running (and hopefully running well) with Tornado. For further info I'd recommend Frankie Kam's Tornado portal , which has been collecting Tornado patches, mods, tools and further information for years! It even has the TSCS strategy guide converted to web pages. Well worth a look for Tornado fans! If there are any mistakes or omissions, in this guide, please get in touch and let me know. Good hunting!

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

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

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

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