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A guide to running the Jane's Combat Simulations sim from 2000, F/A-18 Simulator. This sim will run natively under Win10 using either Direct3D or Glide emulation. This guide will cover a common method of installation, the specifics for Direct3D and Glide and finally some subjective compatibility improvements to reduce the risk of issues. This guide will only cover setting up a 'vanilla' unmodified F/A-18. Comprehensive mods, e.g. Team Super Hornet (TSH) v4.0 are not covered in this setup guide. Before continuing, a brief look at the installation strategy. Strategy This strategy uses the successful Glide installation method, while making changes to make it applicable to a Direct3D installation. Finally a number of library changes and upgrades are suggested to maximise compatibility. This allows a simpler switching between Direct3D and Glide to find the optimum version for a particular hardware setup. The Strategy is as follows: Install the MyDxWnd folder framework . Install the retail cd version of F/A-18 . Install the official patch . Install the MyDxWnd fix utilities . Run the MyDxWnd fix scripts . Apply compatibility settings . Disable Microsoft libraries in the game folder . Upgrade third party libraries . Choose either the Direct3D or Glide graphics API to use. For Direct3D: Disable dgVoodoo2 . Install DDrawCompat . Configure DDrawCompat . For Glide: Install nGlide . Upgrade dgVoodoo2 . The following will also be covered: Converting from Direct3D to Glide . Converting from Glide to Direct3D . Version and patch history A Jane's F/A-18 patch collection was unable to be created on the Internet Archive, download locations are specified for each entry. CD retail release The initial CD release of Jane's Combat Simulations: F/A-18 Simulator occurred in early 2000. Distributed on a single CD-ROM by Electronic Arts. This release is v1.00. It would be released under the EA Classics label. It's not known if this release was pre-patched with or included the v1.01 update. The retail release was distributed with a 32-bit installer making it compatible with Win10. F/A-18 v1.01F Update The only official patch was the F/A-18 v1.01F Update, released in April 2000. It was a comprehensive patch, including bug fixes and enhancements. It requires installing but uses a 32-bit installer making it compatible with Win10. The patch readme file is included below: This is a recommended patch which can be found at GameFront or Jane's F/A-18 Resource (bundled with the v1.01F no CD patch). v1.01F no CD patch An unofficial no cd patch was created for both v1.00 and v1.01F. The v1.01F No CD patch is a file replacement patch replacing the F18.exe file. It is available from Jane's F/A-18 Resource bundled with the F/A-18 v1.01F Update patch. This is not a required patch to download, as it is included in the MyDxWnd fix utilities. Wrappers The following wrappers are used in this guide. MyDxWnd MyDxWnd is customised version (created by Vedmysh/XRAY) in November 2019, of DxWnd (developed by Gho). The changes have been built into the DxWnd code, so it is not upgraded with a later version. MyDxWnd contains fixes for Jane's Longbow Anthology, F-15 & F/A-18 as well as fixes for the Digital Integration sims, Apache (Longbow), Hind & iF-16 (F-16 Fighting Falcon). For the purposes of this guide only F/A-18 will be considered . MyDxWnd comprises of two separate archives (both requiring 7zip ): A folder framework ( mydxwnd.7z ). A set of fix utilities and files for each game ( mydxwnd.fix.7z) . Further information is available from Vedmysh's blog, 0xDEFACED . dgVoodoo2 MyDxWnd includes an earlier version of dgVoodoo2. To enhance compatibility and incorporate any dgVoodoo2 fixes, the earlier version is replaced with the latest version, ( v2.86.4 at time of writing) is used. This can be obtained from the dgVoodoo2 GitHub Releases . nGlide Required if the Glide graphics API is to be tried or used. This guide uses the latest version of nGlide, v2.10 . It is available from Zeus Software at nGlide download . DDrawCompat Required if the Direct3D graphics API is to be tried or used. This guide uses the latest version of DDrawCompat, v0.7.0 . This can be obtained from the DDrawCompat GitHub Releases . Retail media This guide assumes any physical cds will be ripped to an image file, to reduce wear and tear on media and drives. The retail version of F/A-18 does not contain cd audio and can be ripped to a data only .iso format. At present there is no release of the game on digital platforms. Game management As a windows game running natively, the installation folder will be created by the F/A-18 installer. However some limited game management is still useful for files used in the F/A-18 setup. The installation folder and setup files for F/A-18 and other Windows games can be found in the same folder (my own, as an example): D:\Games\Win\ D:\Games\Win\Janes FA-18 Setup The following setup folders are used: backup - to store any wrapper configs when switching. ddrawcompat - to backup the DDrawCompat config. dgvoodoo2 - to backup the dgVoodoo2 config. libs - to backup libraries. cd - to store any cd images. conf - to store any HOTAS profile configuration files. docs - to store any useful documents, manuals, etc. patch - to store a copy of recommended patches. wrappers - to store wrapper installers. mydxwnd - to store the mydxwnd framework. When switching from one graphics API to another, the backup folders will be referenced. 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, as F/A-18 will automatically try to detect the HOTAS controller. For those using controllers from multiple vendors, the vJoy/Joystick Gremlin  combination may be required instead of vendor specific HOTAS profile software. You may also have to use HidHide as a device firewall, to hide your real controllers, so only the vJoy virtual controllers are detected by F/A-18. 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_ZROT_AXIS Note : This config is identical to one used for Jane's F-15 but is repeated here for convenience. Installation The following steps set up up the MyDxWnd framework for both Direct3D and Glide. Install the MyDxWnd folder framework Download the MyDxWnd folder framework ( mydxwnd.7z ). Store in the game management folder \wrappers\mydxwnd , for reference. Extract the contents of mydxwnd.7z archive to a drive. This should result in a top level folder, e.g. D:\mydxwnd Install the retail cd version of F/A-18 The F/A-18 installer, setup.exe should be run, as a 32-bit installer it is compatible with Win10. The installer may suffer from an InstallShield wait chain issue . Once started the setup process is comprised of three sub-processes. One of these processes may be blocked by another unrelated process, until the setup process fails. Each process should be examined in Task Manager . Under Go to details and Analyze wait chains . If there is an unrelated processes blocking the setup, it should be closed to allow setup to continue. Additional background to this issue is covered in the earlier article, InstallShield freezing? It may be a Logitech issue . This covered a different game setup process blocked by different software. As an example, one of the processes was blocked by EpicGameLauncher. Once this was closed the setup process continued. The blocking process may be different depending on what is installed on a machine. The setup process will be delayed, but will start eventually. The F/A-18 installation folder should be the MyDxWnd F/A-18 folder, e.g. D:\mydxwnd\f-18 During the install, a Full install should be selected. The installer will recommend that DirectX should NOT be installed . When prompted choose No to skip installing DirectX. The setup should complete normally. Install the official patch The official patch should be downloaded and stored in the game management folder \patch , for reference. The patch contents should be extracted and the patch ( f18upd01.exe ) run. As a 32-bit installer it is compatible with Win10. The patch setup should complete normally. Install the MyDxWnd fix utilities Download the MyDxWnd fix utilities ( mydxwnd.fix.7z ). Store in the game management folder \wrappers\mydxwnd , for reference. Extract the contents of the MyDxWnd fix utilities to the MyDxWnd installation folder, when prompted, overwrite any files . Run the MyDxWnd fix scripts From within the MyDxWnd installation folder, run the genini.cmd script to create the DxWnd config. From with the MyDxWnd installation folder, run the verify.cmd script. If successful the below screenshot should be seen. Apply compatibility settings In the Properties for F18.exe the Change high DPI settings button opens the high DPI settings dialog which should be set as shown in the screenshot below. The High DPI scaling override should be set to System , to prevent text scaling issues. Disable Microsoft libraries Older/earlier Microsoft libraries are included in the F/A-18 installation folder. These should be removed to revert to the standard Windows libraries which may be more compatible. The following libraries should be moved (not copied) to a game management backup folder, \backup\libs : MFC42.DLL MSVCRT.DLL Upgrade third party libraries An older/earlier third party library is included in the F/A-18 installation folder. This should be replaced with a later library version, which may be more compatible. The following libraries should be moved (not copied)  to a game management backup folder,  \backup\libs : MSS32.DLL An MSS library is available from this VOGONS post  by DosFreak. Download Miles(use 7z as ext).zip  and rename to Miles.7z . Extract the contents of Miles.7z (with 7zip ). Copy the 32-bit library 6.0i-mss32.dll  into the F/A-18 installation folder. This has been reported as working on Win10/11 with Jane's F-15. Rename to mss32.dll . Direct3D installation This next section covers installing the wrapper to use Direct3D. Disable dgVoodoo2 MyDxWnd installs an earlier version of the dgVoodoo2 wrapper which is not required for Direct3D. The dgVoodoo2 files should be moved (not copied) from the MyDxWnd F/A-18 installation folder, \mydxwnd\f-18 into the game management folder, \backup\dgvoodoo2 . The following files should be moved: D3DImm.dll DDraw.dll dgVoodoo.conf dgVoodooCpl.exe Install DDrawCompat DDrawCompat v0.7.0 should be download and stored in the game management folder \wrappers, for reference. The contents of the archive should be extracted and the ddraw.dll file copied into the  MyDxWnd F/A-18 installation folder, \mydxwnd\f-18 . Configure DDrawCompat The DDrawCompat config below should be copied in the game management folder \wrappers,  for reference. The contents of the archive should be extracted and copied into the MyDxWnd F/A-18 installation folder, \mydxwnd\f-18 . Glide installation This next section covers installing wrappers to use Glide. Note : the nGlide settings are identical to those for Jane's F-15. Install nGlide nGlide settings nGlide should be downloaded and stored in the game management folder \wrappers,  for reference. nGlide is installed as a system level Glide wrapper as explained further in Glide Wrappers: Last Man Standing or Peace and Harmony? Once installed the nGlide configurator is used to set the nGlide settings as shown in the screenshot. Upgrade dgVoodoo2 dgVoodoo2 v2.86.4 should be downloaded and stored in the game management folder \wrappers,  for reference. The following files should be copied into the F/A-18 installation folder, overwriting any existing files: \MS\x86\D3DImm.dll \MS\x86\DDraw.dll dgVoodooCpl.exe The existing dgVoodoo2 config file, dgVoodoo.conf should remain unchanged. Running with Direct3D To run F/A-18 with Direct3D either: Go to the MyDxWnd installation folder and run dxwnd.cmd to start DxWnd. Once started run the FA-18 profile within DxWnd. Or: Run FA18.exe from the F/A-18 installation folder. Note : Both method assume any HOTAS profiles, head tracking software, etc. has already been configured. Note : Options menus are shown correctly when using Direct3D. Issues In the Jane's Reference section, the 3d models of the in-game vehicles and weapons are not shown. Running with Glide To run F/A-18 with Glide: Go to the MyDxWnd installation folder and run dxwnd.cmd  to start DxWnd. Once started run the  FA-18 profile  within DxWnd. Note : This method assumes any HOTAS profiles, head tracking software, etc. has already been configured. Note : The 3d models of the Jane's Reference are shown with Glide. Issues Options menu pages will appear in a small top left section of the window and cannot be enlarged/moved. Converting from Direct3D to Glide This requires taking a backup of and disabling DDrawCompat and enabling dgVoodoo2. nGlide may require installing if not done so earlier. The ddrawcompat files should be moved (not copied) from the MyDxWnd F/A-18 installation folder, \mydxwnd\f-18  into the game management folder, \backup\ddrawcompat . The following files should be moved: ddraw.dll DDrawCompatOverlay-F18.ini Install nGlide , (if not done so earlier). The dgVoodoo2 backup files should be copied from the game management folder, \backup\dgvoodoo2 into the MyDxWnd F/A-18 installation folder, \mydxwnd\f-18 . Upgrade dgVoodoo2 , (if not done so earlier). Converting from Glide to Direct3D Disable dgVoodoo2 . If a DDrawCompat backup exists: The DDrawCompat backup files should be copied from the game management folder, \backup\ddrawcompat into the MyDxWnd F/A-18 installation folder, \mydxwnd\f-18 . If a DDrawCompat backup does not exist: Install DDrawCompat . Configure DDrawCompat . Head tracking F/A-18 uses a similar mouselook mechanism in the virtual cockpit view as Jane's F-15. Similar methods can be used to enable head tracking as described in Jane's F-15 part 3: Adding head tracking . The TrackIR mouse emulation method is shown below, in the first example video. Example videos F/A-18 in Win10 using Direct3D and TrackIR F/A-18 in Win10 using Glide Finally... This is currently untested on Win11, if anyone tries it out, let me know if it works! Credit and huge thanks go to: GamesFront and Jane's F/A-18 Resource for hosting the update patch. Vedmysh/XRAY for the MyDxWnd framework. Gho for DxWnd. dege for dgVoodoo2. Zeus for nGlide. narzoul for DDrawCompat. The DDrawCompat config file came from a forum post I have since lost track of. If anyone finds it, let me know so I can properly credit the creator. Good hunting!

A guide to running Jane's Combat Simulations: F-15 released in 1998 by Electronic Arts. This guide will be running the sim natively under Win10, considered in the past to be notoriously tricky, due to severe compatibility issues under later versions of Windows. Although untested, it is hoped this strategy will increase compatibility on Win11 platforms. Strategy This guide uses a slightly different strategy than others. The F-15 installer adds Windows libraries to the installation folder. The libraries in the installation folder are used in preference to the standard Windows libraries. Given F-15 was released in 1998, these are some very old libraries which may have compatibility issues under later versions of Windows. The strategy employed, is to disable these libraries causing the standard Windows system libraries to be used. This seems to increase compatibility with Windows (Win10 at least) and later versions of the Glide and DirectX wrappers. Other libraries are replaced with later versions which seem to be more compatible with Win10. This provides a better starting point for adding wrappers and setting Windows compatibility options, than an original F-15 install using very old libraries. Version and patch history There have been at least two retails editions of F-15. The original 'big-box' retail edition from 1998 was distributed on a single CD-ROM and included the Casual Play Guide, Expert Flight Manual, Setup & Troubleshooting guide and keyboard reference. Another weighty edition Jane's sims were famous for. This edition installs v1.02F. A later Electronic Arts CD-ROM Classics edition was released. This provided much of the documentation as PDF documents and included the F-15 v1.17F D3D/JCN Update. This edition was distributed on 2 x CD-ROM, for this reasons. There aren't any additional mods or expansions bundled with this release but there are demos/previews of other Jane's sims. Patches All official patches are available from GameFront . All patches (official/unofficial) are also available from the Internet Archive  at Jane's F-15 patch collection . MovSpace.exe utility Released in Apr 1998, this utility removes installed F-15 movies from the hard disk and updates the Windows registry to read them from the CD. This may be of interest to those using period correct legacy hardware, although disk space usage would probably not be a concern with modern storage solutions, otherwise this utility should not be needed. F15 Patch v1.12F The first patch was released on 13 Jul 1998 and updates the version to v1.12F. This patch is distributed as an exe file and must be installed, although it is compatible with Win10. This is a very comprehensive patch, including: Crash fixes. Multiplayer improvements. Wrapper screen improvements. Mission Builder improvements. AI behavior enhancements and changes. Flight Model enhancements and changes. Avionics systems enhancements and changes. Weapons system enhancements and changes. Other miscellaneous improvements and changes. This patch is not recommended having been superseded by the F-15 v1.17F D3D/JCN Update patch. F15 Installation Utility The F15 Installation Utility was released 15 Jul 1998. It fixes many installation issues and provides an 'alternate' install option, similar to the large option but leaving movie and terrain files on the CD. This patch is recommended if the cd installer experiences problems when installing. F-15 v1.17F D3D/JCN Update This patch was released on 20 Nov 1998 and adds support for Direct3D video cards and multiplayer support with Jane's Combat Net (JCN). This patch is distributed as an exe file and must be installed, although it is compatible with Win10. It is a cumulative patch including the fixes and enhancements from F15 Patch v1.12F This is a recommended patch. F15fixed This fan made patch was released 16 May 2011, distributed as a zip file and created by XRAY/vedmysh. It provides fixes for the KARKBOMB single mission crash, occurring few seconds after starting and reduces crashes when using JUMP or time acceleration. This is a file replacement patch, replacing the existing F15.exe file. You can read more about this patch . This is a recommended patch, available from MediaFire . Retail media This guide assumes any physical cds will be ripped to an image file, to reduce wear and tear on media and drives. The retail version of F-15 does not contain cd audio and can be ripped to a data only .iso format. At present there is no release of the game on digital platforms. Game management As a windows game running natively, the installation folder will be created by the F-15 installer. However some limited game management is still useful for files used in the F-15 setup. The installation folder and setup files for F-15 and other Windows games can be found in the same folder (my own, as an example): D:\Games\Win\ D:\Games\Win\Janes F-15 Setup The following setup folders are used: conf - to store any HOTAS profile configuration files. docs - to store any useful documents, manuals, etc. patch - to store a copy of recommended patches, wrappers, zip archives or installers. cd - to store any cd images. Installation The CD installer should work under Win10 and successfully install F-15 without issue. If issues are encountered, it's recommended to use the F15 Installation Utility as the installer. Patching Patching should be performed in the following order: F-15 v1.17F D3D/JCN Update . F-15fixed . The F-15 v1.17F D3D/JCN Update should work under Win10 and successfully patch F-15 without issue. F-15 fixed is a file replacement patch, replacing the F15.exe file. Libraries A key part of this strategy is the disabling (or removal) of older less compatible libraries in the F-15 installation folder with the Windows platform system libraries or more compatible libraries. Disabling libraries These libraries will be found within the F-15 installation folder. There are a couple of methods that can be used to disable them: Delete the library (not recommended). Rename the library, as this allows the lib to be restored, e.g. adding .bak to the filename, mfc42.dll becomes mfc42.dll.bak (preferred). The following libraries should be disabled: mfc42.dll mfc42d.dll mfco42d.dll msvcrt.dll msvcrtd.dll Note : The 'd' versions of the libraries are debug versions and it seems odd they were installed alongside the standard versions. Replacing libraries F-15 uses a 1998 version of the Miles Sound System (MSS) library, as it is not part of the Win10 system libraries, the old version must be disabled (using the same method) and then replaced with a newer version that is more compatible. The library to be disable is: mss32.dll An MSS library is available from this VOGONS post by DosFreak. To replace the MSS library: Download Miles(use 7z as ext).zip and rename to Miles.7z . Extract the contents of Miles.7z (with 7zip ). For Win10 : Copy the 32-bit library 6.0a-mss32.dll or 6.0i-mss32.dll into the F-15 installation folder. These are known to work on Win10. For Win11 : Copy the 32-bit library 6.0i-mss32.dll  into the F-15 installation folder. This has been reported as working on Win11. Rename to mss32.dll . That completes the required library changes. Graphics wrappers F-15 requires the use of nGlide providing Glide emulation for the flight engine and DDrawCompat providing DirectDraw compatibility for the menu pages. nGlide nGlide settings Glide emulation is provided by the latest version of nGlide v2.10. Available from Zeus Software  in nGlide download . nGlide is installed as a system level Glide wrapper as explained further in Glide Wrappers: Last Man Standing or Peace and Harmony? Once installed the nGlide configurator is used to set the nGlide settings as shown in the screenshot. DDrawCompat DirectDraw emulation is provided by the latest version of DDrawCompat v0.6.0. Available from DDrawCompat GitHub releases . To install: Copy the ddraw.dll into the F-15 installation folder. A new DDrawCompat config file, DDrawCompat.ini , should be created in the F-15 installation folder, using a text editor (e.g. Notepad). Add the following lines to the DDrawCompat.ini : CpuAffinity=all DpiAwareness=unaware VSync=on(1) Update : The latest version is   DDrawCompat v0.7.0  and continues to work well with F-15. Program compatibility settings There are number of compatibility settings that should be applied to the F15.exe Properties. In the Compatibility tab: Check Disable fullscreen optimization . Make the following changes to Change high DPI settings : In High DPI scaling override , check Override high DPI scaling behaviour . Scaling performed by: System . Settings shown in the screenshots below: 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, as F-15 will automatically try to detect the HOTAS controller. For those using controllers from multiple vendors, the vJoy/Joystick Gremlin  combination may be required instead of vendor specific HOTAS profile software. You may also have to use HidHide as a device firewall, to hide your real controllers, so only the vJoy virtual controllers are detected by F-15. 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_ZROT_AXIS Display scaling options Running It is recommended to run F-15 at 100% scaling, to prevent scaling issues in the menu pages, as shown in the screenshot: Configuration The following are configuration options that can be applied and are of particular interest. In-game options In Graphics , it's recommended to check No Page Flipping for smoother frame rates. In Controls , it's recommended to pay particular attention to the Pitch and Roll Dead Band . A higher Dead Band can make controlling the aircraft more difficult. Additional key bindings There are additional key binding commands not configured by default. They should be applied to the following files depending on language: f15keys.ini - English f15keysf.ini - French f15keysg.ini - German Command Description FORMATION_LIGHTS Toggles formation lights. COCKPIT_LIGHTS Toggles internal cockpit lighting. DISPLAY_FPS Displays FPS on the HUD. MEET_SMUT Toggles the flying pig easter egg. Depending on play style, these commands can be added to [Casual] , [Expert] or both sections. The ini file can be edited with a text editor, e.g. Notepad. The format is shown in the following example: ... KEY_CTRL_Z=FORMATION_LIGHTS KEY_CTRL_X=COCKPIT_LIGHTS KEY_CTRL_V=DISPLAY_FPS KEY_CTRL_N=MEET_SMUT ... Female wingman To enable the female wingman voice: Copy the regit.exe utility from the F-15 cd into the F-15 installation folder. Set the Compatibility Properties on regit.exe to Run this program in compatibility mode for: Windows 98 / Windows ME (see screenshot). Open the regit.exe utility, a number of values and data should be shown (see screenshot). Add the following value/data item: Value: woman (all lowercase) Data: 1 Close the regit.exe utility. Example video Jane's F-15 running under Win10 Finally... As usual a number of individuals are credited and thanked for their contribution in creating this guide: Damson for an alternative method, this method borrowed heavily from. DosFreak for the VOGONS post with additional Miles Sound System libraries. XRAY/vedmysh for the F15fixed patch. If anyone can confirm if this method also works with Win11 or the MSS library also works with Win11, please let me know and I'll update this article. Good hunting!

This guide will attempt to improve Win10/11 compatibility using techniques that have proved successful with other sims. These compatibility improvements are very subjective in nature as their success is gauged by an absence of crashes or other issues. Only through long term use in long duration missions can a subjective assessment be made. Despite this, it is hoped these changes will improve compatibility. While currently working well in Windows 10, the following was reported in the Combat Ace forums post, Rowan's MiG Alley by Dornil: With this MA is running well under Win10 even without any compatibility settings. Unfortunately, it's not perfect after all - CTDs happen often during long missions :( Although it could well be inherent problem of the Mig Alley itself - I vaguely remember something like this from the days when it was a relatively new game. To try and correct this issue the following techniques are used: Disabling/removing Windows libraries in the game folder, which will cause MiG Alley to revert to the later Windows system libraries. Replace 3rd party libraries with later versions that are compatible with MiG Alley. Later libraries should have increased compatibility with later versions of WIndows. Any bugs or memory issues may have been resolved with later versions of libraries. Upgrade to the latest version of DirectX wrappers. Disabling the Microsoft library The msvcrt.dll library is found within the MiG Alley installation folder. There are a couple of methods that can be used to disable it: Delete the library (not recommended). Rename the library, as this allows the lib to be restored, e.g. adding .bak  to the filename, msvcrt.dll  becomes msvcrt.dll .bak  (preferred). Replacing Miles & SMACKER libraries MiG Alley uses the Miles Sound System (MSS) library ( mss32.dll ) and the SMACKER library ( smackw32.dll ). The old version must be disabled (using the same method as above) and then replaced with a newer version that is more compatible. A collection of MSS and SMACKER libraries are available from this VOGONS post  by DosFreak. To replace the libraries: Download Miles(use 7z as ext).zip and rename to Miles.7z . Extract the contents of Miles.7z (with 7zip ). Copy the 32-bit library 4.0d-mss32.dll  into the MiG Alley installation folder. Rename to mss32.dll . Download SMACKER(use 7z as ext).zip  and rename to SMACKER .7z . Extract the contents of SMACKER .7z (with 7zip ). Copy the library 4.1a-smackw32.dll  into the MiG Alley installation folder. Rename to smackw32.dll . Upgrading DDrawCompat wrapper The latest version of DDrawCompat, v0.7.0 continues to work well with MiG Alley. It can be obtained from the DDrawCompat GitHub Releases . The existing DDrawCompat.ini configuration should continue to be used. Finally... Credit and thanks go to: Dornil for his post on the Combat Ace forums. DosFreak for the VOGONS post with additional Miles Sound System and Smacker libraries. narzoul for DDrawCompat. Good hunting!

In a previous guide, KA-52 Team Alligator: Running in Windows 10 , the game could be run within Win10. However it ran ok but it didn't run well. This guide will try different techniques to try and improve the Win10 compatibility. Strategy The strategy for improving Win10 compatibility will involve the use of: dgVoodoo2 to improve graphics. DSOAL (DirectSound via OpenAL) to improve sound. NVIDIA Control Panel to limit frame rates which may help improve sound. This strategy will continue to use the Team Alligator install with the the joystick deadzone patch (which includes the ZeroG improved flight model). The process for installing and patching is described in KA-52 Team Alligator: Running in Windows 10 . OTVDM alternate patching strategy The previous strategy suggested the use of a PCem Win98 VM to create the patched team2.exe file, as the patch used a 16-bit installer. Although untested, an easier patching method could be to use OTVDM, (also known as WineVDM), a port of the Wine project that allows you to run old 16-bit Windows applications on modern 64-bit Windows operating systems. The latest version of OTVDM/WineVDM is v0.9.0 available from the WineVDM GitHub, found in     Releases . As it is distributed as a zip file, installation only requires extracting the files to a suitable folder of your choosing. The patch installer can then be run with OTVDM. dgVoodoo2 This uses the latest version of dgVoodoo2, v2.86.4 available from the dgVoodoo GitHub Releases . The settings are shown below: The dgVoodoo2 configuration file is contained within the zip archive: Note : You may need to adjust the DirectX Resolution for your hardware. The following dgVoodoo2 files are copied into the Team Alligator installation folder: dgVoodooCpl.exe dgVoodoo.conf \MS\x86\D3D8.dll \MS\x86\D3D9.dll \MS\x86\D3DImm.dll \MS\x86\DDraw.dll Note : the file paths are not copied into the Team Alligator installation folder, just the files themselves. DSOAL DSOAL (DirectSound via OpenAL) is used to improve sound, removing crackling and reducing/improving (but not eliminating) speech clipping. The latest version is used, DSOAL r691 + OpenAL Soft r10325 , available from DSOAL GitHub Releases . The following files should be extracted from the zip/7z archive: \DSOAL_r691\DSOAL\Win32\dsoal-aldrv.dll \DSOAL_r691\DSOAL\Win32\dsound.dll Note : the file paths are not copied into the Team Alligator installation folder, just the files themselves. NVIDIA Control Panel (optional) This is listed as optional as the sound improvements resulting from limiting the frame rate to 30fps is subjective at best. It is left to personal preference to implement this compatibility improvement. The Team Alligator is configured in the NVIDIA Control Panel with the frame rate limited to 30fps as shown in the screenshot below: NVidia Control Panel limiting the frame rate to 30fps Running (optional) This is another subjective sound improvement left to personal preference. In the Team Alligator launcher app, under Setup Sound , hardware acceleration is NOT disabled as shown in the screenshots below: Example video KA-52 Team Alligator with improved compatibility Finally... Credit and huge thanks go to: dege for dgVoodoo2. kcat for DSOAL. otya128 for the work on OTVDM. The website guest who suggested using dgVoodoo2. Good hunting!

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

This is a guide to running the 1996 Digital Integration (DI) sim Hind (also called HIИD or Hind: The Russian Combat Helicopter Simulation ). Hind can be considered if not a sequel, then a successor to the previous DI sim Apache (Longbow). The DOS version will be running in DOSBox Staging and the Windows 95 3Dfx version in native Windows 10. The Windows 95 non-3Dfx/software rendered version will be omitted as it provides no additional enhancements over the DOS version. Both Hind and Apache use a similar game engine resulting in a great deal of commonality between both configurations. Release & patch history Before continuing it's useful to take a look at the releases and the patches each release can use, to understand how the releases and patches relate to each other. Original retail release (16 Sep 1996) The original retail release was distributed on a single CD-ROM including both DOS and Windows 95 installers. The Windows installer is a 32-bit app which is compatible with Win10. HIND v1.2: DOS version patch (4th Feb 1997) The Hind v1.2: DOS version patch is a comprehensive bug/crash fix and enhancement patch for the DOS version only. It is a file replacement patch, replacing the existing hind.exe file. The bug fixes are listed in the readme file as: Option to reverse collective control from preferences now functions. Debug Fatal removed from 3D Visual code. CTRL-4 (message to wingman) no longer crashes the game. Problem causing occasional crashes at the final Afghanistan campaign animation fixed. Bug causing occasional crashes after clicking 'Okay' button on situation screen removed. *All* models of Thrustmaster sticks now technically supported. And the enhancements listed in the readme file: New WSO operation modes. Audible undercarriage. Optional 'wimp mode' landing cushion. Description of crash-land cause. Provision of R-60's for two-player flights. Keyboard control for collective was always overridden by a connected throttle stick - not any more. Items in bold are unique to the DOS version patch. This patch also includes legacy joystick/throttle configuration files that are only applicable to the DOS version. HIND v1.2: Win95 version patch (6th Feb 1997) The Hind v1.2: Win95 version patch is applicable only to the Win95 version of Hind. It provides many of the same bug/crash fixes and enhancements as the DOS version of the patch. It is a file replacement patch, replacing the existing hind95.exe  file. The following addition bug fixes are unique to the Win95 version patch: Disabling of rudder while panning corrected. This patch omits legacy joystick/throttle configuration files, as stick/throttle is supported by Win95. Digital Integration retail rerelease (17 Feb 1997) DI launcher app Shortly after the patches were released there was a retail rerelease with both DOS and Win95 installers and both DOS and WIn95 v1.2 patches. Once again distributed on a single CD-ROM. The Windows installer remains a 32-bit app which is compatible with Win10. Patches should be installed automatically. This version includes a 16-bit Digital Integration multimedia launcher app which in addition to running the Win95 installer, includes a preview of F-16. Twin Pack: Hind / Apache Longbow (2 Jul 1997) Hind launcher app A compilation release featuring Apache Longbow and Hind. The Hind version is identical to the retail rerelease (Feb 1997) with both DOS and WIn95 v1.2 patches included. The Windows installer remains a 32-bit app which is compatible with Win10. Patches should be installed automatically. The 32-bit launcher app is included with a DOS and Win95 installer, previews and demos. Win95 3Dfx version patch (23 Mar 1998) This patch provides 3Dfx support for the Win95 version of Hind. It should work on any previous Win95 version including v1.0, but it is recommended to patch to v1.2 before applying this patch. From the notes: This patch has currently been tested with versions 1.1 and above of Hind (includes patch releases, 'Twinpack' & 'Front Line Fighters' releases). It should also work with v1.0. This patch provides the following enhancements: Possible average 50% speed increase. New 'Dynamic lighting' system. True colour Alpha blending on constructs such as cockpits, rotor blades, etc. True colour Bilinear filtering and fogging effects. This patch comprises of two compressed archives, the Hind 3Dfx patch archive and a common files archive. The release notes state: the patch archive is extracted to a folder, then the common files are extracted to the same folder. The patch installer can then be run. 3Dfx/Voodoo2 upgrade patch (26 Jun 1998) The Voodoo 2 upgrade patch is a compatibility patch only adding Voodoo 2 support. It is a file replacement patch, replacing the existing hind95.exe  file. From the release notes: This is a 'compatibility patch' only. It does not offer extra features over previous 3Dfx Voodoo1 versions. Sold Out Software release (15 Oct 1998) The Sold Out Software budget rerelease is the most comprehensive release. Distributed on a single CD-ROM it includes: A DOS installer, pre-patched with v1.2. A non-3Dfx Win95 installer, pre-patched with v1.2 A 3Dfx installer, pre-patched with v1.2 and the 3Dfx patch. The 3Dfx/Voodoo2 upgrade patch is not included with this release. This release uses a 32-bit Win95 installer compatible with Win10. In addition the manual is included in a digital pdf format. Digital release on GOG/Steam/Zoom (15 Mar 2012) Available on GOG / Steam and Zoom digital platforms. This digital release includes the DOS version of the game only, without installers, so a fresh/clean installation cannot be made. The hind.exe file seems to be a v1.0 or v1.1 copy, modified to prevent hanging when auto-detecting/configuring sound cards. The standard DOS v1.2 patch cannot be used as the game will hang when loading sound files. Deleting the prefs.cfg file will cause the game to load, only to hang when trying to set the sound preferences. Therefore the use of a modified digital release v1.2 patch is required. HIND v1.2: unofficial digital release patch (7 Feb 2017) An unofficial patch to add v1.2 fixes and enhancements to the GOG version. It unknown if this will work with other releases. It is a file replacement patch replacing hind.exe and a sound file. It is recommended to only replace the executable initially, replacing the sound file if needed, as replacing the sound file may introduce new issues. The patch compatibility with Steam or Zoom platform versions is unknown. Obtaining patches All patches are available from the Internet Archive at Hind patch collection . The 3Dfx Voodoo1/Voodoo2 patches are also available from soggi.org . Patching strategies The following are the recommended methods in patching the game. Original retail release DOS version Install original retail release DOS version. Apply HIND v1.2: DOS version patch. Retail rerelease/Twin pack compilation/Soft Out Software release DOS version Install DOS version, pre-patched to v1.2. Digital release DOS only (GOG platform) Install digital release. Apply HIND v1.2: unofficial digital release patch. Digital release DOS only (other platforms) Install digital release. Original retail release Win95 version (non-3Dfx) Install original retail release Win95 version. Apply HIND v1.2: Win95 version patch. Retail rerelease/Twin pack compilation release Win95 version (non-3Dfx) Install Win95 version, pre-patched to v1.2. Soft Out Software release Win95 version (non-3Dfx) Install Win95 version with software renderer, pre-patched to v1.2. Original retail release Win95 version (3Dfx) Install original retail release Win95 version. Apply HIND v1.2: Win95 version patch. Apply Win95 3Dfx version patch. Apply 3Dfx/Voodoo2 upgrade patch. Retail rerelease/Twin pack compilation release Win95 version (3Dfx) Install Win95 version, pre-patched to v1.2. Apply Win95 3Dfx version patch. Apply 3Dfx/Voodoo2 upgrade patch. Soft Out Software release Win95 version (3Dfx) Install Win95 version with 3Dfx/Voodoo renderer, pre-patched to v1.2. Apply 3Dfx/Voodoo2 upgrade patch. Media Due to the age or the media and the drives required to read the media, it is recommended to rip cd-rom media to image files, to save wear and tear on media and the mechanical drives. The cd-rom can be ripped to a data only .iso image format as there is no cd audio on the cd. Game management It is recommended to use my DOSBox game management  strategy or similar strategy you may have developed. The recommended game management folders are: cd - to store the cd image. conf - to store any DOSBox or HOTAS configuration files. hdd - the folder use as the emulated DOSBox hard disk. patches - to store any patches. The Windows version uses the following installation folder: :\Games\Win\Hind And the following game management folder: :\Games\Win\Hind Setup And the following sub-folders: cd - to store the cd image conf - to store any HOTAS configuration files. patches - to store any patches. 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 a combination of devices totaling more than 4 axes, a virtual controller  can be configured (with vendor software or Joystick Gremlin), limited to 4 axes. The physical axes to Windows axes were configured as follows: For those using controllers from multiple vendors, the vJoy/Joystick Gremlin combination may be required instead of vendor specific HOTAS profile software. You may also have to use HidHide as a device firewall, to hide your real controllers, so only the vJoy virtual controllers are detected by Hind. The physical axes to Windows axes were configured as follows: Physical axis Windows axis (DOS) Windows axis (Win95) Joystick x-axis DX_X_AXIS DX_X_AXIS Joystick y-axis DX_Y_AXIS DX_Y_AXIS Throttle DX_Z_AXIS DX_Z_AXIS Rudder DX_XROT_AXIS DX_ZROT_AXIS Note : These settings are identical to the predecessor, Apache (Longbow). DOS version This guide assumes the Sold Out Software, Oct 1998 release is used. DOSBox config This guide assumes the latest version of DOSBox Staging v0.82.2. This config only details the changes from the default configuration. It is identical to the predecessor, Apache (Longbow) DOSBox config. The changes are as follows: [sdl] host_rate = vrr vsync = off presentation_mode = vfr [dosbox] memsize = 32 dos_rate = 1000 [cpu] cpu_cycles_protected = 200000 cycleup = 1000 cycledown = 1000 [voodoo] voodoo = false [mouse] dos_mouse_immediate = true [mixer] reverb = medium chorus = normal [joystick] joysticktype = 4axis timed = false swap34 = true deadzone = 0 [autoexec] @echo off mount c "D:\Games\Dos\Hind\hdd" imgmount d "D:\Games\Dos\Hind\cd\Hind[SOS].iso" -t cdrom c: # cd di\hind # hind # 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 [dosbox] memsize and [cpu] cpu_cycles_protected settings are identical to the preceding Apache (Longbow). The cyclesup/cyclesdown settings are changed to an appropriate increment. The cpu_cycles_protected is set to a suitably high 200000. Voodoo emulation isn't required and can be disabled. The [mixer] settings enhance the music and audio. They are a personal preference and can be adjusted as desired. In the [joystick] section, the [joysticktype], [timed] and [swap34] are suitable settings for my HOTAS (TM Warthog), however you may need to adjust these for your own joystick or HOTAS. [deadzone] is a personal preference and should be adjusted as desired. The [autoexec] section mounts the hdd folder as the c: drive. The imgmount command mounts a cd-rom image as the d: drive. The disabled commands will change to the appropriate folder and run the game. The exit command will close DOSBox when the game is quit. Once installation and patching is complete these commands can be enabled. Installation All DOS versions should be installed from within DOSBox using the DOS installer app ( install.exe ) from the cd. The only installation option is the install size which should be set to large/maximum. There are no graphics or sound options to set. The installer should complete without issue. Patching Depending on your version there may one or more patches to run. The DOS patches are file replacement patches can be extracted and files replaced in Win10 (which may be easier) than using DOSBox. Once installation/patching is complete, the disabled [autoexec] commands in the DOSBox config can be enabled. If the game fails to run after patching, it is recommended to delete the prefs.cfg file and then run the game. Graphics, sound and control preferences will need to be configured again in the Preferences menu. Win95 version The Win95 version is available with all releases except the digital release. At present there are no patches or mods to add Win95 support to DOS releases. The cd or cd image needs to be mounted under Win10. The .iso image format is supported natively by Win10, but cue/bin image pairs may require 3rd party tools like DAEMON Tools  or WinCDEmu  to mount the image. Each Hind release uses a 32-bit installer app, ( setup.exe ) on the cd/cd image. The installer should run without issue under Win10. However, when asked to install DirectX components reply 'No'. DirectX components should not be installed. Sold Out Software installation The Sold Out Software release uses an earlier 16-bit installer app which is not supported by Win10. A recommended solution is to use winevdm/otvdm a tool to provide 16-bit app support on 64-bit Windows. The winevdm/otvdm utilities are available at the winevdm GitHub repository , with the latest version (v.0.9.0 at time of writing) available on the releases page . The process is to: Download the latest version ( otvdm-v0.9.0.zip ) and extract to a folder, (maybe a sub-folder under the Hind setup folder if you have one, see Game management ). Mount the cd image under Win10. Run the otvdmw.exe  utility and navigate to your mounted cd image and open the setup.exe  installer app. Note : there is a Setup95.exe app, but this is a Sold Out Software app which allows Acrobat reader to be installed before running setup.exe. Installation should run successfully, select no or cancel the installation when asked to install DirectX components .This occurs after files have been copied, which is the important part of the install. Patching This section covers patching with the v1.2 patch and the two 3Dfx Voodoo patches. HIND v1.2: Win95 version patch Only the original retail release should require this patch. This is a file replacement patch, replacing the hind95.exe file. The file can be extracted from the patch archive and replaced in Win10. Win95 3Dfx version patch Applying this patch is a bit involved as it uses a 32-bit installer and can run in Win10 but not successfully. Tests with various compatibility options have also failed. Therefore the rather involved approach is to create a PCem virtual machine, copy the Hind installation and patches folders to the virtual machine, apply the patch and then copy the Hind installation folder back into Win10. It has been suggested in other articles to keep a copy of a newly created PCem or 86Box virtual machine (VM), so it can be reused for other games or purposes and this is a scenario where having a VM can save huge amounts of time and effort. As long as you have a PCem or 86Box virtual machine with a .vhd virtual hard disk image and running Win95, Win98 or Win98SE then it should patch without issue. If you don't have a suitable PCem or 86Box virtual machine then I can highly recommend this YouTube video, ' PCem Windows 98 Setup (Pentium II +Voodoo 3, all files provided) ' from PhilsComputerLab. Once created, keep a copy, you never know when it may be useful to have a Win98 virtual machine for retro games! To apply the patch: Download and extract the patch ( Hind_3dfx.zip ) to a new folder (maybe a new subfolder under the Hind setup folder if you have one, see Game management ). Download and extract the common files ( common_files.zip ) to the same folder. Shutdown the PCem/86Box virtual machine, if it is running. Mount the virtual hard disk (.vhd) file in Win10. Copy the Hind installation folder and patch folder to the virtual hard disk. Eject the virtual hard disk and run up the PCem/86Box virtual machine. Run the patch installer ( setup.exe ) from the patch folder. The installer should search for and find the Hind installation folder and apply the patch. Once complete there should be a new hind _3dfx.exe  file in the Hind installation folder. Shutdown the virtual machine and mount the virtual hard disk (.vhd) file in Win10. Replace the Hind installation folder in Win10 with the installation folder from the virtual hard disk, overwriting any files as required. That concludes applying the 3Dfx Voodoo 1 patch. 3Dfx/Voodoo2 upgrade patch As this patch is a file replacement patch the process is far simpler. To apply the patch: Download and extract the patch ( Hind _3dfxV2.zip ) to a new folder (maybe a new subfolder under the Hind setup folder if you have one, see Game management ). Replace the hind 95.exe  file in the Hind installation folder with this new patch version. That concludes applying the 3Dfx Voodoo 2 upgrade patch. Wrapper configuration Getting the Win95 version of Hind requires the use of graphics and sound wrappers for both DirectX and Glide. DxWrapper DxWrapper is used to wrap the DirectSound components. This is particularly important given the issues the game has with sound. The latest version ( v 1.4.7900.25 ) should be used and is available from the DxWrapper GitHub releases . To install: Download and extract DxWrapper ( dxwrapper.zip ) to a new folder. Copy the following DxWrapper files to the Hind installation folder. Note : the Stub path is not important you just need to add the dsound.dll file: Stub\dsound.dll dxwrapper.dll Download and extract the dxwrapper.ini  in the below zip file, to the Hind installation folder: This concludes the DxWrapper config. dgVoodoo2 The dgVoodoo2 wrapper is used to wrap both DirectX and Glide components. The version used is dgVoodoo v2.86.4 . It is available from the dgVoodoo2 GitHub releases . To install: Download dgVoodoo2 ( dgVoodoo2_86_4.zip ) and extract to a new folder. Copy the following dgVoodoo2 files to the Hind installation folder. Note : the paths are not important you just need to add the files: dgVoodooCpl.exe 3Dfx\x86\Glide.dll 3Dfx\x86\Glide2x.dll 3Dfx\x86\Glide3x.dll MS\x86\D3D8.dll MS\x86\D3D9.dll MS\x86\D3DImm.dll MS\x86\DDraw.dll Download and extract the dgVoodoo.conf  in the below zip file, to the Hind installation folder: Note: you will probably need to open dgVoodooCpl.exe  and: In the General  section change the adapters to use . In the Glide  section change the resolution  to a suitable setting for your setup. In the Glide  section the watermark is turned on for testing purposes, once confirmed working it can be turned off. The following screenshot shows the dgVoodoo2 settings: This concludes the dgVoodoo2 config. Game configuration The final step is the in-game configuration accessed from the Preferences  menu option on the initial menu screen. The configuration options and suggested settings are slightly different for DOS and Win95 versions. DOS version DOS preferences The DOS preferences have a full set of configuration options as shown in the screenshot. Here are some points to note: The Visual Detail  can be increased to maximum .   Speech  and Music  can be enabled and Effects can be set to Full . If the DOSBox config uses the default Sound Blaster 16 settings then the sound card should be auto-detected and sound/music should work. The Address, Interrupt and DMA will not be shown on the Preferences page (see screenshot). The sound card settings in the prefs.cfg  file, are shown below in bold : ... Visual Detail=9 Sound DMA=-1 Sound Address=-1 Sound IRQ=-1 Sound Card=4 Sound effects level=0 Sound Speech=1 Sound effects=1 Sound music=1 UI Continuous Move=1 ... The control settings are appropriate for my 4-axis virtual controller, combining stick, throttle and pedals. This means the hat is not enabled (I set the hat with the HOTAS profiling software). If you don't have pedals you may wish to experiment with a DOSBox joysticktype of fcs or ch , both of which are supported by Hind as the Thrustmaster FCS  and Flightstick Pro  options.    After making a control change, re-calibrate each axis by moving it to the extremes. Win95 version Win95 preferences The Win85 preferences have a limited set of configuration options as shown in the screenshot. Here are some points to note: With the 3D accelerated version visual detail is maximised and settings are not required. Sound card settings are not required. The control settings are appropriate for my 4-axis virtual controller, combining stick, throttle and pedals. The Flightstick Pro option allows the use of hat with my HOTAS, you may wish to test options to find the optimum setting.  After making a control change, re-calibrate each axis by moving it to the extremes. Running Before starting the Win95 version of Hind, make sure the cd/cd image is mounted otherwise you'll be taken to the head-to-head setup menu. When run for the first time, the Preferences menu will be presented immediately. When leaving the Preferences menu you'll be taken straight to the Quickstart mission allowing the controller options to be tested. Documentation In-game manual The Sold Out Software re-release has a copy of the manual in pdf format. It can be found on the cd in the manparts folder. In-game manual A rather useful facility offered by Hindis the ability to bring up a copy of the manual at any time, on menu screens or during flight, with < Shift > + < F1> . This includes a key reference! Example videos DOS v1.2 version running in DOSBox Staging Win95 3Dfx version running in Win10 Finally Credit and thanks go to the following: dege for dgVoodoo2. Elisha for DxWrapper. Omniclyde for the DOSBox Staging high framerate gaming settings. soggi for hosting the 3Dfx patches. ataribaby for the GOG digital release v1.2 patch. Udachnoy okhoty!

This is a guide to running the 1995 Digital Integration sim Apache (also called Apache Longbow) with the DOS version running in DOSBox Staging and Windows 95 3Dfx version in native Windows 10. The Windows 95 non-3Dfx/software rendered version will be omitted as it provides no additional enhancements over the DOS version but exhibits some speed sensitivity with the flight model running far too quickly on modern hardware. During the testing of various DOSBox options and wrappers for the Windows version, what became apparent were issues with the sound components of Apache. These issues affect both the DOSBox and Windows versions and would also affect joystick handling and often cause the game to crash or hang. A brief release & patch history It's useful to take a look at the version and patch history to help identify the release of the game you may have and the patches appropriate to each release. All patches are available from the Apache (Longbow) patch collection hosted on the Internet Archive for preservation purposes. Alternatively the 3dfx Voodoo related game patches page has the 3Dfx patches at soggi.org . Credit and thanks to soggi for hosting these patches. Original release (August 1995) Apache title screen The original release occurred around August 1995 and came on a single cd (as would later releases). It is a DOS only game with Win95 support. When starting the game the version (based on the time and date) is 09:52:23 Aug 11 1995. There is a single game executable, confusing called apache95.exe which runs this DOS version. The original title screen is shown with this version. October 1995 patch A patch was released in October 1995. It is a file replacement patch, replacing the apache95.exe file. The version changes to 10:50:46 Oct 03 1995. This patch is only applicable to the Original 1995 release. The patch was not distributed with a readme file so it isn't clear what this patch fixes, but it assumed to be a bug fix patch. It is not recommended due to the later Release 2 patch. Release 2 patch (December 1995) The Release 2 patch was available in December 1995. It is a file replacement patch, run with an update app, replacing the apache95.exe file and a mission data file. The version changes to 21:00:37 Nov 28 1995. This patch is only applicable to earlier versions (above). This patch introduces command line options to fix joystick/sound issues and to change the orientation of the throttle/collective (see Command line options). Apache Longbow release (v2.0, September 1996) Apache Longbow title screen The Apache Longbow release occurred in September 1996. This release includes both DOS and Win95 installer apps. The DOS version changes to 09:19:24 Sep 06 1996. This is the first version of Apache to support Win95 and to use the new title screen using the changed name Apache Longbow. Some retail media would also be labelled as Apache Longbow v2.0. The Win95 installer app is a 32-bit app that can be used in later versions of Windows including Win10. This release may have introduced a bug which causes the mouse pointer to disappear after using the in-game manual, but this doesn't seem to occur under DOSBox Staging. Interactive Magic US re-release (September 1996) This release occurred around September 1996. It includes both DOS and Win95 installers, the Win95 installer being another 32-bit app. The DOS version changes to 03:06:59 Sep 18 1996. Despite it being a later release it uses the original Apache title screen. The in-game manual/mouse pointer bug seems to be fixed in this release. Twin Pack: Hind / Apache Longbow (1997) A Digital Integration compilation release featuring Apache Longbow and Hind. The Apache Longbow version is identical to the Apache Longbow release (September 1996). The Win95 installer is a 32-bit app. 3Dfx Voodoo 1 patch (March 1998) The 3Dfx Voodoo 1 patch adds 3Dfx Voodoo 1 support and is only applicable to the Win95 version of Apache, there are no DOS versions that support a 3Dfx Voodoo card. The patch was released in March 1998 and should only be used with the Apache Longbow release from September '96. It should not be used with the Sold Out Software re-release. The patch is in two parts the Apache Voodoo 1 patch and a set of common files that should be extracted to the same patch folder before the installer app is run. The patch uses a 32-bit installer app but fails to run under Win10, even with compatibility options set. To install the patch the Apache installation folder and patch folder can be copied to a PCem Pentium 2 virtual machine with a Voodoo 1 and running Win98SE. The patch can be applied successfully and then copied back to the host Win10 machine. Sold Out Software re-release (April 1998) The Sold Out Software 1998 re-release has all three versions of Apache available at the time: DOS version. Win95 version. Win95 version with 3Dfx Voodoo 1 support. The DOS version is increased to 14:45:09 Jan 12 1998 and is, as far as is known, the final DOS version. The Sold Out Software Win95 installer is a 16-bit installer so requires the use of the otvdm utility to support 16-bit apps and install correctly. The Win95 installer gives the choice of software rendered or 3Dfx install options. Due to the comprehensive install options this is the recommended release to obtain. 3Dfx Voodoo 2 upgrade patch (June 1998) Released in June 1998, this is the final official patch from Digital Integration. The patch adds support for the 3Dfx Voodoo 2 card. The patch can be used with Win95 versions patched with Voodoo 1 support or the Sold Out Software re-release Win95 3Dfx version. This patch is a file replacement patch replacing the apache95.exe file with a new version. In addition it also seems to introduce better speed determination as this version does not exhibit the speed sensitivity of the earlier Win95 version. This patch is recommended for both Win95 versions patched with Voodoo 1 support and the Sold Out Software Win95 3Dfx version. Digital Integration European re-release (October 2000) Released in October 2000, this is, as far as I'm aware, the final physical retail release of Apache Longbow. The release is similar to the Soft Out Software re-release but without the manual in pdf format or the Sold Out Software installer app. The DOS version is 14:45:09 Jan 12 1998, the final DOS version. It includes the Win95 version with both software renderer and 3Dfx acceleration. The Win95 installer is a 16-bit app and will require the use of otvdm. The 3Dfx Voodoo 2 upgrade patch is a recommended patch for this re-release. Digital releases I don't own a digital release of Apache so much of this is educated guesswork. From what I understand the gog.com and ZOOM Platform digital releases are DOS versions only. The gog.com digital release is version 09:19:24 Sep 06 1996 which makes it identical to Apache Longbow release (September 1996). This means there are no DOS patches to apply. Thanks go to damson for providing the version. The in-game manual key has been disabled in the DOSBox config in this digital release to prevent the mouse pointer bug from occurring. Media Due to the age or the media and the drives required to read the media, it is recommended to rip cd-rom media to image files, to save wear and tear on media and the mechanical drives. The cd-rom can be ripped to a data only .iso image format as there is no cd audio on the cd. Game management It is recommended to use my DOSBox game management  strategy or similar strategy you may have developed. The recommended game management folders are: cd - to store the cd image. conf - to store any DOSBox or HOTAS configuration files. hdd - the folder use as the emulated DOSBox hard disk. patches - to store any patches. The Windows version uses the following installation folder: :\Games\Win\Apache And the following game management folder: :\Games\Win\Apache Longbow Setup And the following sub-folders: cd - to store the cd image conf - to store any HOTAS configuration files. patches - to store any patches. 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 a combination of devices totaling more than 4 axes, a virtual controller  can be configured (with vendor software or Joystick Gremlin), limited to 4 axes. The physical axes to Windows axes were configured as follows: Physical axis Windows axis (DOS) Windows axis (Win95) Joystick x-axis DX_X_AXIS DX_X_AXIS Joystick y-axis DX_Y_AXIS DX_Y_AXIS Throttle DX_Z_AXIS DX_Z_AXIS Rudder DX_XROT_AXIS DX_ZROT_AXIS DOS version This guide assumes the Sold Out Software, April 1998 re-release will be used. The following DOS versions should be patched as follows: Original release and Release 2 patch. Apache Longbow release only, no further patches required. Sold Out Software re-release only, no further patches required. DOSBox config This guide assumes the latest version of DOSBox Staging v0.82.1. This config only details the changes from the default configuration. The changes are as follows: [sdl] host_rate = vrr vsync = off presentation_mode = vfr [dosbox] memsize = 32 dos_rate = 1000 [cpu] cpu_cycles_protected = 200000 cycleup = 1000 cycledown = 1000 [voodoo] voodoo = false [mouse] dos_mouse_immediate = true [mixer] reverb = medium chorus = normal [joystick] joysticktype = 4axis timed = false swap34 = true deadzone = 0 [autoexec] mount c "D:\Games\Dos\Apache Longbow\hdd" imgmount d "D:\Games\Dos\Apache Longbow\cd\apache.iso" -t cdrom c: # cd di\apache # apache # 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 [dosbox] memsize and [cpu] cpu_cycles_protected settings are discussed in this SimHQ forum post . Credit and thanks to damson for discovering these settings. The cyclesup/cyclesdown settings are changed to an appropriate increment. The cpu_cycles_protected is set to a suitably high 200000. Thanks go to damson for providing a suitable cycles setting. Voodoo emulation isn't required and can be disabled. The [mixer] settings enhance the music and audio. They are a personal preference and can be adjusted as desired. In the [joystick] section, the [joysticktype], [timed] and [swap34] are suitable settings for my HOTAS (TM Warthog), however you may need to adjust these for your own joystick or HOTAS. [deadzone] is a personal preference and should be adjusted as desired. The [autoexec] section mounts the hdd folder as the c: drive. The imgmount command mounts a cd-rom image as the d: drive. The disabled commands will change to the appropriate folder and run the game. The exit command will close DOSBox when the game is quit. Once installation and patching is complete these commands can be enabled. Gravis UltraSound If you wish to try an alternative sound card, Apache supports the Gravis UltraSound, to configure a GUS card the settings are changed as follows: [sblaster] sbtype = none [gus] gus = true The sbtype is set to none to disable SoundBlaster emulation. The gus setting is set to true to enable GUS emulation. The remaining [gus] settings are appropriate to leave as defaults. Installation The GUS sound card requires the GUS drivers to be added to a c:\ultrasnd folder. The easiest way of obtaining these drivers is to use a pre-installed folder. Fortunately VOGONS member K.A.R.R. has created suitable folders that can be found in the ' Gravis Ultrasound Driver Package ' post. Alternatively VOGONS member Rincewind42 has also hosted the Gravis UltraSound DOS Driver Package at the Internet Archive. Credit and thanks to K.A.R.R. and Rincewind42 for creating this package and providing an alternate hosting location. There are two archives suitable for DOSBox Staging use: ULTRASND411.zip contains preinstalled gravis ultrasound driver 4.11 (latest version). ULTRASNDPPL161FIX.zip contains preinstalled gravis ultrasound driver 4.11 with pro patches lite 1.61 and anti loop fix. Either are suitable and I haven't been able to detect any difference in audio quality. The installation process is the same for both zip files, extract the contents into the hdd folder to create a c:\ultrasnd folder and complete GUS installation. Installation All DOS versions should be installed from within DOSBox using the DOS installer app ( install.exe ) from the cd. The only installation option is the install size which should be set to maximum. There are no graphics or sound options to set. The installer should complete without issue. Patching The only recommended patch is the Release 2 patch which should only be applied to the original 1995 release. The zip file should be extracted to the hdd folder and the update utility ( update.bat ) should be run from within DOSBox. The update utility should complete without issue. Once installation/patching is complete, the disabled [autoexec] commands in the DOSBox config can be enabled. Running Earlier versions of Apache can be run with the apache95.exe or the apache.bat file. The Sold Out Software release is run with the apache.exe file. Command line options The Release 2 patch introduced command line options, from the patch readme: 1. If you are experiencing problems calibrating your Joystick with a Multi-Speed Games Card or Sound card difficulties try running Apache thus :- Apache /Jx Where x is a machine dependent variable ranging from 1 to 10000. If the problem persists try running with /J0 2. The Throttle stick control may be reversed by running thus :- Apache /Qx Where x is either 1 or 0 depending on required orientation. /Q0 will swap the collective axis where pushing forward will increase collective and pulling back will reduce collective. /Q1 will use a 'helicopter like' collective, where pushing forward reduces collective and pulling back increases collective. This is the default. Win95 version The Win95 version is only available with the Apache Longbow release (September 1996) or the Sold Out Software re-release (April 1998). At present there are no patches or mods to add Win95 support to earlier DOS only releases. The recommended patching strategy, after installation, is as follows: Apache Longbow release (September 1996): Apply 3Dfx Voodoo 1 patch (March 1998) Apply 3Dfx Voodoo 2 upgrade patch (June 1998) Sold Out Software re-release (April 1998) 3Dfx install: Apply 3Dfx Voodoo 2 upgrade patch (June 1998) The Apache Longbow release has a simple installation process, with a more involved patching process while the Sold Out Software re-release has a more involved installation process but a far simpler patching process. Installation The cd or cd image needs to be mounted under Win10. The .iso image format is supported natively by Win10, but cue/bin image pairs may require 3rd party tools like DAEMON Tools or WinCDEmu to mount the image. The Apache Longbow release uses a 32-bit installer app, ( setup.exe ) on the cd/cd image. The installer should run without issue under Win10. However, when asked to install DirectX components reply no or cancel the install. This occurs after files have been copied, which is the important part of the install. Sold Out Software installation The Sold Out Software re-release rather strangely uses an earlier 16-bit installer app which is not supported by Win10. A recommended solution is to use winevdm/otvdm a tool to provide 16-bit app support on 64-bit Windows. The winevdm/otvdm utilities are available at the winevdm GitHub repository , with the latest version (v.0.9.0 at time of writing) available on the releases page . Credit and thanks to otya for providing this amazingly useful and easy to use tool. The process is to: Download the latest version ( otvdm-v0.9.0.zip ) and extract to a folder, (maybe a sub-folder under the Apache Longbow Setup folder if you have one, see Game management ). Mount the cd image under Win10. Run the otvdmw.exe utility and navigate to your mounted cd image and open the setup.exe installer app. Note : there is a Setup95.exe app, but this is a Sold Out Software app which allows Acrobat reader to be installed before running setup.exe. Installation should run successfully, select no or cancel the installation when asked to install DirectX components .This occurs after files have been copied, which is the important part of the install. Patching This section covers patching with the two 3Dfx Voodoo patches, which are the only patches that should be used with Win95 versions of Apache. 3Dfx Voodoo 1 patch (March 1998) Applying this patch is a bit involved as it uses a 32-bit installer and can run in Win10 but not successfully. Tests with various compatibility options have also failed. Therefore the rather involved approach is to create a PCem virtual machine, copy the Apache installation and patches folders to the virtual machine, apply the patch and then copy the Apache installation folder back into Win10. I've often suggested in other articles to keep a copy of a newly created PCem or 86Box virtual machine, so it can be reused for other games or purposes and this is exactly the kind of scenario where having a copy can save huge amounts of time and effort. As long as you have a PCem or 86Box virtual machine with a .vhd virtual hard disk image and running Win95, Win98 or Win98SE then you should be fine. If you don't have a suitable PCem or 86Box virtual machine then I can highly recommend this YouTube video, ' PCem Windows 98 Setup (Pentium II +Voodoo 3, all files provided) ' from PhilsComputerLab. Once again, huge thanks to Phil for creating this very useful video. Once created, keep a copy you never know when it may be useful to have a Win988 virtual machine for retro games! To apply the patch: Download and extract the patch ( Apache-Longbow_3dfx.zip ) to a new folder (maybe a new sub-folder under the Apache Longbow Setup folder if you have one, see Game management ). Download and extract the common files ( common_files.zip ) to the same folder. Shutdown the PCem/86Box virtual machine, if it is running. Mount the virtual hard disk (.vhd) file in Win10. Copy the Apache installation folder and patch folder to the virtual hard disk. Eject the virtual hard disk and run up the PCem/86Box virtual machine. Run the patch installer ( setup.exe ) from the patch folder. The installer should search for and find the Apache installation folder and apply the patch. Once complete there should be a new apache_3dfx.exe file in the Apache installation folder. Shutdown the virtual machine and mount the virtual hard disk (.vhd) file in Win10. Replace the Apache installation folder in Win10 with the installation folder from the virtual hard disk, overwriting any files as required. That concludes applying the 3Dfx Voodoo 1 patch. 3Dfx Voodoo 2 upgrade patch (June 1998) As this patch is a file replacement patch the process is far simpler. To apply the patch: Download and extract the patch ( Apache-Longbow_3dfxV2.zip ) to a new folder (maybe a new sub-folder under the Apache Longbow Setup folder if you have one, see Game management ). Replace the apache95.exe file in the Apache installation folder with this new patch version. That concludes applying the 3Dfx Voodoo 2 upgrade patch. Wrapper configuration Getting the Win95 version of Apache is going to take the use of a few DirectX and Glide wrappers, so let's begin... DxWrapper DxWrapper is used to wrap the DirectSound components. This is particularly important given the issues the game has with sound. The latest version ( v1.3.7700.25 ) should be used and is available from the DxWrapper GitHub repository releases . Credit and huge thanks to Elisha for the continuing work on DxWrapper. To install: Download and extract DxWrapper ( dxwrapper.zip ) to a new folder. Copy the following DxWrapper files to the Apache installation folder. Note : the Stub path is not important you just need to add the dsound.dll file: Stub\dsound.dll dxwrapper.dll Download and extract the dxwrapper.ini in the below zip file, to the Apache installation folder: This concludes the DxWrapper config. dgVoodoo2 The dgVoodoo2 wrapper is used to wrap both DirectX and Glide components. The version used is dgVoodoo v2.86.1 . It is available from the dgVoodoo2 GitHub repository releases . Once again credit and huge thanks to dege for the continuing work on dgVoodoo2. To install: Download dgVoodoo2 ( dgVoodoo2_86_1.zip ) and extract to a new folder. Copy the following dgVoodoo2 files to the Apache installation folder. Note : the paths are not important you just need to add the files: dgVoodooCpl.exe 3Dfx\x86\Glide.dll 3Dfx\x86\Glide2x.dll 3Dfx\x86\Glide3x.dll MS\x86\D3D8.dll MS\x86\D3D9.dll MS\x86\D3DImm.dll MS\x86\DDraw.dll Download and extract the dgVoodoo.conf in the below zip file, to the Apache installation folder: Note: you will probably need to open dgVoodooCpl.exe and: In the General section change the adapters to use . In the Glide section change the resolution to a suitable setting for your setup. In the Glide section the watermark is turned on for testing purposes, once confirmed working it can be turned off. The following screenshot shows the dgVoodoo2 settings: dgVoodoo2 settings This concludes the dgVoodoo2 config. Game configuration The final step is the in-game configuration accessed from the Preferences menu option on the initial menu screen. The configuration options and suggested settings are slightly different for DOS and Win95 versions. DOS version DOS preferences The DOS preferences have a full set of configuration options as shown in the screenshot. Here are some points to note: The Visual Detail can be increased to maximum , with the Screen Mode set to 640x480 . Speech and Music can be enabled and Effects can be set to Full . If you chose a Gravis UltraSound in the DOSBox config, you'll have to set the sound card settings to be identical to the DOSBox settings, as shown in the screenshot. If you left the DOSBox settings as the default (SoundBlaster 16) then the sound/music should work and it should auto-detect the settings. It may not due to the speed sensitivity of the auto-detection component, however 200000 cycles in the DOSBox config may allow it to work for some/most machines. Thanks go to damson for providing sound card info. If settings are not auto-detected, you should to able to set them manually using the same settings as the default DOSBox config: Card: SoundBlaster 16 Address: 220 Interrupt: 7 DMA: 1 If this causes the game to hang or crash, they can be added manually to the prefs.cfg file, which is a text file. Add the following lines in bold : ... Collective control=6 Sound DMA=1 Sound Address=544 Sound IRQ=7 Sound Card=4 Sound effects level=0 Sound Speech=0 Sound effects=1 Sound music=1 UI Continuous Move=1 ... The control settings are appropriate for my 4-axis virtual controller, combining stick, throttle and pedals. This means the hat is not enabled (I set the hat with the HOTAS profiling software). If you don't have pedals you may wish to experiment with a DOSBox joysticktype of fcs or ch , both of which are supported by Apache as the Thrustmaster FCS and Flightstick Pro options. After making a control change, re-calibrate each axis by moving it to the extremes. Win95 version Win95 preferences The Win95 preferences have a limited set of configuration options as shown in the screenshot. Here are some points to note: With the 3D accelerated version visual detail is maximised and settings are not required. Sound card settings are not required. The control settings are appropriate for my 4-axis virtual controller, combining stick, throttle and pedals. The Flightstick Pro option allows the use of hat with my HOTAS, you may wish to test options to find the optimum setting. After making a control change, re-calibrate each axis by moving it to the extremes. Running Before starting the Win95 version of Apache, make sure the cd/cd image is mounted otherwise you'll be taken to the head-to-head setup menu. When run for the first time, the Preferences menu will be presented immediately. When leaving the Preferences menu you'll be taken straight to the Quickstart mission allowing the controller options to be tested. Documentation In-game manual The Sold Out Software re-release has a copy of the manual in pdf format. It can be found on the cd (not in the manual folder, confusingly) but in the manparts folder. In-game manual A rather useful facility offered by Apache is the ability to bring up a copy of the manual at any time, on menu screens or during flight, with the < F1> key. At the rear of the manual is the key reference! This in-game manual is disabled in the gog.com release, due to a bug in this version which causes the mouse pointer to disappear after accessing the manual. Testing 'shot down' The following testing was not successful, so to save others from repeating these attempts they are listed below. ReShade ReShade v6.5.1 was tested, however the UI was very limited/non-functional. The UI could eventually be accessed, however the mouse was non-functional as were the keyboard shortcuts. So ReShade is not recommended. Anti-aliasing Forcing anti-aliasing through vendor software (Nvidia in my case) resulted in ugly text on menu screens without major improvements in flight. It looks like the Digital Integration developers optimised the SVGA in this game, so anti-aliasing is not recommended. Further Information There aren't any dedicated resources for Apache, but the following may still be of interest: gog.com Apache Longbow forum . Steam are planning an Apache Longbow release in Q3 2025. Will they do a better job than I have? PixelWings is possibly working on a set of mods for Apache Longbow. Nothing has been announced so far, but check the website and the YouTube channel ! Apache in DOSBox Staging Win95 3Dfx version running in Win10 Good hunting!

This guide will be taking a look at the various options available to enable head tracking in Jane's F-15. Although TrackIR and other head tracking solutions aren't supported, we can still implement tracking due to control mechanism used in the virtual cockpit. Mouse emulation The Jane's F-15 virtual cockpit uses a mouselook scheme to look around the virtual cockpit. If we can use utilities to convert head tracking data into mouse inputs we can enable head tracking within Jane's F-15. The head tracking will be pitch (y-axis) and yaw (x-axis) only as these are the only facilities provided by the underlying mouselook mechanism. Fortunately this head tracking to mouse conversion seems well supported. There are three different methods utilising this conversion, detailed below. Method 1: TrackIR This is a pure TrackIR solution, it uses the standard TrackIR 5 software and the TrackIR utility, TrackIR Mouse Emulation ( TIRmouse.exe ). This is found in the TrackIR install folder. Once a profile is configured for Mouse Emulation in the TrackIR 5 software, the mouse emulation utility is run. Head motion should now be reflected in the mouse emulation utility. The utility must remain open and in the foreground, it can not be minimised and will not run in the background. Head tracking may be disabled until an F-15 mission begins. Thereafter the tracking mouse emulation will remain enabled. Advantages: A simple 'TrackIR only' solution. Disadvantages: Always 'on', no ability to enable/disable. Must run in the foreground. Tracking profile can only be adjusted in TrackIR software. Requires TrackIR. Method 2: TrackIR & FreePIE This method uses the standard TrackIR software to enable the Track IR device. Data sent from TrackIR, is read by FreePIE and converted into mouse inputs. The FreePIE software is described (and available on the FreePIE website ) as:: FreePIE (Programmable Input Emulator) is a application for bridging and emulating input devices. It has applications primarily in video gaming but can also be used for VR interaction, remote control, and other applications. A typical application might be controlling the mouse in a PC game using a Wiimote. Device control schemes are customized for specific applications by executing scripts from the FreePIE GUI. The script language is based on the Python syntax and offers non-programmers an easy way to interface devices. This guide assumes the latest version, v1.11.724.0 is used. Once installed a script is required to convert TrackIR data into mouse inputs. Fortunately TrackIR mouse emulation this is one of the FreePIE example scripts . FreePIE scripting editor FreePIE scripts The core of FreePIE are the Python scripts used to read and write controller values. The following is a slightly modified example script that uses the 'z' key to toggle head tracking on/off and is activated when joystick button 4 is held down. # Use Z to toggle on/off and joystick button 4 to activate head tracking. def update(): yaw = trackIR.yaw pitch = trackIR.pitch deltaYaw = filters.delta(yaw) deltaPitch = filters.delta(pitch) if (enabled and hotkey): mouse.deltaX = deltaYaw*multiply mouse.deltaY = -deltaPitch*multiply if starting: enabled = False multiply = 20 trackIR.update += update # hotkey = mouse.rightButton hotkey = joystick[0].getDown(4) toggle = keyboard.getPressed(Key.Z) if toggle: enabled = not enabled You may wish to alter this script to: Change the hotkey to something else. Remove the hotkey to activate and just toggle on/off. Change the multiply factor. Advantages: Can be toggled, enabled/disabled. Scripting provides a large number of options. Once script is started the FreePIE scripting app can be minimized. Tracking profile can be adjusted in TrackIR software or by modifying the FreePIE script. Disadvantages: More complex than method 1. Requires knowledge of Python, if scripts require changing. Requires TrackIR. TrackIR profile may need to run in exclusive mode. Method 3: Opentrack Opentrack has been covered in combination with AITrack in the article, Head tracking with Opentrack & AITrack . The Opentrack utility supports mouse emulation, so Opentrack and AITrack provide the head tracking solution, and instead of sending TrackIR data to the F-15 sim, Opentrack can send mouse data, allowing head tracking in the virtual cockpit. The screenshot below shows Opentrack configured for mouse emulation. OpenTrack: note the output set to mouse emulation. Advantages: Does not require TrackIR. Simple to implement. Open source software solution. Disadvantages: Always 'on', no ability to enable/disable. Example video Using TrackIR and FreePIE to provide head tracking Finally... This article has covered three different methods to implement mouse emulated head tracking in Jane's F-15. It is left to personal preference as to which one is most suited to your needs. The following group and individuals are credited and thanked for their work: NaturalPoint for the TrackIR and mouse emulation software. AndersMalmgren and zelmon64 as the maintainers of the FreePIE project. The developers of Opentrack. Good looking!

A guide to the fan made mission, mods and utilities available to enhance your Jane's F-15 experience. There have been a large number of fan made missions developed by numerous creators, uploaded to websites and then lost when those websites were no longer available. There have been far fewer mods and utilities, but those that were developed suffered a similar fate. This guide attempts to document the available missions, mods and utilities that have uploaded to an Internet Archive repository for archival and preservation purposes. Obtaining The missions, mods, paint schemes and utilities can be found in the Internet Archive at Jane's F-15 patch collection . Missions The missions collected are organised by hosting site or individual. Due to the large number of fan made missions there are too many to list individually and there are some duplicates included. Created by various authors. 339 Sqn 17 single missions. 1 mission editor template. Angelfire 6 single missions Avsim F15 51 single missions. 1 mission editor template. Combatsim Missions 54 single missions. Cowboy F15 3 single missions Cust Miss Gate 22 single air to air missions. 55 single air to ground missions. 3 mission editor templates. 3 tour of duty mission sets. DMW Missions 9 single missions. F15 FAC 2 single missions. F15 Flightworld 7 single missions. 1 tour of duty mission set. F15 Mission build 11 single missions. 3 tour of duty mission sets. F15 Resource 35 single missions. 6 mission editor templates. Ian Boys F15 9 single missions. 1 tour of duty mission set. 9 mission editor templates. Limech Missions 47 single missions. Psycho Central 18 single missions. rquint Missions 7 single training missions. 6 single air to air missions. 17 single air to ground missions. 3 single misc missions. 3 mission editor templates. Starbucks F15 22 single missions. Mods Modification Engine For Jane's F-15 Unofficially named 'B61 nuke mod', this mod added the B61 tactical nuclear weapon to the F-15's loadout but also included the following (taken from a description): You asked for it, you got it. Nukes on the F-15. You can also put nuclear weaponry on Tu-22s and B-52s, as well as nuclear tips on cruise missiles! As an added bonus, there's a feature to enhance the enemy SAM's in Jane's F-15, and now you can launch the sim directly. We also include a custom mission to demonstrate the new weaponry. You and your wingman have to penetrate deep into Iran to prevent nuclear-loaded bombers from taking off. Version 1.12 of Jane's F-15 is required. This was created by Flying Muffin Enterprises, (known for a number of Falcon 3.0 mods) Despite being developed for v1.12F it may work with V1.17F as the additional changes in v1.17F related to D3D support and Jane's Combat Net (JCN). The setup.exe file used by the mod install is incompatible with Win10 and can be replaced with the InstallShield 3 32-bit Generic Installer . It's the only way to be sure. Paint schemes In addition to the paint schemes provided by the Camo Commander and OPerations Control utilities the following are some additional camo schemes that have been found 4 camo schemes for Jane's F15 Created by Michael Henze, this collection of paint schemes provides the following (taken from the readme): The camo schemes are packed into four zip files. For installation, unpack one of them into the F15 folder. Stripes: 3 different desert colours, arranged in a striped camo pattern. Patch1: A 'patchwork' camo scheme, 3 desert colours. Patch2: The same patchwork camo, 2 desert colours and green. Sandwich: Patchwork camo, 2 desert colours and green, blue belly. Note: The flaps have only one texture, so I used white/black stripes on them, but didn't like the result. Since I really like the 'bluebelly' idea, I'd like to get advice for better flap textures. Desert F-15 A second version of the Desert F-15 scheme, created by kodiak. F-15 Ghost Grey Camouflage Version 1.01 of a low visibility scheme, created by Ken 'Snakebite' Boudreaux. From the readme: Thanks for downloading my Camo scheme for Jane's F-15. This scheme was created using a paint template that was included in a Hasegawa 1/48th Scale F-15 model kit that I purchased 7 years ago. Believe it or not I still haven't built the model yet! I found it invaluable in creating the panel lines on the aircraft and also for getting the camo patterns to match on the individual templates for the F-15 within the sim. In fact, all lines on the aircraft were redrawn. I hope you enjoy it as it is one of my favorites! Nellis tail markings Created by Dan Waldrep, the following description is taken from the enclosed description: This will transform the Mountain Home Squadron into the 57th wing based at Nellis Air Force Base. The MO is changed to Nellis' WA and the tiger stripe tail is changed to Nellis' black and yellow checkered stripe. These are the only modifications to the jet. Keep in mind when you change it, you have to use the Mountain Home version of the F-15 for it to work. Utilities GTT Camo Commander for Jane's F-15 A utility app which allows you to change your F-15 paint scheme and that of the MiG-29 to a lesser extent. Created by Game Tool Technologies (GTT). From a description: It allows you to choose a camo scheme, see a sample texture, then apply it. Once a choice is made, you may launch F-15 straight from the user interface! Should you decide to change the texture again, or return to the native Jane's blue livery, simply choose the scheme you wish and use Camo Commander again. Distributed as a self extracting zip archive, the F-15 installation folder should be specified when extracting the utility. GTT Loadmaster A utility app which, created by Game Tool Technologies (GTT), allows you to change your host loadouts for online matches. GTT's Loadmaster is a freeware application that automates that task. It allows you to choose the following air to air and air to ground loadouts: Guns Only 4 x AIM-9 Papa 4 x AIM-9 Mike 4 x AIM-7 Sparrow 4 x AIM-120 AMRAAM 2 x AIM-9, 2 x AIM-120 2 x AGM-65, 4 x Mk. 84 Distributed as a self extracting zip archive, the F-15 installation folder should be specified when extracting the utility. F-15 Operations Control A utility app which allows you to change your paint scheme and afterburner effects. This is the shareware version so the additional features are not listed as it can no longer be registered. Created by James "Gunslinger" Wohlever (Techware Computer Services). Distributed as a zip archive the contents should be extracted into the F-15 folder creating a new toc folder. Finally... As this is a 3rd party missions, mods and utilities guide, acknowledge of the creators is only right. Credit and thanks go to: All of the mission creators and sites that originally hosted the missions. Flying Muffin Enterprises for the Modification Engine For Jane's F-15. Michael Henze for the 4 camo schemes for Jane's F15. kodiak for the Desert F-15. Ken 'Snakebite' Boudreaux for the F-15 Ghost Grey Camouflage. Dan Waldrep for the Nellis tail markings. Game Tool Technologies (GTT) for Camo Commander and Loadmaster. James "Gunslinger" Wohlever (Techware Computer Services) for F-15 Operations Control. Andromedius, as the vast majority of resources were gathered from this SimHQ post . Good hunting!

The third and final guide in the Total Air War (TAW) series covers running TAW natively in Win10 with the Total Air War 2.0 mod. This guide will take the TAW build created in a PCem Win95 virtual machine and move it onto Win10, before installing and and configuring the TAW 2.0 mod. Due to the involved nature of the install all setup steps are shown, (duplicated from earlier articles where appropriate). except for patch and mod locations described in Total Air War part 1: Primer . Strategy The strategy employed in this guide is to take the install and patched build created in PCem and move it into Win10. Then the required compatibility utilities will be obtained and installed. Then the TAW 2.0 mod, will be obtained, installed and patched and finally a HOTAS will be configured and any remaining configuration performed. Retail media This guide assumes any physical cds will be ripped to a cd image file, to reduce wear and tear on media and drives. The retail version of TAW uses cd audio, so it is recommended to rip the cd to a bin/cue image pair, to preserve cd audio. At present there is no release of the game on digital platforms. Game management As a windows game running under PCem emulation the VM and VM config sit under the PCem installation folder. However some limited game management is still useful for files used in the TAW setup. The setup files for TAW and other Windows games can be found in the same folder (my own, as an example): D:\Games\Win\ D:\Games\Win\TAW Setup The following folders are used: conf - to store any HOTAS profile configuration files. docs - to store any useful documents, manuals, etc. patch - to store a copy of recommended patches. cd - to store any cd images. PCem build To copy the TAW install from the PCem Win95 virtual machine onto Win10. The steps to follow are: Shutdown the virtual machine, if it is running, and close PCem. Mount the virtual machine hard disk image (a .vhd  file) by opening it. The hard disk will be mounted, assigned a drive letter and will be accessible with File Explorer. The TAW  folder needs to be copied from the hard disk image into Win10. If you installed TAW into the default TAW installation folder it can be found in (X: will be the drive letter assigned by Win10): X:\Program Files\DID Copy the TAW  folder into a suitable location in Win10. As an example, my game management folder discussed earlier, would be: D:\Games\Win There should now be a D:\Games\Win\TAW  folder present in Win10, as an example. Unmount the hard disk image by ejecting the assigned drive. You may get a notification from Win10 about the device being safe to remove. As TAW has already been patched on the virtual machine, this concludes the copying of the TAW installation folder. Compatibility utilities This section covers the required utilities required for maximum compatibility under Win10 (to date). It is recommended that copies of zip archives or installers are kept in the setup patch folder for safekeeping. The compatibility utilities used are: nGlide . VirtualMIDISynth.& MIDIMapper . EarTrumpet . OTVDM . nGlide nGlide settings Glide emulation is provided by the latest version of nGlide v2.10. Available from Zeus Software  in nGlide download . nGlide is installed as a system level Glide wrapper as explained further in Glide Wrappers: Last Man Standing or Peace and Harmony? Once installed the nGlide configurator is used to set the nGlide settings as shown in the screenshot. VirtualMIDISynth and MIDIMapper (optional) VirtualMIDISynth soundfonts Installing and configuring these utilities is optional if you prefer to run TAW without MIDI music and just wish to use sound fx and speech. VirtualMIDISynth  is a MIDI synth that allows the soundfonts supplied with TAW to be used. MIDIMapper  allows the VirtualMIDISynth device to be used as the default MIDI device, instead of the default Microsoft synth device (with does not support soundfonts). If you have previously installed  VirtualMIDISynth and MIDIMapper to play F22 ADF under PCem emulation or Win10, or TAW under PCem emulation, then you don't need to install them again, you're all set. If you only installed VirtualMIDISynth then it's time to install MIDIMapper as TAW does not allow you to choose a preferred MIDI device (see below). If you haven't installed either then... The first step is to download and install VirtualMIDISynth, as described in the article, DOSBox Staging and VirtualMIDISynth . The DOSBox Staging config section can be ignored, as we aren't using DOSBox. Then download and install MIDIMapper, which will integrate with VirtualMIDISynth, as described in the earlier article, VirtualMIDISynth and MIDIMapper . Now we select VirtualMIDISynth as the default MIDI device with the MIDIMapper configurator: Run the MIDIMapper Configurator. Choose VirtualMIDISynth as your preferred default MIDI device. MIDIMapper configurator Or with the VirtualMIDISynth configurator (that integrates with the MIDIMapper): Run the VirtualMIDISynth Configurator. Select the MIDI Mapper tab. Choose VirtualMIDISynth as your preferred default MIDI device. VirtualMIDISynth configurator As shown above, both utilities allow you to do the same thing and set the default MIDI device. That concludes installing and configuring VirtualMIDISynth and MIDIMapper, adding the TAW soundfonts is next. Soundfonts Configuring soundfonts is optional if you prefer to run TAW without MIDI music and just wish to use sound fx and speech. It is also optional if you added the soundfonts earlier when setting up the MIDI music for PCem. They have already been added to VirtualMIDISynth and are still available. TAW has three soundfonts, (one for each of the AWE 32 memory configurations, so each soundfont is a different size), as described below: File Size tfx3512.sf2 443 KB tfx31meg.sf2 897 KB tfx3.sf2 1.4 MB These soundfonts can be found in the TAW installation Program  folder, e.g. D:\Games\Win\TAW\Program You may add all three to VirtualMIDISynth, but only one should be active when playing. It's recommended the largest soundfont ( tfx3.sf2 ) be used for highest quality music. To configure VirtualMIDISynth: Run the VirtualMIDISynth Configurator app. Add the F22 soundfonts to VirtualMIDISynth and select one of them ( tfx3.sf2  recommended). EarTrumpet EarTrumpet is an app available on the Windows Store, which is effectively a drop-in, but enhanced replacement for the sndvol control panel. It offers a wide range of sound controls and more precise control over apps and the devices they play through. And critically, it provides a customised action framework, to control sound through simple actions, including muting or unmuting apps with hotkey combinations. For more details on the issue affecting TAW requiring the use of EarTrumpet, consult F22 Air Dominance Fighter part 4: Sounding better , as TAW suffers from a similar issue. Installing There are two releases a standard and experimental dev release. The experimental dev release  is one required, as the action framework is not available in the standard release (at time of writing). Both are available at EarTrumpet . Given that the app is distributed as a Windows installer package, installation is straightforward. Once installed, go to Settings > Apps  and configure EarTrumpet. My settings are shown below as an example. You may have to restart your machine once installed. The interface is very clean and simple, (shown below). If you have the Actions option the correct release was installed. Now all we need to do now is to create an action to unmute TAW! Creating the action Creating an action is a very simple process and it takes about 2 mins. The action I created has been exported and is available below. This can be imported into your copy of EarTrumpet. This action is identical to the EarTrumpet action used by F22 ADF when running in Windows, so if this has already been done, then you're set. It uses the hotkey combo of + F2 to unmute TAW. You should feel free to change this if you would prefer a different hotkey combo. In fact it's so easy, that importing the above action might be more work than just recreating it, so I've included a screenshot of the action below: TAW action to unmute the game in EarTrumpet. OTVDM/WineVDM (optional) OTVDM, also known as WineVDM, is a port of the Wine project that allows you to run old 16-bit Windows applications on modern 64-bit Windows operating systems. However, we won't be using it for this reason. OTVDM also includes a winhlp32.exe  utility, which allows opening old style Windows help files on 64-bit Windows, including the F22 ADF help file, which acts as a manual for some versions and is a useful reference. The latest version of OTVDM/WineVDM is v0.9.0 available from the WineVDM GitHub, found in Releases . As it is distributed as a zip file, installation only requires extracting the files to a suitable folder of your choosing. Setting up help The TAW Windows help file is a very useful reference, however, legacy Windows help files are not accessible under Win10 without the use of the winhelp32.exe  utility, provided by OTVDM. It is recommended to create a shortcut of the winhelp32.exe and specify the TAW help file as part of the command line in the Target box: X:\\winhlp32.exe X:\\TAW\PROGRAM\TAWhelp.hlp For example: D:\utils\otvdm\winhlp32.exe D:\Games\Win\TAW\PROGRAM\TAWhelp.hlp Use double quotes (") around file paths with spaces in them. The shortcut can be placed on the desktop or within the game management docs  folders. Alternatively put the winhlp32.exe  and TAWhelp.hlp  files within the docs  folder and create a shortcut with the appropriate file paths. Total Air War 2.0 (TAW 2.0) The Total Air War 2.0 (TAW 2.0) total conversion mod provides compatibility for later versions of Windows not initially supported by TAW. For more info on TAW 2.0, and how to obtain it, see Total Air War part 1: Primer . TAW 2.0 was released prior to Win10, so there are a issues about the install to be aware of, covered below. It is a step by step guide so following the steps should result in a successful install of TAW 2.0 Installing TAW 2.0 The install is quite involved so it broken down into a number of sections. Scrrenshots are shown at the end of each section. Preliminaries This covers the basics of the install and starts copying files. The first dialog is an intro about the install. Then a destination folder is chosen. Followed by a graphics card type, for the vast majority this should be a Direct 3d Capable Video Card . Then a Start Menu folder is chosen, the default is fine. File copying begins. Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable library The next step adds Windows compatibility components, as the TAW installer has identified the Windows OS as Vista or later. The installer requires Administrator privileges, so answer Yes to allow. The TAW installer will start the Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable library installer. If you don't have this library then follow the on-screen dialogs to install it. However, it is very likely this library is already installed, so you won't be given the option to install, only to Repair or Uninstall. Select Repair to repair a perfectly good library which is unnecessary but allows the TAW installer to continue. The next dialog, should tell you the library has been successfully installed or repaired. Truespeech codec The next step is to install (or remove) the Truespeech codec. The TAW installer will start the Truespeech codec installer. If the Truespeech codec isn't present it will confirm the install request and confirm a successful installation, once complete. If the Truespeech codec is present the Truespeech installer will warn the existing codec must be removed. It will then confirm the removal of the existing codec. Once removed a successful removal dialog will be shown. Removal is not a problem as the codec can be reinstalled, once the TAW installer is complete. The important thing is to complete the TAW installation. TAW Battle Commander (TAWBC) The next step is to install and register the TAW Battle Commander (TAWBC). It's recommended to Register during the TAW 2.0 install. A dialog appears suggesting the Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) may be required to use TAWBC and where to find the toolkit. This would be done after the TAW 2.0 installer has completed. The ACT has been replaced by the Microsoft Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK). So you may wish to use this instead, there's a short guide on it usage, A retro gamers friend: Microsoft Compatibility administrator . The ADK Compatibility administrator (32-bit) would be used to apply the TAW.sdb compatibility fixes (as TAWBC is a 32-bit app), after the TAW 2.0 installer has completed. The next dialog covers registering TAWBC using the details in a text file ( serno.txt ) that will also be opened in Notepad, during the TAWBC installation. To register, enter the details into the TAWBC dialog. The date format in the serno.txt text file matches the date format of the TAWBC dialog. Once entered, select Register . A TAWBC Info dialog will appear confirming successful registration. TAWBC first run The next section covers the first run by TAWBC to complete the TAWBC setup. A TAWBC First Time Setup dialog will appear, select OK to confirm the TAW 2.0 installation folder. Another TAWBC Info dialog will appear, select OK to allow TAWBC setup to continue. When the Battle Commander page (with a theater map) appears, select Exit to leave TAWBC and continue the TAW 2.0 installation. A dialog with the folder location containing the serial no. text file and keygen is displayed. Readme and launch The TAW 2.0 readme file is opened in Notepad. Close to continue the install. This readme file ( ReadMe_20.txt ) can be found in the TAW 2.0 installation folder. The last dialog gives the location of the TAW 2.0 Manual Addendum and allows the TAW 2.0 launcher app to open and start the first run setup. TAW 2.0 first run setup This section covers the initial setup of TAW through the TAW launcher. Note : All these options may be changed later by running the TAW launcher app. The first dialog is about restoring TAW skins and the skin customisation about to be shown. The Airframe Selection options are shown, this can be customised later as the default skins are fine for now. Next a dialog is shown asking for the TAW executable file to be chosen. Choosing the Direct3D Version (if you wish to run Direct3D rather than Glide), TrackIR variant, Helmet Mounted Display (HMD) and Multifunction Display (MFD) configs are left up to personal preference. The TAW 2.0 manual (included with TAW 2.0) should be consulted for further info on these options. However the Glide option (if Glide is preferred) should be set to 3DFX Hardware or No Glide Wrapper Selected . This may seem like an odd choice, so further explanation is required: The latest version of nGlide v2.10 is installed as a system Glide wrapper. It will handle Glide requests if there are no other Glide wrappers in the TAW 2.0 installation folder. It is the default fallback Glide wrapper. If nGlide is chosen from the TAW executable menu, then an earlier version of nGlide will be added to the installation folder causing the earlier nGlide version to be used. If dgVoodoo (not dgVoodoo2) is selected, from the TAW executable menu, then dgVoodoo will be added to the installation folder causing dgVoodoo to be used as the Glide wrapper. As nGlide v2.10 works well with TAW 2.0, selecting 3DFX Hardware or No Glide Wrapper Selected ensures no other Glide wrappers are added and nGlide v2.10 will be used. For further info see Glide Wrappers: Last Man Standing or Peace and Harmony? Don't forget to Save the settings, once finished. The next dialog confirms the TAW executable choices. TAW 2.0 finishing up All that remains are a few changes to complete the setup. If TAW or the TAW 2.0 launcher is running they should be closed before making these changes. Truespeech codec If the Truespeech codec was removed during the TAW 2.0 install then the Truespeech installer should be run to replace the missing codec. The codec installer app is located below: X:\\!ADP\utilities\TrueSpeech_Codecs\tsp_codec_install.exe TAW 2.0 Launcher compatibility settings The Run this program as an administrator checkbox should be checked under the Compatibility tab of the TAW 2.0 launcher ( tawmenu.exe ) Properties . The launcher is located in the TAW 2.0 folder. This allows the Enable Nostalgia option, found under Customization, Music and Mods menu, in the TAW 2.0 launcher, to work correctly. TAWBC compatibility fixes Note : At present no issues have been noted with TAWBC under Win10. If you have issues, you may wish to either: Install the Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) and install the TAW.sdb  compatibility fixes for earlier versions of Windows (7/8). The toolkit and fixes can be found in: X:\\!ADP\utilities\Application Compatibility Toolkit 5.5 For Win10, download and install the  Microsoft Assessment and Deployment Kit   (ADK) and install the TAW.sdb  compatibility fixes. Using the later ADK rather than the ACT is recommended. Configuration Configuration options should now be set. When running under Win10 all graphical options can be selected or maximised, as shown below. Setting options under Win10. Further configuration (optional) References section of the launcher There are a number of hidden settings which aren't available from the in game options screen, but have to be entered manually by opening the game.cfg file in a text editor. These options are detailed in the Game cfg Guide , found in the Additional ADF/TAW References in the References section of the F-22 Total Air War 2.0 Launcher, as shown in the screenshot. The game.cfg file can be found in the TAW 2.0 folder. 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. Too many buttons or axes may result in this error. As TAW automatically detects the HOTAS controller. if your controllers exceed 4 axes or 32 buttons (or both) you may see the following error when trying to run TAW (see screenshot). For those using controllers from multiple vendors, the vJoy/Joystick Gremlin  combination may be required instead of vendor specific HOTAS profile software. You may also have to use HidHide as a device firewall,  to hide your real controllers, so only the vJoy virtual controllers are detected by TAW. 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_ZROT_AXIS Note : The rudder axis changes from DX_XROT_AXIS (in the previous article for TAW in PCem) to DX_ZROT_AXIS (for Win10), for my controllers. You may/may not have to make a similar change depending on your HOTAS hardware. If you have already created a config for F22 ADF under Win10, you may wish to reuse this config for TAW. Head Tracking The TrackIR option can be enabled with the 32 Bit (Includes TrackIR) option under the Graphics and Applications Configuration menu, in the TAW 2.0 launcher. The F22 TrackIR Patch v1.1 is not required as TrackIR support is integrated into TAW 2.0. This option is compatible with OpenTrack & AITrack. For more info, see Head tracking with Opentrack & AITrack . Patching TAW 2.0 (optional) These patches add additional music with the TFX soundtrack in both MT32 and Sound Blaster 16 versions. If TAW or the TAW 2.0 launcher is running they should be closed before making these changes. To install, simply run the executable installer app. It will automatically find the TAW 2.0 folder and add the music. Once installed, it can be selected by from the dropdown menu in Choose Playlists to run in TAW 2.0 . This is found in Customization, Mods and Music in the TAW 2.0 launcher. These patches are optional and left to personal preference. Issues Only a single issue remains when running TAW with the TAW 2.0 mod, under Win10. MIDI music on startup Issue : If MIDI is enabled, selecting a pilot and continuing onto the menu page straight away may cause a crash to desktop. Workaround : Wait for approximately 20-30s before selecting a pilot and continuing. Example video Total Air War 2.0 using the utilities described above for optimum Win10 compatibility. Finally Huge credit and thanks goes to the TAW 2.0 team of modders and contributors including but not limited to (listed alphabetically): Alfredo Costalago (a.k.a. Krusade) DrKevDog Benjamin Haisch (a.k.a. john_doe) Don Heumphreus (a.k.a. Home Fries) MGonzales mikew polak (a.k.a. Xela) Spear (a.k.a. jolly07) As well as: Zeus for nGlide. The CoolSoft devs for VirtualMIDISynth and MIDIMapper. The EarTrumpet devs. otya128 for the work on OTVDM. @Damsonn for the HOTAS max buttons hint. TAW 2.0 team members courtesy of Krishty and The Story of Total Air War . If I've missed anyone (and I probably have) let me know, so they can be acknowledged. Good Hunting!

This second Total Air War (TAW) article, will be using PCem v17 to build a virtual machine that can be used to build a TAW release and to optionally play it as well. Since there is a great deal of commonality between F22 Air Dominance Fighter (F22 ADF) and TAW, this article will borrow heavily from the earlier, F22 Air Dominance Fighter part 2: PCem build . Retail media This guide assumes any physical cds will be ripped to a cd image file, to reduce wear and tear on media and drives. The retail version of TAW uses cd audio, so it is recommended to rip the cd to a bin/cue image pair, to preserve cd audio. At present there is no release of the game on digital platforms. Game management As a windows game running under PCem emulation the VM and VM config sit under the PCem installation folder. However some limited game management is still useful for files used in the TAW setup. The setup files for TAW and other Windows games can be found in the same folder (my own, as an example): D:\Games\Win\ D:\Games\Win\TAW Setup The following folders are used: conf - to store any HOTAS profile configuration files. docs - to store any useful documents, manuals, etc. patch - to store a copy of recommended patches. cd - to store any cd images. PCem overview Most of the PCem advice that was valid for F22 ADF continues to be valid for TAW. So the advice in the   F22 Air Dominance Fighter part 2: PCem build for the following sections can be followed: PCem emulator . Virtual Machine (VM) hardware . Configuration Windows operating system . Preserving the virtual machine . If you have already built the PCem VM suggested in the F22 ADF article and followed the advice to preserve a clean copy, then this clean VM can be copied and used for TAW. Additional info and advice specific to TAW is covered below. PCem emulator As TAW is more compatible on a wider range of emulated hardware, you may wish to build TAW with an alternative to the Win95 virtual machine (VM) linked above. A popular option is a Pentium 2, Voodoo 3, Win98SE combination, which is the subject of the excellent Y ouTube tutorial video by PhilsComputerLab, PCem Windows 98 Setup . This will be referred to as the Win98SE VM. However, it is recommended to switch from the Sound Blaster PCI 128 suggested in the video to an AWE 32 sound card for the MIDI synth capabilities. It is also recommended to skip the DirectX7 install suggested by the video and use DirectX5.2a installed during TAW installation, for maximum compatibility. The only issue with the Win98SE VM is flickering on MFD displays that does not occur in a Win95 VM. Virtual Machine (VM) hardware It's worth comparing the recommended specs of TAW with the Win95 and Win98SE VMs as shown in the table below: Recommended PCem Win95 VM PCem Win98SE VM CPU Pentium P200 or higher Intel Pentium II/233 Intel Pentium II/266 Memory 32MB 64MB 128MB HDD space 205MB 510MB 4GB CD 8 x CD-ROM drive 24 x PCem CD 24 x PCem CD Video AGP bus based 3D accelerator video card S3 ViRGE/DX Fast VLB/PCI & Voodoo2 3Dfx Voodoo 3 Sound Creative Labs AWE32 or AWE64 card with 512k of memory Creative Labs AWE32 with 2MB of memory Creative Labs AWE32 with 2MB of memory Mouse Microsoft Mouse or other Windows '95 compatible device Microsoft Intellimouse (PS/2) Microsoft Intellimouse (PS/2) The recommended TAW specs are identical to the F22 ADF recommended specs. TAW is more compatible than F22 ADF when using larger amounts of memory and the Voodoo 3 graphics card. The large disk support can be enabled and is compatible with the Win98SE setup so larger hard disks can be used. The largest soundfont used by TAW is 1.4MB therefore an AWE 32 with 2MB of memory is sufficient. Windows operating system The Win95 VM information remains valid, so this next section will detail any differences with the Win98SE VM. Many of the suggestions and links come from the  tutorial video by PhilsComputerLab, PCem Windows 98 Setup . Versions & images A cd image of   Windows 98 Second Edition was obtained from WinWorld . Installation It is beyond the scope of this guide to go into a detailed Win98SE installation guide, however the steps detailed in   PCem Windows 98 Setup can be followed. Windows drivers There are a number of Windows drivers required to make all the hardware accessible to Win98SE. The order below is the order in which the drivers should be installed. The Intel chipset, 3Dfx Voodoo 3 and Creative AWE 32 drivers were supplied by PHILSCOMPUTERLAB.COM . Credit and huge thanks to Phil for finding and hosting these drivers. Intel chipset drivers The Intel chipset drivers advice remains valid. 3Dfx Voodoo 3 drivers These can be found in Drivers for 3Dfx Voodoo 3 . The amigamerlin-win9x-29.zip third party drivers should be downloaded as well as overclock.exe , a v-sync and overclocking utility. Creative AWE 32 drivers The Creative AWE 32 drivers advice remains valid. AmnHLT driver The AmnHLT driver advice remains valid. Preserving the virtual machine Whether the Win95 or Win98SE VM (or even both) are created, you may wish to preserve clean copies of the VMs for future use. TAW overview The rest of this article covers the build of TAW. This build will be installing and patching TAW using the English language and Glide graphics version, as described in the earlier, Total Air War part 1: Primer . The patch covered below can be found on this post, DID F22 Games Collection  on   Krishty’s Sim Forums . Installing TAW The game was installed from a cd image mounted in PCem. The installation was straightforward, but the following notes may be useful: The default installation location was used: D:\Program Files\DID\TAW A typical installation was selected as it will make a complete/full install of TAW. The VM may not have the correct DirectX 5 components required, so DirectX 5.2a should be installed. Glide  was selected as the Graphics API. After files have been copied, a few more questions are asked. When asked about audio,  sound fx and speech can be checked but music should be unchecked.  The music is still installed but it is disabled and can be enabled later. This helps prevent issues when the game is first run. For joystick or keyboard, select  keyboard ,  the joystick can be configured later. Viewing the readme is a personal preference. Once complete the Win95/Win98SE VM will be restarted. Patching TAW The recommended Total Air War Patch was installed next, using the English language, Glide version of the patch. The following steps were taken: The patch files were extracted from the zip file using 7zip in Win10. The VM was shutdown and the VM hard disk mounted in Win10. A backup of the existing f22.dat file was taken (optional). The patch readme.txt and replacement f22.dat files were copied into the D:\Program Files\DID\TAW\Program folder. The VM hard disk was ejected from Win10 and the VM restarted. Running and configuring TAW Once the VM is restarted, TAW can be run from the Windows Start menu. After a short delay, you should see the TAW splash screen and you'll be asked to create or select a pilot. If this is the first time the game is run and it doesn't seem to start. There may be a problem with the game configurations options stored in (assuming the default location was used): C:\Program Files\DID\TAW\Program\game.cfg This file can be deleted and the game restarted. This file will be recreated with default config options which should allow the game to start. Setting game options The next step is to set the in-game Options , all options can be maximised as shown in the options menu screenshot below. Keyboard should remain selected until the joystick is properly configured in the VM (see HOTAS config ). If you enabled sound fx, speech or music you may need to restart the game before these changes take effect. Options menu CD audio The retail cd contained a cd music track and if this cd was ripped to a bin/cue cd image pair, this cd music is available. If the cd image is left mounted in the PCem VM cd drive then cd music will be used when the game starts. Authentic MIDI music The Authentic MIDI music advice remains valid. References to F22 MIDI music, F22 ADF cd image and F22 soundfonts should be considered references to TAW MIDI music, TAW cd image and TAW soundfonts. Using the TAW soundfont The Using the F22 soundfont advice remains valid, the TAW soundfonts have the same name and size as F22 soundfonts and may be identical. However for convenience the soundfont information is repeated below. TAW has three soundfonts, one for each of the AWE 32 memory configurations, as described below: File Size Used with AWE 32 model with tfx3512.sf2 443 KB 512 Kb memory. tfx31meg.sf2 897 KB 1 MB memory. tfx3.sf2 1.4 MB 2 MB or more memory. When copying soundfonts from the virtual machine hard disk to a Win10 folder, the F22 ADF location: C:\Program Files\DID\F22ADF\Program Changes to the TAW location: C:\Program Files\DID\TAW\Program A default MIDI device for PCem A default MIDI device for PCem advice remains valid for Win95 and Win98SE VMs. MIDIMapper The MIDIMapper advice remains valid for both Win95 and Win98SE VMs. HOTAS config The HOTAS config advice remains valid. The physical axes to Windows axes were configured as follows and is repeated here for convenience: Physical axis Windows axis Joystick x-axis DX_X_AXIS Joystick y-axis DX_Y_AXIS Throttle DX_Z_AXIS Rudder DX_XROT_AXIS Once configured, the Controllers and retro sims part 5: PCem  article provides detailed instructions on how to configure multi-axes controllers within PCem and how to create a custom controller with a Win95 or Win98SE VM. All that remains is to start TAW and in the Options  menu, a Joystick option should be available for selection. Example video Total Air War, systems failures missions in a PCem Win95 VM. Finally... Credit and huge thanks to the following: Krishty and Menrva for the F22 ADF patches and patch info. The CoolSoft devs for bring MIDI control back into Win10. Phil of   PHILSCOMPUTERLAB.COM  for finding and hosting the legacy Windows drivers and for his excellent PCem tutorial video. And Sarah Walker for PCem v17. Good hunting!

A primer on the different releases and versions of the classic Digital Image Design (D.I.D.) F-22 sim from 1998, Total Air War (TAW) also known as F22 Total Air War. TAW was a direct sequel to F22 Air Dominance Fighter (ADF) and there is a great deal of commonality between the two sims, differing primarily in the mission oriented campaigns of ADF, replaced with true dynamic campaigns in TAW. This article will cover the various releases and versions possible with TAW. And will discuss the total conversion mod Total Air War 2.0 (TAW 2.0). Acknowledgement Most of this article is based on the excellent work done by Menrva with this post  on Krishty’s Sim Forums , and from the patch collection compiled by Krishty. The TrackIR patch, Total Air War 2.0 and patches were also obtained from Krishty. Credit and many thanks to both. Overview Like it's predecessor, TAW editions are distributed in multiple languages and multiple graphics API's (again DirectX and Glide are supported). However there was only a single standard/International edition (including Europe/UK/US) which only had a single patch (in language and graphics versions). This makes installation and patching an easier task for the majority. There was also a Japanese language edition with a different set of patches that is discussed separately. In upcoming articles the build presented will be based on the English language, Glide version of TAW. When it comes to running under Win10 natively, the 'vanilla' version of TAW is surprising difficult to get working with current compatibility utilities, given the commonalities between ADF and TAW ('vanilla' ADF being far easier to run on Win10). Instead the total conversion mod TAW 2.0 will be used. TAW 2.0 installation requires a 'retail' TAW installation to be present, so creating the build is a necessary first step, but before the build, an understanding of the editions and patches will make the task easier. This primer was created for these reasons. PCem VM or Win10 Future articles will cover building the release in a PCem virtual machine (VM) and running from PCem. You may be wondering why, if the game can be run in Win10 natively? One may be the subjective 'feel' of the controls. With my particular HOTAS setup the controls 'feel' fractionally better/tighter under Win10. Your own subjective 'feel' of your own HOTAS may differ, and you may prefer to play in PCem. TAW is also incompatible with native multi-axes HOTAS setups exceeding 4 axes. A modern HOTAS setup may have 2 stick axes, 3 or more throttle axes and up tp 3 rudder pedal axes. If the equipment comes from same the manufacturer then profiling software can solve this issue. If from multiple manufacturers then a vJoy/Joystick Gremlin/HIDGuardian solution may be required. The complexity of configuring a third party solution can be mitigated by running under PCem. The important thing is that both approaches are covered, so you can try them both and stick with the one you prefer. Total Air War standard edition The standard retail edition came in the following languages, English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. Each language edition supported both Direct3D or Glide API versions. This results in 10 versions based on language and graphics API. The standard edition included a British Telecom (BT) Wireplay client. The BT Wireplay service, was a UK, modem based multiplayer matchmaking and gaming service which shutdown in 2014. The BT Wireplay service had earlier distributed a version of EF2000 for Wireplay hosted multiplayer games. Total Air War Patch Only a single official patch was released for TAW in December 1998. It is only available for the English and German languages in both Direct3D and Glide versions for a total of 4 versions of this patch. It is a comprehensive patch featuring both bug fixes and enhancements. It is a simple file replacement patch, replacing the existing f22.dat file. The patch readme.txt file is available below: This patch can be obtained from this post, DID F22 Games Collection  at   Krishty’s Sim Forums . This is a recommended patch for the supported languages. F22 TrackIR Patch v1.1 A fan made Track IR patch, create by Krishty, was released 18th June 2009. There is a single patch version, requiring the appropriate file replacement for Direct3D or Glide APIs. The patch is distributed as a 7zip archive (.7z). The readme.txt file is available below: This is not a recommended patch for the PCem platform, as there is no communication with TrackIR hardware possible. It is not recommended for the Win10 platform as TrackIR support was integrated into the TAW 2.0 mod. This patch can be obtained from the post, TrackIR Patch v1.1   at   Krishty’s Sim Forums . It may be possible to use this patch on an experimental 86Box platform . Total Air War Japanese edition There is a single Japanese edition and unlike the standard version employs a CD check. There are both DIrect3D and Glide versions for a total of 2 versions. Unlike the standard edition there are a number of patches available, but only one is recommended. All Japanese edition patches can be obtained from this post, DID F22 Games Collection  at   Krishty’s Sim Forums . F-22 TAW Japanese Version Patch 981203 Released on the 3rd Dec 1998, this patch was a bug fix patch, fixing a crash if the demo was run more than once. There is a single version of this patch for both Direct3D and Glide. This patch is a file replacement patch. From the readme (translated): This file fixes a bug in the Japanese version of the F-22TAW that causes the demo to crash the second time. This is not a recommended patch having been superseded by the F-22 TAW Japanese Version Patch 990219. F-22 TAW Japanese Version Patch 981228 Released on the 28th Dec 1998, this patch was a bug fix patch, fixing Microsoft force feedback issues. It was distributed in Direct3D and Glide versions. This patch is an executable which unpacks replacement files, which essentially makes this a file replacement patch. From the readme (translated): This file fixes a bug in the F-22TAW Japanese Version where the stick would stop centering or suddenly become unresponsive when using Microsoft Force Feedback Pro. This is not a recommended patch having been superseded by the F-22 TAW Japanese Version Patch 990219. F-22 TAW Japanese Version Patch 990219 Released on the 19th Feb 1999, this patch was a bug fix patch, fixing crashes and Microsoft force feedback issues. It seems to be a cumulative patch comprising of the fixes from F-22 TAW Japanese Version Patch 981203, F-22 TAW Japanese Version Patch 981228 and the standard edition Total Air War Patch. It was distributed in Direct3D and Glide versions. This patch is an executable which unpacks replacement files, which essentially makes this a file replacement patch. From the readme (translated): This file contains fixes for the latest patch released by DID in the UK for the F-22TAW Japanese Version. This patch also includes fixes for an abnormal termination that occurs during the demo screen in the F-22TAW Japanese Version, as well as a fix for a bug that causes the stick to become uncentered or suddenly unresponsive when using Microsoft Force Feedback Pro. This is the only recommended patch for the Japanese edition. The Total Air War 2.0 (TAW 2.0) total conversion mod The Total Air War 2.0 (TAW 2.0) total conversion mod provides compatibility for later versions of Windows not initially supported by TAW, integrating: Full campaigns from F-22 Air Dominance Fighter (ADF) and Red Sea Operations (RSO). Glide wrappers. TrackIR support. JoneSoft Generic Mod Enabler (JSGME). TAW 2.0 Battle Commander (TAWBC). A huge amount of documentation Additional enhancements and customization. Taken from the readme file: The goal of TAW 2.0 is to provide a simulation experience that equals or surpasses your fond memories with the original F-22 Air Dominance Fighter and F-22 Total Air War. A large part of this effort is to take a program that was designed for Windows 95 and get it to run flawlessly in Windows 7 x64, and all operating systems in-between (except for Windows NT and Windows 2000, neither of which were tested). The last version of this mod, v2.30, released on 18th Nov 2015 will be the version used in Win10. The mod is known to work with English language versions, other languages and the Japanese edition remains untested at present. The TAW 2.0 total conversion mod can be obtained from: GamePressure . Krishy (EU) (use 'Save link as...'). Patches The TAW 2.0 mod also supports custom music playlists, which led to the TFX soundtrack being converted for use with TAW 2.0. It is available in two versions: TFX Soundtrack (Roland MT32) The TFX soundtrack using Roland MT32 MIDI, distributed as an executable archive, obtainable from: Box.com . Google Drive . MediaFire . Krishty (EU) (use 'Save link as...'). This is an optional patch, left to personal preference. TFX Soundtrack (Sound Blaster 16) The TFX soundtrack using Sound Blaster 16 MIDI, distributed as an executable archive, obtainable from: Box.com . Google Drive . MediaFire . Krishty (EU)  (use 'Save link as...'). This is an optional patch, left to personal preference. Build strategies The following are not detailed instructions but installation & patching strategies for each of the possible TAW builds. They can be used to ensure you have the required cd/images and patches for a particular build. TAW (English, German languages) Install TAW with the required language and graphics API (D3D or Glide). Install Total Air War Patch matching the required language and graphics API. TAW (French, Italian, Spanish languages) Install TAW with the required language and graphics API (D3D or Glide). TAW (Japanese edition) Install TAW with the required graphics API (D3D or Glide). Install F-22 TAW Japanese Version Patch 990219  matching the required graphics API. Platform strategies The following are not detailed instructions but installation & patching strategies for possible platforms running TAW. PCem Create appropriate build based on build strategy above. The F22 TrackIR Patch v1.1 is not included for this platform as there is no USB passthrough facility supported by PCem, so there is no communication possible with TrackIR hardware. 86Box (untested) Create appropriate build based on build strategy above. It should be possible to create an effectively identical PCem VM as an 86Box VM. The resource requirements of 86Box are normally higher than PCem so a higher spec host system may be required for 86Box. 86Box (theoretical/experimental) Create appropriate build based on build strategy above. Install F22 TrackIR Patch v1.1. Although untested, the USB passthrough support in 86Box v5.1 suggests communication with TrackIR hardware is theoretically possible. Such a build may require earlier TrackIR hardware, supported by earlier TrackIR software, running under a compatible version of Windows (probably Win98/XP) in the 86Box emulator. Windows 10 Create appropriate build based on build strategy above. Install TAW 2.0 mod. Install TFX Soundtrack (Roland MT32) patch (optional). Install TFX Soundtrack (Sound Blaster 16) patch (optional). The F22 TrackIR Patch v1.1 is not included, as TrackIR support is integrated into the TAW 2.0 mod. Finally... The remaining articles in this series will cover: Building and running a TAW release (English language, Glide API) in PCem. Using the PCem build and running the TAW 2.0 mod in Win10. Good hunting!