FF2 Installation Guide (incl. F4BMS)
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Installation procedure (from BenBen)
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- Make a full install of Falcon from your CD. Avoid installing into a directory which's path and name has spaces, it will cause problems.
- Backup the file Tacrdata.ZIP from Falcon4\Zips
- If you have a localized version of Falcon (french, german etc.) install the latest, localized patch.
- Install the 1.08US patch
- Put back the Tacrdata.ZIP
- Install SP3
- open the Falconsp Config Editor (F4Patch) and expand the package by selecting 'File' -> 'Save all patches as filter', confirm expanding the package, confirm to have it expanded in the F4Patch directory, confirm to have a shortcut created, cancel the name input for the filter (the default will be used). Close F4Patch.
- Delete the shortcut named 'Falconsp Config Editor' (start menu), you will now use the F4Patch shortcut, currently on your desktop.
- Install FF2, have patience as the installation of the models and skins take a while (at least on my old machine). If you had FF2 previously installed the installer will only remove the last installation files and prompt you to restart it, do so.
- now you can put back your logbook, keyfiles, savegames etc.
- if you want to install additionally cockpits, now is a good time (more below)
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Setup
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- Launch F4Patch from the newly created shortcut
- check the main box at '(SP) Falcon Configuration' and go throught its options; i recommend to enable "Graphics CTD checks", the performance impact is minimal even on my PC and it can improve stability.
- enable the additional cockpits if you have them installed (more below)
- click 'apply changes' and close F4Patch
- launch Falcon and go to the setup screen.
- make sure that Player Bubble is set to 3 and Object Density to 6 (SP3 requirement), i recommend to have Vehicle Magification set to 1 ('graphics tab') and Smart Scaling off ('simulation tab').
- set the other options according to your system capabilities, for the BMS related Advanced graphics options see below. Special Effects can have a significant impact on performance (at least pre-BMS), the lower the faster
- it is highly recommended to set the avionics level to realistic, the other modes are unstable.
Now you are ready to go with a default FF2 installation.
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Optional
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BMS: for the current 0.7 version download and run the installer. See the included F4-BMS.TXT or Benchmarksims site for instructions on what to add/change in your falconsp.cfg.
Trees: You will get trees if you have the option checked in F4Patch. You can increase the amount of trees by using this file and unzipping it into the Falcon4\terrdata\objects folder.
Hi-res Sea Tiles: See Falcon4\patches for instructions.
Tom Twaelti's hi-res tiles: They can be installed at any time between the steps, check the included documentation. If you have to reinstall, a simple backup of texture.zip and re-run of Sptinstall is enough.
Cockpits: I recommend to get Aeyes freeware 2D A-10, 2D F-18 and 3D Superpit and CobraCabs 2D F-22. Install the 2D pits with the installer pointed to the Falcon4 folder. Open F4Patch and enable the cockpits. After the F-18 pit is installed, go to the Falcon4\art\ckptart\F18C folder and copy its content (except for the 3dckpit.dat) into the Falcon4\art\ckptart\F18 and Falcon4\art\ckptart\F18E folder (don't overwrite anything!). For the 3D Superpit just unzip it somewhere, run the installer (its an F4 package), check the boxes, hit 'apply changes' and exit. For Cobracab's F-22 cockpit see the link bellow, install instructions for FF2 are in the included readmefirst.txt.
Now you have full 2D and 3D cockpit support for the A-10, F-16, F-18 and F-22.
Theaters: Install theaters after you have installed FF2. See Falcon4\patches for additional instructions.
A shameless plug on my behalf: I have made a New Rolling Fire campaign, it is based upon the original Rolling Fire campaign modified by JimG; i swappt many of the planes to include the new, mainly european-build planes. See the link for additional information, download and installation.
falconsp.cfg: If you want to enable realistic attrition add the line "set g_bRealisticAttrition 1" to your falconsp.cfg.
If you want to see the status of the flaps, in case an aircraft has manual flap setting like the F-15, add the line "set g_bShowFlaps 1" to your falconsp.cfg. It displays in green text at the upper-left corner of the screen the status of the LEF and TEF plus the current AoA. It ain't pretty but keeps you from forgetting to retract the flaps after take-off.
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BMS 07 installation (from Rogue)
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Okay, here are the lines in falconsp.cfg. The BMS lines are everything from the header, down to Logging Debriefings (for some reason F4P is putting that at the end of the file, dunno why but that's NOT a BMS thing). Everything from flaps on down is stuff I add myself, personal preferences. The padlock mode mades the padlock boxes on objects consistent with their label color, helping to tell if you have a friendly or enemy padlocked (you don't need labels on to use this). The Gun Strafing allows your gun reticle to reappear in AG mode. The sound fix line appears to fix the old problem where your inflight comms seemed to disappear.
One note about the MaverickFOV. The settings are for FOV, not zoom level, so a smaller number will yield a larger zoom. I left the FOVLevel at the default of 6 as that allows you to narrow in. I reduced the setting for EXP all the way to 0.5, which makes, for example, a tank take up half the display and allows visual ID of your target. This is all personal preference.
After that are two lines to insert into your keystrokes file. This will increase and decrease your FOV in all views. I have it set for CTL Q and W, but you can change it within Falcon. After adding these, I HIGHLY recommend you go into the setup within F4 and check them to see if they work, and if not, to remap them.
NOTE: I've taken the Z-buffering and perspective corrected lines out as they now appear to be controlled inside the graphics\advanced tab.
// **************************
// **** BMS exe Settings ****
// **************************
// Set how much the field of view should change for each keypress in degrees.
set g_fFOVIncrement 5
// These variables control the amount of zoom of the EXP and FOV modes on the Maverick.
set g_fMavFOVLevel 6
set g_fMavEXPLevel 0.5
// enable the mouselook mechanism that existed in earlier versions of Falcon.
set g_bMouseLook 1
// Select any tasking order for any waypoint, regardless of mission.
set g_bAnyWaypointTask 1
// Force Feedback centering fix
set g_bFFCenterFix 0
// Enables 3d Cockpit TrackIR
set g_bEnableTrackIR 0
// Enables TrackIR for the 2d cockpit. Only works if 3d cockpit support is enabled
set g_bTrackIR2DCockpit 0
// Determines how fast the 2d cockpit screens are switched
set g_nTrackIRSampleFreq 512
// configures the up/down zones for the TrackIR 2D mode
set g_fTIR2DPitchPercentage 0.5
// configures the left/right zones for the TrackIR 2D mode
set g_fTIR2DYawPercentage 0.5
// This turns on text-logging of debriefings
set g_bLogEvents 0
// Flaps Display for aircraft with manual flaps (0 - disabled, 1 - enabled, default 0)
set g_bShowFlaps 1
// Number of hours between flights for no player penalty
set g_nNoPlayerPlay 999
// determine padlock mode
set g_nPadlockMode 1
// Set Realistic Attrition (0 - disabled, 1 - enabled, default 0)
set g_bRealisticAttrition 1
// gun strafing
set g_bUseDefinedGunDomain 1
// LookCloserFix
set g_bLookCloserFix 1
// SoundFix
//set g_nSoundSwitchFix 0
Keystrokes
FOVIncrease -1 0 0X10 2 0 0 1 "View-Fov Inc"
FOVDecrease -1 0 0X11 2 0 0 1 "View-Fov Dec"
CTL Q
CTL W
Hope this helps.
Notice: for BMS05 and BMS06 you nedd only copy the BMS.exe, nothing else.
Regards
Wulf
