Falcon 4 Realism Patch Installation Guide

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1. Select Full install of Falcon from the CD. After finishing the install, go to your C:\MicroProse\Falcon4 folder\zips folder and rename the tacrdata.zip to tacrdataold.zip.

2. Apply 108us Patch. You can also get it here. After applying the patch, go to C:\MicroProse\Falcon4 folder\zips and rename the tacrdataold.zip back to tacrdata.zip.

3. Place 108i2.exe in C:\MicroProse\Falcon4 folder

4. Create shortcut of 108i2 exe and place on the desktop. You will use only this shortcut from now on to launch Falcon

5. Unzip desired sounds into C:\MicroProse\Falcon4\Sounds folder

6. Unzip desired cockpit into C:\MicroProse\Falcon4\art\ckptart folder. Be sure NOT to overwrite the original menu.dat file that came with Falcon as you may get a file mismatch when trying to apply the RP comm menus Patch.

7. Install F4patch Standard into a directory of your choice.

8. After installation go to file in the F4Patch user interface and select "expand package" This will create a F4Patch exe and F4Patch folder. It is now safe to delete f4Patch Standard exe, as you will use the F4Patch exe from now on.

9. Place F4patch exe and f4Patch folder into C:\MicroProse\Falcon4 folder.

10. Create shortcut of F4Patch exe and place on desktop. You will use this shortcut to launch F4Patch

11. Use one of the pre-defined filters included with F4Patch by pressing the arrow button in the filter window of the F4Patch user interface. Of course advanced users will want to select patches of their own choosing but these filters are a good place to start if you are unfamiliar with the patch functions.

Numbers 12, 13 and 14 are required for Multiplayer and recommended for both Multi and Single player mode.

12.If you have a network card installed open MS-DOS prompt and type "cd C:\MicroProse\Falcon4" then hit enter. Next type"netchk.exe" and hit enter. You will see an entry ..ComIPHostIDGet 0: [Computer Name] X.X.X.X. The x's representing your ip address. There will be one of these entries for each Network Card installed. The second one will say ..ComIPHostIDGet 1: instead of 0. and so on.

13. Determine which is your external ip address and then right click on your 108i2 exe Shortcut and select Properties. Select the Shortcut tab. you will see in the Target line "C:\MicroProse\Falcon4\Falcon4_108i2.exe" Add " -hostidx 0" if the netchk.exe entry was ..ComIPHostIDGet 0 for your external ip or add " -hostidx 1" if it was ..ComIPHostIDGet 1 for your external ip address. Your target line should now read "C:\MicroProse\Falcon4\Falcon4_108i2.exe -hostidx 0" or -hostidx 1. Press apply. Alternatively, you can add the -ip xxx.xxx.xxx command line switch where "x" is your outside ip address if you have a static or semi-static ip. This may also be required if you are running a hardware router.

14. In the same target line you may now add the " -pf " command switch. This stands for Packet Frequency and the number you enter will represent the milliseconds between positional packet transfer. If you enter "-pf 100 it means you will send a positional data packet every 100 milliseconds or 10 per second. -pf 100 is the most widely used command however if everyone in the multiplayer flight has higher bandwidth, ie Cable or dsl, you may want to go lower for example -pf 50. Not entering -pf command will allow packets to flow as fast as they are able. Your Target Line should now read: "C:\MicroProse\Falcon4\Falcon4_108i2.exe -hostidx 0 -pf 100" and as stated previously could read hostidx 1 and -pf 50. Press apply and OK.

15. Launch Falcon using 108i2 Shortcut and go to setup. We need to set the hatswitch with the corresponding numberpad keys. Click on Controllers and press "2" on your numberpad. You will see num2 at the top of Controller screen. Click on and it will turn blue. Next Push your hatswitch down in the 6 oclock posistion and then click apply. Push "8" on the numberpad, click on it at the top of the Controller field to turn it blue, push your hatswitch up to 12 oclock and press apply. Do the same for numberpad "4" with the hatswitch to 9 oclock and and "6" with hatswitch to 3 oclock. This now allows you to release an object from padlock with a flip of the hat switch instead of having to use the numberpads. See (i2)No slow panning v1.1 Patch for more info.

16. Go to Setup. Click on Graphics Tab. For Realism Patch to work as designed, the Bubble Slider must be set to 3 or higher and Object Density must be set at 6.

17, Fly and have fun!