Open falcon 4.7 and Free Falcon 5

[Castout]

I have tried Open Falcon 4.5 and 4.7 and now have begun reinstalling the game again. This time I learned the start up sequence, data link and actually followed the ATC orders before landing and it worked beautifully. OMG :D.

I have begun downloading Free Falcon 5 too just curious to see how it compares with Open Falcon 4.7. I'm aware that Free Falcon has a shinier graphics but crash more often than Open Falcon and has a reduced realism compared to Open Falcon.

I recommend those who like aviation in general and military jets specifically the F-16 to give Open Falcon or Free Falcon 5 or both a try.

:yeah:.

Anyway I'm writing this just after finishing a mission in campaign, starting from the ramp, turning the Falcon on with full start up sequence, went all the way to objective and did the job of escorting friendly strike plane, returned, followed ATC directions and landed my plane.

It was a belly landing but I did survive. What a thrilling experience. :up:

[XabbaRus]

Got a link?

[SUBMAN1]

How's it compare to Falcon 4 Allied Force? I still play F4AF occasionally.

-S

[Castout]

Free Falcon 5 official site

http://www.freefalcon.com/forum/index.php


Open Falcon 4.7 official site

http://www.f4support.com/forums/index.php

Free falcon and Open falcon download site without requiring registration

http://falcondepot.info/

http://falcon4.0files.googlepages.com/falcon4.0files


Open Falcon 4.7

I have only tried Open falcon and it's a very realistic game/sim, even more realistic than Allied Force. In fact, it is the most realistic F-16 sim anywhere you can get your hands on.

However the realism deals a lot with the avionics functionality such as manual radio tuning, data cartidge, data link and much more.
So the realism features are mainlyunder the hood until you learn about them.

Installation requires the original Falcon 4 disc.

Free Falcon 5

I have never tried Free Falcon 5. Still downloading it
Installation doesn't require the original Falcon 4 disc or so I've been told.
Realism is subpar compared with Open Falcon but it has got a shinier graphics and better F-16's 3D cockpit. However Open Falcon is known to be the more stable of the two.




You can play both game on Vista but I don't think they will run on Windows 7.

[Castout]

How's it compare to Falcon 4 Allied Force? I still play F4AF occasionally.

-S

I heard people saying they are much better than allied force but I don't know for sure since I've only tried Allied Force only for a few days then.


If you like allied force you'll like them more.

There are community developed theaters such as Balkans, Desert storm. Aegean, Israel, Vietnam, Afghanistan, etc

Make sure to download the latest version of these theaters. Look for their info in their official site forum.

[FIREWALL]

THX Castout :salute:

[Castout]

THX Castout :salute:


My pleasure. Happy flying.

You can't install BOTH without registry tinkering. I'm still finding out how to install FF5 when one already have OF4.7 installed.

[Raptor1]

Wait, wait, you can fly planes other than the F-16 in these?

I never really got into AF, but I do remember there was something against modding additional flyable planes into it or something

[Schroeder]

http://www.curevents.com/vb/images/smilies/worth.gif

[Castout]

Wait, wait, you can fly planes other than the F-16 in these?

I never really got into AF, but I do remember there was something against modding additional flyable planes into it or something

Yes the Mirage 2000 has got a 2d and 3d cockpit. F-15 has got a 3d cockpit though the 2d cockpit still uses the F-16's I've been told that a 3d cockpit of A-10 is also available in game but never tried flying this. The F-18 has got a 3d cockpit too The typhoon has got an incomplete 3d cockpit.

[Castout]

As demanded by Schroeder :D,

Open falcon 4.7 Screenshots

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/roh_kudus/F4-BMS2009-06-0106-45-33-08.jpg
Night, instrument panel light off

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/roh_kudus/F4-BMS2009-06-0106-45-52-86.jpg
Night, instrument panel light on

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/roh_kudus/F4-BMS2009-06-0106-47-44-39.jpg
Night, taxiing, viewed from Night Vision Goggle

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/roh_kudus/F4-BMS2009-06-0106-49-57-85.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/roh_kudus/F4-BMS2009-06-0106-49-57-85.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/roh_kudus/F4-BMS2009-06-0106-55-31-43.jpg
Mirage 2000 3D cockpit

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/roh_kudus/F4-BMS2009-06-0106-55-55-48.jpg
Mirage 2000 model

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/roh_kudus/F4-BMS2009-06-0106-56-09-08.jpg
Another Mirage 2000 3D cockpit view



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/roh_kudus/F4-BMS2009-06-0106-59-03-30.jpg
F-15C the eagle

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/roh_kudus/F4-BMS2009-06-0106-58-53-86.jpg
F15C 3D cockpit view

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/roh_kudus/F4-BMS2009-06-0107-01-16-95.jpg
Israel!!! F-16I Sufa

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/roh_kudus/F4-BMS2009-06-0107-01-25-97.jpg
Israel, F-16 I Sufa

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/roh_kudus/F4-BMS2009-06-0107-01-46-50.jpg
Israel terrain looking from cockpit

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/roh_kudus/F4-BMS2009-06-0107-02-04-18.jpg
Chaff, Flare!!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/roh_kudus/F4-BMS2009-06-0107-03-50-45.jpg
Chaff, Flare at night

[Raptor1]

Unfortunately OF doesn't work on Vista due to the transparency problem (I had to swipe my friend's old F4 disk to find that out), so I'll have to stick with FF5

Now then, anybody know where to start? I rarely have to ask that, but it's been years since I played a modern combat sim...

[Fincuan]

Ah the old faithful... It's now over ten years since F4 was released, and it's good to see the game alive and kicking :yeah:

I only have F4AF installed at the moment and I've completely fallen "out of the loop" what comes to the other versions, but looks like it's time to take a look at them again.

[Castout]

Unfortunately OF doesn't work on Vista due to the transparency problem (I had to swipe my friend's old F4 disk to find that out), so I'll have to stick with FF5

Now then, anybody know where to start? I rarely have to ask that, but it's been years since I played a modern combat sim...

Im playing Open Falcon on Vista and have little problems with it. yes the fps is a little disappointing but it plays well enough.

Of course I do not use anti aliasing as that will give me problem in loadout screen. But this is not critical you one can always use antialiasing with Nvidia cards and still be able to play it.

[Castout]

Yesterday I flew some campaign mission in Israel theater in Open falcon 4.7

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/roh_kudus/2009-06-02_170036.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/roh_kudus/2009-06-01_094023.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/roh_kudus/2009-06-01_094033.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/roh_kudus/2009-06-01_122500.jpg

I didn't manage to take the action into pictures maybe next time :)

I also installed the new Aegean theater maybe I'll try to post some screenies on the new Aegean theater.

[Raptor1]

Im playing Open Falcon on Vista and have little problems with it. yes the fps is a little disappointing but it plays well enough.

Of course I do not use anti aliasing as that will give me problem in loadout screen. But this is not critical you one can always use antialiasing with Nvidia cards and still be able to play it.

I have an ATI card, ATI cards with Vista get a problem where every object in the game becomes see-through, really annoying

[XabbaRus]

So for Free Falcon you don't need to own F4 at all?

[Raptor1]

So for Free Falcon you don't need to own F4 at all?

Yup

[Castout]

A few screenshots from the Korea theater.


[Some of] North Korea Air Force Inventory

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/roh_kudus/2009-06-03_132919.jpg
MiG-19. Small, fast enough, agile with a deadly stroke of multi-cannon armament. A fraction of second in this plane gunsight will spell the doom of any careless Viper driver.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/roh_kudus/2009-06-03_132941.jpg
MiG-23. All altitude fighter.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/roh_kudus/2009-06-03_133000.jpg
Ilyushin-28 'Beagle'. You don't need advance plane to incarcerate enemy ground target. These will do the job just fine.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/roh_kudus/2009-06-03_133321.jpg
MiG-29. High priority threat aircraft to the Allies. This one bites and will bite hard.

Dogfighting with the Flanker

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/roh_kudus/2009-06-03_141047.jpg
Tally ho! Any Viper driver would not wish to see this, a Flanker so close boring in straight into his own cockpit!! Fu**!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/roh_kudus/2009-06-03_141200.jpg
Pull, pull, pull, High Gs maneuvering is inevitable when dealing with Flanker in close quarter.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/roh_kudus/2009-06-03_140925.jpg
Ummm pfft, Ummm pfftt, Umm pfft, A Viper driver trying to avoid G-lock from incurring in High Gs turning.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Stars:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/roh_kudus/2009-06-03_133608.jpg
The Viper. The plane upon which all other modern fighting planes are judged. The de facto standard of modern fighting plane.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/roh_kudus/2009-06-03_133620.jpg
Going after! Full throttle

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/roh_kudus/2009-06-03_141442.jpg
This plane means business!!!

[Castout]

I have an ATI card, ATI cards with Vista get a problem where every object in the game becomes see-through, really annoying

Sorry to hear that. Even for the newest Open Falcon 4.7? I always felt unfortunate to have played Open Falcon with an Nvidia card and Vista, hicks. The game tempted me to have a dual install.

[SUBMAN1]

I have to disagree. I can always down a Flanker. The MiG-29 is the problem however, especially if it gets into a dogfight.

Flanker is easily dealt with from range when starting with high energy. If a close happens, the Flanker is toast. The MiG-29 just can hang with you no matter what you do. If he manages to get on your tail with an Ace pilot in the cockpit, he will just hang with you until you trick him. And that is the problem, you practically have to make him do a mistake before you can regain your edge.

My scorecard - Flanker is scary since it usually carries a lot of things that can reach out and touch you (AMRAAMSKI's) and can hang with you in well a fight.

MiG-29 is super scary. It may not have the range of the flanker, but this thing is a bitch to fight. Best to down them with AMRAAM's so as not to get into a scuffle with them.

In my opinion, if I knew I had to close with one of these two birds and duke it out, and I had one AMRAAM left, I shoot the MiG-29 first with the Aim-120 and then choose to close with the Flanker!

Just my 2 cents.

-S

[NealT]

I believe that you would find this is the way it would be done IRL as well...

:)

[Fincuan]

If I had a Mig-29 and an Su-27 bearing down on me I'd just launch the sole remaining ARAAM at the Flanker(longer range, bigger threat in pursuit) and run like a pussy before the missile goes PITBULL :D

[Raptor1]

Yeah, but I would say getting into a turning fight with a Flanker would theoretically be a better choice than getting into a turning fight with the Fulcrum

[Castout]

Yea agree in reality the Fulcrum would probably be more maneuverable. But what scare me in Open Falcon is actually neither.


It's the Typhoon. Damn it !!!! it stays on my tail no matter what. . .
I don't know how a Typhoon would fare in RL though but in Open Falcon it's one tough plane to defeat, guns only speaking.

But I must say that a Flanker at half fuel is another dogfighter than the same Flanker at full fuel.......well at least in LOMAC pfffttt.

[Castout]

Well I tried Free Falcon 5 today(with the hotfix released yesterday) and it's GREAT.

The graphics is much more compelling. The sounds effect is terrific much better than even Open Falcon 4.7, the lighting is great love the a/c flashing lights and it runs much faster than Open Falcon does in my Vista system.

The only quirk is that it tend to CTD and freeze every other time but it's a game that can't just be dismissed easily even when one already got Open Falcon installed. It stands out. :yeah:

[SUBMAN1]

Yea agree in reality the Fulcrum would probably be more maneuverable. But what scare me in Open Falcon is actually neither.


It's the Typhoon. Damn it !!!! it stays on my tail no matter what. . .
I don't know how a Typhoon would fare in RL though but in Open Falcon it's one tough plane to defeat, guns only speaking.

But I must say that a Flanker at half fuel is another dogfighter than the same Flanker at full fuel.......well at least in LOMAC pfffttt.

Fighting Allies are we? :D Kick their butt back in shape!

Actually there is only really one plane that you will never get a kill on, or rarely get a kill - The F-22. He can turn inside you at any speed. You can shoot him from range. Your only chance is a lucky sidewinder shot so you magically have to appear near him and you magically have to spot him with the MK1 eyeball sensor and you magically have to be in a spot where you can take the shot.

Of course before all this happens perfectly, he will have shot you down 4 or 5 times. And then when you miss, he will do it again!

Its the most unfair plane to fight in all of Falcon. RL is the same I suspect.

-S

[Raptor1]

Well I tried Free Falcon 5 today(with the hotfix released yesterday) and it's GREAT.

The graphics is much more compelling. The sounds effect is terrific much better than even Open Falcon 4.7, the lighting is great love the a/c flashing lights and it runs much faster than Open Falcon does in my Vista system.

The only quirk is that it tend to CTD and freeze every other time but it's a game that can't just be dismissed easily even when one already got Open Falcon installed. It stands out. :yeah:

Yeah, the hotfix fixed a bunch of my problems as well

[PeriscopeDepth]

I prefer Free Falcon for it modeling GPS guided munitions much better than the rest.

PD

[Castout]

Fighting Allies are we? :D Kick their butt back in shape!

Actually there is only really one plane that you will never get a kill on, or rarely get a kill - The F-22. He can turn inside you at any speed. You can shoot him from range. Your only chance is a lucky sidewinder shot so you magically have to appear near him and you magically have to spot him with the MK1 eyeball sensor and you magically have to be in a spot where you can take the shot.

Of course before all this happens perfectly, he will have shot you down 4 or 5 times. And then when you miss, he will do it again!

Its the most unfair plane to fight in all of Falcon. RL is the same I suspect.

-S

Will try stealing some pride from those F-22s. Aarrrr :arrgh!:.

In Free Falcon 5 it's the J-10 :dead:. Had my arse handed down yesterday by the ace AI. I was fighting it in a block 40 F-16 perhaps the block 52 will perform better. I think they have different engines the later being more powerful.

The newer planes are just insane. Suddenly I found the F-16 to be mediocre in gunzo fighting.

[Castout]

I prefer Free Falcon for it modeling GPS guided munitions much better than the rest.

PD

Well for RAMP start I prefer Open Falcon. It's more....intricate :).

The HUD is difficult to see in free falcon.

[Oberon]

....

I can foresee what I will be downloading in the next couple of days... :hmmm:

What extra flyable aircraft are in Freefalcon? And do the campaigns work yet?

[Raptor1]

....

I can foresee what I will be downloading in the next couple of days... :hmmm:

What extra flyable aircraft are in Freefalcon? And do the campaigns work yet?

Campaigns work fine, yes

Flyables are pretty much anything, I think, the planes I can remember that have their own pits are the F-16, F-15, B-52, SR-71, F-22, MiG-29 and the Su-27

[Castout]

....

I can foresee what I will be downloading in the next couple of days... :hmmm:

What extra flyable aircraft are in Freefalcon? And do the campaigns work yet?


Just would like to add to Raptor's post. Campaign works just fine.

As for flyable planes you must be aware that Free Falcon is built from Falcon 4,0 which is a simulation game for the F-16 so you could expect degraded realism when playing other planes. Some other planes come with beautifully made 3D cockpits while a lot others come with poor 3D cockpit but with a well made 2D cockpit. even if you decide to buy the Aeyes payware cockpits for planes other than F-16 I believe they still use the MFD display of the Viper(F-16). It's a bit weird flying in a MiG-29 with a beautifully rendered 3D cockpit yet the HUD display is not that of the Fulcrum's but rather Viper's.

Was getting freezes and CTDs sometimes but last night I played it for couple hours with no problem. I did follow a suggestion to set my desktop before playing to 16 bit. It could be that.

I would love to post screenies as Free Falcon 5 graphically is more appealing than Open Falcon well except the F-16's cockpits unless you use Aeyes payware cockpit.

[Schroeder]

Did I get that correctly, I don't need Falcon 4.0 to run Free Falcon? Because when I went to the Free Falcon homepage the instruction read like:

First: Copy your log book out of your current install and put it somewhere safe, outside of your Microprose or current install directory.

Second: Install Falcon4.0 from the original CD.

Third: Install FF5.0. The installer will ask you where you want to install FF5. I suggest that you do not put it into the Program Files folder of Windows. Many of the older utilities have a problem with the space between Program and Files. This installer will add FF5 to your start menu, add a link to our site, add a link to the manual, and contains an uninstaller. For VISTA users this installer will run as Admin and do all that is required to ensure a proper installation into that OS.

[HunterICX]

@Schroeder: Nope, you do not need Falcon 4.0
I don't have it and I am playing Free Falcon 5.0 at the moment...(well at least I try to :oops:)

HunterICX

[Raptor1]

They're talking about installing Falcon 4.0 if you want to have it on your comp at the same time as FreeFalcon, you don't need it

[Schroeder]

Downloading.:yep:

[HunterICX]

Downloading.:yep:

:hmmm: LoLwaffles going modern?

HunterICX

[Raptor1]

:hmmm: LoLwaffles going modern?

HunterICX

I don't think Schultz will like us having our hands on high-yield nuclear weapons...

[Oberon]

Carrier Ops!!

It's been a while since I've done this...

Ok...full afterburner on take-off not a good idea :haha:

[Oberon]

"This is the tower...you *** **** ***** ***** ***** ****** ***** ***** ***** in ***** **** *** with a **** **** **** up the **** **** ****** ******** ******!!!!"

http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/5589/20090608171000.jpg

[Raptor1]

"This is the tower...you *** **** ***** ***** ***** ****** ***** ***** ***** in ***** **** *** with a **** **** **** up the **** **** ****** ******** ******!!!!"



Everything is normal then, I presume?

[Oberon]

Everything is normal then, I presume?

:yeah::yep:

[HunterICX]

"This is the tower...you *** **** ***** ***** ***** ****** ***** ***** ***** in ***** **** *** with a **** **** **** up the **** **** ****** ******** ******!!!!"

:hmmm:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGTnmS_kGhk

HunterICX

[Oberon]

:hmmm:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGTnmS_kGhk

HunterICX

:03::yep::yeah:

[Castout]

Hi guys if you run Free Falcon 5 on Vista you may have more freezes and CTDs.

Make sure to download and install the HOTFIX!!!.

I would like to share a graphics setting for Nvidia card especially for the 8 and 9 series.

I quote this from FreeFalcon forum

So, working settings for me are:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Graphics Card(Nvidia 8800GT 512mb)
Processor acc. to : mulitple displays(even with one screen)
gamma correction active.
AA mode: Enhance game settings, nothing else works. Even if all your comments about AA are true. This is the setting that works.
AA= x16 or 16Q work well.
Negative LOD Bias: Clamp
Texture quality: High Quality
Forced MIpmap: None
Extesion Limits: Deactivated
Threaded Optimization: Auto
Vertical sync: forced deactivated
Prerender limit: 2
Tripple Buffer Memory: Active

Desktop Shortcut: "F:\Program Files\FreeFalcon5\FFViper.exe" -hires -g4.
(delete -g4 if you have crashes with it)
I don't know why but the -g4 setting instead of -g2 gives me less texture shimmering on the horizon.

In Game settings.

Haze, Advanced Lighting and Cloud shadows are on. The sliders are left the same(untouched).
No matter what screen you have always use 32 bits sizes.

Anisotropic filtering= off
Mipmapping= off
Linear Mipmap filtering= off

Render GM to texture= on
Rendered 2d cockpit= on
Font Texel Alignment= on

I don't care if AA is this or that. All I know is these settings work flawlessly. No CTDs.

(Set Anti aliasing transparency to off if you still have crashes)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Compatibility mode
Right click on the shortcut to FreeFalcon5 on te compatibility tab

Tick the following:
Disable visual theme
Disable desktop composition
Disable display scaling on high DPI settings

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
You can try choosing to run in XP SP2 mode, this will bring the intro video to be properly played but for me I get more CTDs and freezes when using this.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------


Playing with the above setting gives me the most stable FreeFalcon which has never crashed even once on Vista x64 at least so far. I used to be getting quite a lot of freezes, black screen and some CTDs which really were upsetting.

Good luck.

Perhaps we could fly together with teamspeak sometimes.:salute:

[Castout]

Well I still get occasional CTD with the above setting :nope:.

Oh well. . . .

Played my first MP today. The first ran flawlessly.

I bagged a DPRK MiG-29A and an E-3......AWACS....yes that's right THE AWACS :oops:.

My RWR showed a MiG-29 or Su-27(Since both have the same RWR symbology) in my 12 o'clock direction. I went buster saw the boogie on my radar in that direction and launched 2 AMRAAMs at it. Only after I launched did my team mates were shouting it's a friendly. . .

So that how I became the North Korean hero on my first MP flight.

On that first flight I was flying the eagle and I was only familiar with the Viper . . .on the second flight on the Raptor my screen just suddenly froze....

[Stealth Hunter]

Everything is normal then, I presume?

I'm gonna go on ahead and assume the answer is yes.:03:

[SparrowHawk]

Yeah, the hotfix fixed a bunch of my problems as well

Hi Gentlemen!

This is my first visit to this forum, and send my greets to you all fellow simmers.

I've been into F4 (and F3 before it) for some time - years ago. I just reinstalled F4.0 to try it on my new rig, and just thought this game has by now bit the dust! How wrong was I, and very pleased to find out! :yeah:

One thing, tho'. I am befuddled by the choices that I thought I'd never have to make again re 'dancing'. The last time I did the damce was in 2001/2002. I've been experimenting with OP, FF, AF and any possible combination in between! I just love Falcon 4.0 and thurst for any/all details & news of this great sim moving forward into the 21st century.

Now, for my question, and I'd appreciate your kind help in sorting me out. FF5 installs like a dream. Plays like a dream. It definitely has pluses over AF and I just got started last night on it. But, how can I get it to run when another OP install is there? I like both of them, you see ;)

Having said that, OP has given me a lot of trouble :damn:. Only stayed stable after installing thus : F4.0 CD -> F4.108US -> F4SP4 -> F4SP4.2 -> BMS2 -> F4SP4.2 data patch -> OF 4.5 -> OP 5.7 patch.

Then the graphics apppear (white) in the virual cockpit, buildings and runways, afterburner flame, but the natural scenery looks fine :06:.

What am I missing in this install? I've not added any other skins, patches or mods apart from above, but suspect I have missed something in the dance routine, may be?

Any suggestions, links and tips would be breately appreciated!

Happy flying...:salute:


System:

AMD Athlon 64 3400+ 2.2 Ghz
RAM 2GB Elixir DDR 400
ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro 512MB DD3
500GB Seagate HDD sATA
OS: Windows XP SP3

Zonealarm Firewall
AVG Antivirus

[HunterICX]

Hi Gentlemen!

This is my first visit to this forum, and send my greets to you all fellow simmers.

Hi and Welcome!:salute:

HunterICX

[Raptor1]

Well, I can't get OF to work (properly) because I have Vista and an ATI card, so I can't help you.

On a side note, FF5.3 is released and the campaigns supposedly work now. Though I haven't tested them much yet.

[Castout]

Hi Gentlemen!

This is my first visit to this forum, and send my greets to you all fellow simmers.

I've been into F4 (and F3 before it) for some time - years ago. I just reinstalled F4.0 to try it on my new rig, and just thought this game has by now bit the dust! How wrong was I, and very pleased to find out! :yeah:

One thing, tho'. I am befuddled by the choices that I thought I'd never have to make again re 'dancing'. The last time I did the damce was in 2001/2002. I've been experimenting with OP, FF, AF and any possible combination in between! I just love Falcon 4.0 and thurst for any/all details & news of this great sim moving forward into the 21st century.

Now, for my question, and I'd appreciate your kind help in sorting me out. FF5 installs like a dream. Plays like a dream. It definitely has pluses over AF and I just got started last night on it. But, how can I get it to run when another OP install is there? I like both of them, you see ;)

Having said that, OP has given me a lot of trouble :damn:. Only stayed stable after installing thus : F4.0 CD -> F4.108US -> F4SP4 -> F4SP4.2 -> BMS2 -> F4SP4.2 data patch -> OF 4.5 -> OP 5.7 patch.

Then the graphics apppear (white) in the virual cockpit, buildings and runways, afterburner flame, but the natural scenery looks fine :06:.

What am I missing in this install? I've not added any other skins, patches or mods apart from above, but suspect I have missed something in the dance routine, may be?

Any suggestions, links and tips would be breately appreciated!

Happy flying...:salute:


System:

AMD Athlon 64 3400+ 2.2 Ghz
RAM 2GB Elixir DDR 400
ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro 512MB DD3
500GB Seagate HDD sATA
OS: Windows XP SP3

Zonealarm Firewall
AVG Antivirus

Get OF support here
http://www.f4support.com/forums/index.php

And for FF
http://www.freefalcon.com/forum/index.php

I think you messed with the installation probably. I heard that ATI and OF don't go well together. Both plays best on XP.

[SparrowHawk]

Thanks guys, your input is really helpful and tahnx for the weblinks!

The stability issues & grafix distortion may well be due to ATI chipsets / GPU compatibility (re: my original thrread) I have since installed both OF and FF (4 & 5) with an nVidia 8400GS on an Intel 3.0 GHz with no grafix issues whatsoever!

However, in OF v4.7 I get alot of CTDs particularly when I select Veteran or lower then back to Ace. In FF 4 & 5 these CTD occure less frequently.

But, I love Falcon 4.0 (in any guise) to let these issues deter me. I am learning it all over again (since I last touched way back in 2001/2) and it's amazing when you come back and rediscover things from a fresh perspective.

I really do take my proveribial hat, and crash helmet'n'all, to those guys at both camps (as well as the Lead Pursuit team) for keeping this sim alive.

Now, (sorry to drag on) I have a techie question, if I may. I think many of you have multiple installs on your PC cohabiting happily. I tried Falcon Switcher but it refuses to run. Is this an XP issue?

I managed (after a fashion) to export & edit registry entries for OF, FF 4, FF5, BMS2 and SP4. I also have Allied Force installed. Where can I check the reg entries for each of these versions to double check my edits? Any help would be immensely appreciated. When I run the config editor it often barmey and then I get CTDs.

Cheers and happy flying!





Two other queries, regarding addons and version stability.

[Snake Man]

You can find the latest user made theaters from PMC Tactical forum (http://tactical.nekromantix.com/forum/) Falcon 4 areas.

Vietnam
http://tactical.nekromantix.com/f4/images/theater-vietnam.jpg

Operation Desert Storm
http://tactical.nekromantix.com/f4/images/theater-ods.jpg

Nevada
http://tactical.nekromantix.com/f4/images/theater-nevada.jpg

Korea 128
http://tactical.nekromantix.com/f4/images/theater-korea.jpg

Europe
http://tactical.nekromantix.com/f4/images/theater-europe.jpg

Afghanistan
http://tactical.nekromantix.com/f4/images/theater-afghanistan.jpg

Taiwan
http://tactical.nekromantix.com/f4/images/theater-taiwan.jpg

Libya
http://tactical.nekromantix.com/f4/images/theater-libya.jpg

Iran
http://tactical.nekromantix.com/f4/images/theater-iran.jpg

Georgia
http://tactical.nekromantix.com/f4/images/theater-georgia.jpg

Kurile
http://tactical.nekromantix.com/f4/images/theater-kurile.jpg

You have to dig somewhat deep into our forums to find all the installers, but they are there :)

Also anyone interested in OFP, ArmA, ArmA 2 or Falcon 4 editing can check out PMC Editing Wiki (http://tactical.nekromantix.com/wiki/).

[SparrowHawk]

Thank you Snake Man

I am checking the PMC links for the edits as suggested. At some stage when I have dug deeper, I'd like to learn more about the mechanics of this flight sim. There are a lot of talented people out there who have contributed o much and an enormous amount of data to sift through.

Both chellenging and frustrating.

In OF 4.7 the model seems restricted to the highest realism settings (ACE). If I choose Veteran it will crash. If I use the brackets for MFD changes it will freez then I have to Ctrl Alt Del. Is that how it is meant to be?

I understand that OF is still WIP but I hope they can go on completing the flight models, 3D models, skins, and so on for all the jets as well as all the levels.

Falcon 4.0, altough not complete when released, provided a very intelligent paradigm: scalable difficulty and realism, and the structure to allow further development in almost all of it's aspects.

They don't make sims lile that and that's a shame.

I have Lock on but it lacks the feel and dynamism of Falcon4. For that I find it less engaging (pardon the pun).

Civil flight sims are OK for the pure love of flying. But doing campaigns and stufff is another thrill altogether. I wonder if I could find flight buddies to make this learning curve (with Falcon4) less tedious.


Happy flying!

SparrowHawk

[Snake Man]

At some stage when I have dug deeper, I'd like to learn more about the mechanics of this flight sim.
Yeah check out PMC Editing Wiki (http://tactical.nekromantix.com/wiki/) for details.

If I choose Veteran it will crash. If I use the brackets for MFD changes it will freez then I have to Ctrl Alt Del. Is that how it is meant to be?Sorry I'm not familiar with OpenFalcon as it used to run like 5 FPS in my Radeon 9800 card (haven't tested with new 4850 card).

[Mud]

I installed FF 5.3 today after not playing Falcon for 8 years or so lol.
Man I forgot how complex this sim was, I have a struggle to get in to it again.
It looks amazing though, it's a complete overhaul from the original title, ok not state of the art in modern game standards but still .....
Well off to the training missions :salute:

Mud

[Castout]

I've uninstalled the game ever since I moved on to Vista and updated my GPU driver, the crashes were appalling in Free Falcon while stutters happen in Open Falcon. Too bad they are both are terrific games!

[Mud]

I might as well give up on this, I was confident enough to start a campaign but I get 1 ctd after the other and I'm running WinXP.
I was looking forward to sink my teeth in this but I've done all the tips and tricks I could find but nothing is helping.

Mud

[Snake Man]

Sorry Mud I can't say whats causing constant CTD in your system with FF5.3 as I have not tested it myself.

Last time when I was testing my theaters, it was on RedViper (I think that's sort of FF4 then), it worked fine but sometimes... sometimes I got CTD, but it was more of random thing.

[Mud]

Hehe no prob Snake,I gave it a try again.
I changed a few settings and now running FF5.3 in 1920x1080 and AA settings off and done 2 missions in my campaign without a ctd.
Dunno if it's stable but could at last do two missions.
I've ordered Falcon 4.0 Allied Force today and should have it in 2/3 days, all I can hope that one is running without problems ;)

cheers

Mud

[gian36]

Hi everyone. Im new to this forum. I have played falcon since it first came on 98, where there was no patches and improvements. Im impressed on how much the sim have improved and the dedication of F4 fans. I thing I liked back then was the real life videos the game had in the form of news reports. lt gave the game a nice realistic touch. Another thing I liked was the scramble missions. I have installed OF4.7, it runs pretty well but the videos wont show complete, what i mean is that the video starts playing then it cancels itself. I know its a minor thing, but I wanted to know if there is a fix to that. Other thing i wanted to know is that if there are still scramble mission, I know some past patches had problems with that, so I want to know if there are any scramble mission on OF4.7. thanks in advance

[Castout]

yes there's a fix to the video make sure you have the required codecs. But try to run the game in either windows 98 or XP mode first then if it still not showing then download the codecs try K-lite codecs.

[SparrowHawk]

Unfortunately OF doesn't work on Vista due to the transparency problem (I had to swipe my friend's old F4 disk to find that out), so I'll have to stick with FF5

Now then, anybody know where to start? I rarely have to ask that, but it's been years since I played a modern combat sim...


As a rookie myself, I'd like to share with you some thoughts that may be of interest. I also have installed FF5, after having done various dance routines with my old Falcon4.0.

It may be hard at first but I would recommend starting with the highest possible reality & difficulty settings (Veteran, if not Ace).

This will allow you to get a true appreciation of the sim as a whole- its complexity and depth.


Try out as many of the TEs as possible, and don't feel that you have to get it right first time. That kind of expectation may limit the fun-in-learning process.

May be then try a few dogfight scenarios and the Instant Action is always good for a warm-up.

Lastly, as I am kinda hoping for myself, is find a wingman buddy who would not mind flying together online doing various TEs or Formation Flying.

Hope these help.

Check Six

SH

[Mud]

Well I can take off and land and thats about it I guess.
I need some serious training in dogfighting 'cos somehow my missiles won't even launch or it's a complete miss lol.
Working on it SH :up:

Mud

[SparrowHawk]

Well I can take off and land and thats about it I guess.
I need some serious training in dogfighting 'cos somehow my missiles won't even launch or it's a complete miss lol.
Working on it SH :up:

Mud


Hey, Mud!

You know, I am having a hard time getting used to the HiFi avionics and Radar modes. I have to spend more time reading than flying ...that sucks!

I flew a couple of missions with F14 tomcat against Mig 25 ...it riped me apart before I could change Radar mode ....lol

Also getting used to the pad lock..... again. This is the firt time I'm doing sorties since 2001/2002 in Falcon4.

By the way did you enjoy Janes' F18? I got into it so much and really liked the flight model and training missions.

Ah well.

But thanks for your encouraging thoughts!

Happy flying

SH

[Mud]

No mate I never had Jane's F18 but I do have Jane's F15, I still regret I never bought F18.

And yep radar and padlock are the toughests to master in Falcon, but hey we're getting there ...... sometime :up:

Mud

[SparrowHawk]

No mate I never had Jane's F18 but I do have Jane's F15, I still regret I never bought F18.

And yep radar and padlock are the toughests to master in Falcon, but hey we're getting there ...... sometime :up:

Mud

Oh, well! There's always Ebay!.... I wish there was some store that keeps copies of these oldies , like Falcon4 (I'm after the original manual... mine's gone awol) and such like.

I got Jane's F15, and all the USAF series, including IAF. At one stage or another I managed to get hold of whatever Flight Sim was going....


I'm gonna try carrying just Aim120's and get used to these (Fire and Forget). Pheonix are awsome too... just fire them and they go home for the kill... eventually lol.

Cheers mate!

[SparrowHawk]

I might as well give up on this, I was confident enough to start a campaign but I get 1 ctd after the other and I'm running WinXP.
I was looking forward to sink my teeth in this but I've done all the tips and tricks I could find but nothing is helping.

Mud

Hello Mud,

I'm no expert, but am willing to share any info / tips I may have. I've had ALL Falcon4 version run on my test rigs (AMD & Intel) they are single core, with both nVidia & Radeon. What are your sepcs? Do keep in mind that the latest nVidia drivers seem to cause probs.

Got FF5.3 and OP 4.7, running smoothly at last - without any other addons!

Blue Skies and Clear Six

SH

[Damo]

Hi guys, just popped over from the SH3 forum as I play Falcon extensively, have done for many years. For those of you trying to learn the sim, you'll learn a hell of a lot faster flying online with human wingmen where your questions are answered as you put them into practice rather than having to trawl through manuals and online tutorials.

If you own Falcon 4 Allied Force, and have completed most of the training missions in the game but would like to go deeper into what she can do, I'd highly recommend Multivipers. It's THE best place for online flying in AF with lots of helpful people to fly with and have some fun. There's a 24/7 campaign running and we use Teamspeak 3 for our voice comms in flight. The forums are full of a wealth of knowledge from starting her up to performing a multi ship tactical airbase strike. Let me emphasize though that Multivipers is NOT a wing, or squadron, it was set up so people could come and fly together at their leisure, without having to commit to minimum flights or times and dates.

You are required to be registered on the forums and will need registering on TS3 before you can fly and you need to be over 17 years of age. As well as Falcon, we also have guys playing DCS Blackshark, Lock-On: FC, Arma 2, and IL2 '46.

I'm actually a server admin there and will happily make myself available to get you registered and flying, I can even offer one on one training if you feel you need it. We regularly have upwards of 8 people in a single package flying OCA strikes against OPFOR airbases and there really is nothing like it when everyone works together to get the job done.

If you're interested in joining, you can PM me here to arrange a time we can both be available to get you processed or message me at the MV's forums. I go by the name of Nomadic. Here's a link to the forums:

www.multiviper.com (http://www.multiviper.com)

Hope to see you there!!

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m306/ospreybel/nom.png

[RAM22]

First Post here. Hello everyone. I was surfing the web for dev info on Falcon and came across this thread.

Im on the FF Dev Team and just wanted to let you know, for those that are interested, that FF5.5 will be releasing soon.

It will be a OCI weighing in at about 825-850MB's. The Cockpits will have its own Installer. FF4 and FF5 had them combined for a d/l at approx. 1.2GB's. We decided to split them up for a quicker d/l if ppl are not interested in the pits or just want to get FF5.5 first and d/l the pit installer at their convienence. There are now in excess of 100 pits.

Its not the area I Dev, so I cant answer specific questions about 3D pits, I have some knowlege but it is limited. Of course the 2D cockpits are all fully clickable.

There is still only the Korean Theatre.

The Standard Korean Campaign has been totally 100% overhauled.

Because Im totally sure one of the first questions will be about stability, I'll go ahead and touch upon that. We believe we now have the most stable version of FF to date, I have been flying all the different test incarnations for the past 8 months and the difference btwn what I was flying in Aug09 and what I have flown the last wk is worlds apart. The freeze issue is minimal. I havent seen one in quite some time. There are still some stutter issues. Mainly due to the DX7 engine limitations with the modern systems we all are running Falcon on. Annoying stutters are pretty much confined to High Air Activity(Hint) and of course the FLOT.

As usual, FF5.5 is most stable on XP32. It will tolerate Vista but does not prefer W7. Although some have got it to work on W7. GPU's are a toss up, if you use nVidia, there is still the Munitions/TacRef corruption. Its a driver issue which we can do nothing about. Of course there are workarounds, like rolling back to the 169.xx drivers. FF5.5 will not run great on low end systems.

I'll bookmark this site and visit daily if there are any questions. I am most involved in the areas of Campaign Development and Database Management/Development, with my hands pretty much in any area I can involve myself with.:cool:

Take Care,

RAM22

[CCIP]

Cool, another opportunity for me to try and get into FF. I currently run 185-series drivers on my XP system, so we'll see how well it takes to the new FF. I really hope it does, seeing how my new machine is now Win 7. Falcon and those stability issues with FF is still the #1 reason why my HOTAS is hooked up to my old PC.

[Mud]

Thanks for the heads up RAM22 and welcome aboard :up:

Playing Falcon AF sometimes but FF is more real deal and looking far more better and I really hoped I could get it to work on my rig but it CTD´s to much and ruins the fun.

Can´t wait to try 5.5 and really looking forward to this.

Cheers

Mud

[Damo]

Good to see you here RAM22, I remember you from Frugals, such a shame that site went down, although I know the reasons why. I hope Mark gets the site back up soon, I really miss it.

[Castout]

There's another new Falcon mod under development called BMS(BenchmarkSims) which is based on DX 9.0


For screenies,
http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=38580&page=2


Won't be ready for at least another 6 months.

[RAM22]

Hey all,

Been awhile. Had lots to do in the last few weeks.

For those of you interested in FF, you may want to visit the FF site, say, somewhere around the beginning of the next week.:yep:

Take Care,

RAM22

[Castout]

Thanks RAM :up:

Can we expect improved stability on XP and Vista?:hmmm:

Is 7 supported?

[RAM22]

Thanks RAM :up:

Can we expect improved stability on XP and Vista?:hmmm:

Is 7 supported?

XP is the most stable. We have testers running on Vista and 2 are running on win7 without major issues.

But as always, this is system specific for the most part and we cant guarantee anything. Except, we do know for a fact FF5.5 runs best on XP32.

RAM22

[CCIP]

How's it holding up as far as nvidia drivers? Have things got better with newer versions, or are we still looking at 169 or older to keep it stable?