Jane's(r) Combat Simulations

Jane's® Combat Simulations

USAF README

January, 2000

Version 1.02

Important Patch Notes:

This patch updates your USAF game to version 1.02. Here is a list of additions/fixes in this release:

1) Pentium III Optimizations: The following additional features are optimized for Pentium III users.

Terrain multi-pass rendering
Terrain coverage layer rendering
Pre-fetching memory for 3D objects and terrain blocks

2) Voodoo 3 3000 Flashes in 3D cockpit: Fixes the problem some Voodoo 3 users were encountering with flashing cockpit graphics.

3) Flight model changes/fixes:

Fix to excessive aircraft roll rate which was most apparent in the F-22, F-15 and F-16.
Bobbing effect: This problem was being caused by the flight model G-limiter and is has been substantially improved.
AI Pilot Crashes: AI wingmen were occasionally crashing into the ground, especially when flying the F-117 and A-10. Changes to the maneuver code have made improvements to this.
Engaging the autopilot was sometimes causing excessive up/down pitches. This has been fixed in the patch.
The overall joystick sensitivity has been decreased.

4) AI changes/fixes:

AI wingmen were failing to engage targets over 15 miles, even when requested to do so by a wingman command. This has been fixed.
When taking over an aircraft from the AI it is always at 60% thrust, regardless its previous maneuver. This has been fixed.
When there is a single controllable flight in the mission and the player is shot down and then re-enters the flight, the AI pilot may not give the player control of the new aircraft. This has been fixed.

5) User Mission Editor (UME):

The MiG-29 has been added as a fully controllable aircraft. Previously the MiG-29 was only available in All-Out War and QME. It was available in the UME as a non-controllable aircraft. It will now be available in the UME as a flyable aircraft. A MiG-29 loadout screen and new weapon icons have been added for this feature to work.
The MiG-17 is now available in the UME as a non-controllable aircraft.

6) Additional fixes:

Fatal crash in the QME when revival time is 0 and setting unlimited revivals has been fixed.
Fatal crash in the QME when attempting to restart the mission from the On-the-fly menu has been fixed.
SoundBlaster Live cards were sometimes crashing the application, and this has been fixed.
When playing Multiplayer against the German version, German messages are now correctly displayed.
When panning to the rear of the aircraft in the 3D cockpit, the tail seems raised up. This has been corrected.
In the UME the Enemy Base in US terrain has wrong taxi coordinates. This has been corrected.
Dusk missions in the UME now have airfield lights.
The Basic Air-to-Ground training mission has aircraft landing on top of each other at the beginning of mission. This has been fixed.

Climb the pyramid to be the top pilot of the most advanced air force in the world: the USAF. Fly and train over US soil in the F-16C Falcon and A-10 Warthog or an arsenal of six other planes. Then relive great historic air battles flying the rugged F-4E over Vietnam or the powerful F-15C in Operation Desert Storm. Finally, push the envelope flying the menacing F-117 Stealth Fighter and ultra-modern F-22 Raptor as you project the power of the United States in futuristic campaigns over Europe. If that's not enough, take your skills to the net flying against other aces on JanesCombat.Net.

Fly the hottest 8 jets in the U.S. Air Force
More than 62 historical and hypothetical missions including a semi-dynamic future campaign.
Advanced graphics featuring spectacular special effects, 3D cockpits for each aircraft, and screen resolution up to 1280 x 1024.
Mission recording and playback.
Detailed 'real-world' terrain using stereoscopic satellite data with true elevation and coloring.
Voice activation for wingman commands, aircraft operations, and pre-defined chat messages
JanesCombat.Net compatible - Multiplayer mode supports up to 16 players

USAF features a next-generation 3D terrain engine featuring high resolution, and high frame rate terrain rendering on low-end system specifications. It also contains advanced special effects including night flight, shadows, multiple explosion types and much more. All flyable aircraft in USAF have full 3D virtual cockpits.

Track every step you make, from the moment you get your wings until you retire as a 4 Star General, in detail never before seen in a flight simulation. Every kill, every loss, every medal won, every injury incurred, every hour in every aircraft in every battle is all logged automatically. Trace your career development, learn from your mistakes, and earn your place at the top of the mythical pyramid.

[3] DISPLAY ISSUES

Chipset Support

USAF supports D3D only, it does not support Glide or OpenGL. A Glide or OpenGL based card will default to D3D.

Display Driver Setup

USAF will automatically try to detect the best 3D card for your machine. It will: first, try to initialize D3D; last, try to initialize Direct3D on a secondary 3D card.

Display Driver Support

Important! Check Your Video Card Drivers. If you are having trouble running USAF, please make sure you have the most recent drivers available for your video card(s). Consult your video hardware documentation for information about where to find the latest drivers -- usually they can be downloaded from the manufacturer's website.

A Brief Overview of the 3D Technology Applied in USAF

What is DirectX?

DirectX is an API (Application Program Interface) that allows games designed for Windows 95 to have access to your hardware through a standard interface. Without a standard interface, stable compatibility between games and your computer's hardware would be virtually impossible. With DirectX, game developers can write for this interface, and let your Windows 95/98 DirectX compatible drivers "talk" to your computer's hardware.

USAF requires DirectX 6 or later. If you are having trouble with DirectX, please refer to the customer support web link at the bottom of this file. There is a Help Guide for DirectX and Windows 95 and Windows 98. You may also refer to the following Microsoft link for more general information on DirectX.

http://www.microsoft.com/DirectX/default.asp

What is Direct3D?

Direct3D is a universal API from Microsoft providing a standard interface for programmers to access your 3D hardware without having to write for specific devices. Most 3D cards support Direct3D. The latest driver package for your card should contain Direct3D drivers for your video card.

[4] OPTIMIZING GAME PERFORMANCE ON YOUR SYSTEM

If you are having problems running USAF, first make sure that your video card drivers are current.

Adjust settings in the 3D and Sound Options Screens (located in the Preferences menu). Access the Preferences menu by single-clicking on the Preferences button located on the Main Menu. Here you can make changes that will potentially improve frame rate and graphic display, particularly if your system just meets the minimum requirements for playing. You can also make other changes to suit your needs.

To increase frame rate, or compensate for video card limitations or problems, try modifying these USAF settings:

Turn off the Cockpit (Use the F1 key in game to do this).

Set the Display Resolution to 800x600x16, in Preferences > Graphics > Display.

Disable External Loadout in Preferences > Graphics > Objects.

Disable Objects Mip-Map in Preferences > Graphics > Objects.

Disable Environment Illumination in Preferences > Graphics > Effects.

Disable Object Illumination in Preferences > Graphics > Effects.

Ensure that Trilinear, and Bilinear filtering are both disabled in Preferences > Graphics > Effects.

Terrain Texture Quality can be set using a slide bar located in Preferences > Graphics > Terrain.

Terrain Texture Complexity can be set using a slide bar located in Preferences > Graphics > Terrain.

USAF employs voice recognition software made by Microsoft. It uses a significant amount of system resources when running in conjunction with the game. There is no option to disable it, but the voice recognition software can be uninstalled. To do this in Windows, click Start > Settings > Control Panel, then double click Add/Remove Programs. Then highlight Microsoft Voice Recognition Software, and click the Add/Remove button.

Tips for players with only 32 MB RAM:

You can load missions faster by: de-fragmenting hard drive, then setting the Win386.swp file to at least 100 MB, or not more than 10% of total hard drive space. To do this in Windows click Start > Settings > Control Panel. Double click n the System icon. Click the Performance Tab, then the Virtual Memory button. Click the "Let me specify my own virtual memory settings." option. Set the disk space to at least 100MB, or change the Maximum to level to 10%.

If you are experiencing slowdowns when switching between flight and the Tactical Display, you can speed this up but deselecting the MAP button in the upper left corner of the Tactical Display. The icons of the objects in the mission will still appear, but the 2D map in the Tactical Display will be replaced with a default map.

If you are not using the voice command software, you can speed the game up slightly by turning off the voice command support in the Preferences menu.

[5] INPUT DEVICE SETUP

In order to get optimum Input Device performance with USAF, you must setup your peripherals with the Windows 95 or Windows 98 joystick calibration program. Below are the steps to follow in order to setup your peripherals:

- In Windows, click Start > Settings > Control Panel.

- When the CONTROL PANEL window appears, double-click on the Joystick icon. If you have installed a Microsoft or Gravis joystick, this Icon may appear as "Gaming devices" or "Gravis Joystick applet" or "Game Controllers".

- Now you should be in the Joystick Properties window. The first thing you need to do is to use the pull-down menu under Current Joystick to set it to "joystick 1".

- The next step is to use the pull-down menu under Joystick Selection to set it to the type of joystick you have. If you have rudder pedals, make sure that you put a check in the box next to rudders.

Note: if you do not see the name of your joystick or if you are unsure of the type of your joystick, contact your manufacturer for this information.

- The next step is to click the Calibration button. This will take you to the Joystick 1 Calibration window. At this point it is very important that you follow the instructions under the Calibration Information section (at the top of the window). MAKE SURE TO TEST YOUR JOYSTICK BEFORE YOU CLICK THE OK BUTTON.

- Click the OK button to finish up.

Note: If you experience any sort of "spinning" or if your plane seems uncontrollable and you have a joystick, try re-calibrating your joystick.

[6] INTERNET PLAY

To use the Internet feature, connect to JanesCombat.net and follow the directions found there. If you are trying to connect with a specific group of people, follow these directions:

- Connect to your Internet service provider.

- Select the computer with the best connection to the Internet to be the Host. It is also suggested that the host have a fast system to improve performance and minimize lag (128 MB RAM suggested for the Host's system). Everyone must have the host's IP address in order to connect, so everyone needs to get this number before running USAF. If you are the host, one way to find your IP address is to double-click on the file named WINIPCFG.EXE in the Windows 95 root directory. Your current IP address is also available inside USAF under the Local TCP/IP Address box of the TCP/IP connection menu.

- Now make sure everyone has the IP address of the host computer (There are several IRC chat clients, like MIRC and PERCH, that will allow you to communicate this and other information before getting into the game.)

- Once everyone has the host's IP address, get into the game and select TCP/IP from the Multiplayer menu.

- You will go to the TCP/IP connection screen. If you are the host, you will first need to specify your callsign first, then the session name through successive menus. If you are the joiner you will need to click the Join by IP button. First you will need to enter your call sign, then the IP address of the host through successive menus.

- Once all joiners have entered the Lobby, the host can click Start. This game supports up to 16 players, but this is not recommended for modem users. We recommend that when trying to play an Internet game with more than eight players, the host has a very fast (DSL/Cable Modem/T-line) connection as a slower host can cause serious connection and performance problems.

[7] USING THE INFLIGHT TACTICAL DISPLAY

Pressing the Esc button when you are flying in single-player mode accesses the In-flight Tactical Display. Players can use this Map to identify their exact location in the game, the locations of waypoints and the locations of friendly/enemy units.

The Tactical Display Screen Menu is as follows:

Main Buttons

Briefing -Toggles mission briefing display.

Map Navigator -Opens a smaller version of the mission map. The red box shows what area the larger map is focusing on. The red box can be dragged around to focus on different areas.

Map -Toggles mission map.

Map Toolbar Arrow -Toggles mouse cursor to arrow mode. This allows the user to highlight objects on the map.

Zoom Out -Zooms out the mission map, and Map Navigator.

Zoom In -Zooms in the mission map, and Map Navigator.

Drag Tool -Drag a box for the map, and Map Navigator to focus on.

Hand Tool -Toggles mouse cursor to hand mode. This allows the user to grab a point on the map, and drag the maps focus to a new location.

Center Tool -Toggles mouse to center mode. Clicking on a location on the map in this mode re-centers the map to the specified location.

Filter Options (These buttons function on the basis that if the red side is depressed, only red items are shown. If the blue side is depressed, only blue items are shown. If the both sides are depressed, items from both sides will be displayed.)

Aircraft -Toggles friendly/enemy aircraft.

Vehicles -Toggles friendly/enemy vehicles.

SAM -Toggles friendly/enemy SAM sites.

AAA -Toggles friendly/enemy AAA sites.

Runways -Toggles friendly/enemy runways.

Structures -Toggles friendly/enemy structures.

SAM Kill radius -Toggles friendly/enemy SAM kill radii.

Waypoints -Toggles friendly/enemy waypoints.

Intelligence -Toggles intelligence window. (This option may not be available with some missions)

Record Mission -Records the mission for later viewing.

Formation Buttons

Formation -Clicking this sets the map focus to this group. Clicking this button, then clicking the Fly button will put you in control of the selected formation.

Plane -Clicking this sets the map focus to this plane.

Operations Buttons

Loadout -This button is inactive while in flight.

Visit -Highlight an object on the map, then click this button to view it.

Fly -See formation buttons above.

[8] KNOWN ISSUES:

-Using the latest Nvidia Riva 128 reference drivers with the STB Velocity 128 video card results in an Exception Error crash on installation. The STB Velocity 128 drivers (version 4.10.01.0182) must be used.

-In Multiplayer All Out War mid session joiners can not operate the flight recorder.

-When a user has both a network card, and a modem installed the TCP/IP address in the Multiplayer connection screen shows the address of the network card, and not the PPP address that the modem uses.

-It is not recommended that a user Alt-Tab to Windows, and uninstall the game while it is running as this may cause errors.

-The hardware identification tool used in the installer may not always properly detect Intel Celeron and AMD processors.

-The User Mission Editor runs only off of the primary video card. Users with a low-end primary card and a 3D secondary card may experience slowdowns or other problem when using the User Mission Editor.

***Please note*** There is a file called ‘joysticksetting.exe’ that gets installed into the USAF folder. This is a utility which was not fully tested and will not be supported. We include it only for users who may be having joystick problems so they can experiment with it.

-Network and Internet multiplayer with over four players can sometimes slowdown due to special effects within the game such as explosions and smoke. If you experience this, we recommend turning down the effects settings in the Preferences/Graphics menu.

-The mission recorder has a record button that appears next to the play button on the pop-up control menu.  This button is redundant, so functionality for it was removed.

-Some mission-specific airport objects such as runways and control towers may different points awarded for destruction than the point listing given on page 20 of the USAF Install Guide.

-Important mission note:

In the Guided Weapons training mission, you will need to drop both GBU-30 bombs in order to destroy the first target. For the third target, you may need to fly within 25 files before it will appear on your ground radar. Once it shows up on the radar, lock onto it (by pressing ENTER) and then fire the AGM-130. You can then turn your plane around 180 degrees, turn on the autopilot, and turn your attention towards guiding the missile to the target.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Tips for players with only 32 MB RAM: