FIGHTER
SQUADRON
THE SCREAMIN' DEMONS
OVER EUROPE
April 2000 v1.0
Welcome
fellow JG 300 Gruppe members to "FIGHTER SQUADRON, Screamin' Demons over
Europe. This page was developed to help gruppe members properly install and
apply upgrades to "Fighter Squadron" to minimize the amount of
problems that has been experience during online play. It also contains
"copy and paste" web addresses to access sites for the required files
needed. So let's get started. Special Note: The term "copy and paste"
is referred to a procedure that is used by highlighting the entire web address, clicking the right-hand mouse button, select
"copy", then highlighting the address bar, right click mouse again,
and select paste. Click on "go" and download.
1) The first order of business is to create a
folder in your C:\ drive to download numerous patches and files. Name the folder
"FS Downloads".
2) You may want to go online now cause here is
where we start doing a bunch of downloading. The first item we need is
"Activision's" 1.5 patch. This is a must even to play game off-line.
If you jumped ahead of this list and didn't apply the 1.5 patch, then chances
are your game would have not even launched. "Copy and paste" the
following address and download it into your "FS Downloads" folder.
http://www.parsoft.com/games/SDOE/fspatch150.exe
3) The next item to download will be "Plane
Pack 5.3". This download will drastically increase you aircraft inventory
and also improve your existing flight models. "Copy and paste" the
following address and download into your "FS Downloads" folder.
ftp://www.fightersquadron.com/pub/Planepack5.3.zip
4) As with almost all the new and old sims on the
market, they will constantly require upgrades and patches of on kind or another.
Well here's another. "Plane Pack 5.3a patch". I think this one is
self-explanatory. Again, "copy and paste" the following address and
download into your "FS Downloads" folder.
http://sr5.xoom.com/hangarftp/Planepack5_3/Planepack_Patch5.3a.zip
5) OK. By now you are wondering when are we going
to start to install this stuff and start doing some serious dog fighting?
Answer: Soon, real soon. But first, it's time to improve the sound files.
Meatwater Rolling Thunder v1.0 SoundPackage
has produce the same quality for FSDOE as found in the "other"
combat flight sim, "EAW", but only better. To acquire a copy of this
program, "copy and paste" the following address and download into your
"FS Downloads" folder. http://www.fshangar.com/files/mrt10.exe
6) This next download is optional but is required
if you would like to fly the Yak-3. It is called "Nations v1.0" This
helps organized future downloads of aircraft whose origin is other than from the
United States, Great Britain and Germany. It is compatible with online play and
is worth getting just to allow you to fly the beautiful Yak alone. To acquire a
copy of this program, "copy and paste" the following address and
download into your "FS Downloads" folder.
*address
not available at time of document release. Check the following for availability. http://tailslide.firelight.dynip.com/
7) One more and than we start on downloading some really beautiful aircraft. In my opinion, the flight sensitivity of the aircraft in "Fighter Squadron" is way too touchy. And once you have flown any fighter from the cockpit of this sim, you will probably feel the same way as I did. Nauseated. Well Chuck, here's a neat little download to help curve-tail that over sensitive stick and settle your stomach. Even though the program is for "MS Pro Sidewinder", it will work with just about everyone's joystick. To acquire a copy of this program, "copy and paste" the following address and download into your "FSDownloads" folder.
*address
not available at time of document release. Check the
following
for availability. http://tailslide.firelight.dynip.com/
8) This is just a quick review to see what types
of aircraft are available to you after the above downloads are installed. Here
goes:
Fw190A, Fw190A3, Fw190A8, Fw190D9, Bf109E4, Bf109F4, Bf109G6, Bf109K4,
Me262A-1a, Go229, He-100d, Ju88A4, Ju88G7b, Spitfire Mk1a, Spitfire IXe,
Spitfire MkVb, Lancaster Mk-II, Typhoon MK-1B, Mosquito FB.VI, A-36A Apache,
B-17F Flying Fortress, B-17G Flying Fortress, P-38J Lightning and the P-51D
Mustang.
9) And if that's not enough for you, here is what
you are about to download. Here goes: F4U-1
Corsair (birdcage version), Corsair MKII (clipped
wing British version), F4U-1D Corsair,
F4U-4B Corsair (Did I mention that all four versions have sliding canopies,
retractable tail hooks and folding wings!),
Mitsubishi A6M5 Zero (with retractable tail hook and sliding canopy),
Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien, Yak-3 (requires "Nations v1.0" to be
installed first), Polikarpov I-16, P-47D
Thunderbolt, Hawker Hurricane, He162 "Salamander", TA-152H1(will
go to 48,000ft. plus!), F4F-4 Wildcat and
a P-80 Shooting Star. Not
bad? And with the addition of the new keyboard file, a larger majority of the
aircraft will have operating canopies. Suggestion: Go to your "FS
Downloads" folder and create a new folder inside named "Online Flight
Models". To acquire a copy of the above flight models, "copy and
paste" the addresses below and download into your newly create "Online
Flight Models" folder.
F4U Pack, (all four versions)
http://www.fshangar.com/files/F4Upack.ZIP
F4U patch, (required)
http://www.fshangar.com/files/PatchF4U.ZIP
Mitsubishi A6M5 Zero, (with cockpit reflections)
http://www.fshangar.com/files/a6m5b13.zip
Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien. (first beta)
http://members.xoom.com/naturlich/ki61.zip
Yakolev Yak-3, (requires "Nations v1.0)
http://www.fshangar.com/files/Yak3V1b.zip
Polikarpov I-16
http://www.fshangar.com/files/I16_Typ24_FINAL.zip
P-47D Thunderbolt
http://www.fightersquadron.com/flightline/planes/P47d28ra.zip
Hawker Hurricane, (will send startup.ppf if you
have problems)
http://www.fshangar.com/files/HurricaneMK-I-b1.zip
He162 "Salamander"
http://www.greenforce.net/fs/He162_of_2-14-00.zip
TA152H1, (high altitude version of Focke Wulf)
http://www.greenforce.net/fs/Ta-152.zip
F4F-4 Wildcat
http://www.fightersquadron.com/flightline/planes/f4f4beta2(contest).zip
P-80 Shooting Star
http://www.fshangar.com/files/ShootingStar.zip
10) Now its time to download. The first thing to
do is to start out with a clean and full "Fighter Squadron"
installation. Do that now but do not launch game yet.
11) The next item on the list is to install
“Activison’s” 1.5 patch. With out it, you will not be able to launch the
game without getting an error. Just go to your “FS Downloads” folder and
“double click” on the icon named “fs patch 150” and it will do the rest.
12) The next couple of procedures require WinZip
since most of the files are in zip format. From your “FS Downloads” folder,
unzip the file named "Plane Pack 5.3 zip" into your "Fighter
Squadron" directory. (C:\Program Files\Fighter Squadron) After zip file is
installed, go to directory and take notice on how the files and folders are
placed in there. The only three, (3), folders in the main directory should be
“Anet”, “Media” and “Readme”. What I suggest you do here is to
rename your “Readme” folder to “Readme Data” to avoid any over-writing
of any notes. Also any “readme” notes or “Word” documents that show up
in the main directory should be put into the “Readme Data” folder. If you
get a warning of a “readme” note of the same name already in folder, just
change the name of that note or document to the name of the aircraft or item
that it’s pertaining to. The procedure is: Click once on folder or file to
highlight it that is to be renamed. Then go and click on “File”. A “drop
down menu” will appear. Click on Rename and type the name that you want to
change it to. Then hit the “Enter” button on your keyboard and your done
renaming that item. Put into “Readme Data” folder.
13) The next item to un-zip from your “FS
Downloads” folder will be “Plane Pack 5.3a zip”. This will go into your
“Fighter Squadron, Media” folder. (C:\Program Files\Fighter Squadron\Media).
During this process, it will ask you if you want to over-write a
“startup.ppf” file. Click “yes”. Again after un-zipping files, go to
your “Fighter Squadron” directory and place all your “readme” notes and
“Word” documents into your “Readme” folder. Be sure you check out the
“media” folder too for the same. In addition to the above it is very
important that you look into your “Media” folder and locate “Data
14.par”file and “Data 15.par” file and delete them both. Please, if they
are ther, delete both of these files. Don’t ask.
14) OK, this next one is easy. Locate you’re a
icon in your “FS Downloads” folder named “mrt 10”. This is the Meatwater
“Rolling Thunder” v1.0 SoundPack. Wait until your hear the roar of the
“Merlin” in the Mustang or the awesome power of the twin “Allison”
powerplants in the P-38J “Lightning”. Just click on the icon and it will ask
you to locate your “Fighter Squadron” directory. Set the path to,
(C:\Program Files\Fighter Squadron), and install.
15) The next item will be a add-on named
“Nations v1.0”. If you were lucky enough to obtain this file, unzip the
contents into your “Fighter Squadron”, “Media” folder. (C:\Program
Files\Fighter Squadron\ Media) Again it will ask you if you want to over-write a
“StringTable .ppf” file. Say “yes” to all and continue. Be sure now to
check and see if you have anymore “readme” notes and “Word” documents
that need to be place into your “Readme Data” folder. And if you didn’t
get this program, don’t worry about it. The only aircraft that you will not be
able to fly is the Yakolev Yak-3.
16) Hey, were almost done…
…NOT! The next item to be installed to complete this project other than
installing new aircraft, will be a program to correct a very sensitive joystick.
Unless you are going to fly bombers all day, you’ll most definitely need this
one. Just locate a zip file named “Sidewinder-Pre Pro” or “FS_profile”
in your “FS Downloads” folder, unzip the contents to your “Fighter
Squadron” directory, (C:\Program Files\Fighter Squadron), and now your ready
to fly.
17) Once you launch the game, go to the
“Options Menu” and select your desired setting in “General”,
“Display”, “Sound” and “Input”. Like flying “EAW”, place all
setting to simulate “full real” mode. You will also have to go to
“Pilot” and type in the desired name you wish to display during online play.
ie. (JG300sBlitzer)
18) OK, now we will attempt to install the new
and optional aircraft that we downloaded into our “FS Downloads” and into
“Online Flight Models” folder. Before you unzip any files, it is important
to you read the instructions that, if available, should have came with the zip
files. Also, go into your “Fighter Squadron” directory and look at the
structure how these files are setup. Each new aircraft in order to fly off and
online require several folders. Some of the new aircraft zips do not contain all
the necessary folders needed for flight. Others require modifications made to
existing files. We will tackle these issues as we install each aircraft.
19) The first aircraft we will install is the F4U
with all it’s variants. Just unzip the “F4Upack” zip located in your “FS
Downloads” folder, into your “Fighter Squadron” directory. (C:\Program
Files\Fighter Squadron) That’s it.
20) Next unzip the “PatchF4U zip” into your
“Fighter Squadron” directory, (C:\Program Files\Fighter Squadron), and say
“yes” to all over-writes. Now, here’s the tricky part. You will have
notice in your “Fighter Squadron” directory that there now exist two
“keyboard .inp” files. One is named “F4Ukeyboard” and the other
“keyboard”. Delete the “keyboard” and rename the “F4Ukeyboard” to
“keyboard”. Attention!
When renaming the “F4Ukeyboard .inp” file, click on it once to highlight, go
to “File” and in the drop down menu click on “Rename”. Then place the
cursor between the “U” in F4U and the “k” in keyboard and backspace the
“F4U” out. Then hit “Enter” and you are done. This will now allow you to
fold wings, open canopies and extend and retract the tail hooks on these four
models and other models if applicable. Also while your are in your “Fighter
Squadron” directory, place all “readme” notes and “Word” documents
into your “Readme Data” folder.
21) With the F4U Corsair installed, were gonna
need a target of sorts. And the Mitsubishi A6M5 answers the call. Go to your
“FS Downloads” folder and locate a zip file named “a6m5b13 zip” and
unzip it’s contents into your “Fighter Squadron” directory. (C:\Program
Files\Fighter Squadron). And again, just place the “readme” notes into your
“Readme Data” folder. Done.
22) The next aircraft in line for installation
will be the Yakolev Yak-3. For those of you who were fortunate enough to get the
“Nation’s v1.0” download, just go into your “FS Downloads” folder,
locate the zip file named “Yak3V1b zip” and unzip it’s contents into your
“Fighter Squadron” directory. (C:\Program File\Fighter Squadron). And
don’t forget to place the “readme” notes and the Yak “html” formatted
manual into your “Readme Data” folder.
23) Another Soviet fighter for your collection.
The Polikarpov I-16. Simply go to your “FS Downloads” folder and unzip the
contents of a file named “I16_Typ24_Final zip” into your “Fighter
Squadron” directory. Go to directory and place the “readme” note into your
“Readme Data” folder and your done.
24) The next one is for all you “Boom and
Zoom” types. The P-47D Thunderbolt is next. Go to your “FS Downloads”
folder and unzip the file named “ thunderbolt zip” into your “Fighter
Squadron” directory, (C:\Program Files\Fighter Squadron), and say “yes”
when ask to over-write your “startup.ppf” file.
25) The Hawker Hurricane is next and this one is
a little tricky. First, locate the zip file named “HurriBeta1 zip” in your
FS Downloads” folder and unzip it’s contents into your “Fighter
Squadron” directory. (C:\Program Files\Fighter Squadron) Next go to
“Media” folder in you “Fighter Squadron” directory and locate a folder
named “airfoils”. Open that folder and inside there will be an airfoil file
named “CLARKYH”. Highlight this file by clicking on it once, go to
“Edit” and on the drop down menu click on “cut”. Then close out tht
“airfoil” folder and open up the “aircraft” folder located in your
“Media” folder. In that “aircraft” folder you will find a folder named
“airfoils”! Yea that’s right, there’s two of them, but not for long.
Once in that folder, go to “Edit” and on the drop down menu, click
“Paste”. Then close out and go back to that “airfoil” folder located in
the “Media” folder and “delete” it. Next, close everything out and go to
your “Desktop” and open your “notepad”. Once opened, click on “File”
and on the drop down menu, click on “Open”. Click on the box named “Look
in” and go to (C:\Program Files\Fighter Squadron\Media) folder. Then click on
the box named “File of type” and click on “All Files”. Locate the
“startup.ppf” file and click on it to open. Take note to the top of the file
where the lines are typed “aircraft/airfoils/____”. Type in a new line above
the first entrée to read this: “aircraft/airfoils/CLARKYH.ppf” That’s
it. Close out “notepad” and “yes” to save changes. Now your ready to
take on the “Emil” model Messerschmidt’s.
26) The next aircraft we will install is one of
many Germany’s last ditch efforts to combat the constant pounding they were
receiving by the allied bombers. The Heinkel He162 “Salamander”. Simply
unzip the file named “He162_of_2-14-00 zip” located in your “FS
Downloads” folder to your “Fighter Squadron” directory. (C:\Program
Files\Fighter Squadron). Now, you will notice a couple of “tif” image files
in the main directory. Leave them there for now. Later I will show you how to
change textures on all aircraft.
27) Let’s see…
what’s next? Did you know that Germany had the fastest single engine
prop-driven aircraft to see combat in WWII? From the efforts of its creator,
Kurt Tank, he brings you the TA-152H1. I personally went to an altitude of
50,000ft with little effort. To place this aircraft on your inventory sheet,
unzip the file named “Ta-152” from your “FS Downloads” folder to your
“Fighter Squadron” directory. (C:\Program Files\ Fighter Squadron) ACHTUNG! Oxygen
required!
28) Back to the Pacific. The next aircraft is the
F4F-4 Wildcat, and I do mean “wild”. Ground handling takes some skill as
does all the carrier base aircraft because of there swivel tail wheel which is
inherent to there design. Locate the zip file named “F4Fbeta2(contest) zip”
in your “FS Downloads” folder and unzip it’s contents to your “Fighter
Squadron” directory. (C:\Program Files\Fighter Squadron)
29) The Kawasaki Ki-61 “Hien” is the Japanese
version of the “G” model 109. Well it has the same powerplant anyway. To
aqiure this aircraft, just unzip the file named “Ki61” from your “FS
Downloads” folder into your “Program Files” directory. That’s right,
Program Files. Trust me, I’ll work. Here’s the path: (C:\Program Files)
30) And the last one for this trip is America’s
effort to combat the Me262A-1a if the war would had lasted another three months
in Europe, The Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star. Just unzip this zip file named
“Shooting Star zip” from your “FS Downloads” folder into your “Fighter
Squadron” directory. (C:\Program Files\Fighter Squadron)
31) Well we did a lot of work in the past hour or
so. But I really believe you will enjoy this sim. A bunch of special people put
a lot of hard work into developing this sim into what it is today. The next
installment will be on how to install “textures” or “skins” to change
the appearance of your aircraft. And there are a lot of them out there. If you
have any problems or questions on how to do any of the above, or any questions
pertaining to “Fighter Squadron”, please feel free to e-mail me at (P51mech@aol.com)
Thanks, JG300sBlitzer