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While researching books on the F-14 on Amazon I came across a review of Microprose's Fleet Defender. One reviewer stated he was able to run the sim on XP. Has anyone here done that and what would I need to do, etc.? Thanks in advance for any assistance! Regards, J. P. Kelly

Caesar, I've got mine set at 25,000 cycles now. It seems that over 25,000 the sound starts to skip (albeit slightly). I set up my X52 (buttons, etc.) last night: works fine. It amazes me how immersive this sim is after all these years! Regards, J. P. Kelly ____________________

Caesar, 'Got my X52 working (i.e., Throttle) last night. Using DOSBox 0.73: 1. Go to Edit Configuration 2. Under joystick edit the following to read: joysticktype=fcs timed=false autofire=false swap34=true buttonwrap=true 3. Save this 'new' configuration. 4. Open DOSBox, then access Fleet Defender. 5. Go to 'Difficulty' and select 'joystick' then FCS w/WCS Analog. 6. Calibrate. Note, ensure prior to calibration your throttle is (all the way) in the forward position (AB) detent. 7. Fly! The throttle work fine and does not require recalibration even if you raise the cycles. I'm working that area now to fine tune the frame rate. Regards, J. P. Kelly

Caesar, Finally figured out that I was not 'mounting' the drive' correctly! Got it up and running. Where you ever able to figure out how to 'map' the throttle (I have a Saitek X52)? Again, I really appreciate your help on this - (thanks for taking the time!) Regards, J. P. Kelly

Caesar, Thanks! Regards, J. P. Kelly

Caesar, Followed the DOSBOX tutorial and your directions (I Think!) and when I get to: D:\install (enter) I get the following error message: "This program must be installed under Windows." ? Regards, J. P. Kelly

Caesar, I have the CD (Gold) version and I downloaded DOSBox today. Thanks very much for the info - I hope it's less complicated than it reads! (LOL) Regards, J. P. Kelly

Problem: All aircraft with Radar and RWR have that (RWR) Texture superimposed where Radar Texture should be in all 3W Sims. Example: F-4B has Radar Texture in correct location in cockpit. F-4E has RWR Texture in place of Radar Texture and RWR Texture in upper right hand corner. All aircraft with RWR instrument in cockpit (instrument itself) shows colored lines instead of correct texture. So, no working radar in any aircraft that also has an RWR. All Settings (for all Sims): Normal. All Sims patched to current standard. All Sims are ‘clean’ – no mods. installed. All Drivers/Direct X up to date. System OS: Win. XP SP2. Pent. 4 CPU 2.80 GHz, 896 MB of RAM. 1024 MB of DDR SDRAM. Two Hard Drives: C and D. C has OS and 40 GB of Memory. D has all sims and 64 GB of Memory. ‘Swap File’/Virtual Memory: set at 3072 MB for both drives. Hardware acceleration set at ‘Full’. Video: ATI Radeon IGP 345M with 128 MB Ram. Display: Digital Flat Panel 1024 x 768 @ 60 Htz. Background: first noticed this approx. 1 week ago in WOV. Then checked all 3W sims (SF2 Vietnam and WOE) – all have this problem. Uninstalled (incl. Registry) and then Reinstalled all sims – problem still exists. Have not had this problem before – that is prior to, all 3W sims had functioning radar, etc. Device Manager does not show any conflicts. No other Sims have this problem. Folder Structure (not sure if this matters - ?) for D Drive: Program Files / Thirdwire / First Eagles / SF2 Vietnam / Program Files / Wings Over Europe / Program Files / Wings Over Vietnam Install History: First Eagles then Wings Over Europe, then SF2 Vietnam and finally Wings Over Vietnam. Any assistance will be appreciated! Regards, J. P. Kelly

MigBuster, I removed everything, ran CCleaner, re-installed WOV last night (up to Patch 2) and it's working fine! All I have to do now is add all the mods and patch to current standard. Thanks again for your help! Regards, J. P. Kelly

MigBuster, That was 'me' over at 3W; thanks for the response - I will do as you advise. I can't 'date' when the problem happened. I was flying in WOV (A-6) for the past several months and had not flown WOE during that time although prior to it was working correctly. I purchased/installed SF2 VN in the same root dir. as FE - I had no idea at the time re 'merged installs'. When I noticed the problem with the Radar/RWR texture in WOV I checked WOE on a whim - and there it was - same problem. Again, I appreciate your help. Regards, J. P. Kelly

Downloaded and installed SF2 Vietnam several days ago: clean install, no mods of any type. Spent time flying the F-4B - no problems. When I switched to the later models, E, J, etc. the radar screen was replaced with the RWR screen as was the screen at the upper right? Uninstalled (incl. registry) and reinstalled - same problem - No Joy! Anyone else ever see this? Any and all assistance will be appreciated. System Pent 4 2.80 Ghz Processor, 320 GB SATA Hard Drive, 1024 GB DDR Ram, ATI Radeon 345 Vid. Card. OS: Win XP SP2 Controls: Saitek X52 and Pedals. Regards, J. P. Kelly

MigBuster, The F-4B (the one which has the correct screen setup) is the stockversion that comes with SF2 Vietnam - no mods made to sim or anyaircraft. The later versions (i.e., F-E onwards - again all stock - no mods.) all have the RWR texture wherethe radar should be along with the RWR in the upper right hand corner. All settings are set on Normal. This really has me stumped! Regards, J. P. Kelly

Anyone know if someone has designed / made this mission available ? Any assistance will be appreciated ? Regards, J. P. Kelly _________________________________________________________________

WOV patched to current standard. Whether I attempt to use the default or map the key to my Saitek - nothing - no response when I try to deselect the current target. Deselecting the "current radar target" (keyboard or Saitek) works fine as do all other keyboard and or mapped controls. Any assistance will be appreciated! Regards, J. P. Kelly

Dagaith, My favorite A/C is the SE5A (after replacing with Peter's FM/adjusting the Aldis sight, adding tracers, changing the parameters to start all single missions at a higher altitude, etc.); it took me a long time to become proficient with it. The two factors are utilizing superior speed and gunnery. 'You're' first inclination is to turn and burn with these (i.e.,WWI) aircraft. It takes practice to avoid this and break off after the first pass in order to gain speed for the resultant climb/climbing turn. If you're able to dive on the enemy formation you can use the speed; in campaign mode I never use the Autopilot and after take-off climb to altitude (9000' to 12000') before 'crossing the lines' (on Offensive Patrols). Practice shooting/understanding shot placement until it's second nature; I use the standard sight picture until I'm close and then zoom-in (programmed on my Saitek X52) and take the shot. I'm a competitive shooter and we're taught to "call out shots" and you can use this technique in FE esp. with the sight Zoomed in. When you take a shot you should be able to tell where the bullets go the moment you pull the trigger. Practice single missions and keep a log (don't laugh!); take notes after each mission and be as self-critical as possible. I've been doing this since I started 'flying' in the 80's and (for me) it really shortens the learning curve. Two-seaters: get below and shoot up - never fight on the 'level' with them - if you can't - let it go and live to fly tomorrow! Hope this helps. Regards, J. P. Kelly _________________________________________

Indirect: one of the 'tools' I've used since I started with 'Flight Sims in the 80's is to keep a 'Flight Log'; I use a ring binder and immediately after each 'mission' (single or campaign) jot down a 'debrief'. I am extremely critical and add notes re my performance (or lack thereof), recommendations for improvement, etc. I've found this to be invaluable and it really speeds the learning curve esp. with a 'new' sim. Regards, J. P. Kelly

I enjoy flying the Gotha, Brisfit, etc., and knowing that actual technique (1914-1918) was rudimentary in the extreme, I'm wondering how others perform 'level' bombing in the sim? Regards, J. P. Kelly

Gr. Viper, I was making a comparison to to later periods... Regards, J. P. Kelly

I disagree. What I've found is that if one of my wingies has an enemy on his tail, I try to help out by closing the distance and then hit Tab-3, or call him to "return to formation". I then see my wingie break sharply to try to get behind me, and thus indirectly help me to line up the enemy following him. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B Randy RFC, Tried this last night - you're right - a good technique that works. 'Still, bothers me a little bit as it is more of a 'gaming' technique; This technique is more applicable to WWII (with radio equipped a/c, i.e., telling your wingman to, "Break!", etc.) During WWI I believe it would have been nearly impossible for a Flight Leader embroiled in a Dogfight to 'signal' (either by hand or signal flare) a wingman to perform a specific maneuver - 'just my 2 cents. Regards, J. P. Kelly

1) keeping the flight together and organized 2) best tactics for approaching an enemy flight, once it's been spotted, dealing with conditions such as; a head-on pass (especially when they have the altitude advantage) the enemy flight is approaching from the side the enemy flight attacks from above and/or behind before they've been spotted. _________________________________________________________________________________________ I keep the flight together by (almost) constantly hitting the 'Comm tab and selecting Rejoin esp. going through clouds/bad weather. I try to wait until the last possible moment before issuing the Engage Air (or Ground) command in order to keep the flight together so they can select targets. I avoid a head on pass if at all possible - it becomes a 'crap shoot'; if unavoidable, I climb and turn and select the closest EA that is targeting one of my flight. I always try to gain as much altitude as possible prior to crossing the lines/prior to initial point - the goal is to be able to dive on a spotted enemy flight, tear through them and zoom climb for another pass (note, see 2nd sentence, above). When attacked from above or behind I try to turn as tight as possible, keep the flight together and then issue the Engage Air command. Note that once your flight is in a dogfight, it is impossible to influence their actions unless your are initially successful and then outnumber the enemy - just as it was historically. Hope this helps. Regards, J. P. Kelly

So there I was in Instant Action (post patch) and the 2 Spads in front of me take on 2 DVII's; they split off to my right and I 'spot' a third DVII heading away from the front and dive to intercept. This DVII is heading East at approx 60 mph and I creep up (behind and below) expecting him to 'break' after my first shot. I shoot a 1 second burst and observe damage, throttle back and wait - but - he keeps on the same course with no evasive action. Four Hundred rounds later (literally) he's still flying along with no evasive action taken - I was literally at 'zero' range behind him - and he kept flying! I played various missions and this only happened during Instant Action. Weapons and Ammo set on Hard. ___________________________________________________________________ Game was patched (Nov 08) as usual over a clean install. No mods were made to any aircraft. When I changed the Weapons to 'Normal' (with Ammo still set on Hard) things seemed to go back to 'normal'.... Regards, J. P. Kelly

J18Dread, Thanks for the response; I too fly IA each session just to 'warm up' before flying a Campaign Mission. I thought I was attacking an IL-2 instead of a DVII! Regards, J. P. Kelly

I've been flying/adding Skins and Mods to FE since it was released: yesterday I D/L No.10 Squadron RNAS by LloydNB for the Sopwith Camel. I modified the ini as per the instructions (checked it twice, etc.): when I select the squadron and fly, any and all Camels are all 'white' (i.e., no skin) except for the Rudder. I'm sure this is something simple but it has me stumped! Any assistance will be appreciated. Regards, J. P. Kelly _______________________________________________________________________________________

Bucky, Understood - 'too bad as Naval 10 is my 'favorite squadron'. Thanks for your help. Regards, J. P. Kelly