SOP #03 - Installation of RP5 using F4Patch 4.1 (rev 002)

Written by
John "Triton" Waller, Kurt "Froglips" Giesselman and Nils "Wolverine" Holmgren

Revised by
Nils "Wolverine" Holmgren

You must download or have on your hard drive the following required software:

Falcon 4 1.08US Patch: Link to download (17.1MB)

Falcon 4 1.08i2 executable: Link to download (1.7MB)

F4Patch Standard 41RP5a: Link to download (7.9MB)

185th filter for RP5: Link to download (3.6kB)

If you desire (not required) you can also download these addons:

F4Patch Cockpit 4.0: Link to download (40.4MB)

F4Patch Sound 4.0: Link to download (4.9MB)

F4Patch Skin 3.2: Link to download (7.1MB)

To install, follow these instructions:

• Backup the config folder, campaign\save folder and phonebk.dat file in the Falcon4 folder (Default path is C:\Microprose\Falcon4, but you may have stated otherwise when you installed Falcon 4).
• Uninstall Falcon 4.
• Manually delete the Falcon4 folder.
• Reboot your PC.
• Install Falcon 4 from retail CD-ROM.
• Install the Microprose 1.08US patch.
• Unzip the content of Falcon4_108i2.zip to your Falcon4 folder.
• Unzip the content of F4Patch_Standard_41RP5.zip to your Falcon4 folder.

• You should now have the following files in your Falcon4 folder:

• From your Falcon4 folder, double click on the F4Patch_Standard_41RP5a.exe file.

• Click Cancel at the welcome screen.
• Note: On the title list of the dialog you should see the name F4Patch - Standard Package v4.1 RP5a. If not, you don't have the correct F4Patch package. Chose File, then exit from the menu and download the correct file from above.

• Select "File" and then from the drop down menu "Expand Package".

• The following dialog is shown (The button text is in Swedish: Ja = Yes, Nej = No).

• Click "Yes" and "No" to the two following question. This will create a F4Patch.exe and a F4Patch folder in your Falcon4 folder as seen below. After that a dialog appears. Note the text that states: the new F4Patch.exe is to be used to apply patches in the F4Patch folder (directory). This means you should use the newly created F4Patch.exe rather then the F4Patch_Standard_41RP5a.exe you are using at the moment. You also have an option to let the program create a shortcut for F4Patch on your desktop or you can create one manually afterwards.

• Click "Yes" or "No" depending on if you like to have the F4Patch shortcut added to desktop or not, then choose "File" and "Exit".
• Delete the F4Patch_Standard_41RP5a.exe from your Falcon4 folder.
• Unzip the 185th RP5 filter to your new Falcon4\F4Patch folder.
• Start F4Patch 4.1 by double clicking F4Patch.exe. Click Cancel at the welcome screen. Note: Make sure that F4Patch points to the Falcon4_108i2.exe before applying anything! Click the "Filter" drop down and choose the 185th RP5 filter (Note: the filter version will now say 185RP5ver4 as opposed to what's shown below).

• To apply the filter click on the dropdown menu to the left of the "Apply Changes" button, see below.

• Click "Apply Filter". This will apply all patches in the filter. Click OK to close the dialog that appears.

All the 185th's required patches are now applied. Change the filter back to "All Patches" and select any of the following options:

• Skyfixes.
• Missile trails.
• DirectX proxies. Note: Glide-based cards (3Dfx) should use F4DX, Direct3D based cards (GeForce, TNT, etc) should use F4Turbo and apply the devCreateSurface/CTD fix. If you use Win 2k you should only
  use F4 DX.
• Sounds. For online play please only use the sounds included in the F4Patch sounds package.Other 3rd party sounds such as Greyhawk's may cause problems for online flights (unfortunate, as these are
  great sounds!)
• Cockpit Kneemap Korea.

When you have finished click "Apply Changes", then choose "File" and "Exit" to close F4Patch.

Installation of cockpits (Note: The procedure described is exactly the same for applying any other F4Patch package, i.e. for the Sound- and Skin packages): Note: This installation is very similar to that described above. However, do note that there are one crucial step that is different and it is imperative that this is done as outlined below or you will end up with a corrupt installation.

• Download the F4Patch_Cockpit_40.zip file.
• Unzip F4Patch_Cockpit_40.exe into your Falcon4 directory.
• Run the F4Patch_Cockpit_40.exe.
• Click "File" and then "Expand Package".
• Answer "Yes" to the first prompt to proceed. The following dialog will then appear.

• Crucial: Click "No" on this dialog!
• Choose "File" then "Exit". Remove the F4Patch_Cockpit_40.exe from the Falcon4 folder.
• Start F4Patch.exe and select a cockpit, see picture below for an example. Note: We recommend that you use the manual switch option.
• Click "Apply Changes" to install the cockpit.

If you wish not to use the F4Patch cockpits package you can install a cockpit manually:

• Download the cockpit you wish to use.
• Unzip it to the Falcon4\art\ckptart folder.

IMPORTANT! Do not overwrite or replace the menu.dat file!

This will mess up RP5. If you accidentally overwrite the menu.dat file then RP5 will be grayed out. This will require you to replace the file with one from an RP5 installation or a manual copying of the file from the F4Patch orig subdirectory. So, no big thing, but this can be avoided if you remember not to overwrite the menu.dat file.

Installation of sounds and skins:

The installation process for the sounds and skins additions to F4Patch is identical to the cockpit installation. Please follow the cockpit installation but substitute the F4Patch_Sound_40.exe or the F4Patch_Skin_32.exe where appropriate. If you have any problems don't hesitate to ask any of the other 185th members for help.

Game settings:

To preserve RP5:s full functionality there are 2 required graphics settings:

• Object Density must be set to 6.
• Player bubble must be set to 3.

These settings place higher demands on CPU, GPU, i.e. higher demands on your PC, so if you find that the FPS has dropped below 10-15 FPS, adjust the following settings:

• Terrain Texture and Terrain Detail.
• Object Detail.
• Canopy cues (Reflections gives a very large FPS hit!)

Enjoy the realism of RP5 and flying with the 185th!

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