aplogies in advance for possible redundancy. just got the 2.5 version today and am installing. could someone please provide a step by step rundown on the progression needed for the best install. i am somewhat aware of compatability issues with 2.51 and the provided training missions. also, any links for mods, user created training & combat missions/ campaigns, and any resolution increases/skins/graphical tweaks. in short, the complete deal on getting a trouble free install and as many goodies as possible. is there an equivalent to this as there is TSH for janes f/a-18?

here is my system-

alienware area-51
pentium 4, 2.53
512rd ram
radeon 9700 pro catalyst 3.5driver
win xp home
directx 9
80gig
creative audigy 5.1
cougar HOTAS 2.04

so right now i'm at 2.5 with flanker and i'll wait to proceed until some of you guys can give some advice on the smartest way to go. thanks!

pepper

just tried to run it, and wow is it screwed up! the opening movie was a slideshow- maybe 2fps. hitting 'esc' seemed to lock the game up. bummer!

additionally, the options menu is illegible.

PG:

We have very similar systems and I just began the process two days ago. It's taking some tweaking, needless to say, to get it running well on a modern system.

What's funny is that the last time I ran it it was with a Voodoo5 card and it looked stunning but I got that damn surging from the terrain. Now, I'm not getting the surging but I can't run it with FSAA. Wah:).

Hang in there. Mines looking better every day.

Gyre

fsaa on the radeon 9700pro has made me seriously spoiled regarding visual cleanliness...hard to even consider simming or gaming without it now. oh dear, i sure hope flanker 2.51 will tolerate it.

"Oh dear" is right. I don't think it's going to happen w/o loss of the text but I'm still working on it. Right now I'm running full on AA w/ some better textures but no FSAA while I re-learn it.

Let me know if you find some way to run it w/ text still showing. I also tried Omega's but went back to the 3.5s because it didn't make a difference.

Gyre

well gyre, i am in what the new yorker would refer to as 'a becketian holding pattern' (an allusion 'waiting for godot', where the titular character never shows up. waiting...) in that i am not doing anything with this sim, hoping that some folks might provide the 123's/abc's of flanker 2.5->2.51 installation on a system with my specs. hope i don't go gret waiting!

thanks again.

Per Los,
"1. install from cd 2.0 version on onto your pc.
2. reboot.
3. start flanker 2.0 and setup the settings in flanker.
4. exit flanker and run the 2.5 update (voodoo or non voodoo version upgrade depending on your graphics card)browse the 2.5 upgrade pointing to flanker location on disk.
5. after that you can install the 2.5 version training
update.
6. start flanker and setup again settings in flanker.

7. if you update to flanker to 2.51 after this then
those 2.5 version training tracks does not run as should but you can get from internet 2.51 versions downloaded.

from Eric Johnson flanker 2.51 and ironhand's flanker internet site.

allso you need the Trackpacker to open those tracks
and install them. "

That's what I did plus added terrain from http://www.mlk-airbase.wz.cz/, plus added a no cd crack from http://www.megagames.com/gcracks.html. Use the last one.

Gyre

Hi,

You cannot use anti aliasing with 2.5 or 2.51. At least I can't and I have a ati 9500Pro with Omega drivers. I am using Xp Pro with no compatibility problems at all. I can run 16X AF with no problems but AA is out of the question. Hope it helps.

Madcap

thanks a bunch guys. i don't have 2.0- only the 2.5 disc. i shouldn't think this would have a detrimental effect would it, going straight from 2.5?

big bummer about no FSAA- i hope the jaggies don't strike. how in blazes did the images on beach's reports look so darn good?? also, what is the maximum allowable resolution? please tell me 1600x1200 is supported...anything under without jaggies is gonna be rough on these spoiled eyes of mine. still, beache's jpegs are absolutley sweet!

any further tweaking needed either for the radeon 9700pro card or my cougar HOTAS?

thanks again.

5. after that you can install the 2.5 version training
update.


hmm, from where? a site, or from the cd?


7. if you update to flanker to 2.51 after this then
those 2.5 version training tracks does not run as should but you can get from internet 2.51 versions downloaded
from Eric Johnson flanker 2.51 and ironhand's flanker internet site.

allso you need the Trackpacker to open those tracks
and install them. "


are there postable links to these sites?
geez, i want the world, don't i?

really appreciate it.

http://oldsite.simhq.com/simhq3/sims/boards/bbs/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=33;t=000851

Check this out this should help.

If the game installs normally then it should already be patched to 2.5 (asuming that you have flanker2 dvd box version)I have had no graphic issues on the upgrade to 2.5 from 2.0 and I am running a FX5600 256mb.I upgraded to 2.51 on saturday... you will need to copy the content of the patch manually to the correct folders in the F2.5 directory
for example:
content of 'patch' folder 'bazar'\world\textures
would be copied to c:\program files\ssi\flanker2\bazar\world\textures

and once the content of these folders have been copied to their correct location,copy across the flanker exe,MUIDLL.dll,joy2key.dll and the joystick 'x' to the main flanker2 directory
example: c:\program files\ssi\flanker2

heres the read me for 2.51:
The Flanker 2.51 patch requires the Flanker V2.5 Upgrade that is available as a free download from http://www.flanker2.com. YOU MUST INSTALL THE V2.5 UPGRADE ACCORDING TO THE INSTRUCTIONS PROVIDED WITH THE V2.5 DOWNLOAD. Failure to properly install V2.5 will cause problems running the program.

INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS

Unpack the archive to the Flanker 2.0 directory using the directory structure contained in the ZIP file. It is important that you use the proper directory structure or the program will not function.

DIRECTX 8 IS REQUIRED

IMPORTANT: DirectX 8 is also required for V2.51.

Flanker 2.51 accesses joystick data via DirectX 8. Joy2Key configuration works with "slider-oriented" throttles. Z-axis means Slider 0 in Joy2Key dialogs which means that the throttle is Slider 0 now. Joy2Key features are updated. Do not remove old joy2key.ini with buttons mapping and your other custom data! Joystick failure diagnostics in the Error.log is now expanded. New joystick drivers have been upgraded. Reinstallation and reconfiguration after Windows or DirectX upgrade are highly recommended. Separate Microsoft DirectX 8 Joystick.exe utility has been included with this patch. This program helps to test joystick functionality with DirectX 8 without having to run Flanker.

V2.51 FIXES & CHANGES:


* Gun pipper and funnel are now at V2.03a standards.

* Mini-HUD displays target data now.

* Speed, altitude and bank data are displayed in SETKA mode. (Key command "8")

* Multiplayer track recording is now fixed.

* Multiplayer games are more stable.

* Graphics problems with the Kuznetzov aircraft carrier textures have been fixed.

* MiG-29K ailerons now exhibit correct motion when viewed externally.

* Mig-29K is more stable.

* Some of the Mig-29 level of detail (LOD) problems have been corrected.

* MiG-29 External fuel tanks consume fuel first and fuel indicator does not show any main fuel consumption until the external tanks are empty.

* Landing touch down sound has been restored.

* Movement after belly landings is now restricted.

* Murena to Neustrashimy graphics problem has been fixed.

* "Press 'S' to Start" message is now properly formatted in English.

* Old tracks may be incompatible with new objects behavior.

* Different game controllers supported via DirectX 8 (joysticks, wheels, throttles, game pads, pedals etc.).

* DirectX 8 installation is incumbent now. You MUST use DirectX 8.

* F-15 drop tanks are now oriented properly.

* The air objects padlock in the NAV mode.

* Ground explosion bug while recording a track file is fixed.

* Plane cannon will now fire up to 25 shells for each button pressing. When button is released the shell counter is reset.

* MER dropping bombs transformation is fixed.

* AI planes will no longer launch A2A missile at enemy contacts that are in the rear quadrants.

* Static mission objects are now visible on the MFD to correspond to settings in the Mission Editor as functional objects.

* Ship direct visibility bug is fixed.

* Kh-25MP and Kh-25ML missiles behavior has been fixed.

* With Standard Windows Interface option:

* Wingmen command selection with a mouse is corrected.

* Keyboard wingmen commands selection keys (A, B, C...) no longer transmit to the flyable aircraft.

* Wingmen replies are displayed in message boxes.

* Su-33 vs. AI Su-33 and MiG-29K vs. AI MiG-29K destruction crashes have been fixed.

* The incorrect Su-25 front wheel motion has been corrected.

* Kh-25** missiles launched from flyable aircraft has been corrected.

* Contrail appearance altitude interval is now set to 8-12 km.

* Missiles with active radar check "friend/enemy" when changing targets.

* DirectShow player replaces the obsolete Bink intro player. New Intro.avi and Flanker.avi files will be available in several weeks from the SSI FTP site. These AVI files will replace the Intro.bik and Flanker.bik files in the Intro subfolder. In the meantime, no intro videos will appear when using V2.51. We apologize, but we felt that this was not something worth holding up the release of the V2.51 patch.


At present, the Training Missions do not work properly with V2.51. If you need to run the Training Missions, please do so with V2.5. Our apologies but reformatting the training missions for V2.51 is going to take longer and we did not want to hold up the release of V2.51 because of the training missions.

SPECIAL THANKS

Thanks to all the Flanker pilots at http://www.flanker2.com who helped us test the V2.51 Patch Betas these past few months. We appreciate your time and efforts.

Hope this helps, regards H

Wow! That was fast! I think we both ordered it from AMAZON (used copy, $2.99 + shipping?) at around the same time. Mine was supposed to ship on 6/27. Not sure where they are located, but I suspect the West Coast. I am on the East Coast, and media mail from there sometimes takes WEEKS...

I guess I could be pleasantly surprised...or I could go blow another 9.99 at CompUSA for immediate gratification

Recluse

hmm, both dead links. i'd love to check out the terrain add ons. any other links. also, are there any cockpit graphics tweaks a la ayres cockpits for falcon4?

Hey, Platinum Rogue mentioned some sites in another thread so I googled them up.

http://562.50megs.com/

That one has high-resolution cockpit graphics and other stuff, plus links to other good sites.

I'm new to sims, but I'm enjoying this one.

If you have the 2.5 retail disk you already have the final (2.51) version.

You only need to download the 2.51 patch if you are starting from the original (2.0) disk. If this is the case you will need the 2.5 upgrade and the 2.51 patch.

Just do a search in this forum for cockpits - Mag's is really good! I actually prefer the MiG-29 now. And keep hitting the link for MLK's site. I've downloaded three different terrains now, and the one at MLK is the best (for me anyway)

Mag's cockpits are wonderful, they really do make a huge difference. And yes - I have a soft spot for the Mig29 as well