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#4434419 - 08/16/18 04:59 AM Jane's Longbow 2 Windows 10 Redux  
Joined: Nov 2011
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xaoslaad Offline
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xaoslaad  Offline
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I've had good luck cobbling together a nice Jane's Longbow 2 experience on Windows 10 and thought I would share how I got there.

Longbow 2
Getting Longbow 2 Installed
To be thorough I'll include some steps you may not have to or want to take. The reason for these steps is that the installer does not work on anything past Windows XP as far as I know.
The software required to do this is: Windows XP, Jane's Longbow 2, the 2.09e patch, and the display driver update patch. EA's ftp server is no longer available, but fortunately there are archives like this one where you can obtain the software, ftp.ea.com archive.
  • Installed a Windows XP VM.
  • Installed Jane's Longbow 2.
  • Installed the 2.09e patch.
  • Install the Display Driver Update Patch.
  • Copied the fresh install off to my Windows 10 Computer.


Getting Longbow 2 Installed the easy way
Assuming you don't want to do all of that you can start with Flyboy's V3 Longbow 2 Fix Flyboy's v3 Longbow 2 Fix

I placed the install in "C:\Program Files (x86)\Jane's Longbow 2". If you put it somewhere different you'll want to adjust accordingly.

Running without inserting CD's
The next basic issue I had is that I don't even have a CD-ROM drive in my desktop anymore. The three times a year I need one I drag my laptop out to use it, so inserting a CD to play would be tough. Fortunately there's an easy way around this.

Copy the CD's/ISO's to two subfolders, Disk1 and Disk2, or something similar.

Create the file CDEmu.ini in with the contents:
Code
[CDEmulate]
CD001=C:\Program Files (x86)\Jane's Longbow 2\Disk1
CD002=C:\Program Files (x86)\Jane's Longbow 2\Disk2


Configuring Graphics
Edit CA.ini and in the Init section ensure these are set:
Code
D3D=0 
3DFX=1


Install nGlide. It's the only glide wrapper I've found that both runs the game successfully and allows for successfully exiting missions back to the menus.

Compatibility Fixes
There seems to be lots of misleading information about what to do for compatibility. Some people suggest right clicking on the executable and settings a compatibility mode, usually Windows XP SP2 or SP3, while others suggest installing a compatibility fix created with ACT.

From my experience I can say that you absolutely should NOT set a compatibility mode on the executable. The only thing that should be need to get the game to run stable is GlobalMemoryStatusLie. Setting a Windows XP mode will also enable GlobalMemoryStatus2GB, which from my experience appears to override GlobalMemoryStatusLie and leave you in no better shape than without it.

Furthermore the sdb file in Flyboy's v3 Fix doesn't allow the game to launch in Windows 10 for me. I eventually narrowed it down to the 'CorrectCreateSurface' fix. However, even after removing that I found that his collection of compatibility fixes were preventing successful exiting of missions. But not all is was bad here. Once I got running with his sdb file I noticed substantially better graphics than I had without it. Eventually I narrowed that down to the AdditiveRunAsHighest fix.

I created an sdbsdb with just the GlobalMemoryStatusLie and AdditiveRunAsHighest fixes. Change the extension from pdf to sdb and then install this with the ACT Toolkit or sdbinst.exe in Flyboy's v3 fix zip, by running
Code
sdbinst.exe "Jane's Longbow 1 and 2 Compatibility Fix.sdb"
.

Adding this to CA.ini will fix the "Read Janes" crashes and allow the Kiowa training mission to start. I cannot get the instructor to accept my popup for the MMS, but the mission otherwise works. (Edit: I think you just need to use the = key rather than Shift+= to pop up. I was trying to be to gentle for the mission trigger.)
Code
[Backdoors]
HEAP_PERCENT=0


Controls
In the age of HOTAS setups flying with just a stick is a real drag. Fortunately I found JoyToKey which lets me program my sticks so that when it's running axes and buttons can input keypresses. Once you unzip the application and place it where you want it you'll need to set the Compatibility mode to Windows XP and ensure it runs as administrator for it to work properly.

The configuration has a small learning curve, but it allows you to do some interesting things. For instance my peddles are configured such that greater or less than 0 (center) inputs the bracket keys at about 8 presses a second. This gives me rudder pedals working in the game seamlessly. I wasn't able to do anything magical to get the throttle axis to work, but the mic switch serves as a handy throttle control, pushing forward and back to increase and decrease. Here I went with 4 keypresses a second and a 300ms delay so I can have finer control with quick presses. The coolie switch left and right cycles my MFD's, China hat zooms my TADS, etc. Hat switches change views and slew my view in 3d mode.

Track IR Trackmapper looks interesting and I may give it a try to see if I can get it working, but I haven't gotten there yet.

At this point I'm excited to start completely some more training missions and remembering how to fly the Longbow.

Azer 2000 Campaign
You can extract azer2000.exe to 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Jane's Longbow 2' if you wish to play the tougher version of the campaign. The file can be obtained from the same link as the patches in the above instructions.

This is a 16-bit self-extracting zip so on Windows 10 you can just rename it to azer2000.zip to open it.

There are two .bat files you can run to enable and revert the tougher campaign. Instazer.bat and Remazer.bat.

Unfortunately Instazer.bat includes running a 16-bit Patch.exe executable that will not run on Windows 10 natively. You can however download and install DOSBox to get it working. Once installed run it, type

Code
mount c "C:\Program Files (x86)\Jane's Longbow 2"
c:
Instazer.bat


You can also create a DOSBox.conf with an autexec section that contains at least the first line, if not all the steps to reduce the typing.
Code
[autoexec]
mount c "C:\Program Files (x86)\Jane's Longbow 2"


4k Longbow 2
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven

Longbow 1
Longbow 1 can be run with 3DFX if you use the Anthology version and the tactics to do so are similar.

If you have the Longbow Gold 3 disk set it appears that it is somehow slightly different and the only way to get it to work is via DOSBox. It works well, with the only downside being the sky and ground textures being noticeably worse.

Getting Longbow Installed
  • Install Longbow from the Jane's anthology disk. Click no when prompted to install goldfxa.
  • Set Windows 98 compatibility mode on the goldfxa.exe patch on the first disk, run it, and install the patch.
  • You can optionally copy off the install and uninstall the game it if you want to place it somewhere else or onto another computer.


I placed the install in "C:\Program Files (x86)\Jane's Longbow 1". If you put it somewhere different you'll want to adjust accordingly.

Running without inserting CD's
Longbow 1 is on the first two of the Anthology disks so copy the contents to sub directories Disk1 and Disk2 and create the file CDEmu.ini in with the contents.
Code
[CDEmulate]
CD001=C:\Program Files (x86)\Jane's Longbow 1\Disk1
CD002=C:\Program Files (x86)\Jane's Longbow 1\Disk2


Configuring Graphics
Install nGlide.

Compatibility Fixes
The fixes for Longbow 1 are the same as Longbow 2, except with the addition of IgnoreException. The fixes are included in the sdb above. Change the extension from pdf to sdb and then install this with the ACT Toolkit or sdbinst.exe in Flyboy's v3 fix zip, by running
Code
sdbinst.exe "Jane's Longbow 1 and 2 Compatibility Fix.sdb"
provided above in the Longbow 2 instructions.

Adding this to the Ca.ini will help with some issues:
Code
[Backdoors]
HEAP_PERCENT=70


Input Problems
Input is way too fast if the fps is allowed to run too high. This is especially evident on the menu screens when clicking with the mouse. In order to fix this I used nvidia profile inspector to limit the game to 30 fps.
To do this:
  • Download the latest version from the releases link of the nvidia profile inspector page.
  • Unzip and run the Application
  • Click the yellow star icon to create a new Profile and give it a name like 'Jane's Longbow 1'
  • Click 2 icons to the right of that to add an Application to the profile and find the lbwin.exe in your install directory (C:\Program Files (x86)\Jane's Longbow 1 if you followed along with my example).
  • Under section "2 - Sync and Refresh" change the Frame Rate Limiter value to 30 fps
  • Click Apply Changes in the upper right hand corner.


That's all it takes, you can close and if you like delete the nvidia profile inspector software. If you open the nvidia control panel you can see the profile created by going to Manage 3D Settings in the left menu and looking under Program Settings. You'll note the profile is there though the fps settings is inaccessible. This is why we used nvidia profile inspector to do the work.

My understanding is ATI exposes the fps limiter settings, so you should be able to do so without a 3rd party app, though I don't know anything beyond that.

Controls
JoyToKey works well with Longbow 1 as well and I'd suggest this approach if you can't get your controllers to work either as they are or with your profiling software.

Last edited by xaoslaad; 01/08/21 03:45 PM. Reason: moving sdb file
Inline advert (2nd and 3rd post)

#4434436 - 08/16/18 11:33 AM Re: Jane's Longbow 2 Windows 10 Redux [Re: xaoslaad]  
Joined: Nov 2011
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xaoslaad Offline
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xaoslaad  Offline
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Also, as of about Monday the Antivirus in Windows 10 no longer detects the lb2_ddu.exe patch file or the ddu patched lb2.exe as a virus. I submitted a sample to Microsoft via their website Sunday and by late Monday they had fixed the detection, so it should no longer be necessary to have to add these as exceptions.

Last edited by xaoslaad; 08/21/18 11:22 AM.
#4448523 - 11/13/18 08:20 PM Re: Jane's Longbow 2 Windows 10 Redux [Re: xaoslaad]  
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brian_b Offline
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Great tutorial,thank you.

#4455191 - 12/28/18 08:53 PM Re: Jane's Longbow 2 Windows 10 Redux [Re: xaoslaad]  
Joined: Jan 2008
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BirdDogICT Offline
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xaoslaad,

Thanks to your instructions and sdb files, I now have both Longbow 2 and Longbow Gold running in windows 10 64 bit with nglide 1.05.

I was able to copy a 3DFX installation of Longbow Gold from my old XP machine, apply your compatibility fixes, set LBwin.exe to Windows 95 compatibility, set frame rate to 30 via ATI Radeon software, and presto. Not experiencing any real issues yet, in-game movies work fine, rockets seem to be ok. Intro video is corrupted, but everything else seems fine. No issues with my CH Flightstick, Pro Throttle, and Pro Peedals being recognized in mapped mode. The graphics are dated, but much better than DOSBox. Unfortunately, 3DFX version of Longbow Gold disables the Apache 64A.

I'll report back after I've tested it some more.

Last edited by BirdDogICT; 12/29/18 08:50 PM. Reason: Typos

There are no accidents and no fatal flaws in the machines; there are only pilots with the wrong stuff.

— Tom Wolfe, The Right Stuff,1979.
#4475536 - 05/26/19 05:16 PM Re: Jane's Longbow 2 Windows 10 Redux [Re: xaoslaad]  
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Doomer Offline
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Doomer  Offline
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Thanks for the instructions, I did everything according to it and I'm running Longbow 2 first time since 2008. I had problems getting the rudder working properly with Thrustmaster Warthog, but now I got everything working.

Unfortunately the game freezes at least in instant action after few minutes. This has happened twice already. Tomorrow I'm going to try out playing the campaign.

Last edited by Doomer; 05/26/19 05:19 PM.
#4475659 - 05/27/19 05:23 PM Re: Jane's Longbow 2 Windows 10 Redux [Re: xaoslaad]  
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Doomer Offline
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Doomer  Offline
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Good news. I tried running Longbow 2 from the command line with just one core:

cmd /C start /affinity 1 lb2.exe

I launched instant action and put the craft to hover. It was still running ½ hour later. I completed the first Azerbaijan campaign mission and then had four attempts on the second one. Three of them ended me crashing my chopper. The flight model is more demanding than Longbow Gold, which I've been playing and mastering well for the past three months.

#4495058 - 10/29/19 10:30 AM Re: Jane's Longbow 2 Windows 10 Redux [Re: xaoslaad]  
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Doomer Offline
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Doomer  Offline
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Well I completed the main campaign. I had like 4 crashes during it. This game is still amazing!

#4499295 - 12/06/19 12:00 AM Re: Jane's Longbow 2 Windows 10 Redux [Re: xaoslaad]  
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Indyplumber Offline
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Great Instructions. I don't remember what happened to my Longbow box and disk so I ordered it off of Amazon complete with the box, disk, manuals and keyboard cards! I got it installed and it loads. However, when I go to the training the game speed is going very fast and there is no audio. I can see the radar moving quickly across the top of the hud and the fuel gauge is dropping rapidly.

#4499422 - 12/07/19 03:33 PM Re: Jane's Longbow 2 Windows 10 Redux [Re: Indyplumber]  
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Indyplumber Offline
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I fixed the speed issue with vertical sync.

However, I was still experiencing sound looping crashes. I wasn't able to get the compatibility fixes to launch the game without selecting WinXP SP2 or 3 in the executable properties.

After some research, I downloaded the Windows Application Compatibility Tool via the Windows ADK installation and I created my own database fix by selecting AdditiveRunAsHighest and GlobalMemoryStatusLie.
Suddenly I was able to launch the game without selecting compatibility mode in the properties of the .exe.

After some further testing with my new database and the sdbinst.exe files included in the Flyboy's Fix I determined that my issue was the version of the sbdinst.exe file in Flyboys' Fix.
I used the version that was in my Windows\System32 folder and it worked flawlessly. I'm now playing Longbow 2 without crashes and a little better graphics!

#4522372 - 05/25/20 10:43 PM Re: Jane's Longbow 2 Windows 10 Redux [Re: xaoslaad]  
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Skynet Offline
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Everybody who have crashes on Windows 10, I find a solution, use this wrapper called GLIDE-Wrapper, it seems much more stable than DgVoodoo and nGlide.

http://www.svenswrapper.de/english/downloads.html

On my pc I can finally run Longbow 2 without crashes, and i dont even need to set any compatibility mode to LB2.exe.

Now the only very last issue I have is that the helicopter turns extremely slow, but I am afraid this is not fixable since control response is related to CPU speed/cycles, so the slower the CPU the faster response is. I guess only on Pentium 2/3 this game can run as it should.

#4522661 - 05/27/20 10:36 PM Re: Jane's Longbow 2 Windows 10 Redux [Re: xaoslaad]  
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Flyboy Offline
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Hi Skynet,

Thanks for telling us about that other Glide wrapper that you found, I don't think I've heard of that one before. I may give it a try as I still get crashes on Windows 7, nevermind Windows 10!

Yeah the yaw is a problem and a side-effect of more modern computers. It is extremely annoying that it reacts very slow but luckily there's not too many times you really need to use it in LB2.

#4528601 - 07/03/20 10:58 PM Re: Jane's Longbow 2 Windows 10 Redux [Re: xaoslaad]  
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JaneFan Offline
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Thanks a lot for this fix. I played Longbow 1 and 2 through the random crashes over the years and this has helped a lot. Longbow Gold is pretty much stable now but I still get some crashes in Longbow 2 after ending a mission although it is much better. I was getting sound loop crashes before and those have resolved. Maybe I'll try a few of the other settings and see if I can get Longbow 2 more stable.

#4529675 - 07/12/20 06:42 PM Re: Jane's Longbow 2 Windows 10 Redux [Re: xaoslaad]  
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sobe Offline
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xaoslaad


When you wrote "Create the file CDEmu.ini in with the contents:" what did you mean as to where it should go?
Code

[CDEmulate]
CD001=C:\Program Files (x86)\Jane's Longbow 2\Disk1
CD002=C:\Program Files (x86)\Jane's Longbow 2\Disk2


Trackir4, Win10 Pro 64Bit, Intel(R) Core™ i5-2500 3.30 GHz 6M Intel Smart Cache LGA115 , GigaByte GA-Z68XP-UD4 Intel Z68 Chipset, DDR3 8GB Ram,AMD Radeon HD 6950 2GB GDDR5 16X PCIe Video Card, Main Monitor 1 on left 1920x1080 Monitor 2 on right 1280x1024
#4530024 - 07/15/20 02:39 AM Re: Jane's Longbow 2 Windows 10 Redux [Re: sobe]  
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Swagger200 Offline
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Originally Posted by sobe

xaoslaad


When you wrote "Create the file CDEmu.ini in with the contents:" what did you mean as to where it should go?
Code

[CDEmulate]
CD001=C:\Program Files (x86)\Jane's Longbow 2\Disk1
CD002=C:\Program Files (x86)\Jane's Longbow 2\Disk2



In the main C:\Janes\Longbow 2 folder

#4530412 - 07/17/20 09:36 PM Re: Jane's Longbow 2 Windows 10 Redux [Re: xaoslaad]  
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sobe Offline
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Swagger200
I put it in the main directory, but the game still keeps asking for disk i and disk 2. I have to folders labeled disk1 and disk 2 and each one has the ISO of the disk. Do I have to somehow unpack the disks?

Also, I am confused on this sentence: From my experience I can say that you absolutely should NOT set a compatibility mode on the executable. The only thing that should be need to get the game to run stable is GlobalMemoryStatusLie. Setting a Windows XP mode will also enable GlobalMemoryStatus2GB, which from my experience appears to override GlobalMemoryStatusLie and leave you in no better shape than without it.

Where do you get GlobalMemoryStatusLie. and how do you apply it and where?

Last edited by sobe; 07/17/20 09:54 PM.

Trackir4, Win10 Pro 64Bit, Intel(R) Core™ i5-2500 3.30 GHz 6M Intel Smart Cache LGA115 , GigaByte GA-Z68XP-UD4 Intel Z68 Chipset, DDR3 8GB Ram,AMD Radeon HD 6950 2GB GDDR5 16X PCIe Video Card, Main Monitor 1 on left 1920x1080 Monitor 2 on right 1280x1024
#4534508 - 08/23/20 05:00 PM Re: Jane's Longbow 2 Windows 10 Redux [Re: xaoslaad]  
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bb11 Offline
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Had long ago given up on Longbow 2 but decided to have another try on my Win10 64 bit machine using the exact methodology (including Flyboy V3 install) described by you and using Nglide wrapper. Absolutely perfect result and have been running for 3 weeks now without any crashes and Nglide set to 1600x900. Cannot thank you (and Flyboy) enough for all your efforts which have saved this game for the Win 10 users.

#4537907 - 09/21/20 02:42 PM Re: Jane's Longbow 2 Windows 10 Redux [Re: sobe]  
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xaoslaad Offline
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xaoslaad  Offline
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GlobalStatusMemoryLue is using the Compatibility Kit. You don't need to go through that process if you download and use the linked. Jane's Longbow 1 and 2 Compatibility Fix.sdb

#4537908 - 09/21/20 02:44 PM Re: Jane's Longbow 2 Windows 10 Redux [Re: sobe]  
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xaoslaad Offline
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In the main installation directory. You need the CD contents at the two paths specified, otherwise it will not work.

#4550182 - 12/30/20 08:04 AM Re: Jane's Longbow 2 Windows 10 Redux [Re: xaoslaad]  
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diesel Offline
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Hi Everyone,

First thanks for these detailed instructions for LB2 and Windows 10. I followed them and they worked great. Now I can fly LB2, not too much strangeness, crashes, just good helo fun. Now rockets seem to have a mind of their own even launching up from their tubes at about a 45 degree angle, so this is a little strange not to mention impossible with the hardware. I'll live with it. Interestingly, the strange interface colors which appear in Windows 7 are all fixed in this Windows 10 install.

Now a question: Can I apply the ACT file to a Windows 7 install?? or is it ONLY good for Windows 10?? I want to know if I can fix the interface colors without using the explorer stop/start fix.

#4550230 - 12/30/20 05:16 PM Re: Jane's Longbow 2 Windows 10 Redux [Re: xaoslaad]  
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Flyboy Offline
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Hi diesel, that is strange about the rockets! I knew they were dodgy on modern hardware but not like that!

Which ACT file are you talking about? There's a few floating around for LB2. You should be able to install any on Windows 7, I mean if it works that's great and if it doesn't then just remove it. You can only have one installed at a time though. However, these fixes are really about stability, not fixing janky colors.

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