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Jane's F-18 and Windows 8.1 64 bits

Posted By: Andromedius

Jane's F-18 and Windows 8.1 64 bits - 08/09/14 12:36 AM

Hi, fellow simmers !


So here's the thing : I currently have on my system a dual-boot Seven 64-Win 8.1 and though I can fly Jane's F18 without any issues, I wanted to try it on Win 8.1 64 bits, since a lot of people reported they couldn't do it.

Yes, I'm stubborn like that (see the previous jane's F-15/USAF episode on this board... biggrin ).

At first, I ran into the same and predictable issues, crashes, and disappointment. I toyed with the compatibility settings, the administrator mode, etc, without any success.
But things changed when I decided to use a little tool known by many of you : DXT Tweaker...

Of course, once more, I'm no genius here. This happened mostly because I stumbled upon a thread where a fellow simmer, Canadair, explained he got FA-18 working with 8.1 64 bits (the thread : http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/3970514/Re:_JF-18_on_Win_7#Post3970514). If it's okay with him, I would like to credit him for this great finding.

But now to the good stuff, shall we ?
After some tests, I'm confident enough to give you some instructions on how to get Jane's F18 flying under Win 8.1.
Of course, I cannot guarantee that this will work for every windows 8.1 happy owner (are there any ? wink ). I do think though it's worth a try.

So, here we go.


1/ Install Jane's FA-18 on Win 8.1 (obvious enough) and DXTtweak.

I've downloaded DXT tweak here : TSH tools. I've chosen the last version of DXT Tweaker (Beta 3 K) but I'm not sure if it's relevant or not for the success of the process.


Now, the tricky part is that DXT tweak has some display issues (the infamous 'black window syndrome') that initially prevent you to configure it under 8.1. But there's a workaround for this. All you have to do is make a shortcut for DXT Tweak.exe, right-click on the icon on your desktop and choose 'reduced color mode' and select '8-bits (256) color' and when you launch DXT Tweaker you can see its options in all their glory !!!
I can't believe I've stumbled on this solution by myself... dance

So now, eventually you can configure DXT Tweaker accordingly to these instructions :

Originally Posted By: MikeRoz

12. Extract the contents of the DirectXTweaker zip to a folder called DXTweaker inside your FA-18 directory. If you're in Vista, right click the DXTControl.exe executable you extracted, click properties, go to compatibility, and check "Run as an Administrator."

13. Run the DXTControl.exe executable. If you're in Vista, and the window looks all black, you may have to close it, turn off Aero. (right click on the desktop, click personalize, click classic appearance properties, click windows classic, and click apply. Don't worry, you can turn Aero back on when we're done here.)

14. Click the New button. Click on the ellipsis by the Path box, and find your F18.exe executable in your FA-18 folder.

15. On the DirectX 9 tab, all boxes should be checked and the drop-down box should say "Default". On the DirectX 8 tab, make sure the box is checked. Same for the legacy tab. On the Options tab, Forward Hook should be checked. The other two boxes should NOT be checked.

16. Click on "Modules to load." Scroll down to and click on "Present Changer." Check the box next to "Present Changer."

17. Leave Width, Height, and Count blank. Format should read A8R8G8B8. Z-Buffer should read "Application." Type should read Application. Quality should be blank, as should Refresh Rate. Set V-Sync to "Off" and Swap to "Application."

18. Go back up to Projects, and click start. Congratulations! You should be able to enjoy FA-18 with a res of up to 1600x1200 and no lag when using AA and switching to Air-to-Air master mode!

Let me know if you encounter any problems, as I easily may have missed something.


2/ Now for the important part :

- Adjust the compatibility settings for the game's .exe (F18.exe): choose win98/Me.
- Launch Jane's FA-18 with DXT tweak USING ADMINISTRATOR MODE : this is mandatory, otherwise the game will crash
.


FA-18 will then launch and the Jane's logo video will appear upside down and blocky, but you'll get access to the main menu where you can disable the introductory video and all the other media.

It is also to be noted that you will get some erratic display between screen changes, nothing too problematic, but other than that everything should be fully functional : the UI menus and selections, the various options and modes are all accessible.

And most of all the game will run flawlessly!
You can then add the TSH 4.02 addon and other stuff as you see fit. The rest is up to you.

I will end this post by thanking again Canadair, for his great insight. Without him, I wouldn't have seen the light. Once again, all kudos and credit to him.


Over and Out,

Andromedius.


A picture is worth a thousand words...





Edit : in DXT Tweak mode, the campaign/mission builder will be far too difficult to use but you can still work flawlessly with it if you launch Jane's FA-18 via the F-18 short-cut. This will solve the map and tools issues. You can then easily work on your missions and save them, but remember that if you want to test your mission you'll have to exit and launch the game using DXT tweaker. Not perfect but simple enough.






Posted By: brownba

Re: Jane's F-18 and Windows 8.1 64 bits - 08/09/14 04:46 AM

Anyone else had success? I have double, triple, quadruple checked all settings but still a no go for me.
It works!
Posted By: Andromedius

Re: Jane's F-18 and Windows 8.1 64 bits - 08/09/14 05:14 AM

Sorry about that, Brownba.

Like I wrote, there is no absolute guarantee this will work for everyone.

Did you make a clean install? (deleting the key in the registry before reinstalling). Maybe you should try another version of DXT Tweak from the TSH page ?
Also, you have to run the game using DXT Tweaker and not by double clicking your F-18.exe (but surely, I guess you got it right).
I've tested this several times, uninstalling/reinstalling the game and rebooting my pc. Each time it worked.
I have an Nvidia card (770 GTX) I have a solid setup but my rig is nothing special.
Can you tell me what happens when the game crashes ? Do you get the blocky upside down video intro ? If not, then it means the work around is not working for you.

My goal is not to give false hope, here : I do genuinely think this should work.
Posted By: Andromedius

Re: Jane's F-18 and Windows 8.1 64 bits - 08/09/14 06:50 AM

Here's a short video showing the sim running on my rig... Use full-screen mode and 1080 to see more clearly.
Hope that helps.


Posted By: brownba

Re: Jane's F-18 and Windows 8.1 64 bits - 08/09/14 12:35 PM

(Deleted)
Posted By: Andromedius

Re: Jane's F-18 and Windows 8.1 64 bits - 08/09/14 01:22 PM

Hi, again,

This screenshot is from the training mission explaining the use of harm missiles. I use a mod for the sky color and the clouds and the results are great.
The fact your menus are perfectly still means that dxt tweaker isn't active when you launch the game. I don't know about the compatibility issues with AMD cards but I think you could be right. Dxtweak is a beta software and was discontinued several years ago. Still, at the time it seemed to work for ATI cards. Maybe different settings should be applied (though I don't know which ones).
Just to be sure, I'd like to have some feedback from people using Nvidia cards. That would really be helpful.
Posted By: Snachito

Re: Jane's F-18 and Windows 8.1 64 bits - 08/10/14 03:15 PM

I'm going to try this work-around later on today and if it works I will name my first born after you..... Andro!! wink
Posted By: Andromedius

Re: Jane's F-18 and Windows 8.1 64 bits - 08/10/14 07:17 PM

All right, then, Snachito.
I'll send you sugar almonds for baptism... biggrin

More to the point, keep me posted on your results if you can. I'd like to know if this method actually works or if I'm just being incredibly lucky...
Posted By: TheRandomSqueak

Re: Jane's F-18 and Windows 8.1 64 bits - 09/30/14 04:15 AM

OK It works for me smile
Now the next issue for me

can somebody help me with my controls frown I have an X65f but I cant even get my keyboard to work. If someone has their F18config file with some flyable keystrokes that be cool
Posted By: Andromedius

Re: Jane's F-18 and Windows 8.1 64 bits - 10/04/14 06:09 PM

Did you use 'TSH Manager.exe' for TSH 4.02 (obviously,if you're using Team SuperHornet mod)? It's located in the main game's folder and you can configure your controller with it. Sorry if you did try it already, but I thought it was worth mentioning.

Posted By: Stefnuts

Re: Jane's F-18 and Windows 8.1 64 bits - 11/14/14 04:10 AM

Hi everyone,

I just got my F/A-18 game today and heard that it was running on Win 8.1

Well, my disc installed fine and it also allows me to enter the different menus and adjust settings BUT:

When I click "Fly" I get an immediate CTD:

Attached is a page the game's installer brought me after I was done installing, Look at what I highlight:

- Some system configurations have been prone to crash to desktop (CTD) when the FLY button is selected, particularly in the training missions.

AND

Q: Despite the patch, the game still crashes. What do I do?

A: Over-clocking of the system’s CPU or the graphics card can lead to instabilities that may lead to a crash. Additionally, adjusting of system bios from default settings have also been shown to lead to game crashes.


I tried a program called CPUgrabber to slow down the CPU, per se, and it didn't work.

I tried the DXTweaker 3K beta and that didn't take either.....Strange.

When I first installed the game, I could hear sound no problem, now with the patch, no sound and the CTD still happens.

Any advice would be greatful!
Stefnuts
Posted By: Andromedius

Re: Jane's F-18 and Windows 8.1 64 bits - 12/19/14 02:24 PM

Well, I'm a little late, but here's what I can add to my previous post regarding Jane's F-18 and 8.1:

- So far your mileage can vary hugely depending on your specs. For instance, I can fly most single missions and the campaigns but crashes do happen sometimes. Some training missions are actually pretty instable and I still experience this issue despite my method (DXTweaker and compatibility settings).
- This 'fix' is by no means perfect and I acknowledge there are problems, including messy menus and screens and the relative inability to operate the mission builder properly.
- I haven't found another work-around that would make the game run smoothly under 8.1, so for now I'm sticking to this method though it's obviously far from perfect.

Stefnuts, did you install TSH 4.02 ? I have it with my F/A 18 install. Maybe you should try it if you haven't already...

Sorry I can't be of more help to you for now.

Over and Out,

Andromedius




Posted By: simfly

Re: Jane's F-18 and Windows 8.1 64 bits - 02/23/15 04:25 PM

Andro
Thanks so much for your 8.1 post.It took me quite a while to work through all the issues but i did get FA18 working in 8.1.
Certain training missions do not work -the manual carrier landing, auto carrier landing- and I have found one or two that have other training that have issues also, is that typical?

The compatabilty setting I am using for FA18.exe is 'windows 98/ME' but I do not have have 'run as admin' set
is that correct? For DXtweak I have 'run as admin' set.

Can you tell me what the generic mod enabler does and how I can use it?

Here are a couple of additions to your instructions that helped me get up and running,perhaps they can help others

1) If you reinstall or need to make changes in DX tweak create a 'new' setting for Jane's.The first time I reinstalled the old setting appeared. Even though the settings were correct I had delete and create it again for it to work properly.
2) Direct play needs to be installed in control panel-progam and features- turn windows features on or off- legacy compnents. Do this before installing FA-18
3) D3dx9_26.dll needs to be installed in sysWOW64. Check to see if this file located in folder c:Windows/sysWOW64. If it is not there download it from the internet then copy and paste it in. I beleive you can also paste it into the Jane's folder

Best
SF
Posted By: Andromedius

Re: Jane's F-18 and Windows 8.1 64 bits - 02/23/15 08:35 PM

Hi simfly, salute

First let me thank for your feedback. I really appreciate it.
Seems to me you did pretty much everything I did. And by the way your additive instructions are great.

As for your questions, let's see if I can answer them without making a total fool out of me... biggrin

I do indeed have 'run as admin' set for FA18.exe, but if you get the sim working without it, there's probably no need to bother.

Regarding some crashes I encountered I can confirm that most of them happen during training missions but they also occur somewhat randomly. Sometimes I would fly the same mission without any issue while others it'd crashed miserably. Go figure. screwy
But for all these frustrating moments there are a lot of missions that run okay so I'm pretty happy with that.

The generic mod enabler can be used to activate or deactivate mods pretty easily, but I don't actually use it anymore, though I've left it on my system.

Basically all you have to do is copy the mod file(it has to be a folder and not a .zip or 7-zip archive) in your MODS folder located in the main Jane's F/A-18 repertory and then launch the Generic Mod enabler. The program will then detect all the mods in the MODS folder and you'll be able to activate them in a mouse-click. Beware though that depending on the mods selected and the version of TSH there might be incompatibilities. So there's some trial-and-error procedure in there.
There are a lot of skins, textures, cockpit modifications and whatnot you can choose from the 'Team Super hornet' download pages (http://www.team-super-hornet.net/index.php/downloadsj) but I prefer to keep it simple. I've installed a modified skypal and clouds effects which suit the game fine. (http://fa18superhornet.free.fr/Addons/f18texfix_26.zip, if you're insterested).

Recently, I've reverted to the 3.06 version of TSH MOD because in 4.02 the settings wouldn't be saved, plus there are instabilities reported with this last iteration.

Anyhow, TSH 3.06, still comes with a lot of good stuff you have in 4.02. You can fine tune and exert a much more efficient control over your joystick/HOTAS. You also get enhanced fonts for the hud - really handy if you play at higher resolutions. And there are plenty more to experiment with (alternatives cockpit for the A-10 and F-14 are great, for instance)
So, for now, l'll stick with it.

So, that's about it. I do enjoy flying some missions but I'm no coder and more a 'search and find' kind of guy reading so I can't go any further when it comes to solving real core issues, but I sure do love puzzles/enigmas and I'm having real fun in trying to get old games working on 8.1!
I've recently managed to get Digital Integration F/A-18E Superhornet up and running. Not as good a sim as Jane's F/A-18 but it definitely has its moments.

Well, I certainly didn't intend to write such a whole lot of sentences (english not being my mother tongue, I'm sorry if I wasn't clear enough on some topics) but I hope some of it will be helpful to you.

Once again, thanks for your interest in the matter, and feel free to report any progress or solutions.
Fly safe,

Over and Out,

Andromedius.








Posted By: tirta

Re: Jane's F-18 and Windows 8.1 64 bits - 02/24/15 09:10 AM

Hi Andromedius,

Do you use trackir?
it seems that I can look up and down only around 45 degrees.
do you know why?

I even can not look down at the lower middle display completely.
In 1280x960, the lowest PBs can not be seen,
so it can not activated by mouse button.

In 1920x1080,
I can only look down at only upper half of the lower middle display.
That is the maximum that I can look down.
Is it a bug?
Posted By: Andromedius

Re: Jane's F-18 and Windows 8.1 64 bits - 02/24/15 07:34 PM

Hi tirta,

Well, I'm not currently using trackir but I intend to do so in the near future.
Did you think about asking on the forum at https://forums.naturalpoint.com/ ? They could give you some answers.

Sorry I can't be of more help to you.

Over and Out,

Andromedius.
Posted By: Andromedius

Re: Jane's F-18 and Windows 8.1 64 bits - 04/13/15 06:24 PM

It seems I solved most of the crashes and some fluidity issues for my Jane's FA/18E install under Win 8.1 by setting the affinity process to 'All Cores'. Specifically, the training missions, which used to crash a lot, are far more stable.
So far, the only side effect I've noticed is that it silences the voice-over during these missions but that's no big deal cause you can read the instructions on the top-left corner of the screen.
Fortunately, the radio coms during the other missions seem to work just fine.

I'll keep on testing the sim, but I'd be interested to know if you guys are also having some luck with this 'impromptu fix'.

Fly Safe,

Andromedius.
Posted By: brownba

Re: Jane's F-18 and Windows 8.1 64 bits - 07/04/15 12:55 AM

Revisited this thread and followed your instructions and it's working well. Campaigns work without issues, but I occasionally crash when exiting Instant Action. All in all, it's playable and looks fantastic with no banding. Andromedius, I appreciate the effort you put into getting this working in 8.1!
Posted By: Andromedius

Re: Jane's F-18 and Windows 8.1 64 bits - 07/04/15 11:58 AM

Thanks for the kind words, brownba!salute

You're giving me far too much credit. I just happen to be one stubborn french guy (seems it's in our genes biggrin )who thrives on finding clues and fixing things when his mediocre mind doesn't let him down. But most of all, I'm glad I could provide some help and that you can enjoy once more this amazing sim.

Have fun and take care,

Andromedius.
Posted By: Doggie

Re: Jane's F-18 and Windows 8.1 64 bits - 09/12/15 07:30 PM

Hi Andromedius, don't want to hijack the thread, but any luck with Win10 and F-15. Everything stopped working once I upgraded from Win 7 to Win 10 frown
Posted By: postman

Re: Jane's F-18 and Windows 8.1 64 bits - 09/26/15 10:46 AM

Hi Andromedius, followed you instructions and everything working perfectly except for some reason F18 plays in a small screen, have changed the resolution in TSH Manager but this has no effect. I am sure it is some thing simple. Really appreciate you help with this.

Sorted

Regards

postman
Posted By: Andromedius

Re: Jane's F-18 and Windows 8.1 64 bits - 09/26/15 08:49 PM

Well, that was fast ! biggrin

Glad you sorted it out.

Have fun, now.
Posted By: white_fang

Re: Jane's F-18 and Windows 8.1 64 bits - 10/15/15 10:39 AM

Please put this in a main help scticky post, this was the main reason of CTD on Win7x64 , Q6600 , Ati5770.
Thank You 'Simfly'.
Originally Posted By: simfly

...
1) If you reinstall or need to make changes in DX tweak create a 'new' setting for Jane's.The first time I reinstalled the old setting appeared. Even though the settings were correct I had delete and create it again for it to work properly.

Best
SF
...



We must assume that DXTweaker, REALLY is a beta product still., thats what the name says ..beta3k. doh..
And I had to use X8R8B8G8 color , rather the A8R8B8G8. But thats ATI problem , for NVIDIA , imho, should be default.

Or even better, I've fired up an old mobo AbitIS7(478) socket 2GB ddr1, P4HT 3.2Ghz, with XP32sp3 just for test.
Its an AGP board and I have 2 old agp cards for that.
ATI 2600XT 512DDR3 AGP
NVidia Geforce4 TI4200 64DDR AGP

And guess what, ATI had 'volumetric textures transition'? problem out of the box and Nvidia did NOT, but its an older card from 2001 or so biggrin ...
Yes, it could be driver problem also, Nvidia was using 10 years old driver DX7/8, and Ati used 5 yrs old driver DX9.
It reminds me of a case when ATi broke support again for DX7 in their drivers after 9.12, for Falcon Alied Force,
serious geometry bugs 'jaggies' occurred in 10.x and later ,.. but that's another story.

Once again, thaks to Simfly for a discovery , plz dont forget to put that find in a sticky, really is pain in the 4$$ , that one bug.

Cheers all.

beercheers
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