FALCOMM.COM & FTPCOMM.COM for Falcon Version 3.05 By: Ken "Stinger" Richardson CIS UID: [70761,301] *** SECTION 1: General Introduction to FALCOMM/FTPCOMM ... FALCOMM & FTPCOMM are TSR (Terminate & Stay Resident) programs that you run on your computer before you run Spectrum Holobyte's Falcon simulator. FALCOMM & FTPCOMM provide Falcon with the capability to use high speed communications and will significantly reduce your connect times as well as give you smoother game play. FALCOMM & FTPCOMM eliminate potential "cheats" or "abuses" of the rules used by most competitions. Specific keys and key combinations have been blocked. Weapons Effectiveness settings are forced to "LOW" levels. Radar mode choice is displayed to ensure that players are abiding by settings specified in the rules. And checks are made to ensure that players are using approved flight models, weapons load-outs and visuals and that "Falcon Test Pilot" (FTP) has not been used to modify these files. *** EXCITING NEW STUFF *** FALCOMM & FTPCOMM address one of the major weaknesses in Falcon, that of the guns being unrealistically effective. By default, Falcons guns are capable of hitting targets at extreme range and with little regard for accuracy. FALCOMM & FTPCOMM reduce the effective size of the target area (the "Hit Bubble") in Falcon making gunnery realistic at last. It is now necessary to use flight maneuvering skills to achieve a tracking position on your opponent in order for you to score gun hits and kills. It is no longer easy to score hits with high aspect shots, or "spray and pray" methods. In general, you should expect to have to get on your opponents "six" at ranges of one half mile or less in order to successfully score kills. Two versions of FALCOMM & FTPCOMM have been provided ... "A" and "B" ... and the files are named FALCOM-A, FALCOM-B, FTPCOM-A and FTPCOM-B. The "A" versions are the more difficult of the two, and much more challenging to use. The "B" versions are less difficult, but still harder than using Falcon at its default settings without these programs. Versions will only connect with identical versions, so check with your opponents and your competition administrators as to which version to choose. FALCOMM & FTPCOMM now allow Falcon to utilize non-default weapons load outs. This is especially important for competitions involving dissimilar aircraft under FTP. No longer will all planes come up with a Falcon default ... now, each plane can be individually and realistically loaded with appropriate missiles and cannon shell numbers. These settings are normally specified by competition administrators, so check to make sure you are using approved weapons files. IMPORTANT NOTE: FALCOMM & FTPCOMM ONLY SUPPORT FALCON VERSION 3.05 Connections involving MiG-29 or FA-18 Hornet must use COMMTSR.COM. *** SECTION 2: What does FALCOMM & FTPCOMM do? ... FALCOMM & FTPCOMM provide benefits in several areas of interest to players who participate in head to head Falcon play, either for pure enjoyment or competition purposes. 1. High Speed Communications ability, 2. Security against known "cheats" or anamolies, ... and, NEW to these TSRs ... 3. Greatly enhanced realism for aerial gunnery. 4. Realistic Weapons Load Outs. *** Section 2.1: High Speed Communications abilities ... FALCOMM & FTPCOMM allow Falcon to communicate at rates up to 57,600 baud (as selected in the COMMS screen within Falcon.) In this regard, this TSR is identical to all previous versions of COMMTSR, FTPLADR and the like. For a complete description of this aspect of the TSR, see the edited documentation for COMMTSR located towards the end of this file. *** Section 2.2: Security against known "cheat" or anamolies ... These TSRs address several problems that have arisen in Falcon 3.0 with regards to establishing as fair a playing field as can be created. The following is a list of known abuses these TSRs are designed to counteract. *** "Super" Flight Conditions ... Super-G is a condition under which the Falcon is able to achieve ABNORMALLY HIGH G-Force parameters and, as a result, an incredibly fast and unrealistic turning ability. >>> FALCOMM & FTPCOMM COMPLETELY ELIMINATE SUPER-G. <<< Super-Throttle is an analogous condition to Super-G, except that it affects the throttle rather than the flight controls. Once again, EXTREMELY unrealistic flight performance was achievable. >>> FALCOMM & FTPCOMM COMPLETELY ELIMINATE SUPER-THROTTLE. <<< *** "Cheat Keys" ... Several "keys" and/or "key combinations" have been banned and/or discouraged from most competition play. These include external views, keys that affect the HiFi flight model (flaps/gear) as well as a few others. FALCOMM & FTPCOMM addresses this problem by COMPLETELY DISABLING the following keys while in Head to Head combat mode ..... (Both FALCOMM & FTPCOMM) * ALL EXTERNAL VIEWS ARE DISABLED. (1,2,7,9 and 0 keys) * AUTO-LEVELER IS DISABLED. (Shift+Alt+KP5 keys) (FALCOMM ONLY) * FLAPS AND GEAR ARE DISABLED. (F and G keys) *** PADLOCK Lights are Built-In ... Small indicator lights visible in the Padlock and "Scrolled up" views are provided. These lights show the status of Afterburners, AirBrake, Radar, and ECM. Each indicator has its own color for easy identification. YELLOW for burners, RED for brakes, WHITE for radar, and BLUE for ECM. These lights were previously provided thru a seperate set of TSRs. There are rumors about specific combinations of certain versions of the Padlock, TM-Stick and communications TSR's creating situations that either enhanced one's maneuvering capabilities, or had adverse affects on your opponents, or Lord knows what. These rumors have never been verified, but they persist nonetheless. In the interests of making sure that ALL players are on a level playing field, PADLOCK has been incorporated into both FALCOMM & FTPCOMM. It is neither desirable nor necessary to run PADLOCK separately. *** Flight Model and Radar Mode choices are displayed ... An information screen that appears just before you calibrate your joysticks and/or drop into the cockpit displays the Flight Model and Radar Mode choices your opponent has made. This information provides players with a means of verifying that their opponents are abiding by competition rules. *** Weapons Effectiveness is forced at LOW levels ... Since one aspect of this program is decreased GUN effectiveness, FALCOMM & FTPCOMM both force the weapons effectiveness setting made in Falcons configuration screen to LOW. Although this setting is normally transferred to the Answering player by the Caller, it is not possible for a player to accidentally choose the wrong setting. *** FTP Modified Flight Models, Weapons Load-Outs & Visuals FALCOMM & FTPCOMM provide a means of verifying that both sides are using approved flight models, weapons load-outs and visual data files. This is done by providing a CODE value (CRC check-sum) for both machines, visible to both players before play commences. When both players are using approved data files, the CODE displayed will match for both the "Local" and "Remote" players. *** Section 2.3: Enhanced Gunnery Realism ... FALCOMM & FTPCOMM have now made gunnery operate in a realistic fashion. Up until now, Falcons guns have had extremely unrealistic range and effectiveness ... basically, it was WAY TOO EASY to score kills with the guns. These TSRs have reduced the effective hit range against a maneuvering target to something on the order of one half mile or less in most cases. Shots against rapidly moving or high aspect targets are now extremely difficult. Essentially, you will have to outmaneuver your opponent, get on their six and blast them from very close range. You cannot expect to score hits with quick snapshots or at long range, so save your ammo. Two versions of the TSRs have been made available ... "A" and "B" versions. The "A" versions are much more challenging in that the "Hit Bubble" is very small. The "B" versions are not as difficult, but still much harder than the defaults Falcon has used up till now. *** Section 2.4: Realistic Weapons Load Outs ... FALCOMM & FTPCOMM allow for customized (usually by competition administrators only) weapons configurations to be used for Falcon, or for any other aircraft being flown using FTP. This allows for greater realism and individualized load outs, rather than forcing all aircraft to use the default Falcon settings. *** SECTION 3: Using FALCOMM & FTPCOMM ... If you're not sure how to set up your modem in order to use high-speed communications, see the section appended to the end of this document. Either FALCOMM or FTPCOMM should be loaded BEFORE running Falcon. Which TSR you use depends on what type of competition you are participating in. The competition administrator will let you know what version to use. DO NOT attempt to load BOTH of the TSRs at once. You will NOT be able to connect with your opponent if you do. There are only two command line options, these concern COMM PORT re-mapping and are outlined in detail in the final section of this document. FALCOMM or FTPCOMM may be loaded into high memory using a memory manager such as QEMM. Running the program a second time will unload it from memory. Since FALCOMM & FTPCOMM contain the code for the padlock indicator lights, you should NOT load PADLOCK.COM in addition to these TSRs. Once FALCOMM or FTPCOMM is loaded, you may load TM-STICK (if you wish to use this program) and start Falcon. Just before you reach the joystick calibration screen (or before you drop in to the cockpit if you calibrate prior to making the connection) you will see a screen that looks like this: ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÑÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÑÍÍÍÍÍÍÑÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ» º PLAYER ³ RADAR ³ CODE ³ MODEL º ÇÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĶ º LOCAL ³ HFR ³ 863A ³ Hi-Fi º ÇÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĶ º REMOTE ³ HFR ³ 863A ³ Complex º ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÏÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÏÍÍÍÍÍÍÏÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ IS THIS ACCEPTABLE? (Y/N) If you answer (Y)es, you will be allowed to proceed to the calibration screen and the game will proceed normally, if you answer (N)o, you will not be allowed to enter into the fight. The CODE (CRC values) should match for both sides, otherwise you have a problem. This is most likely the result of incorrect files loaded in either your own or your opponents Falcon directories. If you see the screen shown in the above example, it would indicate that both players have are using HFR radar, the LOCAL player (the one seeing this screen on his/her computer) is using the HiFi flight model, the other player is using Complex, and finally, since the codes (CRC values) match, you can tell that both sides have the correct files installed. (Or both sides have the identical WRONG files installed) Since FALCOMM & FTPCOMM now check for proper weapons load outs as well as flight model and visual data, it is CRITICAL that all files match up on both sides of the connection. These files include: AIRVARS. ... Flight model data, located in Falcon directory INSTACT.LES ... Visual model data, located in Falcon directory ARMxxxx.DAT ... Weapons load out data, located in the ARMSDATA subdirectory If these files differ between the machines, the CODE values will not match. This does not mean that one player is trying to cheat, but is more likely to mean that one or more files are not appropriate to the competition at hand. It is highly recommended that you use either seperate installations if you participate in both standard Falcon competition as well as FTP based competitions. Or, you may devise a batch file or use a utility such as SET-FALC.COM to manage the files for you. Check with your competition administrator as to what files you need to have where. *** SECTION 4: Modem Connections And Internal Security Considerations ... BOTH PLAYERS MUST BE RUNNING AN UNMODIFIED VERSION OF FALCOMM OR FTPCOMM OR THE CONNECTION WILL FAIL TO PROCEED TO GAME PLAY. Obviously, the fair play aspects of FALCOMM/FTPCOMM are meaningless if players cannot be assured that their opponent is also using this program. In order to ensure that both players are in compliance ... * If either player does not run the identical version of FALCOMM or FTPCOMM, the connection will fail. * If either player modifies or tampers with FALCOMM or FTPCOMM in any way, the connection will fail. Please note that Falcon communications can often be difficult and failed connections can occur for a variety of reasons. Connection failures can occur for a wide variety of reasons. If, while using FALCOMM or FTPCOMM, you find that you cannot connect with your opponent, IT DOES NOT IMPLY that the other player is cheating or has tried to tamper with the functioning of FALCOMM/FTPCOMM. Players are encouraged to obtain and read a copy of "The Falcon Communications Bible" written by Duke (CompuServe ID 76711,27) for detailed information about specific modem strings to use, etc. etc.. If after attempting the remedies suggested in "The Falcon Communications Bible", you find that you CANNOT connect with FALCOMM or FTPCOMM but that you CAN connect with the original COMMTSR program, PLEASE contact the ladder administrator as soon as possible. FALCOMM & FTPCOMM are replacement/enhancements of the already existing COMMTSR program. FALCOMM & FTPCOMM function exactly like COMMTSR with regards to high speed communications, modem strings, etc. etc.. The documentation for the original COMMTSR has been edited and is appended to the end of this document for your convenience and as a reference for settings, command line options, etc.. *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** The Following is an edited version of the documentation for COMMTSR. *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** Using FALCOMM/FTPCOMM you will see your connection times improve greatly. During testing, this patch completed a 2400bps direct connection in just over 2 minutes, a 57600bps V.42bis connection in just under 30 seconds. A major problem FALCOMM/FTPCOMM can suffer would be UART overrun errors. FALCOMM/FTPCOMM will recover from the occasional overrun error but if you experience problems connecting at high speed, try a lower baud rate. You will see a line extending from the bottom of the screen to the top during the Satellite downlink. If the line is on the left side of the screen, it is the RECEIVE PROGRESS indicator. If the line is on the right side of the screen, it is the SEND PROGRESS indicator. At the top of the receive indicator (and just a bit to the right) is the OVERRUN ERROR indicator. If you see a small square at the top of the receive bar, the UART was overrun on the last byte received. *** FALCOMM/FTPCOMM and Two Player Campaign Mode *** It is not recommended for Two Player Campaign Mode. *** FALCOMM/FTPCOMM and COM PORT Re-Mapping: If you have your modem connected to COM3 or COM4, you can instruct FALCOMM/FTPCOMM to force a connection on either of these ports by placing a /3 or /4 on the command line after typing FALCOMM/FTPCOMM. If you do use the "re-map" feature, when you enter the COMMs screen, COM1 will be COM3 or COM2 will be COM4. For example: FALCOMM /3 This causes COM3 to be used when COM1 is selected on the COMMS screen. After you finish playing you can remove FALCOMM/FTPCOMM from memory simply by running it a second time. It is recommended, however, that the machine be re-booted in order to reestablish normal keyboard functioning. FALCOMM/FTPCOMM will ONLY work for Falcon version 3.05 ... IT WILL NOT WORK with ANY version of MiG-29 or Hornet from Spectrum Holobyte. For play/competition between Falcon and either MiG-29 or Hornet, you will have to use the original COMMTSR program. *** Considerations for V.42bis modems: V.42bis is a CCITT standard for data compression and error correction. It can give a modem up to 4:1 compression with 100% reliability. A 9600bps V.42bis modem can achieve throughput of up to 38,400bps and a 14.4kbps V.42bis modem can go up to 57,600bps throughput. This is done, by the modem, which compresses the data it receives from the computer before it sends it across the phone line on it's 9600 or 14.4k bps carrier. The receiving modem decompresses the data before sending it to it's host computer. All data can not be compressed the same amount. For example, text files can be compressed a great amount while ZIP files won't compress very much because they are already compressed. Therefore, the effective speed of a V.42bis modem can vary from it's carrier speed (9600 or 14.4k bps) all the way up to 4 times it's carrier speed (38.4 or 57.6k bps). The way the data flow is regulated by the modem is with FLOW CONTROL, or more specific hardware flow control (CTS/RTS). The CTS (clear to send) line will tell the computer when the modem is ready for data. Your comm port might be set to 57,600bps while the modem is sending data at 15,000cps, obviously the computer must wait for the modem. So as you can see, flow control is absolutely needed when a V.42bis connection is made between two computers with the comm ports set to a bps rate higher than the modem's carrier. *** Important Things to Know: 1. FALCOMM/FTPCOMM does perform error checking and will recover if an error occurs. 2. FALCOMM/FTPCOMM will support modem data compression (V.42bis and MNP-5). You must have hardware flow control turned on (RTS/CTS). Check you modem's manual for the proper commands although AT&F with generally work for most modems. 3. When using FALCOMM/FTPCOMM you will NOT be able to connect with someone who is not using FALCOMM/FTPCOMM. Both computers must be running the same, UN-MODIFIED version of the TSR. Tampering with FALCOMM/FTPCOMM will cause the program to fail to connect. 4. FALCOMM/FTPCOMM will support the 16550's FIFO buffer. *** What to Expect from FALCOMM/FTPCOMM: 1. You will see less "jittering" in your opponents plane. 2. There will be a 30% increase in cps rate while playing. 3. The Satellite Downlink will be considerably faster if your UART can handle a high speed connection. (See UART consideration) 4. Known "cheats" and "abuses" as well as disallowed view and other keys have been eliminated. 5. FTP modifications to the Falcon flight model or graphics files will be noted through CRC differences and the players advised of any differences between their systems. *** UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter) Considerations: A UART is the "brain" of your COMM port. It receives and sends data to and from the modem, monitors line errors, and monitors modem status. It will interrupt the CPU whenever data is ready so the CPU can read every incoming byte without disrupting program execution. What I have found is that some UARTs are not fast enough to achieve a reliable connection at speeds over 9600 baud. For speeds over 9600 baud you may find that you will need either a 16450 or probably a 16550 UART. These chips are direct replacements for the old 8250 UART and are much faster. *** Tips on Connecting with Falcon using FALCOMM/FTPCOMM: When connecting with FALCOMM/FTPCOMM loaded, you will want to have V.42bis turned on. You will also you need hardware flow control enabled. Use your communications program to configure your modem for the correct setup and then save your modems configuration in "Stored Profile 0" in your modem's non-volatile memory. I found it is also a good idea to make sure the "Extended V.42 Response Codes" are turned off. After the proper configuration is stored in your modem's memory, you are ready to connect. Go to the comms screen and select 57,600bps and modem connection. Select call or answer, whichever you and your opponent decided on. Use modem defaults when you are asked, this is important. If you use the defaults, Falcon will use "Stored Profile 0" to make a connection as a result of the ATZ command that will be sent. This is the configuration you just saved. You should get a connect message and everything else should work fine. Here is an example of how to setup your (hayes compatible) modem: From TERMINAL mode in your comm program type: AT &F ;Return to factory configuration. AT &Q5 ;Enable V.42bis connection. AT &K3 ;Enable hardware flow control (CTS/RTS). AT W0 ;Disable extended V.42 response codes. AT &W0 ;Store in profile 0, very important. AT &V ;Display profile. Use this command to double check your setup. Note: Your modem may have different commands than I have listed here, check your modem's manual before you type these commands, especially &Q5 and W0. Some modems use &M5 instead of &Q5. You may even have to change some S-registers. Whatever you must do, make sure the last thing you type to store it in your modem's memory. If you type an illegal command, your modem should respond with ERROR, otherwise it will respond with OK. Players are encouraged to obtain and read a copy of "The Falcon Communications Bible" written by Duke (CIS UID 76711,27) for additional detailed information about specific modem strings to use, etc. etc.. ***************************************************************************** ***************************************************************************** *** Support Shareware Software Authors!! *** Thank you for using my patches! If you continue to use this software and it makes your simulating more enjoyable, I hope you would consider sending me a small donation. All I ask for is a small voluntary fee of $20.00 to help make the time and effort I put into developing patches more worth while. I continuously upgrade my patches to the newer versions as they are released, this takes a lot of time. So please support me in the future by sending a donation to the address below OR on Compuserve you can register this software by typing GO SWREG from any Compuserve prompt. The Registration ID for GO SWREG is 1902. Ken Richardson RR #4 Bridgewater, Nova Scotia Canada B4V 2W3 If you have any ideas that would make Falcon 3.0, Mig 29, Hornet or any other simulator more enjoyable, please contact me and I will see what I can do. If you redistribute this program, please do not modify the program files or the documentation in any way, shape or form. Thank you very much... ***************************************************************************** ***************************************************************************** File list: FALCOM-A & FALCOM-B * The TSRs to be used for HiFi, or HiFi/Complex competitions ... the Flap & Gear keys are disabled. The "A" version has a smaller hit bubble, making it "more challenging" than the "B" version. FTPCOM-A & FTPCOM-B * The TSRs to be used if Complex only is typical. These are functionally equivalent to the FALCOMM versions, except that the Flap & Gear keys are enabled. FALCOMM.TXT * This documentation file. Current versions for all programs are 2.00a and 2.00b Note: This patch is not supported by Spectrum Holobyte. If you experience problems, contact me in the CompuServe ModemGames Forum. Ken "Stinger" Richardson CompuServe [70761,301] P.S. Have fun!!!