A guide on running the Rowan sim, MiG Alley natively in Windows 10. This sim can be very tricky to get running under Windows 10, so not only do I cover the installation actions that worked in my particular case but those actions which have been beneficial to others as well.
As it can be such an involved process, I would suggest reading at least down to the 'Menu issues' section, before you attempt the install, so you know what to expect and the issues you may encounter when installing.
When it comes to installing MiG Alley everyone's experiences seem to be 'slightly' different, hopefully this guide can help you get a version working on your particular machine.
Versions
There were two cd retail versions released, v1.0 released in July 1999 and a v1.1 release in December 1999. You will need the v1.1 release to install in Windows 10. My preferred method is to rip the cd to save wear and tear on disc and drive. An iso cd image is sufficient as there is no cd audio on the disc requiring a bin/cue sheet image.
If you only have access to v1.0 then a download is available allowing you to create a v1.1 installer folder.
Before you begin
My suggestion is to create a MiG Alley setup folder for holding the cd iso file, any patches and the various compatibility fixes. You may have to experiment with various fixes or versions of a particular fix and having them all available to apply or reapply will be useful and save you some hassle later.
Creating an installer folder
This step is only necessary if you have a v1.0 copy. VOGONS member BEEN_Nath_58's message in the MiG Alley thread kindly supplied a rar file with the changed v1.1 setup files.
Copy the contents of the cd/iso to a folder on your hard disk. Download the rar file migalley1.1setup.rar (link is in the message). Extract to your folder, overwriting the v1.0 files with the v1.1 files.
Installing the Intel font
A common issue during the install is the failure to install a TrueType font used by MiG Alley, causing the installation to freeze or hang. The font can be installed manually by going to your installer folder/cd/iso image and finding the intel.ttf file. Open this file and in the window showing the font, click the Install button.
Installing the base game
Go to your installer folder/cd/iso image and find the setup.exe file. You'll want to open the Properties and go to the Compatibility tab.
In my case, I only changed the Compatibility mode option to Windows 95. Others have used the Windows 98 / Windows ME option. If you have issues you may want to try the 'Run this program as an administrator' option.
Run the setup and select a folder to install the game to. If the setup completes you'll be given the options to select 3d hardware and shortly after, to restart Windows, which I did.
When I tried running MiG Alley, it alternated between black screens and blank full screen application windows before it opened the MiG Alley menu along with a dialog box complaining about the resolution/desktop colour depth. Clicking Ok in the dialog closed the game and returned to the desktop.
Installation freezes/hangs
Update: You can find out if it's a Logitech Gaming Software issue, by taking a look at this article: InstallShield freezing? It may be a Logitech issue, and how to fix it.
A fairly common problem is that the installation freezes or hangs. It usually occurs at 74% completion or 1% if you attempt to reinstall to the same folder. The issue seems to be that the installer is waiting for a resource which never becomes free. The process using this resource can be manually killed to allow the installer to continue.
If your installation has frozen:
Open the Task Manager and go to the Processes tab.
You should see a SETUP.EXE (32 bit) entry with a status of 'Not responding'.
Go to the Details tab, find the SETUP.EXE entry with the status of 'Not responding'.
Right click and select 'Analyze wait chain'.
Select the checkbox of the process (or processes) below SETUP.EXE.
The End process button should become active, click it to end process(es).
The installer should be able to continue to completion.
To be honest I'm no expert so I don't know how risky it is to kill off these processes, so you do this at your own risk. In the screenshots, the blocking process I found, was some sort of Logitech Discord process, so I felt fairly safe in killing it off and it probably restarted when Windows was restarted.
Thanks to BEEN_Nath_58 and the hint about wait chains.
Installing the last official patch
The last official patch released by Rowan Software is the v1.23 patch released in April 2000. It can be found at The Patches Scrolls.
Download the zip file and extract the contents. The patch is an executable, mig123.exe. Before running the patch, open the Properties and go to the Compatibility tab. In my case I set the Compatibility mode option to Windows 95. Run the patch and it should complete without issue.
If there are issues you may need to change compatibility settings (Windows 98 has been reported as working) or try 'Run this program as an administrator' option. You may want to try the same options you used when installing the base game.
Trying to run the game at this point, resulted in the same dialog and exit to desktop encountered when trying to run the base game.
Installing the BDG patch(es)
The Battle of Britain / MiG Alley Development Group (BDG) continued working on MiG Alley and produced patches fixing a number of outstanding bugs, added quality of life improvements to the game and added TrackIR support.
Patch v0.85F
The latest patch is v0.85F with it's own installer. The patch can be found on MediaFire. Download the BDG_MiGAlley_0.85F.rar file and extract the contents. I ran the executable BDG_MiGAlley_0.85F.exe which completed successfully, compatibility settings were set to Windows 98. However if you have issues you may want to use the settings you may have used to install the base game and/or last official patch.
Patch v0.85F2
There is also a v0.85F2 patch, this is s file replacement patch, without installer, so v0.85F should be installed first. It's not clear what fix(es) it provides, but the sim seems to keep the menu window open/active in the background while the 3d flight window is open/active and this patch seems to improve the game's window handling, at least in my very subjective opinion. Like all of these fixes, your experience may differ or the difference may be marginal.
The patch can be found on a GitHub repository created by gondur in the patches folder. Once the mig_085_f2.rar file is downloaded, extract the files and overwrite the mig.exe and mig.pdb files in the MiG Alley folder, taking backups of the originals before you do so.
Update: This message in the A2A Simulations forum says the v0.85F2 patch is for Windows 98/ME editions, to be applied on top of the v0.85F patch. Good to get some clarification on the above.
Configuring the BDG patch(es)
It's recommended to disable the intro videos. The BDG patch can be configured through the sim itself in the BDG menu page or by editing the bdg.txt file. In the file, find the INTRO_VIDEO entry and change it to:
INTRO_VIDEO=OFFVOGON's member WesCov found that particular fix and the message includes a download link to a bdg.txt file.
Adding no-cd fixes
To remove the need to retain the installer folder/cd/iso image, the SMACKER folder should be copied to your MiG Alley folder. Then, the roots.dir file can be edited, it's a text file so any text editor (Notepad) will do. There should be two entries which reference the installer folder/cd/mounted iso image. Change these entries to your MiG Alley folder. In my case in the lines:
3 "F:\"
13 "F:\"were changed to:
3 "D:\Games\mig"
13 "D:\Games\mig"These instructions can also be found in <MiG Alley folder>/Docs/BDG_MiG_Manual.pdf, if you installed the BDG v0.85F patch.
Trying to run the game at this point, resulted in the menu pages working but a crash to desktop when trying to fly a mission.
Adding DDrawCompat
From the creator, Narzoul of DDrawCompat:
DDrawCompat is a DLL wrapper aimed at fixing compatibility and performance issues for games based on DirectDraw and Direct3D 1-7.
The DDrawCompat wrapper seems to a key fix in getting MiG Alley to run under Windows 10. This wrapper is the only one I ended up requiring.
There are a couple of different versions to try, the first was identified by VOGON's member Dornil in this message which includes the mig.rar download.
Alternatively the latest version of DDrawCompat (DDrawCompat-v0.5.4.zip at present) can be used, available from the releases page.
For either version, extract the ddraw.dll file from the rar/zip into the MiG Alley folder and configure DDrawCompat as described below.
Configuring DDrawCompat
Whichever version of DDrawCompat is used, it requires configuring. DDrawCompat can run into issues if there are a large number of valid resolutions, so the available resolutions have to be limited. In addition the default shortcut keys need to be reassigned or disabled as they are also used by the BDG patch to change the FOV.
Configuration involves creating a DDrawCompat.ini file in the MiG Alley folder. Any text editor can be used to create the file. My own DDrawCompat.ini file has the following entries:
SupportedResolutions=800x600,1024x768,1600x1200,2048x1536
ConfigHotkey=none
Antialiasing=msaa(3)I've limited it to four resolutions, with 2048x1536 being the largest 4:3 aspect ratio resolution supported by my monitor. During gameplay the thrust/heading/speed/altitude text in the bottom bar is extremely small, so lower resolutions like 1600x1200 have also been retained. The Antialiasing entry was added later once I had MiG Alley running, so you may want to leave this out when testing.
Narzoul has a wiki detailing the other options, definitely worth a quick read. Again, VOGON's member WesCov found that particular fix and the message includes a download link to a DDrawCompat.ini file.
If you try and run the game at this point, the first attempt may result in a crash to desktop but with further attempts, you may find the menu pages work and you're able to successfully start flying a mission! Performance should be good, I normally see around 50fps with an i7-7700K and RTX 3060 @ 2048x1536.
If you still have issues you may wish to try WineD3D or a combination of WineD3D and DDrawCompat.
Adding WineD3D
WineD3D is a compatibility wrapper which emulates old Direct3D versions and features that were removed by Microsoft in recent Windows releases, using OpenGL. Thanks to Federico Dossena, precompiled Windows binaries are available on the WineD3D for Windows page.
If you've already tried DDrawCompat, you may wish to remove/backup/rename the DDrawCompat ddraw.dll file.
Download the latest version of WineD3D for Windows (WineD3DForWindows_9.16-staging.zip at present) and extract all of the files. If you take a look at the WINED3D README.txt file, it'll describe the files that need to be copied into the game folder for the various versions of DirectX. According to MobyGames, MiG Alley used DirectX6 so ddraw.dll and wined3d.dll should be copied into the MiG Alley folder.
If you try and run the game at this point may you have to be patient, initialisation may take longer when starting the game or starting a mission. I find the performance on my machine isn't great with 9-22fps.
Combining DDrawCompat and WineD3D
For some the combination of DDrawCompat and WineD3D has proved successful. Using the mig.rar download from Dornil in this message, using earlier versions of DDrawCompat and WineD3D, extract all of the files (ddraw.dll, libwine.dll and wined3d.dll) into the MiG Alley folder.
Alternatively you could try the latest versions of DDrawCompat and WineD3D described above. Copy the ddraw.dll file from the latest DDrawCompat version and the wined3d.dll file from the latest WineD3D version, into the MiG Alley folder.
Whichever versions are used, DDrawCompat will require configuring as before.
Performance is good, I normally see around 50fps with the wrappers used in this manner.
MS compatibility fixes
You may at some point you may receive a 'one-shot' Windows notification stating compatibility fixes were found and applied for the software (MiG Alley) you were running. I chose the 'Yes, this program worked correctly' option and haven't seen it since.
As I have the Compatibility Administrator installed, here are the compatibility settings for 2 installations of MiG Alley. D:\mig\Mig.exe uses the BDG v0.85F patch while D:\mig2\Mig.exe uses the BDG v0.85F and v0.85F2 patches.
If you use DDrawCompat/WineD3D, DWM8And16BitMitigation is set. If you try dgVoodoo2, HighDpiAware also gets set.
This may be of some use for those trying to run under a different version of Windows.
Menu issues
There are still some minor issues remaining, after completing a mission the menu pages will occasionally migrate to the top left of the screen. I would recommend saving progress as needed before quitting and restarting the game.
In the Preferences page the '3D II' settings have 'Horizon fade' and 'Horizon distance' options. If they are set to Far, make sure in the '3D' settings the 'Auto Frame Rate' is set to Off. When a mission starts, the game tends to think there are frame rate issues and automatically resets the 'Horizon fade' to Near during gameplay.
If it still doesn't work?
Unfortunately MiG Alley is still very tricky to get working natively under Windows 10 and with everyone's setup being unique in one way or another there is no guarantee of success. However Windows 98 emulation with PCem has allowed MiG Alley to run successfully for some. This will be something I'll be taking a look at in a future post.
Trying dgVoodoo2
This was tried using the current version (v2.83 at time of writing). I'm including it as it's a popular solution and maybe a later release will fix any MiG Alley issues and provide an alternative solution if DDrawCompat/WineD3D is unsuccessful.
Performance was excellent at 50-60fps, but there are obvious issues as the screenshot shows, so not recommended at present.
Controller setup
MiG Alley has pretty good native controller support. The important thing is to enable each device from the Input Devices drop down and then select the input device and axis for each control. This screenshot shows my config.
I'm not using a utility like TM Target or Joystick Gremlin to assign keys to controller buttons, so I'm not sure what effect a virtual/enumerated device, created by these utilities, will have. That'll be in a future update.
TrackIR setup
TrackIR is supported by the BDG v0.85F patch so you'll need this installed first. TrackIR can be turned on or off in the Preferences page, under the BDG settings, in-game or with the bdg.txt config file in the MiG Alley folder. Set the entry as follows:
TRACKIR=ON This should allow you to use TrackIR to control panning around the cockpit. If you wish to use all 4 of the TrackIR axis supported by MiG Alley, the bdg.txt needs to be set to:
TRACKIR6DOF=ONThis option is not available in the in-game BDG menu.
Recording issues
If you wish to record your gameplay, there are issues to consider.
Nvidia GeForce Experience
GeForce Experience will either end the video immediately or record the background menu window instead of the 3d flight window, resulting in a black screen video with audio. The trick is to, counter-intuitively, turn on the privacy setting and only start the recording once the mission has started. This seems to cause the menu window to be ignored and to record video from the 3d flight window.
Microsoft GameBar
MS GameBar seems to record but would often either record a black screen or blank full screen window. The trick is to modify the modify the DDrawCompat.ini file and add the following entry:
FullscreenMode=exclusiveThe wiki says this increases the risk of crashes and the default borderless setting should be more appropriate for recording, but this is the only way I managed to record video.
You may also see a notification from the GameBar (although often it doesn't appear) saying it has switched to full screen recording. Only start the recording once the mission has started. There is still an issue where the video is squashed horizontally as the below video shows.
I don't have any other 3rd party gameplay recording software, so I can't comment on any required setup.
Uninstalling
The bundled uninstaller works well and will successfully uninstall MiG Alley, leaving behind the patches and wrappers you may have used, which is be be expected. I'd suggest using the same compatibility settings used, when installing the game. The uninstaller also seems to play well with 3rd party uninstaller apps like Revo Uninstaller, so good news there.
Freezes/hangs
If you experienced freezes/hangs when installing there's a high probability of experiencing the same when uninstalling. Following the same Task Manager steps, during installation (detailed earlier), will allow the uninstaller to complete. This time you'll be looking for an UNWISE.EXE process rather than a SETUP.EXE process.
In my case, it was the same Logitech/Discord process I encountered when installing so I had no worries in killing it off.
What I tried
I thought I'd go through the various steps I tired in getting this sim to work, rather than the minimum needed to get it to work on my machine.
The initial install didn't go well and it took a number of installs, trying compatibility settings, installing fonts and looking into wait chains before I got a successful install.
Then the install was supplemented with the official patch and the BDG v0.85F patch using the same or similar compatibility settings.
I started with the WineD3D and DDrawCompat combo suggested by Dornil and after discovering the need for a DDrawCompat.ini file, I had a first working install.
Further testing continued with the latest version of DDrawCompat and WineD3D. I also tried WineD3D only and dgVoodoo2, each working install was tested and tried with various config options. Eventually settled on just needing the latest version of DDrawCompat. Also added my hotas controller during this testing.
Started to trying to record gameplay footage as well. Tried out TrackIR and figured out how to record footage with GameBar.
Created a new install to try out the BDG v0.85F2 patch and tried the recently released DDrawCompat and dgVoodoo2 versions and finally worked out how to record better quality footage with GeForce Experience.
Decided to create a fresh installation, so uninstalled both copies I had, and found the same freeze/hang as when installing.
Finally
If there are any mistakes/omissions/updates or anything you think is confusing please get in touch. If I've missed any VOGON's members I should have mentioned or you wish your mention to be removed, again please get in touch and I'll update this guide.
Good Hunting!
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