This is a guide on running the Eidos/Innerloop 1997 sim, Joint Strike Fighter, JSF on Windows 10. It will cover the common versions, installation, patching, using a Glide wrapper, software rendering and HOTAS setup issues.
Versions
The are two common cd retail versions. The original big box v1.0 edition includes some excellent cd audio music. As I prefer to work with cd images rather than the physical media to save wear and tear on disk and drive, the cd audio tracks required the cd to be ripped as a cue/bin image.
The budget re-release version, v1.1, does not include the cd audio tracks and can be ripped as a plain data cd iso image.
Installation
The JSF installer suffers from the Logitech Gaming Software issue described in the article InstallShield freezing? It may be a Logitech issue. The JSF launcher runs without issue but the setup app will freeze immediately.
If the Discord integration app of the Logitech Gaming Software isn't running there could be another process causing problems. Follow advice in the above article to identify and stop the process, although you do so at your own risk!
Once resolved, simply select the Install JSF option from within the launcher. If the launcher doesn't run automatically, run it from the cd or cd image. My recommendation is change the default installation folder to one that doesn't use spaces, e.g. C:\Games\JSF. When it came to uninstalling, it turned out this caused the uninstaller to fail.
Patching
There is a single v1.12 patch applicable to either v1.0 or v1.1 versions. It can be found at The Patches Scrolls. Once setup is complete, simply unzip the patch. It's a file replacement patch, so copy the patch jsf.exe into the game folder, replacing the existing one.
Glide wrapper
JSF can use 3dfx and requires a Glide wrapper to run with hardware acceleration enabled, under Windows 10. 3dfx is enabled through the graphics options within the game. Two popular Glide wrappers, dgVoodoo2 and nGlide, can be used with JSF but both have advantages and disadvantages.
You can have nGlide installed and switch to dgVoodoo2 (and later back to nGlide) easily. When testing wrappers I set nGlide to display the 3dfx splash screen and dgVoodoo2 to display the 3dfx watermark so I know which one is active during a particular JSF session.
dgVoodoo2
The excellent dgVoodoo2 wrapper from Dege can be found on the Github repository in the releases section. The latest version is v2.83 (at time of writing). Installation involves downloading the release, unzipping into a folder and copying the following files into the JSF game folder:
dgVoodooCpl.exe
dgVoodoo.conf
/3Dfx/x86/Glide.dll
/3Dfx/x86/Glide2x.dll
/3Dfx/x86/Glide3x.dllNote: The /3Dfx/x86 folders don't have to be copied, just the files themselves.
The biggest issue is the significant frame drop from 30fps to as low as single figures, when flying at low altitude across an area which is filled with a large number of terrain objects. Despite testing, I've been unable to find dgVoodoo2 settings to resolve this issue. The only workaround is to reduce the terrain objects to the lowest setting in game.
To stop using dgVoodoo2, simply delete those files from the JSF game folder.
nGlide
Another excellent Glide wrapper from Zeus Software, the current version is v2.10, but you'll want an earlier version v0.97, all versions are available from the Zeus Software website.
The latest version is problematic causing numerous crashes to desktop especially when switching to the Player Forward View at low altitude, in an area with a large number of terrain objects. v0.97 seems far more stable. Download the installer package and install.
If a later version has already been installed you can use the 7zip utility to open the v0.97 installer and extract files to the JSF folder. You can then run the configurator from the JSF folder and set the config options as shown.
Installing/uninstalling with nGlide
If nGlide was installed before JSF, then there's an additional step to take. The JSF installer will replace one of the glide.dll file added by nGlide. All you have to do is reinstall nGlide to put it back again.
Likewise, the JSF uninstaller will remove ntremap.sys, so after uninstalling JSF, reinstall nGlide.
A thank you to Gamecollector for the message on the Zeus Software forums, for that hint.
Recommendations
It's difficult to recommend either Glide wrapper, unfortunately when it comes to running legacy Windows games everyone's machine will be unique in some small way. I'd suggest trying them both (with a fair degree of patience) and see which one works best for you.
And there's always the next version of a Glide wrapper to try!
Software rendering
Often not considered, the software rendering in JSF is excellent and a definitely worth trying. You'll have access to all the resolutions your monitor supports, although the widescreen resolutions are stretched horizontally.
The higher the resolution the greater the probability of a CTD. This may be my subjective option but I find the 4:3 aspect ratio resolutions to be more stable than the widescreen ones. It's worth remembering that crashes would occur on legacy hardware of the day, so possibly an issue with the game engine, and 1024x768 has been mentioned in some corners as a suitably stable resolution to use.
Again my opinion only, but 1280x960 or 1600x1200 may be worth trying as they are 2x 640x480 and 800x600 and seem to pretty stable (on my machine at least).
Disable the 3dfx graphics option in game to switch to software rendering. With software rendering you can enable all of the graphical effects and maintain 30fps at high or low altitude.
HOTAS controllers
If there's one major issue with running JSF natively in Windows 10, it's the HOTAS setup. There are only very basic control options in game, a choice of keyboard, mouse or joystick with axis/button assignment done automatically and shielded from the player. I can understand why this was done, you just want to plug in your controllers and play, but it creates issues today.
JSF struggles with modern multi-axes/multi-button controllers, crashing immediately to the desktop if you try and use them. I've experienced this with the TM Warthog and Logitech X-52.
JSF does no better with virtual controllers, with a limited number of axes, (see Controllers and retro sims part 2: Virtual controllers). Even these cause an immediate crash to desktop. I've even tried a TM TARGET profile with DX buttons 19-32 disabled but it still crashed!
In fact I had to dust off an old Saitek X-45, which I keep for just such eventualities, plugged it in and JSF had no issues. Obviously this isn't practical for everyone, but emulation can provide an alternative solution, which is a subject for a later guide.
Good hunting!
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