Tech refresh 2025: F-19 Stealth Fighter

This is a tech refresh article describing any changes since the original articles 'F-19 Stealth Fighter: Running in DOSBox' and 'F-19 Stealth Fighter: Optimized settings for DOSBox Staging' were published. Since the original article the version of DOSBox Staging has changed from v0.80.1 to v0.82.0.

The only change is an updated DOSBox Staging configuration shown below, the rest of the advice in the previous articles remains valid.

DOSBox Staging configuration

These are the settings which differ from the DOSBox Staging defaults.

Note: At higher cycles the weapons effectiveness drops and Air-to-air missiles and Mavericks will begin to miss targets, so testing with some training missions may be required and the cycles setting tweaked to ensure consistent weapons performance. This may be dependant on your setup, however the cycles shown below should be a good starting point.

[sdl]
host_rate           = vrr
vsync               = off
presentation_mode   = vfr

[dosbox]
dos_rate                    = 1000

[cpu]
core                 = simple
cpu_cycles           = 5200
cycleup              = 100
cycledown            = 100

[voodoo]
voodoo                    = false

[mouse]
dos_mouse_immediate       = true

[mixer]
reverb     = medium
chorus     = normal

[midi]
mididevice      = mt32

[mt32]
model       = auto
romdir      = "D:\Midi\Versioned"

[sblaster]
sbtype              = sbpro1

[innovation]
sidmodel          = auto

[joystick]
joysticktype                = 4axis
timed                       = true
swap34                      = false
deadzone                    = 0

[autoexec]
loadfix
mount C "D:\Program Files (x86)\GOG Galaxy\Games\F-19 Stealth Fighter"
mount C "D:\Program Files (x86)\GOG Galaxy\Games\F-19 Stealth Fighter\cloud_saves" -t overlay
mixer master 50 mt32 70

c:
call f19scen.bat

The sdl settings are appropriate for a variable refresh rate monitor. They can be left as default or omitted for standard monitors.

The sdl, dos_rate and mouse settings are also applicable for high frame rates as described in this article by Omnicycle.

The voodoo emulation is disabled as it isn't required.

The mixer settings are a personal preference to enhance the music and audio.

The Soundblaster type is changed to take advantage of the Soundblaster Pro dual OPL2 chips.

Innovation sound is enabled as it supported by the game and can be selected at startup with the setup game menu, if you would like to try it out.

Joystick settings will be dependant on your particular HOTAS setup and may require adjustment.

In the autoexec section the mixer volumes are changed with the mixer command to a personal preference.

The damson menu (f19scen.bat) is used to optimise startup options and allow aircraft model and scenario changes.

Enhancements

Earlier this year PixelWings produced a mod for F-19. In the words of PixelWings:

This mod is a small and simple graphic and sound improvement, featuring a freshly drawn cockpit panel for the aircraft, new RWR type sprites for the tactical MFD screen, as well as a new original title screen, credits screen and a one-game advert screen.

Even if you wish to use the vanilla cockpit initially, it's still worth getting this immediately, as the revised Roland MT32 rsound.exe file removes the annoying low altitude warning! So a big thank you to PixelWings, the mod can be found on the PixelWings website.

Good hunting!