The second of Digital Image Designs (DID) flight sims is TFX: Tactical Fighter eXperiment, the first being F29 Retaliator, with future flight sims being the classic EF2000 and F-22 series.
Remembered fondly by fans as a graphically impressive flight sim for 1993. This guide will cover running TFX under DOSBox Staging emulation.
Versions
The original retail release version of TFX, was developed by DID and published by Ocean in 1993. The original release was distributed on 8 x 3.5" 1.44Mb High Density (HD) Floppy Disks or a single cd-rom.
The cd-rom version would be re-released, pre-patched to version 2.05. This version does not require patching. Versions numbers are only shown in the configuration utility (see Patching below).
A cd-rom release is recommended as this includes cd music, is easier to install and may not require patching.
CD images
This guide assumes the cd will be ripped to a cd image. This saves wear and tear on the disc and the drive. The cd-rom should be ripped into a bin/cue image pair to preserve the red book cd music present on the disc.
HOTAS config
As it is a DOS based sim a maximum of 4 axes are supported although only 3 will be used by TFX. When using HOTAS/controller profiling software to limit the controller to a maximum of 4 axes the following device axes to Windows axes mappings were used:
Physical axis | Windows axis |
Joystick x-axis | DX_X_AXIS |
Joystick y-axis | DX_Y_AXIS |
Throttle | DX_Z_AXIS |
Rudder | DX_XROT_AXIS |
DOSBox Staging config
This DOSBox Staging config for TFX assumes the latest version, 0.82.0 will be used. The changes to the default config are shown below:
[sdl]
host_rate = vrr
vsync = off
presentation_mode = vfr
[dosbox]
dos_rate = 1000
[cpu]
cpu_cycles = 30000
cpu_cycles_protected = auto
cycleup = 100
cycledown = 100
[voodoo]
voodoo = false
[mouse]
dos_mouse_immediate = true
[mixer]
reverb = off
chorus = off
[midi]
mididevice = mt32
[mt32]
model = auto
romdir = "D:\Midi\Versioned"
[joystick]
joysticktype = ch
timed = true
swap34 = true
deadzone = 0
[autoexec]
imgmount d "D:\Games\Dos\TFX\cd\TFX.cue" -t cdrom
mount c "D:\Games\Dos\TFX\hdd"
mixer mt32 50:50
mixer cdaudio 50:50
c:
cd tfx
call tfx.bat
exitThe [sdl], [dosbox] and [mouse] settings are suitable for high frame rate gaming as described in this article by Omniclyde. These settings aren't strictly required and can be omitted to use the default settings.
In [cpu] settings, 30000 cycles seems appropriate, you may need to tweak this setting but this seems like a good starting point. The cpu_cycles_protected setting will use the same cycle count as cpu_cycles.
Voodoo emulation isn't required and can be disabled.
The [mixer] settings can be changed to enhance sound and music to personal preference. My personal preference is to use the default chorus and reverb settings to prevent the music from overpowering other sounds.
The [midi] and [mt32] settings enable high quality Roland midi music. The model value, auto, will default to a CM32L device. TFX supports the LAPC1 sound card which is equivalent to a CM32L device. The midi roms folder is described in the DOSBox midi article.
The [joystick] settings are specific to TFX. The ch joystick type corresponds to the CH FlightStick which is supported by TFX. The timed and swap34 setting must be true to allow the throttle to be used. The deadzone setting is a personal preference.
The [autoexec] has example imgmount commands for a cd image. The imgmount and mount commands make use of a folder structure described in my DOSBox game management article.
The mixer commands reduce the volume of the Roland midi music and cd music to prevent the music from overpowering other sounds, this is a personal preference.
The remaining commands will go to the TFX folder, run TFX and close DOSBox once the game is quit. They can be used once TFX is installed and configured.
Installation
Installation should be performed within DOSBox using the install utility on the cd (image) or floppy disk (image). Once complete the installer may begin configuring the game (see Setup below).
The installer may also suggest copying the did.dat file and tfx.bat file to the TFX installation folder, if there is sufficient disk space (see below).
Optimisation
The did.dat file is approximately 11Mb in size and the cd installer utility will leave this file on the cd (image) and suggest manually copying it to the TFX installation folder, only if there is sufficient disk space. These days this is not an issue so the file can be manually copied.
The tfx.bat file is a amended batch file that no longer uses the did.dat file on the cd. This batch file may be present on the cd and can be copied to the TFX folder, replacing the previous tfx.bat file. If not the command in the batch file should change as follows, from:
start DID=D: tfxwith the start executable told to use the did.dat file on the D: cd drive, to:
start tfxwith the start executable using the did.dat file from the current folder.
The DOS4G extender library is used by the config utility, but not the game. Therefore, even though it is possible to replace the extender library with a newer version, it is probably not worth doing so, given how infrequently the config utility will be used.
Patching
There were three patches released for TFX with separate patches for floppy disk and cd-rom releases. The patches are not cumulative, each patch must be installed in order.
Some later cd-rom re-releases may already be patched but the version number isn't shown in-game. However in the config utility (see Setup) the 'ABOUT' button shows an information page, including the version number. Patches are not required for version 2.05.
Patch 1
This is a bug fix patch which fixes the "unexpected interrupt" error message due to hardware conflict. It should fix most other unexplained crashes. The floppy disk patch (tfxpat_1.zip) and cd patch (tfxcd_1.zip) can be found at the Internet Archive.
Patch 2
An enhancement patch to take TFX to version 2.0, although the patch doesn't list any changes. The floppy disk patch (tfxpat_2.zip) and cd patch (tfxcd_2.zip) can be found at the Internet Archive.
Patch 3
This patch has no associated readme file, so it isn't known what this patch does. The floppy disk patch (tfxpat_3.zip) and cd patch (tfxcd_3.zip) can be found at the Internet Archive.
Setup
Some of the installer apps will automatically start the config utility (config.exe), once installation is complete. The config utility can also be run at any time to change config options.
The options should be set as follows:
The swap file should be turned OFF.
The control method is set to JOYSTICK.
The detail level is set to HIGH.
The flight model can be set to MILITARY SPEC or reduced as a personal preference.
Sound FX hardware is set to SB16.
Music hardware is set to LAPC1 for Roland midi music or SB/CD for Soundblaster/CD music.
Joystick type is set to FLIGHTSTICK PRO.
Language is personal preference.
In addition the 'CONF JOYSTICK' button should be used to calibrate the throttle and joystick.
Running
When 'in flight' there is an alternative configuration page available. This page has a joystick scale/sensitivity option. The flight controls, world detail and flight model are the same options as shown in the config utility. There are simplified sound and music options and additional options listed under the REALISM MENU page.
These options are down to personal preference.
Documentation
The following documents can be found on various websites:
The manual in pdf format.
The reference card as an image.
The Amiga version of the game never had a retail release but was later released on a magazine cover disk. The magazine published two articles which some may find useful:
A limited play guide for the Amiga version.
A later guide covering weapon use and hints for other aspects of the sim.
Good hunting!
Comments