DDFIX for FU3

[agtim 0]

This is an actualized version of the tutorial uploaded by Juvat on 24.Aug.08 as zip in this forum. The zip is not longer valid and so I do now a persistence version of this tutorial. Thanks Jim for your help.There's a fellow who has made a mod for another wonderful old Looking Glass product, the "Thief" series. He has somehow figured out a way to force support for higher resolutions, wide screen, 32 bit, Anisotropic and some other things. Hopefully-maybe our own Flt3 coding guru's would be kind enough to get with him and see if his methods can be adapted to the Flight Unlimited series. He also has the source code for his mod available for public download.I have downloaded the source, but there was no need to change parts of it now.May be we will need it later and it's good to know that we have the source :-)http://timeslip.chorrol.com/ddfix.htmlDownload the Manual version (the GUI version is for Thief only)you will get the file ddfixM.7z, store it to drive.Copy and paste the ddfix.dll and ddfix.ini into your Flight Unlimited3 root installation folder. That is the same location than Flight3.exe.Copy Flight3.exe and rename the copy to Flight4.exe or Flight3_ddfix.exe or another name.Modifying the copy of Flight3.exe with a hex editor:Do not modify the original, but the copy (Flight4.exe).-You'll need a hex editor. I use XVI32.exe.: http://www.programmersheaven.com/download/...8/Download.aspx-- e XVI32 to open your FLIGHT4.exe-- Select "search", then "find". Type in, "ddraw" with-out quotes. It will find the first instance of ddraw.dll. Mine is located at address 20C6B2.-- Replace "ddraw" with "ddfix" without quotes.-- Select "file", then "save".-- That's all you need to do for editing the flight4.exe.before:http://www.agtim.ch/fu3/images/ddfix1.jpgafter:http://www.agtim.ch/fu3/images/ddfix2.jpgnow modify ddfix.iniJust drag-copy the version below starting at [Main] and ending at ;end of ddfix.iniRight mouse click in it and select copy.Now open ddfix.ini using notepad editor.remove all lines.Right mouse click in it and select paste. The contents that you drag-copied should paste in.Select "save". Andre's ddfix.ini for Flight Unlimited 3:[Main];Screen resolution;Must be 800x600 or greatergWidth=1024gHeight=768;Refresh rate. 0 is default, anything else to override.RefreshRate=0;Set to 1 to fix the duel core related crashMultiCoreFix=0;Set to 1 to automatically register lgvid.ax each time thief is started upVideoFix=0;This can be set to zero to get a more accurate z-buffer;Doesn't usually make a noticable difference to picture qualityUseCompatibleZBuffer=1;Turns on the 32 bit texture loader and adds support for some unsupported screen resolutions;Will cause a crash if used with an unsupported exe; 0 - Disable; 1 - Determine exe automatically; 2 - Thief 2 v1.18Thief2Extensions=1;Set to 1 to disable the windows keys while thief is runningDisableWindowsKey=0;Set to 1 to enable anisotropic filteringAnisotropicFiltering=1;If you want to share overriden textures between thief installations, uncomment the next line;It should contain the absolute path to the equivilent of \res\ddfix, including the trailing \;TexturePath=C:\Games\Thief2\res\ddfix\;XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX;XX Compatibility settings XX;XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX;Changes the way direct writes to the frontbuffer are handled;SS2 players should set these options to '2' and '0xf81f' respectively;Thief 2 players with corrupted in game text should use '2' and '0x0000';Players who experience slowdown with UseSysMemOverlay=2 should set both options to 0UseSysMemOverlay=2OverlayColourKey=0xf81f ;end of ddfix.iniTake a flight using Flight4.exe. You are done.to take a flight with the original choose Flight3.exeNow I had 1024x768 set in ddfix.iniYou can't set this resolution with fu3 option after using ddfix.dllThis will prove it's really working with ddfix :-)http://www.agtim.ch/fu3/images/ddfix3.jpgNow you can experience other settings of ddfix.iniremember to use PrtSc key for screenshots, Ctr+Alt+P will not work with ddfix !http://www.agtim.ch/fu3/images/ddfix4.jpghttp://www.agtim.ch/fu3/images/ddfix5.jpggood luck :( Andre

[Hans_Petter 1]

No success yet :( With ddfix I get exactly the same broken cockpit as I had. However, the reason seems to be that ddfix doesn't do what it is supposed to. When I close FU III I can watch this crash log,Problem signature: Problem Event Name: APPCRASH Application Name: FLIGHT4.EXE Application Version: 1.9.0.0 Application Timestamp: 38149d8a Fault Module Name: ddfix.dll_unloaded Fault Module Version: 0.0.0.0 Fault Module Timestamp: 483d58ce Exception Code: c0000005 Exception Offset: 0017746c OS Version: 6.0.6000.2.0.0.768.3 Locale ID: 1033 Additional Information 1: eb9a Additional Information 2: 5a287e26102d9efdfa1b412df0240a56 Additional Information 3: 4a65 Additional Information 4: 372c7800509188fa3702c4bab2049c9eSo, my ddfix UNLOADED. Could it be that it won't work under Vista?

[agtim 0]

Hi Hans_Petter,DDFIX is working, just at the termination of the application it will fail, but not during.Try to make a screenshot with PrtSc key and look at the LG Message textcolor (brakes...)You will have to modify parameters in ddfix.ini to find a better solutionTry to run Flight4.exe in Win95 compatibility mode.good luckAndre

[Hans_Petter 1]

Win 95/98 compatibility mode results in "DirectX 6.0 or higher must be installed to run FU III" Win 2000/XP compatibility mode runs with no lack of Direct X warning but it looks just as the standard Vista.However, I just confirmed thar ddfix is not launching. Print Screen effects nothing while cntl-alt-P gives me a screenshot. Thus my Flight4.exe may be corrupt. Evidently, it's not an unmodified Flight3.exe since I do get ddfix related error message. So, I may have failed to create the correct file, Vista may have prevented me from making the correct file or Vista may not read it as intended.How about this, you send me your Flight4.exe, your ddfix ini and the dll. Then I really know that we're using identical files.Added: I just got to think of my flight3.cfg. It was modified a long a time ago to implement Laura Doering's rendering option + some other tweaks that have worked fine previously. Is it possible that any of these clash with Nvidia standards? Hans Petter

[Hans_Petter 1]

There's several issues all at once here. With a properly set up ddfix it is working. I noticed that the start-up screen was of poorer quality. It seems that the ddfix shortcut fails to smooth the fonts and the image of the Beechjet. Well, I can live with a less pretty start-up screen. Then I noticed a different color of the text messages. However, as the embedded image shows ddfix hasn't fixed anything. By the way, it's a print screen screenshot and it was named "screenshot1.bmp" rather than the usual "flt300x.bmp". Further, there's no error message when the sim is closed anymore.So, ddfix is activated and modifies the rendering of the sim but it does not address the broken cockpit issue in my case. There may be things to change in the ddfix.ini that will change this. If I can't fix this there are two option,1) Set up a dual boot and run FU III under XP2) Buy another video card, probably an ATI. It has to be PCI to fit my mobo. It must be possible to get state-of-the-art performance in terms of fps without breaking older sims/games.Does anyone on this forum run FU III under Vista without any display anomalies?Has anyone got ddfix working under Vista?