Thanks, I will check on that 

I present below the best dgVoodoo2 settings on DirectX tab, for better performance, no stuttering, and no freeze:

dgVoodoo 2.78.2 - Control Panel

Program Files (x86)\Flight3
                   
☐ Disable and passthru to real DirectX

Videocard
[dgVoodoo Virtual 3D Accelerated Card]        VRAM [512 MB]

Texturing                                                        Resolution    
Filtering     [Force anisotropic 8x]                  [Unforced]

☑ Force filter only if not point sampled

☐ Disable mipmapping
                                                                     Antialiasing (MSAA)
                                                                     [4x]

☐ Bilinear blit stretch     ☐ Apply Phong shading when possible

☐ Force vSync              ☐ dgVoodoo Watermark

☑ Fast video memory access

Was still getting low FPS in the low 20s on the ground. And then DGVooodoo stopped working altogether so I have to run it without which lowers the FPS even further .
guess I should play this on lower graphics settings …

On my laptop there is an i5 2 cores Intel processor. It's "medium" performance. If it is lower than that or if there isn't a dedicated graphic card on the laptop, it is awkward.

Instead of dgvoodoo2 there is another wrapper that could work better, but with no connection with Reshade 4.7.0. It is DDrawCompat.

20 fps is the strict minimum. Reach 30 fps is not so evident. On game options do not forget to connect with the 3D card (or with dgVoodoo, it's the same). And if necessary reduce resolution (mine is 1024 x 768) (I play it extended 1366 x 768) (I like it that way).

 

I've  tried lots of things. Interesting that even lowering the graphics settings does not increase frame rate commensurably, must be because of the low end CPU and integrated GPU.  

My last discovery.

(dgVoodoo2 is needed, in my case, because it converts Direct Draw (DirectX 6) to D3D11, and D3D11 is needed for Reshade 4.7.0. My settings for Reshade 4.7.0: Techniques=Pirate_Vibrance,DELC_Sharpen,Pirate_Bloom,prod80_03_FilmicTonemap,Unsharp )

To stability and performance, because I suffered some crash when playing FU3, I discovered dgVoodoo2 version 2.63.2 appears to work better. And with these settings applied:

Videocard
[dgVoodoo Virtual 3D Accelerated Card]        VRAM [512 MB]

Texturing                                                        Resolution    
Filtering     [Force anisotropic 16x]                  [Unforced]

☑ Disable mipmapping
                                                                     Antialiasing (MSAA)
                                                                     [4x]

☐ Bilinear blit stretch     ☐ Apply Phong shading when possible

☐ Force vSync              ☐ dgVoodoo Watermark

☐ Fast video memory access

 

• First point: I am very sorry because as I am looking for the best settings, I end up with answers that are not final. But this time I guess I got it. The matter is that from time to time the game could crash through clouds, through thunderstorms, etc...
• So the point is I found FU3 to be more stable with some of the settings for graphics to be at game level, and aimed at an old graphic card. For that, first layer before DDRAW has to be DDFIX. I explain in this forum how to apply DDFIX. And in ddfix.ini I put triple buffering activated.
• I changed again dgVoodoo2 (last version) DirectX settings:

  Videocard [GeForce 9800 GT]               VRAM [1024 MB]

  Filtering     [Force anisotropic 16x]                 

  ☐ Disable mipmapping              Antialiasing (MSAA) [4x]

  ☐ Bilinear blit stretch     ☐ Apply Phong shading

  ☐ Force vSync              ☐ dgVoodoo Watermark

  ☐ Fast video memory access

• And last point: On ReShade 4.7.0 these are my settings with this new configuration (it looks like a new game): Vibrance,Pirate_Vibrance,DELC_Sharpen,prod80_02_Bloom,prod80_03_FilmicTonemap,Unsharp

Too much "vibrance" (last post, Reshade point). Remove "Pirate_Vibrance", just leave "Vibrance". Otherwise, FU3 game seems to be more robust with settings indicated in last post (I confirm). It wasn't game freeze or computer crash, but it was just the game "exiting" itself when too much "action" (Windows 11).

On June 2019, in relation with "no fog or haze effects are rendered" in the game when using dgVooDoo, Dege the creator of DGvoodoo said the following thing: https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?t=67406

<<Play this game with an 'old' virtual card type, like Geforce4 / FX5700 or ATI Radeon 8500.
This game renders the scene with exponential w-fog, but causes DirectX to apply z-fog instead (I guess it's the usual lack of setting of the projection matrix).
If I know it correctly, old drivers didn't support z-fog (that's why the game worked on old hardware), so the card types mentioned are forcing w-fog.>>

[Geforce 9800 GT from last DGvoodoo2 versions features w-fog (verified).]

<<Also, this game is continuously writing to the backbuffer by the cpu to render its HUD. This is what dgVoodoo doesn't like too much, so I recommend to enable option 'fast video memory access'. I got much better performance with that.>>

[The "fast video memory" setting brings instability when settings are not optimized. In the next post I present my "masterpiece" for flt3.cfg config file. It's a balance between great visual rendering and no game crash when going through clouds (You can skip DDFIX) ]

;no_splash

;--Gets rid of opening loud movie
;nomovie

;--This will stop Approach and Control from screaming at you on guard.
;no_approach_on_guard
;no_tower_on_guard
frequent_pilot_slams

; new stuff
terrain_delta_time 5
maximum_cap 280000000

;joystick with throttle and rudder pedals
joy_device 1
; 3    Z axis    rudder left and right (uses Left and Right arrows)
rudder_device 1 3
;mixture_device 1 6
; 6    rotation around Z throttle device (uses Up and Down arrows)
;NumPad 8 & 2 are remapped Up and Down arrows for my Lexip joystick
throttle_device 1 6

use_loose_gtls
;generate_outer_megatiles

;--Give your plane a shadow
;enablePlayerShadow

;--Cancel splashes on floatplane touchdowns
;no_splash

use_haze_cache
haze_cache_size 512000
show_distant_mountains 0

UsePuffCloudModels

;NoGrids

;Nice, non-blocky haze may be achieved with
;TerrainHazeMethod MT
;but probably with a small framerate hit.

;Nice, non-blocky haze may be achieved with
;HazeMethod Specular
;but few 3D drivers support it properly.  You'll see things
;like black clouds if your driver doesn't handle it.

;If your 3D driver can handle single-pass blending multitexturing,
;remove the following line for framerate boosts during nighttime
;scenes.
;punt_single_pass_multitexturing

;STARTUP
plane Beechjet
airport oak
region sanfran
CurrentLog DEFAULT.LOG
default_weather WEATH5.WSD
;default_weather default.wsd
;default_weather TRWDIST.WSD

; AI
pattern_cap 10
takeoff_cap 8
ground_cap 20

cam_mode 11

mono_wrap
mono_clear

;--In fly mode, the mouse will disappear after # seconds of inactivity.
;--Moving it will bring it back.
mouse_vanish 4

;--Having this line in your cfg file will enable you to fly freely throughout the world
;--"Zoar mode" is toggled in-game by pressing control-Z.
zoar

forcefeedback_xmin 0.
opt_pilot_voice 7
opt_hw_acceleration 1
opt_3dhw_last_hw 1
opt_video_resolution 2
opt_perspective 2
opt_gamma_correction 39
opt_close_caption 0
opt_aircraft_density 69
opt_distance_clipping 0
opt_terrain_detail 103
opt_BDensity 5
opt_sun_moon_glare 1
opt_sky_detail 2
opt_enhanced_cumulus 1
opt_fair_weather_cumulus 1
opt_cumuloform_population 58
opt_cumuloform_variability 58
opt_wind_accuracy 2
opt_radio_volume 90
ai_density_multiplier 0.7
haze_scale 29
turb_scale 40

blackbox_autorec 101803

;the blackbox_real_time option will make your flight recordings stay in better sync with any .wav
; sound files they reference
;blackbox_real_time

;CLOUDS
;--This will change the size of the "puffs" within a cumuliform cloud (default=2)
model_puffscale 3
;--Maximum size of "grid" element (in whole numbers, default=16).
CloudDeck_PuffOnlyMaxQuadSize 32
;--Maximum size of puff, in whole numbers (default=5).
CloudDeck_PuffOnlyMaxPuffSize 8

;SNOW
;Here's how the falling rain and snow is defined.
reg_average_temperature 270
reg_seasonal_temperature_variation 50
reg_daily_temperature_variation 263
reg_daily_temperature_variation_summer 35
reg_daily_temperature_variation_winter 25
reg_random_temperature_variation 20
reg_frontal_temperature_variation 30
;--How many (default=400).
snow_MaxParticles 5000
;--How far out they (both snow and rain) can be created (meters, default=10):
precip_MaxRadius 25
;--Size, in inches, a snowflake is (default 0.5).
snow_size 1.4
;--How see-through snow is when moving slow or fast (default 0.1,0.7).
snow_minOpacity 0.5
snow_maxOpacity 0.9
sky_SnowOpticalDepthHW 50

;RAIN
;Here's how you tweak those marvelous windshield raindrops, which are really composed of three separate effects.
;--How many of each effect, when at max intensity.
;--Defaults: maxdrops=20, maxspecks=240, maxsplats=10
windshield_Maxdrops 160
windshield_Maxspecks 300
windshield_MaxSplats 40
;--Fudgy thing that makes them curve (default=0.60).
windshield_CurvatureYFactor 0.80
;--How they respond to relative velocity. Higher numbers make faster movements.
;--Default=0.3.
windshield_VelAirspeedfactor 0.8
;--Fudgy thing that makes them affected by gravity (default=6).
windshield_ForceFactor 5
;--How many (default=400).
rain_MaxParticles 5000
;--Terminal velocity, in m/s (default=-6.0).
rain_TermVel -10.0
;--How see-through precipitation is when moving slow or fast (default 0.1,0.7).
rain_minOpacity 0.2
rain_maxOpacity 0.6
sky_RainOpticalDepthHW 50

;STORM
;  Virga may exist under cumulus clouds. They are packed in rows and columns under
;  a cloud with a density defined by a value representing the number of virga
;  instances on the side of square (default=2).
Virga_Dim 4
;  Virga fades out when it is approached, defined by these min/max values, where a small value yields a closer distance.
Virga_MaxDistFactor 1.5
Virga_MinDistFactor 0.5
;  Virga haze gets recalculated with a certain frequency, and random
;  variation, in seconds. The smaller the values, the more frequent the
;  recalculations.
Virga_HazeCalcTime 5
Virga_HazeCalcTimeVariation 2
; Disables lightning flashes
; DisableCumulusLightning
;  Lightning causes CB (cumulonimbus) clouds to flash, at a variety of locations.
;  The location changes randomly, governed by these min/max times, in seconds:
Lightning_MinTime 0.5
Lightning_MaxTime 20
;  When lightning occurs there is a probability it will not have a bolt associated
;  with it. To reduce that probability (and thus increase the likelihood of a
;  bolt), define this 0-1 value, where 0 means "most likely".
Lightning_BoltProb 0

;SKY
;  Here's a bunch of random stuff relating to sky coloration, and other
;  miscellany.
;  Size, in radians, sun and moon appear (defaults both 0.08726646259972).
;moon_size 0.0450
;sun_size 0.0436
moon_size 0.0000
sun_size 0.0600
; how high the atmosphere exists
AtmosphereThickness 50000
; how quickly the atmosphere gets thin with altitude
AtmosphereDensityRatio 0.4
; increase these values for finer sky rendering
sky_Lats 128
sky_Longs 128
sky_GradientLats 720
; this value defines the angle above the horizon where the "solid" sky color begins
sky_GradientAngle 0.4
; these affect the "clear air" absorption
sky_RayleighScatterRed 0.01
sky_RayleighScatterGreen 0.023
sky_RayleighScatterBlue 0.05
; these affect the "clear air" scatter
sky_RayleighScatterRedScatter 0.0004
sky_RayleighScatterGreenScatter 0.002
sky_RayleighScatterBlueScatter 0.003

;  How many low level haze profiles we have defined (default=2).
sky_NumLowLevelHazeProfiles 2
sky_UseLowLevelProfile 1

sky_LowLevel1ScatterRedHW 1
sky_LowLevel1ScatterGreenHW 0.995
sky_LowLevel1ScatterBlueHW 0.97

sky_LowLevel1ScatterRedScatterHW 0.23
sky_LowLevel1ScatterGreenScatterHW 0.33
sky_LowLevel1ScatterBlueScatterHW 0.42

sky_LowLevel1OpticalDepthHW 800

sky_LowLevel2ScatterRedHW 1
sky_LowLevel2ScatterGreenHW 0.999
sky_LowLevel2ScatterBlueHW 0.95

sky_LowLevel2ScatterRedScatterHW 0.2
sky_LowLevel2ScatterGreenScatterHW 0.32
sky_LowLevel2ScatterBlueScatterHW 0.4

sky_LowLevel2OpticalDepthHW 800

 

Patrik / DearGown,

Great work on getting this classic Looking Glass title operational but like DearGown I am having a fundamental problem with the installer.

I'm pretty good with tech problems in general but I'm a bit out of date with 32-bit vs 64-bit systems - my last laptop ran Win 7 but finally died and I'm now on a Win 11 64-bit system.  I'm not exactly sure when 64-bit OS came in - are you running a version of Win 10 with a 32-bit OS?

I've tried d:\setup.exe -lgntforce (on the mounted old-games ISO) but it just crashes out immediately.  Running this from within Task Manager at least brings up the InstallShield window but again crashes out before I can click Next.  As far as I know this is expected behaviour as a 64-bit OS will never run a 16-bit installer -  or am I missing something?

What I want is a zipped-up Game folder - not the install ISO's.  I noticed DearGown was able to copy over files but this seems a bit hit and miss.  Could either of you post a listing of files and directories in your main game directory.

I've had a few goes already...

ISO 1 has the main FLT3 directory with the Flight3.exe so I copied this directory whole. I also copied the help directory and put it under FLT3

ISO 2 has some SMALL, MEDIUM and LARGE named CAB files and related HDR files - not sure where to put these so I just dropped them in the FLT3 directory

ISO3 just has the SEATTLE/MAPS directory which clearly slots under FLT3/REGIONS/SEATTLE

Doing this has got me to start the game (in Win XP SP2 mode on Flight3.exe) but as soon as I try Quick Flight I get a hang (and then crash) on AI Startup

 

Thanks in advance for any help 

Simon

PS - I have the original game disks if that helps and no, I don't have any other (older) computers I can install this on so I can copy across a clean install.

  

Hi sjfinch

So with virtual ISOs or so with physical ISOs, on Windows 11 64bit, compatible with 32bit (the game), insert first CD (the one with setup and autorun) and open a run instance and write D:\setup.exe -lgntforce (followed by intro), assuming the CD is in the D letter drive, but could be otherwise. Installation tells you when to swap discs into D (or else) letter drive.

That's for install. To play the game you need DGvoodoo2. Best version: 2_78_2.

INTRO video could be run, but for first attempt:

Go to <path-to-game>\GENPILE. Delete or rename the file EA_LG.avi

Honestly Patrick - that does not work.  I say in the post above that I tried "d:\setup.exe -lgntforce" and it didn't work.  You must have a Win10 32-bit machine.

A 64-bit computer simply cannot run a 16-bit installer, unless I'm missing an extra step, like this...

1. Install Oracle Virtual box

2. Get an old 32-bit Windows ISO off a download site - I used Win XP SP3

3. In the VM settings, set-up a shared drive from the VM to your Win11 64-bit

4. Install the Game in the VM

5. Zip up the Flight3 folder in the VM and pass it through your shared drive to your Win11 64-bit 

This works!  I just got it working 30mins ago 😁.  Now to start applying your detailed fixes so I can get it tip-top...

It warms my heart to see someone getting excited about running Flight Unlimited 3 in 2024. I hope that you get lots of enjoyment from this classic

To sjfinch:

You don't need oracle virtual box. The game is 32 bit. I installed on windows 11 64 bit. You need something that works like a CD player. Insert the right disc in the right letter drive. You could need XP sp3 compatibility.

To Christopher:

With Reshade and dgvoodoo (I'll share settings) you reach astonishing quality. Now I'm mastering the landing of the Boeing 747. Near the airport speed 220 and flaps 10°, turning to be facing the runway speed 180 and flaps 20°, at 45 degrees from the runway activate ILS, facing the runway at 5 or 6 miles speed 160 and flaps 25° and gear down, on the flare reduce power seriously, just before touchdown autopilot off and spoilers up, plane is going down slowly, do not touch joystick, on the ground reverse thrust...