F-15 Strike Eagle III
Released: 1992
Published by: MicroProse Software, Inc.
Developed by: MPS Labs, Inc.
Author(s):
Andy Hollis, Jim Day, Scott Spanburg, George P. Wargo, Detmar Peterke, Chris Clark, Bill Becker, Lawrence Russell, Donn Goddard, Barbara Bents, Max Remington III
System Requirements
| System Requirements | 80386 and compatibles with 33+ MHz required (486-25 recommended). 2 MB RAM. MS-DOS 5.0 or higher. Hard disk installation only. Supports VGA only. Audio support for PC speaker, Covox Sound Master, Sound Blaster, Sound Blaster Pro, Ad Lib, Pro Audio Spectrum, Pro Audio Spectrum Plus/16, or Roland MT-32. Joystick and Mouse optional (and recommended). Modem and Direct Link play also possible. |
|---|---|
| Original Media | Either five 3.5" 1.44 MB (HD) floppy disks or a CD-ROM. Approximately 6.5 MB of files are included. Installation to hard disk is mandatory. |
| Installed Size | 15.2 MB |
Introduction
This is the third and final installment of F-15 from MicroProse. With beautiful updated graphics and a fresh set of theatres in Panama, North Korea and Iraq (Operation: Desert Storm), anyone who enjoyed F-15 SE2 will love this one. It retains the more arcade-style of gameplay of the earlier games but adds more complexity, including laser targeting. You can even play co-op with a friend with both of you in the same plane! It was succeeded by F-14 Fleet Defender, which used an evolution of the same game engine.
From where can it be run?
From hard disk only. The original media comprises an INSTALL.EXE program and several large compressed files which the installer decompresses to your chosen installation directory.
Copy Protection
No disk copy protection, but on startup the game asks you for the language of your manual, then to enter a word from that manual, based on a random page number, paragraph number and word number. If you get the answer wrong, you are automatically assigned to a training mission which allows basic take-off and landing only. Strangely, the US-version of the game does not include copy protection.
How to Setup
The game, once installed, comes with a setup program, INSTALL.EXE, which must be run once before you can start the game with F15.COM (F15.com looks for a configuration file called CONFIG.F15 - if not found it asks you to first run INSTALL.EXE).
The INSTALL.EXE program allows you to reinstall the game files to your hard disk, reconfigure your hardware options (sound cards, video card type, etc), or create a boot disk. This last option is useful if you are struggling to free up enough base memory to run the game.
Choosing the Roland Sound option works with a game port MIDI cable connected between your Roland MT-32 and sound card's Game/MIDI port, so it does not require an "Intelligent" mode MPU-401 interface such as the MFC-IPC or equivalent.
The game requires 2 MB of memory with the higher memory allocated as expanded memory (EMS). Therefore you need to have EMM386 or equivalent loaded into memory in order to play F-15 SE3.
Initial Installation
To install the game, execute INSTALL.EXE. You will then be prompted to choose the source drive, either A: or B:. If you are running this without a floppy drive (and have copied the game disks' files to a directory on your hard disk) you can get around this by using the DOS command, SUBST. This associates a path with a drive letter, so you can tell DOS that a directory on your hard disk is drive A:. Here's an example of running the command from my F15_INST directory (which contains all files from the original media):
SUBST A: C:\F15_INST
Now you can run INSTALL.EXE and choose A: as the location of my installation files, and it will look in C:\F15_INST instead.
Once the installer has finished installing the files, you will be prompted to specify your computer's configuration. The installer auto-detects your hardware and selects the best option in both categories by default:
You then need to specify the port address, IRQ and DMA channel for your digitised speech card. Mine was at address 220h, IRQ 5 and DMA channel 1:
The next screen ask you for your chosen control input:
Finally, an optional configuration screen appears where you can choose which COM port to use for Modem or direct play (via null modem cable between two local PCs):
Once complete, you should see a message stating "Configuration file written". If the program locks-up after your selection on this screen, don't worry.
Problems
Symptom: The game fails to get past the intro sequence and onto the "hangar" menu screen.
Cause: Your system is too fast.
Resolution: Disable either internal and external caches (or both) via the BIOS. If possible, bring the speed down to the equivalent of a 486SX-25, and the game should then start properly.
Symptom: The game fails to start and displays error message "There is no EMS memory. F-15 Strike Eagle III requires a minimum of 770048 bytes of EMS memory with 21 handles.
Cause: You haven't loaded an expanded memory manager/driver, such as EMM386.
Resolution: Edit your config.sys file and add the line:
DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE RAM
Then reboot your system and start the game again. Note that version 4108.003 of the game reduced the conventional memory requirements significantly at the expense of slightly more EMS memory needed - now just 581,488 bytes of conventional memory are required (for the 'no sound' mode), and minimum EMS memory is now 786,432 bytes.
Symptom: Roland sounds are strange - The speech heard during the intro gets cut off, and when in the cockpit you hear a very deep, unrealistic tone for the engine roar.
Cause: The game requires an MT-32 "Old" (the one with no headphone jack on the back). The MT-32 "New" and MT-100 are not 100% compatible with the MT-32 "Old" - they were introduced around the time the General MIDI format was being ironed out, so Roland moved the locations of some of the MT-32 sound samples around. This means games whose sound was designed and tested on the MT-32 "Old" may sound 'wrong' on the MT-32 "New" or MT-100. Another cause for this incompatibility is that games designers became aware of bugs in the MT-32 "Old"'s firmware, and often exploited these to produce the sounds. Since the MT-32 "New" and MT-100 ran on different firmware, these bugs could not be exploited by the software, resulting in different/no sound.
Symptom: The game runs extremely slowly (low frames per second) when flying.
Cause: Your system is too slow.
Resolution: I've found the game runs best on a 486DX4-100 or Pentium. If you have a slower 486, press ESC while in-flight, and go to the Options menu. From here you can reduce the detail of mountains, sky, objects, etc., in order to improve performance.
Symptom: Error: "Could not open real mission file: EXITING" when selecting the Iraq '93 mission and starting the game.
Cause: This is a known bug in the CD version of the game (it works fine on the floppy version).
Resolution: Copy the file F15\FS\DS.REL
from the CD-ROM into your game directory, and the Iraq '93 missions should then work.
To Quit the Game
Press Alt-Q at any time. A screen highlighting some other MicroProse Software titles is displayed, along with a prompt, "Exit to DOS Y/N ?". Press Y to return to the command prompt.
Supporting Documents
Here are the original documents that came with the game:
- Technical Supplement
- User Manual (Microprose release)
And here are aftermarket docs:
- Keyboard controls text file
Did You Know?
F-15 Strike Eagle III's code contains a number of artifacts that don't get used anywhere in the game. There is a table of game information wxhich references two non-player controlled aircraft: the F-14 and F-117, plus several US and enemy helecopters including the Hind, Huey, Hip, SA315, S-70 and UH-60. Models of the two planes exist in the code, but none of the helicopters do - these only exist in the playable demo version.
There also exists code that indicates the designers were going to
implement air-to-ground missiles which the game does not use.
Save Games
All personal data for the game is stored in a file called ROSTER in the main game directory. You can backup this file (copy and rename it) if you wish to keep a record of the roster at a given point in time, and then later replace the original with your copy to restore it. The file is not readable/editable in a text editor.
Versions of the game known to exist
| Version | Date | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Playable Demo | 1st Oct 1992 | An early demo of the game. |
| 4108.01 | 8th Dec 1992 | First release on floppy disk. |
| 4108.02 | (unknown) | Second release. |
| 4108.03 | 23rd Apr 1993 | Final release. Adds Iraq 1993 missions and fixes several bugs. Ad Lib Gold (Gold Sound Standard) added for sound and digital speech. Better joystick calibration (now manual but more accurate than the auto-calibration that existed in earlier versions) Fixes a bug where the game hangs when you are near the carrier group or the battleship group. |
Reviews
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Original Floppy Disk Contents
The floppy disks have no volume labels.
Disk 1 of 5 (3.5" 1.44 MB DS/HD, version 4108.03): F15 001 1,338,002 04-20-93 2:23p |
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Disk 2 of 5 (3.5" 1.44 MB DS/HD, version 4108.03): F15 002 1,457,434 04-20-93 2:31p |
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Disk 3 of 5 (3.5" 1.44 MB DS/HD, version 4108.03): F15 003 1,457,274 04-20-93 2:37p |
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Disk 4 of 5 (3.5" 1.44 MB DS/HD, version 4108.03): F15 004 1,457,664 04-20-93 2:39p |
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Disk 5 of 5 (3.5" 1.44 MB DS/HD, version 4108.03): F15 005 1,196,872 04-20-93 2:41p |
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Installed Directory Contents
Once installed, the following directory structure exists in the game directory.
Directory of C:\MPS\F15 . <DIR> 11-18-21 6:45p
.. <DIR> 11-18-21 6:45p
CONFIG F15 100 11-18-21 6:51p
MPSCOPY EXE 55,083 11-18-21 6:45p
INSTALL EXE 47,290 11-18-21 6:45p
ADS EXE 35,462 02-18-93 2:33p
DS DAT 4,967 04-12-93 11:37a
DIGITAL 153 12,608 04-07-93 4:33p
MOBILE EXE 7,913 12-02-92 11:46a
MGRAPHIC EXE 7,192 01-04-80 12:20p
F15 EXE 129,458 04-12-93 3:17p
ASOUND 15G 8,700 11-30-92 9:08a
RSOUND 15G 9,690 11-30-92 9:21a
PSOUND 15G 13,124 12-02-92 12:11p
F15 COM 1,053 02-25-93 8:49a
NSOUND 15G 880 07-18-91 2:26p
DS REL 140 03-09-93 2:00p
F153 BIN 315,431 11-18-92 11:40a
FONTS F15 2,426 11-09-92 5:32p
DS0 WLD 157,440 11-13-92 2:37p
KO0 WLD 157,440 11-06-92 1:31p
PA0 WLD 157,440 11-06-92 1:36p
DS0 DAT 4,377 11-28-92 10:36a
KO0 DAT 4,493 11-28-92 10:36a
PA0 DAT 4,066 11-28-92 10:36a
DS GRY 17,088 10-12-92 10:03a
PA GRY 17,088 11-03-92 3:37p
KO GRY 17,088 10-29-92 10:09a
DS MIS 13,274 11-30-92 10:30a
KO MIS 11,378 11-30-92 10:30a
PA MIS 10,746 11-30-92 10:30a
DS NMY 512 11-05-92 6:03p
KO NMY 512 11-05-92 6:03p
PA NMY 512 11-05-92 6:04p
PA RNG 19,746 10-30-92 3:53p
KO RNG 11,074 11-23-92 12:16p
DS RNG 9,986 10-06-92 1:40p
ISOUND 15W 6,661 12-07-92 3:30p
NSOUND 15W 704 12-07-92 3:30p
PSOUND 15W 26,726 12-07-92 3:30p
RSOUND 15W 22,476 12-07-92 3:30p
ROSTER 752 12-07-92 3:30p
MODEM INI 1,131 12-07-92 3:30p
DSMOB 3DX 62,205 01-25-93 10:20a
F15 SCR 759 12-07-92 3:30p
BLCF 8 11,873 12-07-92 3:30p
BURNNOW 8 9,724 12-07-92 3:30p
E01CFT 8 13,860 12-07-92 3:30p
E01T 8 11,319 12-07-92 3:30p
FOX2 8 4,774 12-07-92 3:30p
HORHOR 8 12,636 12-07-92 3:30p
IGEIGE 8 17,010 12-07-92 3:30p
RE01CFT 8 17,908 12-07-92 3:30p
RE01T 8 13,405 12-07-92 3:30p
THTH 8 6,458 12-07-92 3:30p
WGAMR6 8 10,935 12-07-92 3:30p
YEAH 8 5,282 12-07-92 3:30p
IRAQ93 TXT 12,374 03-18-93 12:41p
TITLE2 PAN 240,486 09-17-92 2:33p
TITLE3 PAN 177,288 09-17-92 2:33p
TITLE4 PAN 172,285 09-17-92 2:34p
TITLE5 PAN 35,869 09-17-92 2:34p
TITLE6 PAN 1,452,881 09-17-92 2:35p
CREDITS PAN 144,584 11-16-92 11:46a
PLAY EXE 16,293 02-23-93 4:46p
GENMISS EXE 18,139 03-04-93 2:35p
RAP EXE 74,729 04-13-93 9:38a
F15MON EXE 8,027 12-07-92 3:30p
BRIEFING EXE 41,554 12-07-92 3:30p
SPAR_LW 3DX 2,934 10-26-92 10:37a
DURL_LC 3DX 5,962 10-26-92 10:35a
DURL_LW 3DX 6,316 10-26-92 10:35a
SPAR_RC 3DX 2,564 10-26-92 10:37a
DURL_RC 3DX 5,962 10-26-92 10:35a
SPAR_RW 3DX 2,934 10-26-92 10:37a
MAVR_LWF 3DX 3,646 10-26-92 10:35a
MAVR_RWF 3DX 3,646 10-26-92 10:36a
DURL_RW 3DX 6,316 10-26-92 10:35a
GBU15_LW 3DX 1,768 10-26-92 10:35a
GBU15_RW 3DX 1,768 10-26-92 10:35a
GBU87_LC 3DX 6,318 10-26-92 10:34a
GBU87_LW 3DX 6,972 10-26-92 10:35a
GBU87_RC 3DX 6,318 10-26-92 10:35a
GBU87_RW 3DX 6,972 10-26-92 10:35a
HARM_LW 3DX 1,864 10-26-92 10:35a
HARM_RW 3DX 1,864 10-26-92 10:35a
HARP_LW 3DX 1,990 10-26-92 10:35a
SPAR_LWN 3DX 1,725 08-03-92 2:13p
ROCK_LW 3DX 6,972 10-26-92 10:36a
ROCK_RC 3DX 6,210 10-26-92 10:36a
ROCK_RW 3DX 6,972 10-26-92 10:36a
SDWN_LWN 3DX 1,801 08-03-92 1:39p
SDWN_RWN 3DX 1,801 08-03-92 1:39p
SPAR_RWN 3DX 1,725 08-03-92 2:13p
FUEL_LW 3DX 455 11-02-92 11:51a
FUEL_RW 3DX 455 11-02-92 11:51a
HARP_RW 3DX 1,990 10-26-92 10:35a
MAVR_LWR 3DX 3,646 10-26-92 10:35a
MAVR_RWR 3DX 3,646 10-26-92 10:36a
MK84_LC 3DX 2,272 10-26-92 10:36a
MK84_LW 3DX 1,508 10-26-92 10:36a
MK84_RC 3DX 2,272 10-26-92 10:36a
MK84_RW 3DX 1,508 10-26-92 10:36a
ROCK_LC 3DX 6,210 10-26-92 10:36a
FRONTPIT PIC 6,966 11-17-92 11:41a
LOOKDOWN PIC 10,117 11-17-92 11:41a
BACKFRNT PIC 14,086 11-17-92 11:41a
BACK PIC 8,882 11-17-92 11:41a
BKPIT PIC 6,874 11-17-92 11:41a
BKSIDES PIC 1,234 11-17-92 11:41a
FLIR PIC 384 11-17-92 11:41a
PADREAR PIC 3,642 09-21-92 8:22a
DSPAL PIC 5,584 11-17-92 11:41a
KOPAL PIC 10,079 11-17-92 11:41a
PAPAL PIC 7,158 11-17-92 11:41a
COOLPAL PIC 4,960 11-17-92 11:41a
DSMPCLR PIC 8,940 11-13-92 9:22a
KOMPCLR PIC 10,532 10-12-92 5:24p
PAMPCLR PIC 10,532 10-12-92 5:24p
EXPAGE1 PIC 3,943 11-13-92 9:22a
EXPAGE2 PIC 3,856 11-13-92 9:22a
EXPAGE3 PIC 6,406 11-13-92 9:22a
EXPAGE4 PIC 11,739 11-13-92 9:22a
EXPAGE5 PIC 12,501 11-13-92 9:22a
CLOUDS PIC 16,797 11-13-92 9:22a
F15 SPR 2,953 11-13-92 9:22a
MESSAGES TXT 729 11-18-92 8:56a
SETUP EXE 12,557 04-08-93 10:35a
MICRO PAN 130,601 09-17-92 2:33p
RAP PCT 944,085 12-07-92 3:30p
RAP SPR 2,792,652 12-07-92 3:30p
RAP GRF 15,900 12-07-92 3:30p
ASOUND 15W 30,025 12-07-92 3:30p
MISSION PIC 12,918 12-07-92 3:30p
NEDBIOS XLT 8,766 12-07-92 3:30p
TITLE1 PAN 94,438 09-17-92 2:33p
ISOUND 15G 3,253 01-27-93 11:34a
DS SAV 157,440 02-22-93 10:29a
BOOTDISK EXE 24,091 03-05-93 3:05p
DS0 FTR 288 10-29-92 10:21a
KO0 FTR 180 10-29-92 10:21a
PA0 FTR 342 10-29-92 10:21a
BALANCE CMP 281 10-28-92 11:27a
F15AIR3 3DX 31,212 11-02-92 10:00a
PLANE1 3DX 30,306 11-13-92 2:57p
PLANE2 3DX 30,193 11-12-92 9:26a
DS 3DX 55,715 11-13-92 10:58a
DSM 3DX 29,429 11-13-92 10:58a
DSMOBM 3DX 34,442 11-13-92 10:58a
DSLTSF 3DX 15,534 10-12-92 3:22p
DSMTNS 3DX 12,644 11-02-92 10:03a
KO 3DX 55,864 11-13-92 10:59a
KOM 3DX 34,848 11-13-92 10:59a
KOMOB 3DX 58,497 11-13-92 10:59a
KOMOBM 3DX 36,748 11-13-92 11:00a
KOLTSF 3DX 20,915 10-12-92 5:20p
KOMTNS 3DX 12,700 11-02-92 10:03a
PA 3DX 59,820 11-13-92 11:00a
PAM 3DX 32,223 11-13-92 11:01a
PAMOB 3DX 58,292 11-13-92 11:00a
PAMOBM 3DX 32,044 11-13-92 11:01a
PALTSF 3DX 10,717 10-12-92 5:21p
PAMTNS 3DX 12,605 10-27-92 9:17a
MK82_LC 3DX 6,466 10-26-92 10:36a
MK82_LW 3DX 7,140 10-26-92 10:36a
MK82_RC 3DX 6,466 10-26-92 10:36a
MK82_RW 3DX 7,140 10-26-92 10:36a
SDWN_LW 3DX 3,070 10-26-92 10:36a
SDWN_RW 3DX 3,070 10-26-92 10:37a
SPAR_LC 3DX 2,564 10-26-92 10:37a
README TXT 5,706 04-15-93 9:09a
171 file(s) 9,147,247 bytes
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