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Combat Flight Simulator 3 Guide

Discussion in 'Guides' started by booman, May 27, 2017.

  • by booman, May 27, 2017 at 12:35 AM
  • booman

    booman Grand High Exalted Mystic Emperor of Linux Gaming Staff Member

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    combatsim51.jpg

    Combat Flight Simulator 3 is the latest installment of the flying combat series. Play a full campaign as USA, RAF or Luftwaffe or select your own quick battle with full customization. Dogfight over huge maps from North England all the way to East Berlin.

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    Follow my step-by-step guide on installing, configuring and optimizing Combat Flight Simulator 3 in Linux with PlayOnLinux.

    Note: This guide applies to the Retail version of Combat Flight Simulator 3. Other versions may require additional steps.

    Tips & Specs:

    To learn more about PlayOnLinux and Wine configuration, see the online manual: PlayOnLinux Explained

    Mint 18.1 64-bit
    PlayOnLinux: 4.2.10
    Wine: 2.0

    Wine Installation

    Click Tools
    Select "Manage Wine Versions"
    wine01.png

    Look for the Wine Version: 2.0
    Select it
    Click the arrow pointing to the right
    wine02.png

    Note: Always try the newest stable version of Wine as well

    Click Next

    Downloading Wine
    wine04.png

    Extracting

    Downloading Gecko
    wine05.png

    Installed
    wine06.png

    Wine 2.0 is installed and you can close this window

    Copying Disk Files

    Open the Combat Flight Simulator 3 disk and copy everything into a new folder on your Desktop.
    Enter the 2nd disk and copy everything too.
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    Click Skip for all duplicate files
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    PlayOnLinux Setup

    Launch PlayOnLinux
    Click Install
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    Click "Install a non-listed program"
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    Select "Install a program in a new virtual drive"
    Click Next
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    Name the virtual drive: combatsim3
    Click Next
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    Check all three options:
    • Use another versions of Wine
    • Configure Wine
    • Install some libraries
    Click Next
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    Select Wine 2.0
    Click Next
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    Select "32 bits windows installation"
    Click Next
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    Wine Configuration

    Applications Tab
    Windows version: Windows XP
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    Graphics Tab
    Check "Automatically capture the mouse in full-screen windows"
    Check "Emulate a virtual desktop"
    Desktop size: 1024x768
    Click OK
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    PlayOnLinux Packages (DLLs, Libraries, Components)

    Check the following:
    • POL_Install_corefonts
    • POL_Install_d3dx9
    • POL_Install_msxml3
    • POL_Install_tahoma
    Click Next
    combatsim12.png

    Note: All packages will automatically download and install

    Installing Combat Flight Simulator 3

    Select "Select another file"
    Click Next
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    Click Browse

    Navigate to the folder on your Desktop
    Select "setup.exe"
    Click Open
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    Click Next again...

    Click "Custom Install"
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    Click Next
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    Click "Full Install, uses this option to maximize performance. 1598.5MB"
    Uncheck "Create Desktop Icon"
    Click Install
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    Click the X to close the installer
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    Click the X again to close the installer
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    PlayOnLinux Shorcut

    Select "cfs3.exe"
    Click Next
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    Name the shortcut: Combat Flight Simulator 3
    Click Next
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    Select "cfs3config.exe"
    Click Next
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    Name this shortcut: Combat Sim Config
    Click Next
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    Select "I don't want to make another shortcut"
    Click Next
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    PlayOnLinux Configure

    Back to PlayOnLinux
    Select "Combat Flight Simulator 3"
    Click Configure
    combatsim27.png

    General Tab
    Wine version: 2.0
    combatsim28.png

    Note: Click the + to download other versions of Wine. Click the down-arrow to select other versions of Wine.

    Display Tab
    Video memory size: Enter the amount of memory your video card/chip uses
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    Wine Tab
    Controller Setup

    Click Control panel
    Open "Game Controllers"
    Disable any option the had the "(event)" suffix, leaving just "(js)" enabled


    Close Configure

    Select "Combat sim Config"
    Click Run
    combatsim30.png

    Note: Click debug to see errors and bugs

    Click File
    Select Custom Settings
    combatsim33.png

    Check "Select resolution"
    Set the resolution to match your Linux Desktop
    Adjust Anti-aliasing
    Click OK
    combatsim34.png

    If you see a (null) error
    Just click OK and try it again
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    Click "Change Display Options"
    combatsim33.png

    Adjust:
    • Over all Graphic Detail
    • Aircraft Detail
    • Terrain Detail
    • Scenery Detail
    • Effects Quality
    • Cloud Quality
    Click OK
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    Click Exit

    Launching Combat Flight Simulator 3

    Select "Combat Flight Simulator 3"
    Click Run
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    Click Accept
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    I received the (null) error a few times at first launch
    The configuration override file is corrupt or missing
    Click OK
    combatsim39.png

    Go back to the "Combat sim Config" again and adust your settings again

    In Game Options

    Click "Display Options"
    combatsim40.png

    Make your adjustments just like in the config
    combatsim41.png combatsim42.png

    Close Options
    combatsim43.png

    Conclusion:
    After successfully setting the config properly, the game ran perfectly! I was even able to set modern widescreen resolutions. This is an older game, so it should run on just about any laptop desktop. You can probably skip the pre config and just launch the game in 1024x768 and adjust the resolution in-game. Either way I was able to select all of the planes, pilots and missing without any problems. I even used an old Logitech USB flight stick controller.

    Gameplay video:



    Screenshots:
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    Last edited: Jul 8, 2019

Comments

Discussion in 'Guides' started by booman, May 27, 2017.

  1. mrdeathjr28
    Good guide of non common game

    :)
  2. Marson
    Thanks for this guide, as Windows 10 refused to run CFS3 for me (ironic, I know). Couple of things I had to change or do extra:

    - Just had to pick the latest version of wine (4.9 at this time), as 2.0 wouldn't install.

    - On the PlayOnLinux main panel, I had to:
    -Select "Combat Flight Simulator 3"
    -Click Configure
    -Select Wine tab
    -Click Control panel
    -Open "Game Controllers"
    -Disable any option the had the "(event)" suffix, leaving just "(js)" enabled

    The 2nd set of steps had to carried out because otherwise the game would mis-read my game controller inputs (in this case, a logitech joystick and a PS3 joypad), and would override any in-game control configurations. e.g. z-axis movement wold ALWAYS affect throttle, even if not defined in-game.

    Now I just have to somehow obtain those massive, user-made overhauls, that have seemingly disappeared from the web....
  3. booman
    Thank you for replying and adding the controller steps!
    I will add those to the guide.

    Yes, always make sure to try the newest version of Wine when installing a game.
    I wish there was a way to re-test all of our guides with the newest version, but at 380+ guides that would be impossible. Ha ha!

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