Notes:
- Click here for Wine/Lutris installation instructions (e.g. for the GOG version of Falcon 4.0)
- Replace home/x/ with your home directory in the instructions below
- Steam
- wine-staging (recommended as this is the latest wine version)
- winetricks
- optional: opentrack
- Install Falcon 4.0 on Steam
- In Steam, right click on Falcon 4.0 > Properties > Compatibility > enable "Force use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool" > select Proton 7.0-6 (older/newer Proton versions should work too)
- Run Falcon 4.0 once, then exit the game (this creates the folder /home/x/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/429530)
- Install winetricks (don't use protontricks as it has issues with dotnet installation)
- Sidenote: should winetricks be out of date, run: sudo winetricks --self-update
- check the updated winetricks version with: winetricks --version
- if you need to rollback winetricks to the old version from your repository, run: sudo winetricks --update-rollback
- Install libraries with winetricks:
WINEPREFIX="/home/x/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/429530/pfx" winetricks -q dotnet48 vcrun2015 dxvk
- After the installation has finished, check that at least the following libraries were installed: dotnet40, dotnet48, vcrun2015, dxvk (there will be a few other libraries as well) - Note: if you see a rundll32.exe error pop-up, just click on "No" to proceed
WINEPREFIX="/home/x/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/429530/pfx" winetricks list-installed
- The following steps in this chapter are only required if not all of the above libraries were installed (dotnet40, dotnet48, vcrun2015, dxvk). If so, follow these instructions:
WINEPREFIX="/home/x/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/429530/pfx" winetricks -q
- In winetricks > select the default wineprefix > Install a Windows DLL or component > select the following (if they're missing)
- dotnet48 (this will automatically install dotnet40 too)
- vcrun2015
- dxvk
- Ignore any pop-up notifications during installation (they are automatically skipped after a few seconds; no need to press "OK")
- Once the installation is finished you can close the winetricks window(s)
- Download BMS installer and updates from https://www.falcon-bms.com/downloads/ (ideally use qBittorrent as other torrent apps have had issues with the download in the past)
- Install BMS from your ~/Download folder; Run in terminal:
WINEPREFIX="/home/x/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/429530/pfx" wine "/home/x/Downloads/Falcon BMS_4.37_Full_Setup.exe"
- Wait for the installation to finish
- Optional: make a backup of the game folder if something breaks in the future: /home/x/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/429530
-
Find the path to the Proton executable you want to use, e.g.: /home/x/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/Proton 7.0/proton
-
Run BMS with included Alternative Launcher:
STEAM_COMPAT_DATA_PATH="/home/x/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/429530/" STEAM_COMPAT_CLIENT_INSTALL_PATH="/home/x/.local/share/Steam/" "/home/x/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/Proton 7.0/proton" run "/home/x/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/429530/pfx/drive_c/Falcon BMS 4.37/Launcher/FalconBMS_Alternative_Launcher.exe"
- Run BMS with standard launcher:
STEAM_COMPAT_DATA_PATH="/home/x/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/429530/" STEAM_COMPAT_CLIENT_INSTALL_PATH="/home/x/.local/share/Steam/" "/home/x/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/Proton 7.0/proton" run "/home/x/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/429530/pfx/drive_c/Falcon BMS 4.37/Launcher.exe"
- Tip: copy-paste either command in a file like falconbmslauncher.sh and set it to be an executable file (usually right-click on file > Permissions > enable "Allow this file to run as a program"). Move the file to your Desktop and you can doubleclick it to start BMS.
- Install opentrack
- Add user to input group (x = yourusername)
sudo usermod -a -G input x
- Restart computer (or logout and then login again)
- In Opentrack:
- Input: PointTracker
- Output: Wine
- Wine variant: Proton (select Proton version that Falcon 4.0 is using in Steam, e.g. Proton 7.0)
- select FSYNC (not ESYNC)
- Protocol: Both
- Steam application id: 429530
- confirm with "OK"
- Filter: Accela
- Options > Game Detection:
- Executable: Falcon BMS.exe
- Profile: select your opentrack profile for BMS
- In BMS > Setup > Controllers > Advanced:
- Enable Natural Head: yes
- Enable 3d Cockpit TrackIR: yes
- Enable TrackIR Vector: yes
- TrackIR Vector Z Axis Mode: FOV Control
- Start Opentrack first, and then BMS
- Alt + c, t = restarts TrackIR BMS module (usually not needed, just FYI)
- This app can be started from the Alternative Launcher
- Download WDP from http://www.weapondeliveryplanner.nl/download/index.html
- Unpack archive and copy folder to /home/x/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/429530/pfx/drive_c/Tools/
- The path may look something like this: /home/x/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/429530/pfx/drive_c/Tools/Weapon_Delivery_Planner_3.7.24.232/
- Start the Alternative Launcher and select the folder above; WDP will be automatically started
- If see a rundll32.exe error message popup you can ignore it, just click cancel or no (it should only show once)
- WDP starts with a popup that reads "Theatre 'Aegean' not found in your BMS install" - which you can also ignore, click "OK" - once WDP opens you can select "Korea" from the drop down menu in the upper left (under "File")
- While using WDP it may happen that you see an error message popup that shows "Unhandled exception has occured in your application" - just click on "Continue" to dismiss
- Repeat the steps above to download and install additional tools (e.g. Mission Commander, Weather Commander, etc.)
- This app can be started from the Alternative Launcher
- This program only shows a black window. To show it properly run the following command in your terminal:
WINEPREFIX="/home/x/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/429530/pfx" wine reg add "HKCU\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Avalon.Graphics" /v DisableHWAcceleration /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
- The following ports have to be opened in your computers firewall if you want to play online
- Ports 2934, 2935 are required for BMS
- Ports 9987, 9988, 9989 are required for IVC
sudo ufw allow 2934/udp
sudo ufw allow 2935/udp
sudo ufw allow 9987/udp
sudo ufw allow 9988/udp
sudo ufw allow 9989/udp
- Also enable port forwarding to your computer for these UDP ports
- Lutris
- wine-staging (recommended as this is the latest wine version)
- winetricks
- optional: opentrack
- Start Lutris and click on + sign in upper left ("Add Game") > "Install a Windows game from media"
- Game name: "Falcon 4.0" > click "Continue"
- Select setup file: click on "Install" > specify installation directory (e.g. /home/x/Games/FalconBMS)
- Click "Install" > click on "Browse" and select your Falcon 4.0 installer (e.g. from GOG)
- Click on "Continue" and follow the instructions in the Falcon 4.0 installer
- Once the Falcon 4.0 installation is complete, Lutris will create a launcher with the name we used earlier ("Falcon 4.0")
- Right click on the launcher > Configure > Runner options > Wine version > select "System (8.5 Staging))" > Save (this requires wine-staging to be installed on your computer - older/newer system wine versions should work too)
- Install winetricks
- Sidenote: should winetricks be out of date, run: sudo winetricks --self-update
- check the updated winetricks version with: winetricks --version
- if you need to rollback winetricks to the old version from your repository, run: sudo winetricks --update-rollback
- Install libraries with winetricks:
WINEPREFIX="/home/x/Games/FalconBMS" winetricks -q dotnet48 vcrun2015 dxvk
- After the installation has finished, check that at least the following libraries were installed: dotnet40, dotnet48, vcrun2015, dxvk (there will be a few other libraries as well) - Note: if you see a rundll32.exe error pop-up, just click on "No" to proceed
WINEPREFIX="/home/x/Games/FalconBMS" winetricks list-installed
- The following steps in this chapter are only required if not all of the above libraries were installed (dotnet40, dotnet48, vcrun2015, dxvk). If so, follow these instructions:
WINEPREFIX="/home/x/Games/FalconBMS" winetricks -q
- In winetricks > select the default wineprefix > Install a Windows DLL or component > select the following (if they're missing)
- dotnet48 (this will automatically install dotnet40 too)
- vcrun2015
- dxvk
- Ignore any pop-up notifications during installation (they are automatically skipped after a few seconds; no need to press "OK")
- Once the installation is finished you can close the winetricks window(s)
- Now we're going to install Falcon BMS into the same prefix
- In Lutris > right click on "Falcon 4.0" launcher > duplicate
- Right click on the new launcher (should have a "2" at the end of its name) > Configure > Game info > set name to: "Falcon BMS"
- In the same window go to "Game options" > "Executable" > "Browse" and select Falcon BMS installer .exe file > click on "Save"
- Start "Falcon BMS" launcher (or right click > "Play") > follow BMS installer instructions (install DirectX too)
- Wait for the BMS installation to finish
- Right click the "Falcon BMS" launcher > "Configure" > "Game options" > Executable > select Falcon BMS Alternative Launcher.exe which should be under "/home/x/Games/FalconBMS/drive_c/Falcon BMS 4.37/Launcher/FalconBMS_Alternative_Launcher.exe"
- Optional: You can set an FPS limit in Lutris, which can help your GPU to run less hot and consume less power. It can also sometimes help to run a game smoother without micro stutters. In Lutris right-click on the BMS launcher > Configure > System options > FPS limit - I usually set 60 FPS which is sufficient in most games, but obviously you can set any value.
- Double-click the "Falcon BMS" launcher to start Falcon BMS
- Add user to input group (x = your username)
sudo usermod -a -G input x
- Restart computer (or logout and login again)
- In Opentrack:
- Input: PointTracker
- Output: Wine
- Wine variant: Wine (system): /home/x/Games/FalconBMS/
- select ESYNC (not FSYNC)
- Protocol: Both
- confirm with "OK"
- Filter: Accela
- Options > Game Detection:
- Executable: Falcon BMS.exe
- Profile: select your opentrack profile for BMS
- In BMS > Setup > Controllers > Advanced:
- Enable Natural Head: yes
- Enable 3d Cockpit TrackIR: yes
- Enable TrackIR Vector: yes
- TrackIR Vector Z Axis Mode: FOV Control
- Always start Opentrack first, and then BMS
- Alt + c, t = restarts TrackIR BMS module (usually not needed, just FYI)
- This app can be started from the Alternative Launcher
- Download WDP from http://www.weapondeliveryplanner.nl/download/index.html
- Unpack archive and copy unzipped folder to /home/x/Games/FalconBMS/drive_c/Tools/
- The path should look like: /home/x/Games/FalconBMS/drive_c/Tools/Weapon_Delivery_Planner_3.7.24.232/
- Start the Alternative Launcher and select the folder above; WDP will be automatically started
- If see a rundll32.exe error message popup you can ignore it, just click cancel or no (it should only show once)
- WDP starts with a popup that reads "Theatre 'Aegean' not found in your BMS install" - which you can also ignore, click "OK" - once WDP opens you can select "Korea" from the drop down menu in the upper left (under "File")
- While using WDP it may happen that you see an error message popup that shows "Unhandled exception has occured in your application" - just click on "Continue" to dismiss
- Repeat the steps above to download and install additional tools (e.g. Mission Commander, Weather Commander, etc.)
- This app can be started from the Alternative Launcher
- This program only shows a black window. To show it properly run the following command in your terminal:
WINEPREFIX="/home/x/Games/FalconBMS" wine reg add "HKCU\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Avalon.Graphics" /v DisableHWAcceleration /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
- The following ports have to be opened in your computers firewall if you want to play online
- Ports 2934, 2935 are required for BMS
- Ports 9987, 9988, 9989 are required for IVC
sudo ufw allow 2934/udp
sudo ufw allow 2935/udp
sudo ufw allow 9987/udp
sudo ufw allow 9988/udp
sudo ufw allow 9989/udp
- Also enable port forwarding to your computer for these UDP ports