Availability
Source |
DRM |
Notes |
Keys |
OS |
Retail |
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Original Longbow Gold 3-CD set. Includes unpatched DOS and Windows. |
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Retail |
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Longbow Anthology 2-CD version. Includes patched Windows and no DOS executable. |
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Essential improvements
Patches
Version 1.04F
The latest official patch 1.04F is available at soggi.org. It fixes skipping and garbled in-flight speech, and fixes the movies in the game locking up, skipping, or crashing to the desktop in both Windows and DOS versions of the game. Longbow Anthology versions of Longbow Gold do not need this patch, as they have it included.
GoldFX / 3dfx-patch
The GoldFX patch adds 3DFX Voodoo support to Windows versions of Longbow Gold and is available at soggi.org. This renders the DOS version unplayable but enhances the graphics under Windows and allows the game to be playable on modern Windows with nGlide. This patch does not work with Longbow Anthology versions of Longbow Gold and requires a special version included on the first CD-ROM called GoldFXA.
- Applying the GoldFX(A) patch will disable the AH-64A variant of the Longbow, making only the AH-64D usable.
Patching for Windows
Both of these methods are similar, but have different installation methods. GoldFXA and GoldFX are not interchangeable and are exclusive to their separate versions.
Installing the Anthology version[citation needed]
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- During the installation of Longbow Anthology, do a Custom installation and check only Longbow Gold when prompted. When asked to install GoldFX select No.
- Open the Longbow Anthology CD 1 and copy
goldfxa.exe to anywhere on the computer.
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Installing the regular Gold version[citation needed]
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- Install Longbow Gold to
C:\JANES\LBGOLD using the Windows installer.[citation needed]
- Get the V1.04F patch and extract it to
<path-to-game> .
- Download DOSBox and install it.
- Open DOSBox and use these commands:
mount c C:\JANES\LBGOLD
c:
PATCH.EXE
- Download the GoldFX patch.
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Apply the patch, fixes, and nGlide[citation needed]
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- Open GoldFX(A) and extract the files to an easily accessible folder.
- Set compatibility mode for Windows 98/ME and running as administrator on all of the applications inside that folder.
- Run
FXPatch.exe . Click Continue in the window that pops up and point it to the Longbow Gold installation directory to continue installation.
- When it finishes, go to where
<path-to-game> and open CA.INI with a text editor.
- Append these two lines to the file at the top:
[Backdoors]
HEAP_PERCENT=0
- Set
lbwin.exe to run in compatibility mode for Windows XP SP2, as administrator and in 640x480 mode.
- Download and install nGlide.
- Start the game. Press Alt+O and set all the graphical options to the maximum.
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Patching for DOS
Running the game in DOSBox will look worse and possibly perform worse[citation needed], but works on all operating systems.
Install and play in DOSBox[citation needed]
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- Install Longbow Gold in the Windows installer. When prompted to select a directory, point it to
C:\DOS\LBGOLD and say Yes to creating it if it does not exist.
- Use software like ImgBurn to rip your Longbow Gold CDs to ISO format. Name them LBGx, where x is the CD number. Put the ISOs in
C:\LBGISO for easy reference.
- Install and start up DOSBox 0.74
- Use these commands in DOSBox:
mount c c:\DOS
c:
cd LBGOLD
SETSOUND.EXE
- The sound setup will start. Press ↵ Enter on Select and configure digital audio driver
- Select Creative Labs Sound Blaster 16 or AWE32 and Attempt to configure device automatically. Press OK and then DONE. Do not close DOSBox.
- Get the V1.04F patch and open it in 7-Zip. Extract the contents to where Longbow Gold is installed.
- Type PATCH.EXE into DOSBox and press ↵ Enter. Wait for the patch to finish. When it does, the game will be fully playable.
- To skip mounting the ISOs manually every time and to start the game when DOSBox starts, put this in your DOSBox configuration file after [autoexec] at the end:
imgmount d "c:\LBGISO\LBG1.ISO" "c:\LBGISO\LBG2.ISO" "c:\LBGISO\LBG3.ISO" -t iso
mount c c:\DOS\
c:
cd JANES\LBGOLD\
LB.exe
exit
Notes
- Ctrl+F4 toggles what disc/ISO is currently active. Disc 1 is used for the main campaign, Disc 2 is used for the historical missions, and Disc 3 is used for the Korea campaign.
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Game data
Configuration file(s) location
Save game data location
System |
Location |
DOS |
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Windows |
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Video
Graphics settings during flight.
Input
Control settings during flight.
Audio
Sound settings during flight.
Audio feature |
State |
Notes |
Separate volume controls |
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Engine sounds, sound effects, and speech volume all have separate sliders. |
Surround sound |
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Subtitles |
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Subtitles are only available in training. Copilot and helicopter voices are not subtitled. |
Closed captions |
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Mute on focus lost |
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For DOSBox change the priority background value in the DOSBox configuration file. |
Royalty free audio |
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Localizations
Language |
UI |
Audio |
Sub |
Notes |
English |
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French |
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French is not available in any version but the French version of the game. |
German |
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German is not available in any version but the German version of the game. |
Other information
API
Technical specs |
Supported |
Notes |
DOS video modes |
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Executable |
32-bit |
64-bit |
Notes |
Windows |
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System requirements
DOS |
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Minimum |
Recommended |
Operating system (OS) |
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95 |
Processor (CPU) |
Intel Pentium 66
| Intel Pentium 120 |
System memory (RAM) |
16 MB |
32 MB |
Hard disk drive (HDD) |
70 MB |
150 MB |
Notes
References