Wow. That's a tough problem. I don't have iF-22 so I can't do any testing over here, unfortunately.

Have you tried Microsoft's Application Compatibility Toolkit? It will hopefully fix the problem.

Ok I got the ACT. hmm.. wow its quite complicated. Looks a bit over my head. ....

Ok this I good.. I think.. In the System Database list of Applications, iF-22 is listed and contains one fix. Now what do I do with it?

and... the InterAct Game Device Software (my USB joystick) is also listed with 7 fixes.

I never much liked the 2.0 ACT...

okay, what you need to do is this:

1. Run "QFixApp"
2. Select "Win2000" in the Layers tab
3. Go to the "Fixes" tab
4. Check "ForceDXSetupSuccess"
5. Check "Win95VersionLie"
6. UNcheck "Win2000VersionLie"
7. Click "Browse..." and find the EXE for iF-22
8. Click "Advanced >>"
9. Click "Create fix support" and answer "Yes" on the dialogue window that pops up

Now, whenever you need to run iF-22, it should automatically use these fixes, and it should run correctly. You may need to mess around with other shims that are provided in QFixApp, however. I just listed the two that were in the ACT database... it's quite possible that these are only fixes for the installer. 😒

I don't see any fixes for InterAct, err, anything, so I don't know what you're talking about on that front. 😜

I did that and there was no change noticeable.

I think I am going to have to set up a dual boot to avoid all this trouble once and for all. I have been told that a program like Partition Magic or something can make a partition on my HD with out having to reformat and reinstall everything, and then I can install Win98. (not Win95, because I have my HD in FAT32). Know any thing about this?

Did you try using the default "Win95" compatibility layer in QFixApp? More extreme measures may also be necessary, but you can always check without making a patchfile by just "Run..."ning the game in QFixApp. (It applies changes on-the-fly.) Fiddle around with various bits, too. Fiddling can sometimes have a tendency to fix things. 😀

So here is an update on this. Partition Magic successfully make a 1GB partition on my drive. I put Windows 98 on it and installed iF-22. I got the exact same keyboard problem as I got in XP and a different graphics problem (instead of the menus being hard to read, some graphics on the screen don't show up.) But the USB joystick worked with the game! Not being satisfied, I installed Windows 95, but Windows 95 screwed itself up in a few minutes so that I could only start it in safe mode. So that being that, I installed Windows ME, which had the same results as Windows 98. So I installed Windows 98 again and I think this is as good as it will get. Although, I still wonder how the game would be in Windows 95.

The digital USB Joystick (Interact Raider Advanced FX) is the best joystick I have ever used. I was weary of it at first, because it was digital and had no trim controls, but now that I use it it's awesome! It is perfect. It has a perfect range of motion, perfectly centers itself, is precise AND accurate. It has 4 axis and none of them bleed over and affect the other axis! It's Amazing. Only downfall is that the base is small with no weight or suction cups.

So now I have two questions:
1. Are there are any recorded instances in the history of mankind of Windows XP compatibility settings actualy working for games?
2. Have the fixes listed in the ACT worked for anyone?

Might be inadequacies of the video chipset. I noticed an Intel chipset that worked for most titles but had video aberrations only on certain titles. Kind of hard to tell without knowing the exact chipset.

I installed Windows 95, but Windows 95 screwed itself up in a few minutes so that I could only start it in safe mode.

If your motherboard is relatively new, there's a good chance it won't work properly with Win95 as it doesn't support USB, AGP video, and other hardware that's been made since '98.

1. Are there are any recorded instances in the history of mankind of Windows XP compatibility settings actually working for games?

Yes, they're perfect for some Sierra games for Windows (3.1/95). They actually work better for me in XP than in Win9x. This is because they require 256-color mode and only fill the screen when it's in 640x480 mode. That requires manually changing both settings in Win9x. Using compatibility mode in XP, it's automatic and reverts back to my normal screenmode when I quit the game. Very nice.

Don't know about your second question (ACT), though.

Nicht Sehr Gut said:

This is because they require 256-color mode and only fill the screen when it's in 640x480 mode. That requires manually changing both settings in Win9x. Using compatibility mode in XP, it's automatic and reverts back to my normal screenmode when I quit the game. Very nice.

You can use PowerStrip's application profiles to achieve the same thing on Windows 9x/ME but I can see it would be preferable if it were built in to the OS.

Its an Intel 810 graphics chipset. I will be getting a real graphics card, im looking at a few, but I'm waiting to find a good deal. Hopefully that will fix that graphics errata.

http://www.monarchcomputers.com usually has some great deals on OEM parts. You should be able to get a GF3Ti500 for really cheap now, though. That's my recommendation if you're looking for a sweet card for cheap.

procerus wrote:

... but I can see it would be preferable if it were built in to the OS.

Correct, I was comparing OS-to-OS. You can use a separate tool, but my tool tray's pretty saturated as is.

Same problem as above. The game seems unable to launch with a USB controller plugged in. (on Windows 10)

iF-22 Persian Gulf V5.0 is playable via DDrawCompat. My specs are Intel Celeron 2.1Ghz N2840 + Intel HD Graphics + 8GB DDR3 L RAM. Running natively on Windows 8.1 (and should work the same on Windows 10 & 11).

I've managed to solve the controller part by using a combination of x360ce (to hide the USB controller via the HIDGuardian function) and DS4Windows (with ViGEm + Bluetooth DS4). I am also using a specific DxWnd version & an imported profile (from the SourceForge forum discussing about iF-22) to make the game run on a single core-affinity processor with some colorkey fix. The only compatibility settings I used on the game .EXE is "run as administrator".

It still has multiple problems ranging from occasional freezes (after jet crashes/ exiting a mission), missing transparency effects & textures (becoming black boxes) when using Direct3D rendering, and the menu... which is accessible and working fine but the graphics are broken with white background at the supposedly black button/ link/ text area.

GUIDE TO USE A BLUETOOTH CONTROLLER (DS4) FOR IF-22 PERSIAN GULF V5.0 TO PLAY NATIVELY ON MODERN WINDOWS

Assuming that you've already download and install both x360ce v4.x (with HIDGuardian) and DS4Windows (with ViGEm), please follow the 5 steps below:

1) Make sure DS4 controller (via wireless Bluetooth) is off.

2) Open x360ce program, go to DEVICES and tick HIDE for the X360 USB controller (or any other USB wired controller attached) ONLY.

3) Make sure that USB wired controller is disappear from the "Set up USB game controller" list in Windows. The list should be empty (no controller is detected).

4) Open DS4Windows program which is pre-configured to automatically use a virtual X360 controller (XInput) with the DS4 if being detected.

5) Start iF-22 game by clicking the shortcut & QUICKLY push PS logo button of the DS4 to start the controller.

*Skip step 2 & 3 if you don't have any USB controller (like the X360 wired controller) plugged in to your computer. You might not need to download x360ce at all if you don't have or not using any USB wired controller.

*You can also try & test any other Bluetooth controller out there besides DS4, but the bottom line is, the Bluetooth capable controller must be made "virtual" in order to use XInput for the game to recognize it.

*The game will not start if it detect any HID/ USB controller connected prior to launch. The game will not recognize DS4 (DInput) unless via a virtual controller emulation (ViGEm in DS4Windows) with X360 controller preset only (using XInput).

*Do not exit both x360ce & DS4Windows program before & during iF-22 gameplay. Let them minimize. x360ce is prone to freeze during this process. Use Task Manager to turn it off after exiting the game.

*Make sure the X360 USB controller (or any other USB/ wired controller attached) reappear in the "Set up USB game controller" list in Windows after turn off x360ce. If not, restart x360ce & tick/ untick the HIDE box in the program.

So just to summarize as I've been looking at this (iF-22 v5.0) recently and this looks like a really good discovery.

DInput controller are a complete no go, which is what I also discovered when trying to get it to work under WIn10. Had more success with PCem/86Box.

But an XInput controller, real or virtual seems to work fine with the sim?

So with a DInput HOTAS it seems like using the ViGEmBus Driver and something like XOutput (for example) would allow a virtual XInput device to be created with 4 axes (pitch, roll (joystick x & y), thrust (throttle) and yaw (rudder pedals)) ?

If so that suggests the sim might be playable under WIn10 with a joystick/HOTAS?