Open Falcon Connection Standard Operating Procedures 1 st Virtual Fighter Wing 11/19/08

Introduction Why do we need connection SOP’s? Open Falcon is a unique multiplayer application. As we all know, it is the product of the F4 community, and it’s devoted fans. As a result of that, there are A LOT of variations of the sim, and customizable options. That’s one of the reasons we love it so much. However, because it isn’t the product of a flight sim brand like Lead Pursuit’s Falcon 4.0: Allied Force. multiplayer connections can be very sensitive to mistakes. We have our SOP’s to provide the most stable online environment as possible. Therefore, from our experience and research, we’ve created standard operating procedures that follow the correct way to connect to ensure a stable online experience.. If everyone connects the same way every time, you reduce the risk of bad connections or CTDs. Furthermore, it makes it easier to connect with pilots you’ve never flown with. It’s the same as our Multiplayer SOPs. I know when to connect when the host says “Comms are up”. The same goes for the technical side of connecting. I like to do it my way, and I’ve done it for years. Why do I have to change the way I connect if it works for me? Because we said so! No, just kidding. You should connect according to our SOPs for the same reasons you should follow our Multiplayer SOPs. If you standardize a process everyone will be on the same page. If you are having issues, we may be able to help you if you connect the same way we do. Also, like I said above, if everyone connects the same way, you reduce the possibility of mishaps. And if for no other reason, you should do it out of respect for the other members of our wing. If you connect your way and someone has a CTD, it could be your fault. And that’s not fair for you to risk their online experience because it’s more convenient for you to do it your way.

The Rapace Launcher What is it? The OF Rapace Launcher (RL) has been basically designed as a command line editor for Open Falcon. Actually it has become more than that, since it performs various checks to ensure the best multiplayer compatibility. What makes the RL unique is to allow the host of an upcoming flight to share critical items that are needed to ensure the maximum compatibility between host and clients. Why do we use it? We use the RL for several reasons. The first is that it allows use to set up our multiplayer connection parameters before we launch the sim to ensure we have the correct info. The second is to ensure multiplayer compatibility. There are a lot of multiplayer critical options in OF. Multiplayer critical means that all pilots must have the same setting or you will run into trouble. Examples of multiplayer critical options are Display Trees and Turbulence. So the RL allows us to view our settings and confirm they match the host’s settings. The last reason we use the RL is it is a valuable tool to troubleshoot problems by using the Lobby tab where we can check another pilot’s ports and/or set up. The Rapace Launcher is arguably the best thing to happen to the OF multiplayer experience. Like I said earlier, we are all about a stable, dependable multiplayer experience, and the RL is the best tool to ensure that when flying Open Falcon. See the following slide for Multiplayer critical settings/data entry fields.

Use of Internal Voice Comms: This should be checked by everyone in the flight if IVC is being used. You can host your own IVC if you want (to get the mic click sound when you transmit). The host should always set the Voice Server data field to – everyone else will put the host IP here, and remember to hit apply! YOU DO NOT INITIATE THE VOICE SERVER MANUALLY!! IF YOU HAVE THE USE OF VOICE COMMS CHECKED, IT WILL DO IT FOR YOU AND WILL PREVENT CTD’s FOR OTHER PILOTS. Bandwidth Setting: The host should set this to 80% of their upload bandwidth. Everyone else should set it to 100. DO NOT FORGET TO HIT “ADD TO COMMAND LINE” OR ELSE SETTINGS WON’T TAKE EFFECT. If you don’t know your upload speed, go this link and run the speed test: Specify the HOST IP: This field is where you should put the TE Host IP. Per 1 st VFW SOPs, the TE Host should put his/her IP in Teamspeak so everyone can be sure to enter the correct address. The TE Host should always put The IVC Host should put the TE Host here, and not his own. Don’t forget to hit “Update the Phonebook” or it will not take the IP address you entered. IF YOU ARE HAVING A DIFFERENT HOST FOR IVC AND THE TE ITSELF, YOU MUST ENTER THE TE HOST IP HERE. RAPACE LAUNCHER OVERVIEW Confirm Turbulence is NOT ‘checked & launch the Config Editor to confirm Display Trees is ‘checked’

Before You Use IVC Running the voicesetup.exe Before you use IVC for the first time, you need to run the voicesetup.exe file that’s in your Falcon4 folder (C://Microprose/Falcon4). It will run you through a couple of easy steps of setting up your soundcard. You need to run this program any time you re-install OF or install a new sound card or change any settings. You only have to do it once, not before each IVC flight. Teamspeak Key Bindings There is one Teamspeak (TS) key binding that is not included in the official 1 st VFW Teamspeak Key Bindings that Jammer created (available on the Teamspeak page of our website), and that’s the mute microphone key. Every pilot needs to set up a hot key in TS to mute their microphone once they are in the cockpit and are going to use IVC. If you don’t mute your microphone, everyone in the flight will hear a horrible echo when you transmit. I use Numlock for my TS mic mute, but you can set it to whatever yo want. Just make sure it’s not a key used in the sim (Numlock and back slash aren’t use in game). It’s absolutely crucial you set a key to mute your TS mic, and test it before launching the sim. You do it by going to the Settings menu in TS, then Key Settings. Then hit Add, and click on Set and it will tell you to press the key you want to use to mute your TS mic. After you do that, go to Toggle then Mute Microphone, hit OK and you are done. Now test it before flying!

Who Should Host? “If you are the host initially (i.e., the one who puts in the connection box) and you (and whoever you’re flying with) are using IVC, you will be the voice host. The person who puts up the mission (TE,DF, Campaign) is the host of the mission. The person with the most bandwidth and fastest machine should be the voice host, and maybe even the mission host as well depending on the clients. In large missions with humans, running a voice host and the mission can induce quite a load on the host machine and lower fps can be expected. When possible, have one person with a lot of bandwidth and CPU power host voice and another with bandwidth/CPU power host the mission. Ideally, the best way to use IVC is with a dedicated voice server.” Addition Comments DASH-34 Quote: If you have a broadband connection (which all 1 st VFW members should have), you will have not problem hosting the TE and IVC with 4-5 pilots. Above 4-5 pilots you may want to consider having one pilot host IVC and another the TE. If you have to choose between being the IVC Host or the TE Host, the Dash-34 quote above says the guy with the fastest connection should host. However, in my experience the TE will require more bandwidth then IVC. But that is simply my opinion and not one of our SOPs. I can’t stress enough how important it is that the IVC Host initiates the Chat Lobby and the TE Host brings up the game after he has connected to the IVC Host and performed the IVC test. Also, equally important is that you enter different IP’s for the TE Host (entered in the Specify the Host IP field) and the IVC Host (entered in the Voice Server field). If you have the same IP for the TE IP and the IVC IP, only one pilot will be hosting both, regardless of who brings up the game once you’re in the chat lobby. So please follow these SOPs during ALL online flights.

How-To: Connect (Host) Step-By-Step - If You Are the Host – And Not IVC 1.Post your IP in Teamspeak and follow 1 st VFW SOPs 2.Put in the Specify the Host IP in the RL, and hit Update the Phonebook 3.Set your Bandwidth Parameter to 80% of your upload speed and hit Add to Command Line 4.Announce all the connection parameters per our SOPs (bandwidth 100 for pilots who are not the host, 4 minute taxi time, display trees, turbulence off, NO IVC, and the theater the TE will take place in) 5.Launch the sim, and click on Comms. You should then confirm you see in the Connect to IP Address field 6.Click Connect and once the Chat Lobby is up, announce “Comms are up” Step-By-Step - If You Are the Host – And Using IVC 1.Post your IP in Teamspeak and follow 1 st VFW SOPs 2.Put in the Specify the Host IP in the RL and hit Update the Phonebook 3.Set your Bandwidth Parameter to 80% of your upload speed and hit Add to the Command Line 4.Announce all the connection parameters per our SOPs (bandwidth 100 for pilots who aren’t the host, 4 minute taxi time, display trees, turbulence off, the theater the TE will take place in, and that you are using IVC) 5.Announce use of Internal Voice Comms (IVC) and the IP for the IVC Host. In this example, you are hosting both the TE and IVC. You will put in the Voice Server data field then hit Apply, make sure Use of Internal Voice Comms is ‘checked’ and announce that everyone should have their settings to Blue Team and Hi-fi. *The only exception is when you have a pilot flying the red side and you don’t want him/her on your channels. The red air pilot would select Red Team and still Hi-fi 6.Launch the sim and click on Comms. You then should confirm you see for both the Dedicated IVC Server AND Connect to IP Address 7.Once you’ve confirmed you see the correct IP, hit Connect 8.When you see the Chat Lobby is up, announce “Comms are up”, and perform a IVC Mic Check

How-To: Connect (Not Host) Step-By-Step - If You Are NOT the Host – And Not IVC 1.Enter the TE Host’s IP in Specify the Host IP in the RL and hit Update the Phonebook 2.Make sure your connection parameters match what the host announced (bandwidth should always be 100, and Use of Internal Voice Comms should not be ‘checked’) 3.Wait for the Host to announce “Comms are up” 4.Launch the sim, and click on Comms. You should then confirm you see the Host’s IP in the Connect to IP Address field (if you didn’t that means you forgot to hit Update the Phonebook) 5.Click Connect and perform the text check-in per our Multiplayer SOPs Step-By-Step - If You Are NOT the Host – And Using IVC 1.Enter the TE Host’s IP in Specify the Host IP in the RL and hit Update the Phonebook 2.Make sure your connection parameters match what the host announced (bandwidth should always 100, and Use of Internal Voice Comms should be ‘checked’ 3.Enter the IVC Host’s IP in the Voice Server field and hit Apply 4.Make sure Blue Team and Hi-fi are ‘checked’ (*If you are flying on the red air side you should have Red Team ‘checked’ instead of Blue Team) 5.Wait for the Host to announce “Comms are up” 6.Launch the sim, and click on Comms. You should then confirm you see both the Host’s IP in the Connect to IP Address (the same entered into Specify the Host IP in the RL), and the Dedicated IVC Server field) 7.Click Connect and perform the text check-in per our Multiplayer SOP’s 8.Perform a IVC test by holding down the F1 key then speaking (transmit). Once you’ve confirmed others can hear you on IVC, and you can hear them, return to using Teamspeak until in the cockpit

How-To: Connect w/ Two Hosts Step-By-Step - If You Are the IVC Host 1.Enter the TE Host’s IP in Specify the Host IP and hit Update the Phonebook 2.Make sure your connection parameters match what the TE Host announced (bandwidth should always be 100 if you are not the TE Host) 3.Enter your IP into Teamspeak text by entering: IVC Host IP XXX.XX.XXX.XX) so they know which IP is used for IVC 4.Enter in the Voice Server field in the RL and hit Apply 5.Announce the IVC settings (default should always be Blue Team and Hi-fi). It’s good practice to remind everyone to make sure Use of Internal Voice Comms is ‘checked’ and that they hit Apply so your IP will be entered into their RL 6.Once everyone is ready, the IVC Host will launch the sim FIRST and click Comms 7.The IVC Host will then confirm he/she sees in the Dedicated IVC Server field and the Host’s IP in the Connect to IP Address field 8.Then hit Connect and announce “Comms are up” THE IVC HOST WILL ALWAYS INITIATE THE CHAT LOBBY FIRST. NOBODY SHOULD CLICK CONNECT UNTIL THE IVC HOST HAS ANNOUNCED “Comms are up” 9.Wait for everyone to connect, perform the text check-in, then the IVC Host should run a IVC Mic Check to confirm everyone has good comms 10.Once the IVC Host has confirmed everyone has good comms, everyone should revert to using Teamspeak in the map screen (UI) until you get in the cockpit 11.The TE Host will then bring up the game, and announce “The game is up, clocked stopped” THE TE HOST WILL BRING UP THE GAME AS HE NORMALLY WOULD, NOT THE IVC HOST 12.The TE Host will be the first to commit to Ramp/Taxi/Takeoff 13.Once you are in the cockpit in the 3D world, you announce “[Flight Number] In the pit”, then mute your Teamspeak mic and wait for the IVC mic check on UHF 6 (the default)

How-To: Connect w/ Two Hosts Step-By-Step - If You Are the TE Host 1.Enter your IP address in Teamspeak. Put “Host IP: XXX.XXX.XX.XX” in TS so the pilots know that is the TE Host IP. You will enter in the Specify the Host IP field in the RL and hit Update the Phonebook 2.Announce the TE/Campaign connection parameters, and set you bandwidth to 80% of your upload speed 3.Enter the IVC Host IP in the Voice Server field in the RL and hit Apply 4.Wait for the IVC Host to announce “Comms are up” then launch the sim 5.The TE Host should then confirm he/she see’s in the Connect to IP Address field and that the IVC Host’s IP is in the Dedicated IVC Server field 6.Then hit Connect and perform the text check-in per our MP SOPs 7.Perform the IVC Mic check by waiting for the IVC Host to do the check with you 8.Once the IVC Host has confirmed everyone has good comms, everyone should revert to using Teamspeak in the map screen (UI) until you get in the cockpit 9.The TE Host (you) should then bring up the game, and announce “The game is up, clocked stopped” THE TE HOST WILL BRING UP THE GAME AS HE NORMALLY WOULD, NOT THE IVC HOST 10.The TE Host will be the first to commit to Ramp/Taxi/Takeoff 11.Once you are in the cockpit in the 3D world, you announce “[Flight Number] In the pit”, then mute your Teamspeak mic and wait for the IVC mic check on UHF 6 (the default)

How-To: Connect w/ Two Hosts Step-By-Step - If You Are the Not the TE or IVC Host 1.Enter the Host IP address in the Specify the Host IP field in the RL and hit Update the Phonebook 2.Make sure your connection parameters match the TE Host (bandwidth 100, etc..) 3.Enter the IVC Host IP in the Voice Server field in the RL and hit Apply (use the IVC Host IP entered in TS as a guide) 4.Wait for the IVC Host to announce “Comms are up” then launch the sim 5.You then should confirm you see the TE Host’s IP in the Connect to IP Address field and that the IVC Host’s IP is in the Dedicated IVC Server field 6.Then hit Connect and perform the text check-in per our MP SOPs 7.Perform the IVC Mic check by waiting for the IVC Host to do the check with you 8.Once the IVC Host has confirmed everyone has good comms, everyone should revert to using Teamspeak in the map screen (UI) until you get in the cockpit 9.The TE Host will then bring up the game, and announce “The game is up, clocked stopped” THE TE HOST WILL BRING UP THE GAME AS HE NORMALLY WOULD, NOT THE IVC HOST 10.The TE Host will be the first to commit to Ramp/Taxi/Takeoff 11.Once you are in the cockpit in the 3D world, you announce “[Flight Number] In the pit”, then mute your Teamspeak mic and wait for the IVC mic check on UHF 6 (the default)

How-To: Connect w/ Two Hosts Using different hosts for the IVC & TE CAUTIONS You must use a different IP for the TE Host and the IVC Host. If you do not use a different IP for the TE Host and the IVC Host, you will be flying off ONE host, and not TWO. Some guys though you could put one pilot’s IP in the Rapace Launcher for both IVC and the TE, then have a different pilot host the TE once they were in the chat lobby. THAT DOES NOT SPLIT THE BANDWIDTH BETWEEN THE TWO PILOTS AND IT IS NOT 1st VFW SOPs!. ALL PILOTS ARE STILL RUNNING OFF THE TE IP THEY PUT IN THE PHONEBOOK SECTION OF THE RAPACE LAUNCHER!

Testing IVC When using IVC, you should always test it before bringing up the game. It’s a very simple and effective process. Here’s the 1 st VFW SOP’s for the IVC Mic Check: The IVC Mic Check should be performed after everyone is in the Chat Lobby and has performed the text check-in confirming everyone can see each other (per our Multiplayer SOPs) The IVC Host should start with the first pilot in the list of callsigns in the Chat Lobby. The IVC Host will say “[INSERT PILOT CALLSIGN] mic check on IVC. Mic check, how copy?” How to do the IVC Mic Check in the Chat Lobby (in game) 4. The pilot will then respond “Five-by- Five, how me?” if he can hear the IVC Host loud and clear (that’s what 5x5 means) 5. The IVC will then respond “Five-by- Five” if he hears the pilot loud and clear, then move on to the next pilot on the list in the Chat Lobby 6. If the IVC Host can’t hear the pilot or vice versa, they should communicate on Teamspeak and troubleshoot the issue. 7. Once the IVC Mic Check has been successfully completed, everyone should revert back to using Teamspeak in the map screen (user interface) until you are in the cockpit Once you call “In the jet”, mute your Teamspeak mic and use IVC

Final Thoughts & Considerations IVC is one of the awesome features that makes OF so special. No other version of F4 has that realistic feature, and since the 1 st VFW is all about realism, we should strive to use it as often as possible. However, we need to keep in mind our most important core value of providing a dynamic and stable multiplayer experience. So please review and memorize the SOP’s described in this presentation and do your part to ensure the best online experience possible. THANK YOU 1 st VFW Command Staff