posted 09-10- 08:09 AM               

Here's the text. I printed it for you since its in the middle of a dense page.

Problems with SWOTL and "Fast" Computers

SWOTL does not entirely get along with today's faster computers. When it was first written, the 386 was king. In 1993
SWOTL was revamped (as the version in Air Combat Classics) for the then current "hot" 486 CPU. Today's Pentiums have
far surpassed the best 486 of 1993. Though SWOTL may appear to run just fine on your 486 or Pentium, you will find that
strange things happen on these faster machines. Trouble with "bombs exploding in mid air" is the most widely reported "bug"
(though there are others) associated with a machine that's just too fast. LucasArts summed it up like this:

"Unfortunately, both [TFH:BOB and SWOTL] are older dos games
which were designed to run on a 386 system. The advent of the
much faster Pentium chips and other newer processors has caused
compatibility problems with older software programs. There really
is no way to adjust the speed of your machine to effectively run
these older games without complications. You might try looking
for a shareware program available online (use a search engine)
called MoSlow which was designed for these types of
compatibility problems.
Eric / LucasArts"

The most recent (v1.31) freeware copy of Mo'Slow was sent to me by the author, and is available here. This version is from
1997 and does directly support Pentium processors. The last version (also in the Utilities section of this site) is from 1993
and does not directly support Pentiums, however, I have read reports from users who have had a lot of success running other
"old" games on a Pentium with it. There is a full version called Mo'Slow Deluxe, which works with fast Pentiums, allows
speed adjustments in 0.1% and runs batch files, but it is a commercial product which can be ordered for $15 plus shipping.
Click here for more information about Mo'Slo Deluxe. (Much thanks to David Perrell for this product, and his support for
fans of older games such as ourselves.)

I have recently had some reports from SWOTL fans using version 1.2 of Mo'Slo, found here. After much experimentation,
SWOTL fan Ignacio McGuire reports that Mo'Slo works well on his Pentium 133 with a setting of 50% while using ACC
SWOTL. While the same version on my Pentium II 233 works better with a setting closer to 25%. Other machines, and other
versions, may need yet a different setting, but you can use these figures as a starting point for your experimentation. As I get
additional information, I will post it here (be sure to let me know what setting is working for you.) BTW, the line I use to run
SWOTL under Mo`Slo is:
..\moslo\mo'slo /25 SWOTL.EXE V S 5 Y Y Y 64
I simply edited my SWOTL.BAT file to look like the above. You should note that Mo`Slo is located in a directory (folder)
called "moslo" in the same subdirectory (folder) as my SWOTL directory (folder), thus the PATH name looks as it does.

The software technique has been reported to work well by some (and not by others), but, there may be another option as
well. Numerous Tech Support centers, and users such as Keith Heitmann, suggest you might try adjusting some settings to
your computer's BIOS (or CMOS) temporarily. This means you need to access the BIOS (or CMOS) setup routine, most often
done by pressing a key during bootup (this differs from machine to machine, see your manual!) Once there, disable the
"External Cache" RAM and save the settings. When you are done playing SWOTL, you will want to reverse this process to
put things back as they belong! Also, I strongly suggest that you make a printout of your current CMOS settings, using the
Print Screen key, and save that someplace (like in the manual) just in case something gets screwed up at some point!! (I do
this this with every new computer I set up, right out of the box!)

Whatever approach you use, I think you should also try running the "fastest version" of SWOTL, from Air Combat Classics.
If you don't own it, try using the "upgrade" patch from the Modules page here (CD-ROM users can do this too! See the
SWOTL CD FAQ for the details) and see if that helps. With Pentium CPUs you will still have some trouble. I am trying to
find a better solution to this, and would love to hear from anyone who has solved it! As I find more answers, or better
software, I will post it here. Right now, Mo`Slo seems to be the way to go.

posted 09-10- 02:01 PM               

Thanks but I already know about that page. I'm currently using moslo right now which solves the prematurely bomb detonation problem but replaces that problem with one in which the program freezes whenever you try to change the altitude of one of the way points either during a campaign game or when you're trying to put together a custom mission.

I think that there's a memory conflict between moslo and swotl which is why I'm seeking a hardware-based resolution to the problem (if such a resolution exists).