Battle of Britain II BDG v2.13

Installation

BDG v2.13

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Battle of Britain II BDG v2.13 installation.

The installation process is an easy one consisting in the following steps:

Download the v2.13 patch (BDG v2.13.7z)

Uncompress it to a temporary folder

Read the Release notes document.

Execute the file "BDG v2.13.exe"

NOTE: A previous "Battle of Britain II" installed version is required (any version will

do from 1.0 to v2.12)

PLEASE read this document thoroughly as it contains very important information

about the v2.13 path.

BDG v2.13

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Index

1. Installation Notes ..................................................................................................................... 3

2. Installation explained ............................................................................................................... 5

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1. Installation Notes

Please read through the following notes carefully before installation. There are several

things to be aware of, particularly if you haven't done a patch update before.

Note 1: This update will bring *any* previous version up to 2.13. You do not need any previous

patches at all.

Note 2: You will not be able to run (load) old campaigns with 2.13. If you are partway through

a campaign, you may want to finish it before doing an installation.

To run a v2.13 Campaign the SAVEGAME folder should be cleaned out completely except

for these 3 files:

DIR.DIR

inputcfg.dat

settings.cfg

On a fresh CD install only these 3 files will be there.

Note 3: You will need the latest DirectX 9.0c to run 2.13. Higher version numbers of DirectX do

not include DX9.0c extensions - if you have DX10 and 11 you must still have the latest DX9.0c.

You will get a missing .dll error if you do not. When the 2.13 installation update finishes, it will

offer the opportunity of running the official online Microsoft DirectX installer (Internet connection

needed). You may also update to DirectX9.0c (June version) by yourself. Unfortunately, there

are multiple versions of 9.0c so if in any doubt, update.

Note 4: The MultiSkin files needs a graphic card with at least 1GB RAM to be sure to run

without issues.

Note 5: How to manually back up your existing settings from earlier BoBII updates.

Buddye's installation guide in this thread

Back up your file and folders:

Bdg.txt (files)

2dGauge (folder)

keyboard (folder)

these files/folders contain all your settings and joystick buttons.

Note 6: If you have a low end system and experience a crash once into 3D, go to your

bdg.txt file and set LANDSCAPE_TEXTURE_SIZE = 1024 (the default is 2048). This will

reduce the landscape texture resolution by a factor of 4 and should help users with low system

memory.

Note 7: The minimum requirements for BoBII have changed very significantly since initial

release. To run 2.13 successfully we recommend Win XP/7, 2Gb RAM, 1Gb Video card, strong

Dual or Quad Core processor. Alas, BoBII is still unable to run reliably on Win8/8.1. It has been

BDG v2.13

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reported that it works OK with Win10. Investigation of Win10 is ongoing, please check the

forum, both General and Tech Supt, for the latest.

Note 8: Vista and Windows 7 (and later) users may need to apply (or reapply) the

'Vista/Windows 7 fix' to your desktop shortcut as a fresh 2.13 install will overwrite the previous

shortcut.

Right click on shortcut and go to properties.

Go to the compatibility tab.

Check "disable desktop composition" and check the privilege level, run this program as

an administrator.

Note 9: Currently, Windows screen text size must be set to 96 DPI. We will try to address this

for 2.14. (in Win7 this is found under Screen Resolution by right clicking the desktop

background, or under Control Panel>Display)

Note 10: Forcing VSync with ATI card

There is a known issue with some (most?) ATI cards and VSync. See this thread.

In short, you need to right click your ATI tray icon and enable through that (Wait for

vertical refresh -> Always on).

Note 11: Framerates over densely populated areas of 3D objects.

Object rendering is not as efficient as we hope to make it in the future. Be prepared to check

your Ground Object Density settings in densely populated urban areas. See below.

Note 12: To run 2.13 with max settings you will need minimum of 3Gb RAM (ideally 4Gb).

Players with 32 bit Windows7 will need to enable the "/3GB switch" to their system. See this

thread. You will also require a fairly muscular video card, with at least 1Gb of Video RAM.

Note 13: To see in-menu videos with Win7, see this thread. or install the Indeo codecs:

Note 14: Your newly patched install contains a full manual describing everything you might

possibly want to know about Battle of Britain II, in pdf form in the Docs\ folder, along with

several other useful files. This sim is intended to be as fully user-configurable as possible. You

can run it as it comes "out of the box" or you can spend as much time and effort as you are

inclined, to modify its behavior to your liking. The user definable options extend far beyond what

is apparent in the in-game GUI, via the configuration file bdg.txt, fully described in the

manual.

BDG v2.13

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2. Installation explained

These are the steps you should go when executing the installation file "BDG v2.13 .exe"

This is the first screen you will see after launching the v2.13 update.

Nothing to do here, just click on the "Next" button to continue the process.

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The installer will try to detect your "Battle of Britain II" installation from windows registry

and the found directory as the default destination.

If the installer can´t find your "Battle of Britain II" installed directory, the "C:\Battle of

Britain" will be used as default.

The installation directory can be changed using the "Browse..." button.

After verifying the destination folded click on the "Next" button to continue the process.

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This window will remind you that the selected directory is NOT empty and the contents

will be updated.

It´s just a reminder, press "Yes" button to continue.

Now it´s time to select the components you´d like to install. You have two options, install

the v2.13 files and/or install the Multiskin v2.13 files.

Select one or both options and click "Next" button to continue.

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Choose the desired ingame language to be used. By default the English language is

installed.

Change the default language if you want to and click "Next" button to continue.

NOTE: The BDG group hasn´t got the knowledge to update the German, French and Italian

languages. Only the English and Spanish ones are completely updated to v2.13. The other

three languages will work but are not as accurate as the English and Spanish ones.

Please keep in touch with the BDG group if you wish to update the German, French or Italian

languages.

BDG v2.13

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These are the installation options you may change:

Preserve current settings. If you have a previous installed version and wish to keep

your current install settings preserved, leave this option checked.

The backed up files will be saved in a directory named "BACKUP.<Date Time>" within

BoB II installation directory (Battle of Britain II)

NOTE: See the note 5 from previous chapter for a list of the files to be preserved using

this option.

Default BDG.txt file. Also, If you have a previous installed version and wish to keep

your bdg.txt modified file, uncheck this option.

IMPORTANT: If you don´t know anything about this file or want to start with a new

default one leave this option checked.

NOTE: In the Docs folder you will find an incredible "Battle of Britain" pdf manual with all

the game options explained including this file.

Choose type of effects?. Change the game effects from realistic ones to more visual

("Hollywood") ones.

Realistic option is more historically accurate. Hollywood is more visual stunning.

Change the options to your likings and click "Next" button to continue.

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This is a "review" screen with all the selected options before the update is installed. You

may go back ("Back") to change the selected options if you need to.

Click "Install" button to continue.

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Just an information window showing the installation process.

Click "Cancel" button to abort.

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The installation is over!. Click "Finish" button and enjoy with the "Batlle Of Britain II"

simulator.

Select "DirectX v9.0c online installation" option and click the "Finish" button if you´d like

to launch the online Microsoft DirectX installer. This program needs an Internet connection to

work properly.

You may install DirectX v9.0c by any other method you´d prefer but remember that the

simulator needs DirectX v9.0c to be installed.

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Just follow the installer if you´d like to install/update your DirectX or press "Cancel"

button to install DirectX by yourself.

The BDG will be happy to see you again in v2.14 update! Meanwhile go to the BDG

forum to keep in contact and stay up to date.