FSFailure, v2.0
=================
REQUIRES FSUIPC.DLL v2.00 OR HIGHER! (or the compatible WideClient version)
This application has only been tested with FS2K, but should work, at least partially, with any simulator that functions with FSUIPC.


Why FSFailure?
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Since the release of Peter Dowson's FSUIPC v2.0 and the accompanying SDK, I took the opportunity to alleviate one of my pet peeves with FS2K. The "System Failure" options were too predetermined. In real flight, anything could go wrong at any time. With FS2K, a certain amount of planning went into any failure. FSFailure alleviates this issue by creating random failures.


What's new in v2.0?
=====================
(I received numerous suggestions on how to improve FSFailure, many of which appear in this version. Some of the suggestions not appearing in this version will probably show up at a later date.)

1. Added the ability to set failure rates by system

2. Added functionality to allow sound assignments per system

3. Fixed the "Verical Speed Indicator" problem/typo

4. Fixed the Activated/Disabled default status

5. Allows failures based on ranges of altitude, outside air temperature (OAT), and indicated air speed (IAS)

6. No longer necessary to start the simulator before starting FSFailure. (HOWEVER, if FSFailure has a connection to the simulator and loses the connection, the program will have to be restarted to restore the connection.)

7. Corporate sponsorship? Well, not really. Coastline Air is the other project that keeps me up nights. Just thought I'd throw in some free advertising...

8. Supporting web site. The site isn't fully functional at the time of this writing, but it should be shortly. Visit the site at http://www.coastlineva.com/fsfailure.html

Installing FSFailure
====================
Unzip the FSFAIL.ZIP file, extracting the FSFAIL.CFG and FSFAILURE.EXE files into your main flight simulator directory (for FS2000 users this is the same directory that contains the FS2000.EXE file). The MSVBVM60.DLL, MCI32.OCX, and COMDLG32.OCX files are optional; most users have these files already, but you will receive error messages if you don't have them installed. If you have this problem, extract these files to your Windows/System directory and restart the application.


How do I use FSFailure?
=======================
To use FSFailure, start the program either before or after you start your simulator. FSFailure will start with each system having a failure probability of .001 to be checked every 60 seconds. In other words, every 60 seconds you have 1 chance in 1000 of something failing in your aircraft. There are two ways of changing the failure probabilities:

1. Click on the "Default Settings" button, change the rate in the Settings screen and click "OK". This will change any system that has the same probability rate as the previous default. In other words, if your current default is a rate of 1/500 and you change it to 1/1000, any system that had a rate of 1/500 will change to 1/1000 as well. The interval at which systems are checked can also be set here. (NOTE: It is STRONGLY recommended that you do not set the interval lower than 10 seconds.)

2. Click on the "Specific Systems" button. Select the system you want to change in the drop-down box and give it a new error rate. Note that you can only change the frequency interval on the Default Settings screen. On this screen you can also specify what criteria must be met in order for the system to fail. For example, you can set systems to fail only if the aircraft is between 10,000 and 40,000 feet, or if it is going less than 200 knots IAS. IMPORTANT: The IAS is in knots, the OAT is in degrees Celsius, and the Altitude is in feet.

The "Current Status" box also contains 25 checkboxes for each of the 25 failure possibilities. Any of these can be activated or deactivated at any time. Should FSFailure cause one of these systems to fail, it will no longer be accessible (i.e. you can't restore a failed system.)

Settings exist to allow for visual (through the use of the interface message box) and audio notification of a failure event. See the "Preferences" menu for these settings. The sounds associated with these notifications can be set in the Default Settings and Specific Systems screens. Make sure that you select .wav files or you will not hear anything.

FSFailure can be set to pause when the simulator pauses. This option is turned off by default. If you enable this option and notice that your simulator seems to jump (more so than usual), it is recommended that you disable this feature. (This is the least stable feature in the application, at least as far as I know...)

Note that if you exit FSFailure during a fuel leak, landing gear, flaps, or engine failure the failed component will no longer be under the effects of the failure. Only exiting the application has this effect; the "Disable" feature will not restore these failures.

That's about all there is to it. Credit has to go out to Peter Dowson for developing FSUIPC and Chris Brett for the VB SDK. All of the improvements in this version came about by user input, and I (still) intend to continue to improve this application, so any suggestions you would like to give me would be welcomed.

Jim Schein
jschein@mn.rr.com
http://www.coastlineva.com