


  [1st fox image]           [Fox Two header]              [2nd fox image]


    [Hello there!]
    So what's this Fox Two rubbish then? Well, if you're a dedicated
    Flight Sim enthusiast, or hardcore games addict, then there's a
    damned good chance you'll be sitting in front of what many consider
    to be the best hardware for getting the most out of a game:
    Thrustmaster joystick and throttle controls. Now, unfortunately as
    with all computing, the more powerful something is, the more
    complicated it becomes. And programming Thrustmaster joysticks is
    not for the faint hearted and completely daunting when you first
    set them up. Thankfully, there are a lot of great apps out there (
    Commander 2, EZ Build and Winstick) for helping you to develop the
    files the hardware needs with nice pretty graphical interfaces that
    hide the complexities of the text files they produce. Great!

    However, if you're an old fogey like me, brought up on developing
    Thrustmaster files using their C&CC, Notepad or the superb
    UltraEdit, then unfortunately there aren't any apps out there that
    stay with a text interface. I've been flying flight sims for ...
    well ... I guess 16 years, and programming Thrustmaster hardware
    for about 10 of those years. I've always wanted a text editor more
    dedicated to my joysticks than general text editors. And hence, the
    idea for Fox Two came about. Thus, I've developed Fox Two to
    complement the likes of Commander 2 and EZ Build, thereby providing
    the benefits of a text editor, coupled with graphical components,
    to those of us who still like to do things this way round. So now
    there's something for everyone!

    Geez James, isn't that a step backwards? Well no, not really. Let's
    face facts - Thrustmaster files are text files, and that's that.
    When you understand how they're put together, what everything in
    them means, then that's the only way you'll get the most out of
    your joysticks. So you do need to understand what's in them.
    Furthermore, a great way of learning how to do more advanced things
    with your joysticks is to look at the files that advanced
    programmers produce. Now, obviously the files you receive from them
    are text files. And if whatever program you're using hides the
    contents of these text files, how are you really going to learn how
    they do what they do? The beauty of Fox Two is that you see the
    whole joystick file beside the macro file, and therefore you see
    the whole picture. Also, because Fox Two deals with the text files
    as text files, you're guaranteed that you'll always be able to load
    them up, no matter how complicated they get.

    OK, so I might try the text route ... but is Fox Two any good?
    Well, don't ask me ... :) ... take a look at what other people
    think about it here. And don't be frightened of a text based
    approach. I bet after all you've got a word processor on your
    machine - imagine how slow that would be to use if you had to do
    everything with a completely graphical interface! Text editors are
    fast - believe me - and Fox Two will have you generating your files
    quickly and effortlessly. You'll never go back to a graphical
    interface again I can assure you. Go on, give it a go .... you're
    going to be pleasantly surprised :)



              [Image]                            [Image]
              "Tell me more about Fox Two ..."                The following files
                                                               are available for
  Fox Two goes public                                             downloading

  This software is fully functional, and there are no        Fox Two: version 1.2a
  restrictions on its use on an individual basis
  whatsoever. However, you have no permission to             Please make sure that
  distribute this application or upload it onto any other    you read this
  site. I will at some stage be looking for mirror sites,    ReadMe.txt file which
  but these will be official sites that I can rely on to     contains important
  maintain high bandwidth and replicate the files on this    information on
  site, to ensure that they're uptodate.                     installing Fox Two,
                                                             bug reporting, how to
  --------------------------------------------------------   really hack me off
  Please be patient ...                                      and problems you may
                                                             encounter with the
  Do enjoy Fox Two and really try everything out - it's      installation
  fun! Bear with me though when it comes to responding to    procedure. Here's the
  e-mail over the next 6 weeks. As a 4th year Dental         file you need to
  student, I desperately need to devote time to my           download then. Note
  Dentistry, with exams at the end of May for me. The        that this is only for
  break will do me good!!                                    32bit Windows
  --------------------------------------------------------   platforms. I will not
  Now the important stuff                                    be releasing Fox Two
                                                             for Win 3.11. Sorry.
  Fox Two uses the latest controls from Microsoft, and in
  particular, comctl32.dll version 4.72. It is imperative     If you have version
  that you have this version of this dll or later, as I       1.2, please upgrade
  have no licence to ship it separately. If you have           to version 1.2a to
  Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.x or 4 then you should        fix the bug with the
  have it. But please check and go here to find out more     Joystick analyser not
  about this. You should grab it anyway as it'll enhance     working. See the bugs
  your other apps and improve their stability.                   page for more
                                                                  information.
  --------------------------------------------------------
  Screen shots [Image]                                       (This file includes
                                                             the much talked about
     * The Editor                                            Launcher which it
     * The Composer                                          will install
     * Korgy                                                 alongside Fox Two.)
     * The Key Tester
     * The Joystick Analyser                                 ---------------------
     * The Image Viewer                                      Fox2v1_2a.exe (3.46MB
     * Inserting templates                                         - UK site)
     * The Template Editor
     * Using the Launcher                                    Fox2v1_2a.exe (3.46MB
     * The Help file                                           - USA, Washington
                                                                     site)
  --------------------------------------------------------
  What's the latest information James?                       A great big thanks to
                                                             Mazman (and wife!)
         Great! - Over 4,000 Fox Two visitors !!! :)         for the mirror site.

  I'm now working on what we all want - the ability to       Please remember: When
  print out graphical representations of the controllers     you first run Fox Two
  with all the macros for each hat and button. It's going    and you setup your
  well so far, but being a big job, it's going to take       File Locations, I do
  time - so bear with me. One good thing though is that      recommend you then
  you'll be able to move around the text and change its      shut it down and then
  font, to prevent overlapping text. Unfortunately, this     restart it.
  version will be shareware, as being a self funding         ---------------------
  student, I can no longer afford the exorbitant phone       Upgrades
  bills we pay here in England for our Internet access
  (yes, we pay heavily for our local calls) :(               You must have a
                                                             version of Fox Two
  When you send me e-mail with suggestions or questions,     (preferably version
  I've decided to answer them in the Fox Two FAQ, so do      1.1) installed on
  keep coming back to read it. It saves me a lot of hassle   your machine to use
  writing a lot of e-mail, or bombarding those of you on     this upgrade. You
  the mailing list constantly!                               should extract the
                                                             files in the self
  Do make sure you keep up to date with everything - see     extracting exe below
  the section in the opposite column entitled:               into your Fox Two
                                                             directory thereby
    Fox Two related links - Keep up to date - read these     overwriting the older
                           often!                            Fox2.exe file and
                                                             other files. Please
  In particular, keep an eye on the bugs page and the        read the Upgrade.txt
  Versions.txt.                                              for instructions on
                                                             how to upgrade to
  --------------------------------------------------------   version 1.2a. It is
  Linking your site to Fox Two                               vital that you exit
                                                             the Launcher before
  Good news! This site is now permanent, so you can now      installing this
  link to this page if you wish. The URL is:                 upgrade.

        http://www.globalnet.co.uk/~jchall/fox2.html         This file upgrades
                                                             Fox Two to version
  and the HTML code if you want to copy and paste it         1.2a, and the help
  directly is:                                               file to version 1.2

                              A                              Fox2UpgradeTo1_2a.exe
   HREF="http://www.globalnet.co.uk/~jchall/fox2.html">Fox      (888Kb - Site 1)
                             Two                             Fox2UpgradeTo1_2a.exe
                                                                (888Kb - Site 2)
  Obviously you need to put the appropriate tags on the      Fox2UpgradeTo1_2a.exe
  front and end of that URL. (ps. My homepage is still           (888Kb - USA,
  worth visiting !!) And whilst we're linking, if you're        Washington site)
  after some joystick and macro files, then you'd better
  try these sites out first:                                 This file upgrades
                                                             the Launcher to
     * Thrustmaster Customer Support Library                 version 1.3. This is
     * Combat Sim                                            a later version than
     * Cowboy's Thrustmaster Users Group for advanced        the one in the above
       users !!                                              files, and corrects a
     * Eagle's Flight Sim Page                               bug whereby the
     * Mystic's Six Degrees of Freedom                       Always download
     * Snajper's Inn                                         joystick file menu
                                                             item wasn't working
  --------------------------------------------------------   properly.
  Fox Two mailing list
                                                              Launcher.zip (15Kb -
  If you would like to have your name added to the Fox Two          Site 1)
  information mailing list, then send me e-mail including     Launcher.zip (15Kb -
  your name and e-mail address to jchall@globalnet.co.uk.           Site 2)
  Whenever a new version of Fox Two is uploaded here, or      Launcher.zip (15Kb -
  if a serious bug is found and you want to know about it,   USA, Washington site)
  I'll mail all users on the mailing list so you can keep
  uptodate with progress on the app as it develops. If you   ---------------------
  want to be removed from the mailing list, just send me     Having problems
  e-mail with a message to that effect. Note that the        remembering your
  mailing list information is for my purposes only - it      joystick buttons
  makes it easier to keep those of you who like Fox Two      layout?
  uptodate.
                                                             You can always
                                                             download the demo
                                                             version of Commander
                                                             2 and use that to
                                                             print out your
                                                             joystick layout.
                                                             However, if you have
                                                             problems loading up
                                                             your files into
                                                             Commander, or if you
                                                             find that because
                                                             your joystick file is
                                                             large, Commander
                                                             doesn't print them
                                                             out onto one sheet
                                                             clearly, or some of
                                                             the text overlaps,
                                                             then here you are.
                                                             This is what I use,
                                                             F22TQSlayout.dot.
                                                             It's a Word 97
                                                             template which has
                                                             images of the F22 Pro
                                                             (or F16) and TQS,
                                                             with text boxes you
                                                             can fill in for your
                                                             buttons and hats. The
                                                             advantage of using
                                                             this is that you can
                                                             resize the text boxes
                                                             easily and move them
                                                             around to make sure
                                                             that everything fits,
                                                             and that they don't
                                                             overlap. Note as well
                                                             that I don't label
                                                             all the buttons,
                                                             preferring just to
                                                             use Up, Down etc. I
                                                             find that more
                                                             logical for my simple
                                                             mind! I usually
                                                             create 3 - one for
                                                             the up, middle and
                                                             down positions of the
                                                             Dogfight switch.
                                                             Here's a
                                                             screencapture
                                                             (F22TQSlayout.jpg) to
                                                             show what it consists
                                                             of. Hope this helps.

                                                             ---------------------
                                                             Fox Two related links
                                                             - Keep up to date -
                                                             read these often!

                                                                * The features I'm
                                                                  working on now,
                                                                  the bugs I'm
                                                                  fixing and the
                                                                  ideas I've
                                                                  already
                                                                  implemented for
                                                                  the next version
                                                                  are in the
                                                                  Versions.txt.
                                                                * I answer your
                                                                  questions here
                                                                  in the Fox Two
                                                                  FAQ. Keep
                                                                  sending them -
                                                                  you can bet that
                                                                  no matter how
                                                                  obvious a
                                                                  question is to
                                                                  me, others out
                                                                  there will be
                                                                  asking the same
                                                                  one. But do also
                                                                  look for the
                                                                  answer in the
                                                                  help file and
                                                                  the Tip of the
                                                                  day.
                                                                * The current
                                                                  features that
                                                                  Fox Two supports
                                                                  can be seen
                                                                  here.
                                                                * These are some
                                                                  of your comments
                                                                  from the mail
                                                                  I've received
                                                                  from all of you,
                                                                  and from your
                                                                  posts to various
                                                                  forums and
                                                                  newsgroups. This
                                                                  is what keeps me
                                                                  going.
                                                                * The bugs you've
                                                                  found, are on
                                                                  the the Bugs and
                                                                  Wish list page.

                                                             Please remember that
                                                             I am a very busy
                                                             person at the moment.
                                                             Do be patient with
                                                             me! :)

                                                             ---------------------
                                                             And finally ...

                                                             The number of people
                                                             who've found their
                                                             way to this page is
                                                             [Image] since Sunday
                                                             22nd March, 1998.
                                                             Unfortunately, this
                                                             is the same number of
                                                             people who think Fox
                                                             Two should be placed
                                                             in a large capsule
                                                             and sent with the
                                                             next Voyager mission
                                                             so that other
                                                             inhabitants of our
                                                             Universe will
                                                             appreciate just how
                                                             stupid one member
                                                             from the planet Earth
                                                             really is.
                                                               I think I'd better
                                                              remove my name from
                                                                   this app!

                                                             ---------------------
                                                               This page was last
                                                               updated on Sunday
                                                                 24th May, 1998

                                                              Dr. James C. Hallows

                                                               Current version of
                                                                Fox Two is 1.2a
                                                               Current version of
                                                              the help file is 1.2
                                                               Current version of
                                                              the Launcher is 1.3

                                                               This page is best
                                                               viewed at 1024 by
                                                               768, 16bit colour,
                                                              and your eyes open.



