Still possible to install in this day and age?

fatmeatball

New member
Let me start by clarifying: I am NOT looking for RealFlight. I am looking for RealFlight G2. If I wanted an authentic flight simulator experience, I would buy RealFlight Evolution on Steam.

When I was a kid, my dad had a copy of RealFlight G2 on his computer, and I remember playing around with it every day. Because of this, I have immense nostalgia for it, but the disc and controller have been long since lost to time. I'm aware the disc, controller, and software are in a 3-way serial lock, but archived forum posts from the literal date of my birth have told me it is theoretically possible to bypass this.

My questions are as follows:

1: Does RealFlight G2's activation process use the Internet?
1a: If so, has anyone managed to bypass this?
2: Can RF G2 start WITHOUT a controller plugged in? Can this also be bypassed through some form of modification, or will I have to buy a boxed set secondhand? I'm aware this will not allow me to fly aircraft.
3: Does the aforementioned computer having installation files from RealFlight G2 impact this process in any way, or would it only hinder things?
4: If somehow all of these are possible, would anyone with a copy be willing to send me an ISO file for some monetary compensation?

If it's completely, entirely, undoubtedly impossible to install RealFlight G2 in 2023, is there a version from a similar era that is? I'm looking mainly for the same graphical quality and sounds. I will let my brain be fooled for the rest.
 
I suspect that you're out of luck without finding a boxed set with controller online. Keep in mind that it's been MANY years since I installed G2.
1) I don't know for SURE, but AFAIK, there are no cracks available. The copy protection is built into the controller & RF won't run without it.
2) No. And if I recall correctly, the only controller that will work with G2 is the 15-pin joystick controller that PC's haven't supported for many years.
3) It probably won't work without the original disks. The volume label on the installation drive must be exactly correct for it to install. Again, if I recall correctly, the installation is done by a 2-CD set. And your HD has only 1 volume label. So it will probably fail when it wants the 2nd disk. You could probably do it with 2 different thumb drives, but I don't know for sure.
 
I suspect that you're out of luck without finding a boxed set with controller online. Keep in mind that it's been MANY years since I installed G2.
1) I don't know for SURE, but AFAIK, there are no cracks available. The copy protection is built into the controller & RF won't run without it.
2) No. And if I recall correctly, the only controller that will work with G2 is the 15-pin joystick controller that PC's haven't supported for many years.
3) It probably won't work without the original disks. The volume label on the installation drive must be exactly correct for it to install. Again, if I recall correctly, the installation is done by a 2-CD set. And your HD has only 1 volume label. So it will probably fail when it wants the 2nd disk. You could probably do it with 2 different thumb drives, but I don't know for sure.
About what I expected, thank you for the info (and for the quick reply for such an obscure topic)!
 
Do a search on eBay I've seen a G2 disc and G2 controller there. Of course there's a risk the old user didn't deactivate it. But usually you can work with them to get it deactivated.
 
Yes G2 will run on a computer now days, as long as it is a Windows XP (or older) computer. I have tried numerous time to get G2 to run with newer operating systems without any luck. Also tried to run, without success, on the newer systems using a virtual enviorment.

Just recently a friend of mine wanted some low budget flight practice. He still had a XP machine so I pulled my G2 out of my OLD machine and it installed in his perfectly. No internet required. As a matter of fact way back when I was never able to connect my G2 to the internet, something about their server went bad and it never got fixed.

I can't answer your other questions.
 
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@fatmeatball, I can't tell you how much your post makes me wish I could help you out. G2 has a very fond place in my heart as well. We have far surpassed it technologically, but those graphics, sounds, and the music...

Unfortunately, I think you're out of luck. G3 is a bit tricky to get running on current systems but doable. G2 is probably a couple orders of magnitude harder, for numerous reasons. And among other things you'd need the original CD. Without that, there's really no hope. Now, maybe you could find a used version for sale somewhere with controller included. I wouldn't spend much on it, because the odds of being able to get it going are pretty low.

As @Normal2 pointed out, if you actually have access to a system from that era, your odds do go up significantly.
 
I'm running G2 on windows 10 . Not easy to get to work , but I get frame rates of 600 fps on an old Optiplex office pc with a GTX 1050 .
 
I'm running G2 on windows 10 . Not easy to get to work , but I get frame rates of 600 fps on an old Optiplex office pc with a GTX 1050 .
Mind sharing some details? Finally found a copy, but it only runs in my WinXP virtual machine. Graphics are fine but it instantly closes whenever it needs to create a new window, which is very often.
 
Firstly you need to update G2 to version RealFlight2_00_723 . I don't know if that file is still available on the net. That file was a 16bit file , so you would need to unpack it in XP or earlier OS . You could do that in your virtual machine . Then the unpacked file will install on Win 10 . If you send me your email address , I can
send you the unpacked file and more instructions .
 
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