AirStrike 2: Gulf Thunder

AirStrike
AirStrike 3D: Operation W.A.T.	2002
AirStrike 2	2004
AirStrike 2: Gulf Thunder	2005

AirStrike 2: Gulf Thunder is a singleplayer and multiplayer bird's-eye view shooter and vehicle combat game in the AirStrike series.

Game requires a patch or workarounds to function properly on modern versions of Windows^[1] (see Essential improvements).

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail

Demo

A demo is available from the developer website.

Limited to 60 minutes of gameplay
Includes three missions and one helicopter
Multiplayer is disabled

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\config.ini^{[Note 1]}

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows

Essential improvements

Patches

Patch v2.71

Latest official patch.

Fixes compatibility and graphical issues on modern versions of Windows.

Breaks Surround sound.

Reverts localization back to English.

Utilities

Video setup

Use `-setup` command line argument

Modify `config.ini`
Go to `<path-to-game>`. Open `config.ini` with a text editor. Under the `[System]` section, change `FirstRun` value to `1`. Save the file and launch the game.

Skip logo/intro

Modify `config.ini`
Go to `<path-to-game>` Open `config.ini` with a text editor. Under the `[System]` section, change `ShowLogo` value to `0`. Save the file.

Video

Graphics setting from external settings utility

Graphics feature	State	Notes
Widescreen resolution		Gameplay is Hor+. UI is Stretched. Makes the game unplayable (see Issues unresolved).
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)		Options for different camera perspectives, which do not affect FOV.
Windowed		Disable Full Screen in Video setup.
Borderless fullscreen windowed		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
High-fidelity upscaling		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Frame generation		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Vertical sync (Vsync)		Disabled by default. Enable Wait for VSYNC in Video setup, or open `config.ini` and change `WaitVSync` value to `1`.
60 FPS and 120+ FPS		Uncapped as-is. Wrappers may override the frame rate cap.^{[citation needed]}
High dynamic range display (HDR)		See the glossary page for potential alternatives.
Ray tracing (RT)
Color blind mode		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.

Input

The input settings of the game, the controls can be remapped

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping		Separate control sets for co-op players.
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse acceleration		Mouse acceleration follows Windows settings.
Mouse input in menus
Keyboard and mouse prompts		Tutorial refers to default keyboard prompts.
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support		Supported via DirectInput.
Full controller support		Cannot pause or navigate menu with a controller.
Controller remapping		Only joystick's axis can be mapped to movement.
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers		^[2]

DirectInput-compatible controllers

PlayStation controllers		^{[citation needed]}

Nintendo controllers

Other controller(s)
Additional button prompts

Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Input prompt override
Haptic feedback
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Audio

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Music and Sound Effects
Surround sound		3D Sounds are broken; see Missing sound effects with 3D Sound turned on.
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
German
Polish

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
Local play		2	Co-op Supports a combination of mouse/keyboard and a controller.

Issues unresolved

Mouse pointer cannot reach lower part of the window in widescreen resolutions

Modify `config.ini` to enable widescreen resolutions
Go to `<path-to-game>`. Open `config.ini` with a text editor. Under the `Display` section, change `EnableNonStdModes` value to `1`. Save the file and launch the game.

Mission can be started only by pressing a button with a mouse pointer. Applying a widescreen resolution prevents it from reaching the button.

Missing sound effects with 3D Sound turned on

Audio wrappers such as DSOAL do not solve this issue, due to sound panning errors present in the game.^[1]

With IndirectSound almost all sound effects will play in the right channel.^{[Note 2]}

Issues fixed

Versions prior to v2.71 fail to launch on modern Windows systems

Use QindieGL.
OpenGL 1.1 to DirectX 9 wrapper. Vendor independent which works across modern hardware. Shouldn't cause any missing graphical effects.

Set flags via Nvidia Profile Inspector

For Nvidia graphics only.

Add AirStrike3D II - Gulf.exe to Nvidia Control Panel's profile.
Open Nvidia Profile Inspector.
Select AirStrike3D II - Gulf.exe from User modified profiles menu.
Look for Extension Limit and set to 0x1
Click Apply Changes.

Notes.

You may optionally set OpenGL - Version Override to OpenGL Version 1.1 if the issues persists.

Setting extension limit to the value above shouldn't cause any major graphical issue. If any occurs, try setting Extension Limit back to 0x00004844.

(Linux) Set Mesa and/or Nvidia's OpenGL extension limit through environment variables.

For Linux system with game running under Wine.

Check your Mesa/GL driver vendor, can be done by running glxinfo and look for OpenGL renderer string
For proprietary Nvidia driver, use the environment variables __GL_ExtensionStringVersion=17700
- For Mesa-based driver, such as intel, AMDGPU or radeon. Use the environment variables MESA_EXTENSION_MAX_YEAR=2003
The output in desktop entry, shell script files or command line arguments should look similar to this: env MESA_EXTENSION_MAX_YEAR=2003 wine "AirStrike3D II - Gulf.exe"

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
OpenGL	1.1

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Audio	BASS	2.1.0.3

Command line arguments

Parameter	Description
-setup	Opens video setup
-campos	Crashes the game after intro
-obj	Dumps game objects into a `<path-to-game>\objects.txt`
-god	Enables invulnerability
-notex	Disables textures
-nosound	Disables sound

Enabling invulnerability with -god does not change your rank to "cheater".

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	95, 98, ME, NT 4.0, 2000, XP
Processor (CPU)	Pentium or Athlon 400 MHz	Pentium or Athlon 600 MHz
System memory (RAM)	128 MB	256 MB
Storage drive (HDD/SSD)	50 MB
Video card (GPU)	16 MB TNT2-class or other OpenGL 1.1+ compliant video card	16 MB NVIDIA GeForce / ATI Radeon

Notes

↑ When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below %PROGRAMFILES%, %PROGRAMDATA%, or %WINDIR% might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore on Windows Vista and later (more details).
↑ Exceptions include interface selection sound and typewriter clicks used in each stage introduction.

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Verified by User:Fudgesiclesxd on 2021-12-15
↑ Verified by User:Contact5156 on 2025-09-04

[gamedir-2] When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below %PROGRAMFILES%, %PROGRAMDATA%, or %WINDIR% might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore on Windows Vista and later (more details).

[Note-4] Exceptions include interface selection sound and typewriter clicks used in each stage introduction.

[refcheck_Fudgesiclesxd-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Verified by User:Fudgesiclesxd on 2021-12-15

[3] Verified by User:Contact5156 on 2025-09-04

[1]

[Note 1]

[2]

[Note 2]

Developers

	DivoGames
Publishers
Poland	MarkSoft
Germany	Toro-Publishing
Release dates
Windows	February 2, 2005
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	Bird's-eye view
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Shooter, Vehicle combat
Vehicles	Helicopter
Art styles	Realistic
Series	AirStrike