First, you need the appropriate software. Get Lou A. Moccia's excellent "AOL Message Tosser" from his Web page at "http://members.xoom.com/scree/aolmt.htm". You also need a Microsoft Visual BASIC v6.0 DLL file for the program to run, so you need to get the file "vbrun60.exe" from Microsoft, which is a HUGE DAMN PAIN IN THE ASS because of the way M$ set up their Web pages. Thank you, M$, for such a piece-o'-shit Web setup. Here's what you have to do. Click on the following link to try to go to:
" http://support.microsoft.com/download/support/mslfiles/vbrun60.exe".
It will tell you that you need to register, and you'll have to go through all the bullshit M$ wants from you (perhaps soon, to get a simple download, you'll have to type in all that crap plus banking information and send in a blood and semen sample). Once you do that, try clicking on the link again, and it will send you the damn file. I'd just put it here for a download, but I don't have the Web space -- AOL only gives you a little, and the file is about 5 MB in size. I wish Lou would have just bundled the needed DLL's with his software.
Second, get the software up and running. Create a shortcut to the AOL Message Tosser executable (.exe) file (click on it with your right mouse button and select "create shortcut"). Put that shortcut into your "c:\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp" folder so that the Message Tosser will start running every time you reboot your computer. Start AOL Message Tosser or reboot your computer.
Now you are ready to start AOL, log in, and start playing Air Warrior (AW). When the AOL timer kicks in, the Message Tosser will respond for you automatically so that your connection isn't severed. However, your screen might still get messed up. Just hit F2 twice in a row -- that brings up the radio display and then back to the cockpit display, refreshing your graphical display.
What a pain in the ass, eh? But thanks to Lou Moccia, it is at least workable. I play through AOL all the time, and have played in many scenarios without much of a problem.
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