The EAW "Pilot Career" stock campaigns are hosed due to the video bug. The proposed fixes didn't work for me. I was bummed to realize this because it's why I bought the game (again). I've replaced it with Malta, which the modding community released in 2002. This is mainly the work of Dirk 'Emil' Schoorens, with my own Italian skins added and some other adjustments that I prefer. I did this for me but thought others might find it useful. Works with stock 1.2 EAW and intended for a gamepad (my Saitek Gold died years ago). I have finished two Malta '41 campaigns in the Hurricane so far, with a few issues but nothing game-breaking. (See "Bugs" section at bottom of this doc.)

FILE HERE:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rArQKZpqTmukFZBpBrj-CMr0NJQAXmAm/view?usp=drive_link

TO PLAY:
Extract the folder anywhere and just add in your stock 1.2 "eaw.exe" file from GOG version. Activate your gamepad BEFORE launching the game. Click the "eaw.exe" to play. That's it!

NOTE: Game will run in a 1600x1200 DX window wrapper for improved stability and better horizon fog. It still crashes some, especially when first starting a career (does work eventually, can take several tries). If you prefer full-screen, open "dxconfig.exe" in game folder and change the Windowed option to Full and change Resolution to match your desktop res. Actual res for game is set manually in the "eaw.ini" in the first two lines. EAW's aspect ratio is quirky with regard to visible viewing area but 1600x1200 is the best for stock play, despite small HUD. (For example, 1024x768 zooms the view in and limits your field-of-view considerably, despite it being the same aspect ratio as 1600x1200. Even weirder, 800x600 and 640x480 both give larger FOV than 1024x768. Thanks to MarkEAW for his help and testing with this.

If the cloud seams bother you, try turning Cloud Detail to Low under the Graphics settings. It doesn't fix it completely but helps.

Unless you are into the Y2K low-res look, I advise playing mainly with cockpit off (D-PAD Up toggles it). While somewhat usable in 1999, the blurry "virtual" gauges are a tough sell now, and the cloudy gunsight is ugly. (There is a mod that gets rid of it but it's not compatible with Malta's plane slot assignments without hex edits, and I've lost literally all of my EAW hex editing knowledge from twenty years ago.)

Preconfigured Gamepad Settings:

SELECT - Exterior View (cycles through views of planes, friendly and then enemy; yours is first shown; D-pad R/L pivots 360 around planes)
START - Autopilot Toggle (autopilot in EAW is minimal, it does not attack or evade well but cruises fine and keeps you from crashing; good for takeoff)

LEFT STICK - Plane controls
RIGHT STICK - Rudder right/left (up/down does nothing)
DEPRESS LEFT STICK/L3 - Virtual Mode (puts you back in cockpit if you're in exterior mode)
DEPRESS RIGHT STICK/R3 - Padlock current target (Toggle)

D-PAD UP - Cockpit overlay on/off (Toggle) (Virtual Cockpit mode always re-enables overlay, push up to remove it; does nothing in exterior mode)
D-PAD DOWN - Snap-view rear (also resets view to center so use it for that; does nothing in exterior mode)
D-PAD RIGHT - Moves view right in exterior mode and cockpit mode
D-PAD LEFT - Moves view left in exterior mode and cockpit mode

RIGHT TOP BUTTON - Throttle Up
LEFT TOP BUTTON - Throttle Down
RIGHT TRIGGER - Target Closest Enemy
LEFT TRIGGER - Target Next Enemy

RIGHT ACTION BUTTON - Select Guns (cycles through guns/cannons)
BOTTOM ACTION BUTTON - Fires Selected Guns
LEFT ACTION BUTTON - Target View (since HUD distance is hard to read at 1600x1200 res., I use this to see which direction my target is headed)
TOP ACTION BUTTON - Zoom In (I use Virtual Cockpit to reset but you could also assign Zoom Out to the button above, if you don't care about Target View)

Preconfigured Keyboard Settings:

I - Start Engine (also handled by Autopilot)
G - Landing Gear (also handled by Autopilot)
B - Brakes (enabled by default when starting on runway; also handled by Autopilot)
FLAPS DOWN - Down Key (I don't use flaps often in EAW so have it on keyboard)
FLAPS UP - Up Key
RIGHT BRACKET - Time Accelerate (2x/4x/8x; doesn't work if enemies are near)
LEFT BRACKET - Normal Time
SPACE - Skip to Action or Back to Base (doesn't work if enemies are near; can sometimes put you at lower altitude and slight disadvantage if heading into combat)
F12 - Action Camera Movie Mode! (bomb view is so hilariously useless)

Preconfigured Difficulty for Gamepad Play:

FLIGHT MODEL = Realistic
STALLS/SPINS = Off (too easy to stall with gamepad thumb control, major fun-sucker)
ENGINE OVERHEAT = Off (too few cooling options in EAW, minor fun-sucker, sometimes I leave this on from guilt of disabling stalls)
REDOUTS/BLACKOUTS = On
STRUCTURAL LIMITS = On
TORQUE = On
WIND = On
GUNNERY = Realistic (if you have trouble hitting planes, I'd advise changing this rather than turning on Unlimited Ammo; it increases the hit box around planes)
UNLIMITED AMMO = Off ("spray and pray" is lazy, don't do it)
ENEMY SKILL LEVEL = Veteran (again, I suck so default setting is fine for me)
MID AIR COLLISION = On (you can never hit your own flight so this is just for hitting enemy planes or other flights)
LANDING = Simplistic (I usally exit mission before landing so don't care about this)
INVULNERABLE = Off

BUGS:

-If you ever load the game without the gamepad activated first, it will reset both Flight and Rudder controls to "Keyboard". Unlike IL-2, you can't adjust controls while in-mission. If you don't realize this until taking off, hit ALT-Q to immediately quit game without saving the mission. Then restart and enter Config and make sure it looks like what's below. Luckily, Advanced button assignments are not impacted.
FLIGHT=JOYSTICK
THROTTLE=KEYBOARD (since it is mapped to Top Buttons under Advanced)
RUDDER=RUDDER
VIEW=MOUSE (this one never seems to change)

-Game rarely crashes during a mission but it will crash sometimes when first starting a career or selecting a plane, especially MC.200 or 202. Sometimes it takes me 2-8 tries before it works and loads the briefing screen. But then it is stable and good to go. On the plus side, game loads super fast now. Add a shortcut in your taskbar for quick reboots.

-EAW only saves your final career score in the "Hall of Fame" if you are KIA. Otherwise it crashes completely if you finish a campaign alive and don't die. So to record your score at campaign completion, after the crash, reload the last mission and then intentionally die instead of landing at the end. This will save your score and kill tally in HoF.