Yavin shirts have arrived. We're going formal:

Look what arrived from Shapeways...those gunboats sure are sweet looking!

Look what arrived from Shapeways...those gunboats sure are sweet looking!

Great now I can't stand up for quarter of an hour.

Nice cpdilloway;look forward to seeing them painted up!

GUNBOAT!!

I'm not interested in it for my own collection but I do feel it should be made and released. It is cool and would make a lot of folks round here happy.

By the way I posted because this thread dropped to page 2!

Disgraceful!

Call yourselves Gunboat fans.

Much appreciated Tyres! Clearly there's been too much enjoying the summer sunshine this weekend and not enough Gunboating.

Next weekend will be full of Gunboating, however. Oh yes, Yavin here we come.

In this very thread( possibly 12 months ago) I denounced the Gunboat, as an impossible dream that any realists should forget.

Yet I find myself 6 days from the Yavin Open, where I will be wearing a T shirt demanding the gunboats inclusion.....

Yes I have been crushed by the overwhelming demand for this ship, my willpower to reject it has been broken, your only hope now is the games designers will have collapsed like a wet cardboard box as I have....

XG1 Gunboat. The dream lives on

Truth be told, the t-shirts started out as a joke, but Ashley demanded I buy them...

As soon as some money comes in (refinancing and stuff) I'm gonna catch up on my collection, and that will include a certain amount of GUNBOAT. Shapeways more than likely. I think it is finally time.

And when I get some free time my Lego GUNBOAT will finally be finished.

In this very thread( possibly 12 months ago) I denounced the Gunboat, as an impossible dream that any realists should forget.

Yet I find myself 6 days from the Yavin Open, where I will be wearing a T shirt demanding the gunboats inclusion.....

Yes I have been crushed by the overwhelming demand for this ship, my willpower to reject it has been broken, your only hope now is the games designers will have collapsed like a wet cardboard box as I have....

XG1 Gunboat. The dream lives on

Funny story, I first played X-Wing at Ashley's house, back in the early nineties. Our very first encounter with the Gunboat in the campaign (following on from the tour of duty one cut scene) went something along these lines:

"What the hell is that?"

"Don't know. Shoot it!"

"OH SHI-"

"Wheeze... and now we will discuss the location of the secret Rebel base. Wheeze"

So many memories. So many broken flight sticks. Good times.

Funny story, I first played X-Wing at Ashley's house, back in the early nineties. Our very first encounter with the Gunboat in the campaign (following on from the tour of duty one cut scene) went something along these lines:

"What the hell is that?"

"Don't know. Shoot it!"

"OH SHI-"

"Wheeze... and now we will discuss the location of the secret Rebel base. Wheeze"

So many memories. So many broken flight sticks. Good times.

Why can't we have games like this anymore?!??!??!!!!

Why can't we have games like this anymore?!??!??!!!!

I have no idea. There's no, like, hyperdetailed enviroments to generate. A mission-based space sim seems like it would be one of the easiest things to make if you aren't trying to generate an entire open world galaxy to go along with it.

Holy crap, this thread's still around?

Why can't we have games like this anymore?!??!??!!!!

I have no idea. There's no, like, hyperdetailed enviroments to generate. A mission-based space sim seems like it would be one of the easiest things to make if you aren't trying to generate an entire open world galaxy to go along with it.

The age of mass market and oversimplification we are going through killed spacesims.

These games had two things that are huge weaknesses in the current videogame "meta":

• Controls. These games need of some analog stick input to properly control the ship. I completed X-Wing and TIE Fighter with my mouse and I don't recommend it to anyone. (Have you tried to fight TIE Defenders on a Missile Boat with a mouse? My right biceps and flexors developed quite a bit that summer of 1995, and it was not because of naughty things).

  A joystick is a non-standard peripheral, so that requirement basically closes the market to all those that have a plain PC without gaming hardware. And even in devices that come with analog sticks as standard complements, like consoles, these games require also a keyboard full with mapped commands.

• Mass appeal. A licensed game today needs to be AAA yes or yes. And AAA means, among other things, that it needs to appeal to the masses because the cost to develop a full HD game with detailed models, full voiceovers, motion captured cutscenes, and all that fluff costs many millions and the game needs to make all those millions back, plus the money for the license.

  And mass appeal means, basically, "pretty looking and foolproof gameplay". An X-Wing game can be made really pretty, but it cannot be made foolproof, or it stops being X-Wing.

Just look at the latest spacesims. StarCitizen is all promises so far (and basically every day it feels more like a ponzi scam), but you can summarize "Elite: Dangerous" with the famous criticism "Miles wide, inches deep". The flight controls in ED at the beginning feel kind of cool, but after several hours playing you realize how dumbed down the gameplay is. Just look at the enemy's general direction and your gimbaled weapons will autoaim for you. And the missions are just "Camp point A till target appear. Shoot at it. Go back to point B"

I don't really consider controls to be an issue. As it's very easy in this day and age to simply get a console controller for your PC. And while, yes, a flight stick is idea, any dual analog stick controller will suffice.

Just look at the latest spacesims. StarCitizen is all promises so far (and basically every day it feels more like a ponzi scam), but you can summarize "Elite: Dangerous" with the famous criticism "Miles wide, inches deep".

Hell, I'm using a console controller ro play X-Wing Alliance right now.

You can't tell me that someone can't develop ab intuitive control scheme using an eight-buttin controller with dual analogue sticks and a d-pad.

Compared to some of the games out there nowadays, an X-Wing style game should be a piece off cake to design and create. We're talking a couple of dozen high res starfield backdrops with some 3d models whizzing around on it, maybe with some pretty lighting and particle effects.

I would still love to see a Star Wars branded version of Elite: Dangerous though

Why can't we have games like this anymore?!??!??!!!!

I have no idea. There's no, like, hyperdetailed enviroments to generate. A mission-based space sim seems like it would be one of the easiest things to make if you aren't trying to generate an entire open world galaxy to go along with it.

The age of mass market and oversimplification we are going through killed spacesims.

These games had two things that are huge weaknesses in the current videogame "meta":

• Controls. These games need of some analog stick input to properly control the ship. I completed X-Wing and TIE Fighter with my mouse and I don't recommend it to anyone. (Have you tried to fight TIE Defenders on a Missile Boat with a mouse? My right biceps and flexors developed quite a bit that summer of 1995, and it was not because of naughty things).

  A joystick is a non-standard peripheral, so that requirement basically closes the market to all those that have a plain PC without gaming hardware. And even in devices that come with analog sticks as standard complements, like consoles, these games require also a keyboard full with mapped commands.

• Mass appeal. A licensed game today needs to be AAA yes or yes. And AAA means, among other things, that it needs to appeal to the masses because the cost to develop a full HD game with detailed models, full voiceovers, motion captured cutscenes, and all that fluff costs many millions and the game needs to make all those millions back, plus the money for the license.

  And mass appeal means, basically, "pretty looking and foolproof gameplay". An X-Wing game can be made really pretty, but it cannot be made foolproof, or it stops being X-Wing.

Just look at the latest spacesims. StarCitizen is all promises so far (and basically every day it feels more like a ponzi scam), but you can summarize "Elite: Dangerous" with the famous criticism "Miles wide, inches deep". The flight controls in ED at the beginning feel kind of cool, but after several hours playing you realize how dumbed down the gameplay is. Just look at the enemy's general direction and your gimbaled weapons will autoaim for you. And the missions are just "Camp point A till target appear. Shoot at it. Go back to point B"

My own hopes are pinned on 'No Man's Sky".

No man's sky has me excited I really hope it delivers, we'll know soon.

My own hopes are pinned on 'No Man's Sky".

I am also looking forward to playing No Man's Sky. But I doubt it will be anything at all like X-Wing.

In the end, I guess if you want something, you better do it yourself...

Surely there must be some ambitious PC modders out there planning on re-skinning Elite: Dangerous with Star Wars textures?

The problem with Elite Dangerous is that after a certain point it's too **** repetitive. It's like destiny, beautiful, really really beautiful but ultimately a shallow experience.

Already got XWA-upgrade installed, as well as XvTBOP and X/TIE95.

Because of course I do. But they are so dated. So so dated. Not just in the graphics dept either...

XWA holds up OK with the graphics pack. And the soundtrack is a VAST improvement on the games which went before it.

Speaking of which... look what I just found!

https://soundcloud.com/mel-miniatures/x-wing-battle-music

Good ol' Mel!

I dunno, I love the classic MIDI.