+1 I'd immediately buy a new TIE Fighter game. X-Wing/Alliance I'd still buy but I'd be grumbling all the time about having to fly for the Rebel scum.

Good news for you then Good old games has a windows 7/8 compatible version for sale on their site and it's under a tenner.

And that one really works now on a 64bit architecture? Bought several games from GOG which were marked as "Works on Win7 64"...which then they obviously didn't :-(

It does. I play it quite often on my Windows 7 64-bit system.

Picked up X-Wing Alliance in the Steam sale and I'm having a nightmare getting it to run (so much for the PC Master Race )

Well the steam version isn't set up with dos box, always look to see if gog has what you want every game I've got from them no matter how old worked right off.

Because no one does good space sims anymore?

That's why you remake the old ones with the good graphics.

It's true, I don't think I've played a spacefighter game anywhere near as good as the X-Wing series since. In fact, I can't think of that many good ones full stop.

I'd be more than happy to see the X-Wing series fully rebuilt and remastered for modern technology. So long as they the gameplay exactly the same.

Fun, mission based space sims are a dying breed, but you should consider looking into some of the games based on the FS2Open engine, including FreeSpace 2 itself. 90s golden era gameplay with modern or very near modern graphics. Check out Diaspora (based on the new BSG TV series) as a completely free and amazingly quality (not even "amazing by free/indie game standards", just straight out amazing) gateway drug... Err, introduction, I mean.

I have zero interest in playing a sandbox space sim.

I mean, it's okay if the game takes place in an open galaxy sandbox, but there has to be a mission structure there as well. Like in Privateer.

Was that directed at me? FSOpen is a mission based engine, it can't really do sandbox gameplay. The "Open" part is in reference to open source, not open world. The original game was released in 99, right at the tail end of the golden age of space sims that X Wing, TIE Fighter and XWA came out in.

Ah, okay then.

I have zero interest in playing a sandbox space sim.

I mean, it's okay if the game takes place in an open galaxy sandbox, but there has to be a mission structure there as well. Like in Privateer.

Privateer! One of the best ... no ... THE best non-StarWars Open Spaceship simulation/action game ever ever ever

Privateer! One of the best ... no ... THE best non-StarWars Open Spaceship simulation/action game ever ever ever

Man, I loved that game!

But I couldn't help but think that the game would have been much more fun in a Star Wars setting.

Really, the atmosphere in that game was great, but the Wing Commander background... I never managed to get into.

The big bad guys are space kitties?

And who are those absurd annoying space amish that keep moaning against technology while they attack me on their spaceships?

I somehow feel like LucasArts tried to squish that awesome spacetrading setting into the X-Wing series with Alliance, but of course they focused on scripted missions rather than real trade, because that is what X-Wing is really strong at.

The big bad guys are space kitties?

Space TIGERS! C'mon!

And now, that's pretty much all the space sim genre is anymore. With things like EVE and Elite Dangerous, and probably 99% of Star Citizen and No Man's Sky.

The big bad guys are space kitties?

Space TIGERS! C'mon!

Space Whatevers, man. If you were sitting and deciding what kind of aliens would be the antagonists of your space game, would you come out with "Space Tigers!"?

I don't know if I would shelf that on top or below "Galactic cheetahs" and "Star sharks" in my Hall of Lame.

And who are those absurd annoying space amish that keep moaning against technology while they attack me on their spaceships?

The Church of Man. They believe technology is evil, but they also believe in using the devil's own weapons against him. They're like Boromir!

More like the stories my granma used to tell us about the priest in her town when she was little. He used to frequent the brothel because he was seeking to save lost souls, he said. Yeah, sure...

I somehow feel like LucasArts tried to squish that awesome spacetrading setting into the X-Wing series with Alliance, but of course they focused on scripted missions rather than real trade

And now, that's pretty much all the space sim genre is anymore. With things like EVE and Elite Dangerous, and probably 99% of Star Citizen and No Man's Sky.

I don't know much about Star Citizen. I definitely don't like that they seem to be overmonetizing that game, to the point of selling individual ships for dollars.

EVE is Space Excel, they say.

Elite Dangerous is Space "Watch Series Online while you tediously travel around", they say.

And as much as I feel intrigued by No Man's Sky, its heavy procedural nature sounds to me like it will be Space Sightseeing.

Really, I believe that the X-Wing game series just no longer belong to this time of gaming.

The missions never were by any means realistic, or as realistic as a simulation of a fantasy would can be. I mean, if you take a real combat flight sim, like IL-2, Gunship, etc, most of the game time is flying over barren landscape, neutralize your primary objectives, then get out of there.

But neither were they arcadey, in the sense of holding your trigger and blast hundreds of ships in front of you non-stop.

The X-Wing Series were more like space combat puzzles. Every mission was designed to be played from 3 to 5 times before being successfully completed (Read the interviews to the mission designers in the Russel DeMaria guide). Every mission had at least a little trick that the player had to discover to progress. And that wasn't bad, because that was the whole point!

A friend of mine explained really well, in my opinion. X-Wing behaved like the bossfights in today's games, where instead of doing the same, you need to find the weak points or the right approach to defeat it. So it's like all missions in X-Wing were bossfights.

Maybe I sound elitist or oldschool, but today's gamer doesn't want that. If they want to blast ships, they play Star Conflict or some arcade. If they want to solve puzzles, they play a puzzle game.

Well the steam version isn't set up with dos box, always look to see if gog has what you want every game I've got from them no matter how old worked right off.

I shall check out GOG. No problem buying again if it actually gets the game to work.

Checking the Steam forum it appears that lots of people are having the same issue, and it's something to do with the way the game runs on dual core processors (i.e. it wasn't ever designed to in the first place). Lots of suggested workarounds to get the game to run, but none that appear to work so far...

The X-Wing Series were more like space combat puzzles. Every mission was designed to be played from 3 to 5 times before being successfully completed (Read the interviews to the mission designers in the Russel DeMaria guide). Every mission had at least a little trick that the player had to discover to progress. And that wasn't bad, because that was the whole point

Interesting perspective. There ARE hints and tips available on the Mission Failed screen (usually along the lines of "wait until x happens" or "ignore this/go here/do this"); the gameplay is as much about being aware of mission objectives and what's happening second-by-second as it is about dogfighting.

A lot of that relies on in-game dialogue and other audible clues. Which is great, not so much though when the music gets stuck in a loop!

Really, I believe that the X-Wing game series just no longer belong to this time of gaming.

I don't believe there is any such thing.

If something was popular once, there's always going to be an audience for it. There's so many other genres of video game that seemed to have disappeared that have suddenly returned in the last few years thanks to indie gaming companies and Kickstarter and the like.

I don't know much about Star Citizen. I definitely don't like that they seem to be overmonetizing that game, to the point of selling individual ships for dollars.

EVE is Space Excel, they say.

Elite Dangerous is Space "Watch Series Online while you tediously travel around", they say.

And as much as I feel intrigued by No Man's Sky, its heavy procedural nature sounds to me like it will be Space Sightseeing.

Really, I believe that the X-Wing game series just no longer belong to this time of gaming.

The missions never were by any means realistic, or as realistic as a simulation of a fantasy would can be. I mean, if you take a real combat flight sim, like IL-2, Gunship, etc, most of the game time is flying over barren landscape, neutralize your primary objectives, then get out of there.

But neither were they arcadey, in the sense of holding your trigger and blast hundreds of ships in front of you non-stop.

The X-Wing Series were more like space combat puzzles. Every mission was designed to be played from 3 to 5 times before being successfully completed (Read the interviews to the mission designers in the Russel DeMaria guide). Every mission had at least a little trick that the player had to discover to progress. And that wasn't bad, because that was the whole point!

A friend of mine explained really well, in my opinion. X-Wing behaved like the bossfights in today's games, where instead of doing the same, you need to find the weak points or the right approach to defeat it. So it's like all missions in X-Wing were bossfights.

Maybe I sound elitist or oldschool, but today's gamer doesn't want that. If they want to blast ships, they play Star Conflict or some arcade. If they want to solve puzzles, they play a puzzle game.

I hate being "that guy" with his one issue over and over, but, what the hell, I'm a FreeSpace evangelist from way back. Freespace Open is the game you want. Original FS2 is cheap as chips on Good Old Games, then you get the installer to upgrade to open. In its day, it was considered the finest space combat game of all time (edging out X Wing, TIE Fighter and the other SW and Wing Commander games) and it still rates highly in "Best Games of All Time" lists. Mission based, with specific objectives, no open worlds - the ultimate expression of the space combat sim to date. Moreover, it shipped with one of the best mission editing tools I've ever seen (the same tool the devs used to design the game), and it's this tool that's kept the community alive, churning out dozens of campaigns and hundreds of missions, some of which probably exced the originals in quality.

And best of all, once you get the modern updates, it looks like this (this is a game first released in 1999):

Okay. Pimping over.

The best part of TIE fighter for me was the ability to edit missions and stuff, thanks to free software written by fans. Well, that and the original story line about being a hero in the Empire. After I beat the game and played each mission several times I made new missions and downloaded others made by fellow players. It was an awesome time but all too brief. And there has never been a proper sequel to this awesome game. I was thinking that a nice idea for a sequel would be a follow up that loosely goes along with the Thrawn Campaign from the Heir to the Empire books, introducing the Scimitar bomber and planetary bombing runs. It would be a great fan project but I have never had the time or patience to start it. Maybe when I retire or my kid starts learning how to write code so she can help.

Yeah I may break out XVTED after i finish moving to new house. Missions for the Imperial 128th Recon.

Ohyeah, guess what they fly?

Mainly Gunboats.

To Expand on this, it's because a Gunboat has everything needed for a recon rig.

Hyperdrive, atmospheric ability, independence.

I'm still trying to find a game engine that allows atmo combat and ground commando operations, in either FPS or RTS/RPG (so far galactic battlegrounds is nearest i have, but no idea how to make hero characters).

In my headcanon pilots of the 128th Recon wing have all gone through stormcommando training as well as Imperial naval academy. The Phantom is an elites choice, and typically command and communications is handled by a Decimator or Raider (The Retribution, or the Huntress respectively). Main base of operations is the VSD II Adjudicator, though this ships acts mainly as an out of system home base. Re-arms, boardings and followup combat operations are handled by the Adjudicators 4 DX-9s.

Search and rescue is handled by it's 2 Lambda Shuttles. It has 1 Escort shuttle in reserve, and a bunch of modified shielded Interceptors for point defense (part of the 128th recon also, designated Eclipse squadron).

Or to cut it short, a story is better than no story.

To Expand on this, it's because a Gunboat has everything needed for a recon rig.

Hyperdrive, atmospheric ability, independence...

...ion weaponry, ordnance payload...

yeah, it's the ideal craft for long-range, starship independent missions, or (as was seen in the games) customs capture/boarding operations, hit-and-fade ops (along with TIE Avenger support). A true all-round workhorse

Really, I believe that the X-Wing game series just no longer belong to this time of gaming.

I don't believe there is any such thing.

If something was popular once, there's always going to be an audience for it. There's so many other genres of video game that seemed to have disappeared that have suddenly returned in the last few years thanks to indie gaming companies and Kickstarter and the like.

Sorry, I didn't mean that there is an audience for it. Of course, you are right. I still love those games, and I would run to the store to buy whatever sequels they would develop for them today.

The problem is the audience for that game is a niche nowadays, and we won't get an AAA game targeted at a niche market. The big money is on the ultra-causal, or on the churned out franchise products that come out every year offering more of the same.

The 90's were a time of experimentation, where the power of home computers and consoles were barely explored, and companies put big budgets in the search of new markets.

The markets today are well known and delimited. It's much more profitable to make a cheap Free-to-play MMO arena game (that is what Star Wars: Attack Squadrons was going to be) than to handcraft hundreds of well balanced missions that prove too demanding for the public that has the money today.

Remember my words: if Disney makes a new Star Wars space combat game, it will be a pew pew, MMO, arena thing.

To be honest, before Steam and GOG, and the new wave of PC games I would have agreed with you.

Now, you are the one that is a generation behind.

Indie games with roots back to the golden era of PC games are coming back and strong, a star wars game like this, an upgraded XWA if you will could easily fit a niche and be profitable.

Ultimately developers have to realize that there is more to gaming than COD.

Ultimately, developers have realized that there is more to gaming than COD.

To be honest, before Steam and GOG, and the new wave of PC games I would have agreed with you.

Now, you are the one that is a generation behind.

Indie games with roots back to the golden era of PC games are coming back and strong, a star wars game like this, an upgraded XWA if you will could easily fit a niche and be profitable.

Ultimately developers have to realize that there is more to gaming than COD.

Ultimately, developers have realized that there is more to gaming than COD.

That bolded sentence is a glove-slap in my face, sir.

As you say, indies are keeping the PC spirit alive now. If there is any innovation at all, it's performed by indies.

BUT... Star Wars won't even fall in the hands of indies. Star Wars is in the hands of Electronic Arts. And what has EA done with Star Wars? A new issue of Battlefront that is less ambitious and less innovative than Battlefront 2 was 10 years ago, but now it is with AAA graphics, of course.

And it's not developers who decide what game they make. Only indies can do that. In the big companies, it's the marketing department who greenlights the projects. And those decide that COD is the way to go.

Then I'll amend that with sincere apologies:

Your example of the situation regarding video games, that is your stance on video games is a generation behind where we are at.

There was a point where the dumbed down arcade shooter, CODalike and simplified xbox control flight sim was all we were really seeing. We are getting past that point now.

You are correct in that yeah the big developers are the ones with the licenses, but eventually three things will happen.

1: The mod scene will make it.

2: Popular gaming led by Indie developers will change to the point that complicated deeper games are more viable.

and 3: an indie or lesser known franchise will get the ball and run with it - this is what we are seeing with 40K at the moment with Armada, Eternal Crusade. Even Full Controls Space Hulk ascension (ok, so they are out of biz, but SPA was a good solid game).

I think it's a little too early to hold out for an Imperial Commando : Republic commando 2 or X-wing Vs TIE Fighter 2. But I think in the next 5 years, with games like Space engineers, Star Citizen, Elite Dangerous being more and more popular, and technologies like Occulus Rift supplanting and/or enhancing our 90s era Joysticks. We'll get into a new golden era of gaming.

We'll still have our CODboys. But space and flight will be a thing again.

One thing I can add to my list of hopes.

Maybe we'll get a game which fixes the X-wing series one weakness.

A space sim with a sense of speed. You always felt like you were going pretty slow in the X-wing games, this was because they were based on a WW1 / WW2 flight model just like the OT. Prequel and Sequel era seem to be more jet based, with ships in the clone wars cartoons flying frightfully fast.

Maybe we'll get that same sense of speed in battlefront, and a hypothetical next flight combat sim.

One thing I can add to my list of hopes.

Maybe we'll get a game which fixes the X-wing series one weakness.

A space sim with a sense of speed. You always felt like you were going pretty slow in the X-wing games, this was because they were based on a WW1 / WW2 flight model just like the OT. Prequel and Sequel era seem to be more jet based, with ships in the clone wars cartoons flying frightfully fast.

Maybe we'll get that same sense of speed in battlefront, and a hypothetical next flight combat sim.

I dont actually see that as a problem- more reaction time is more accessability- I'm not quite as nimble as I used to be.

Yeah... me neither, but you have to admit compared to what you see in TCW the Y-wing is like running half speed.

I was thinking that a nice idea for a sequel would be a follow up that loosely goes along with the Thrawn Campaign from the Heir to the Empire books

That would be awesome. I'd want to be playing Maarek Stele still though.

Be especially cool if all those various prototype ships that the Empire put into storage at the end of TIE Fighter, ended up in the Emperor's storehouse on Wayland. Giving you an excuse to be flying them again.