Yeah, this is the sort of semi-rumour which we don’t usually touch. But because it’s for one of Those Iconic PC Games and It’s Kinda Obvious They May Do This One, The Feed at G4 are reporting Lucasart’s Darrell Rodriguez’s response to being quizzed on whether they’ll be doing X-Wing or Tie-Fighter in the wake of the success of the Monkey Island Special Edition…
“We don’t have any announcements now, but stay tuned,” said Rodriguez. “We will soon…..”
Which could, of course, mean anything, but sounds like as good excuse as any for another orgy of what-Lucasarts-classics-we’d-like-to-see. Me? Rescue on Fractalus! The Eidolon! Ballblazer!
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PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE
@TOOTR
The last space sim I played to completion was Starlancer, which was good in its day but I couldn’t say how its aged. I wouldn’t say that Freelancer or X3 necessarily ARE lacking, I just couldn’t sustain interest in them. It’s something I can’t put my finger on, which isn’t much help to you obviously.
I’ve also heard reasonably good things about Darkstar One (available on GOG for cheap), but having been scared off the genre by my own indifference to the aforementioned titles I haven’t tried it yet myself.
Actually, come to think of it, I CAN be more specific with Freelancer. I had two main problems: difficulty and linearity. It promises to be very open but in reality greatly restricts where you can go and what you can do. I get the sense it “opens up” later in the game, but for the bulk of the main plot you go where it wants when it wants. Add to that the fact that I, at least, found it preposterously difficult and you begin to see why I didn’t last long with it.
FWIW it’s got a great fan community and is massively moddable, so if you DO enjoy it there’s virtually limitless play there. Sadly I just couldn’t get into it.
OH yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes.
Tie Fighter Remake. This would, among other things, give me an excuse to get a Saitek X52, which I’ve always wanted.
I beat Tie Fighter multiple times growing up, as did my older brother and possibly younger brother, on varying difficulties. X-Wing was always too hard. Never got past like, level 4.
Please just update the graphics, sound, and compatibility. Don’t screw with anything else.
Freelancer was quite fun. I’ve beaten it twice. Like Vinraith said, though, it’s very linear. You essentially have the main story, and then after that, you can do whatever. Which is freighting, maybe piracy, etc. Which I found very boring.
In honor of the occasion, I’m currently listening to the Imperial March. Repeatedly.
Dear LucasArts,
DO IT BITCHES!
I RULE YOU!
Sincerely,
Dr. Rabid fan with money coming out of his ears
If anyone is looking for a Newtonian-ish space sim, there’s I-War and I-War2.
Also:
Please Mr Lucasarts add a mid-mission save system.
All space games need this desperately. Spending 15 minutes replaying an escort mission waiting for the “surprise” enemy trap for the n-th time needs to be left in the past where it belongs. I think X3 also had this problem.
I would totally buy *any* xwing game remake: if Lucas wants to revitalize their public image from the toilet – this is the way to do it. Bring back their PC titles that defined a generation for the latest graphics / hardware.
@Vinraith,
‘I get the sense [Freelancer] “opens up” later in the game, but for the bulk of the main plot you go where it wants when it wants. Add to that the fact that I, at least, found it preposterously difficult and you begin to see why I didn’t last long with it.’
I didn’t find Freelancer too linear, because you can always defer a mission and go off exploring, to trade or gather minerals so you can buy weapons or upgrade your ship. You do need to complete certain missions to open up new regions, but even so, it’s a decent-sized universe. And I didn’t find the difficulty too bad until late in the game, when it suddenly gets insanely hard. I confess that I cheated to finish the main storyline, but even after that, with the best ship in the game, some of the later enemies are very, very tough.
@Scandalon,
Point taken on the Star Wars dogfighting model. I would like my ship not to slow down when I turn off the engines, but fine.
The thing I loved about the X-Wing games was being assigned different ships for different missions: versatile X-Wings for all-around combat; slow, heavily armoured Y-Wings for bombing or escort missions; zippy A-wings, and so on. So while I’d prefer a new Star Wars space-combat game with some Freelancer free-exploration elements, I’d settle for a graphical update with mouse support.
If they give us a story and not some dynamic Falcon 4 style campaign I’ll be very disappointed. We know the damn story and we don’t need a Poundland version to go with every friggin’ game. Just let us be part of the war.
@Vinraith – You may have missed
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tachyon:_The_Fringe
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I-War_2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evochron_Legends
As far as Freelancer goes I REALLY got hooked on that game to the point where I had to throw it away because it was ruining my marriage to a certain degree. It never really opens up very much IMO but it is VERY addictive to me for some strange reason. It isn’t really very hard once you get the hang of it but up until that point I did die a lot (actually I just remember I started CHEATING at that point, that’s why it suddenly got easy :P Very few games do I start to cheat at and keep playing for more than a few hours after that)
X3 is a freaking awesome idea but it falls flat for me because I simply can’t play it. It crashs constantly and lags horribly no matter how much I upgrade my system. I LOVE the idea with the ability to get your own fleet of space ships, factories, captial ships ect but I could just never PLAY it without it crashing :(
Evochron Legends is a LOT like the Elite series (you can even land on planets without a cut scence and harvest bio-matter from trees and such and water from lakes to sell else where) It strikes me as the best current Elite Like game out there.
Also there is the Universal Combat series which is in a leage of its own. I was very heavily addicted to that as well, once you get over the learning curve it gets to be very fun (but some people fall off the learning curve and crack their F@#$@# necks and some people get over the learning curve and don’t find it fun at all for whatever reason)
Still there aren’t any games I’ve listed that have gotten any where close to the sense of scale and fun of Tie Fighter. X-wing vs Tie Fighter didn’t do it for me, the sense of scale was totally off with that one for some reason :(
If they could make X3-Terran Conflict much more stable and less harsh on my computer it would be the only game I ever played ever.
BTW the space flight aspect of Star Wars Galaxies is actually pretty fun.
I still remember the graveyard of crap joysticks that was the result of me playing too much TIE Fighter. I was convinced that if I just pulled hard enough (giggidy) then I could make it turn faster. Loved that game so much. X-Wing was ok, but TIE fighter was vastly better. XvT was more co-op goodness than my poor useless brain was capable of containing. Shit was like a teenage Top Gun in my parents spare room.
I don’t want a remake.. they already updated both games to Xwing vs TIE fighter engine graphics.. I’d rather play a different game what with having played TIE fighter about 8 times all the way through.
THIS
AAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!
Do want!
I’m another former teen pilot and loved all of the x wing series. X wing vs tie fighter was the game that turned me onto online gaming and for that i am truly greatful. Update on steam with steam browser please. 64 man furballs anyone? ;)
I always wanted captial ships to play a larger role in W-wing Versus Tie Fighter. My favorite missions in Tie Fighters were the ones where capital ships either engage each other or space stations and allow me to bomb or defend one or the other.
A remake of all of them in the series X-Wing, Tie Fighter, vs, Alliance would be awesome really it shouldn’t be too difficult a project once you’ve done the ship for one game it’s done for all the others.
Hopefully it’s on the consoles too as thats about the only way a publisher will agree to do a new game in the series if there is enough buzz around the release.
Totally games (former X-Wing devs) aren’t exactly busy these days though I’d be amazed if there’s anyone left bar Larry Holland.
By the by, I’d only enjoy a Freelancer control method, not X-Wing turned into Freelancer. Gawd. Freelancer was mostly bollocks.
*awaits another crucifiction*
back from the days when I used to consistently kill mice by playing this…. much love!
joysticks are for wimps.
Would be fun to see how many of the new generation of gamers would get past the korolev mission in X-Wing.
Never did myself.
X-Wing was so great. I bought a couple of flight sticks for it, but ended up using a Gravis Gamepad for it. I still remember buying the add on packs and staring at the box on the bus back home from the City. Good times… my wasted youth ruled. So many games finished, so few girls ;)
OMG YES. Please just none of that “TIE Defender” garbage and all the other dumb new ships… stick to the original.
Oh, in case it wasn’t clear, add me to the “do want” list. In my perfect universe, the existing games in the franchise would be updated to run on modern OS’ (and cross-platform while I’m dreaming, even if they just used Cider or whatever), w/ higher resolutions and, while I’m dreaming, higher-detailed models/textures/sounds, provided they can find the original source files and/or re-create them, but that’s it, so would still have pretty modest system requirements. And sell it for a reasonable price via Digital Distribution (Steam, D2D, etc), say $20 – $30 depending on how much extras they include.
At the same time, they announce an all-new one is production: new engine, support for the latest bells and whistles, new story, still w/ the ability to play multi-player co-op, but not significantly touching the core gameplay. (A well done, strategic-map level of game addition, a la StarControl 1 or x-com might be good, if they had to try something “new”.)
I don’t give a damn whether it is X-Wing or TIE Fighter. I want a remake of one or both, and I am prepared to kill this cute puppy here to get it.
Pardon one so ignorant, but why was TIE Fighter superior to the others?
Tie fighter was superior to the original X-Wing because it didn’t delete your pilot profile if you died on a mission!
Well it did, but it allowed you to recover it. The later Windows 95 version didn’t delete your pilot thankfully.
The Eidolon, eh?
My word, that brings back a few memories. I must have played that game for months on the Speccy.
Not sure I could see a re-imagining of it working out though – drive strange vehicle through cave, pick up crystal, kill dragons. Start again. Might need fleshing out a bit…!
I loved these games, X-Wing is the one that sticks out for me- some of those missions especially the final one of the third campaign were utter nightmares.
Talk of this being remade as opposed to “re-imagined” makes me go all tingly. Hopefully other companies might take note that there is a market for some of those original games (UFO springs to mind – who here who loved UFO bought UFO:ET?).
But X-Wing first please Mr Lucasarts, swiftly followed by Tie and Alliance.
LucasArts catering to PC gamers again? HAS THE WORLD BEEN TURNED UPSIDE DOWN?
Cant see it has been mentioned already. Would recommend people check out the Freespace 2 Source Code Project (which is a huge graphical and general) update to the game (and FS1):-
http://www.hard-light.net/
Perhaps RPS should do a “review” :)
Also includes the TC’s such as the Babylon project.
As much as I enjoyed Xwing/Tie Fighter games would also love to see a Wing Commander remake or even new game (NOT the terrible WC Arena for Xbox Arcade)
>>sigma83 says:
Pardon one so ignorant, but why was TIE Fighter superior to the others?
Personally, I htink its because in Xwing you are more heavily armoured and more powerful, but slower, so you end up chasing these little irritating bees around the screen.
In TIE fighter, I loved the fact that you had next to no armour, and a rubbish gun, but were very fast. It was more ’seat of your pants’ and very panicky. I remember flying between 2 bit ships with lasers flying all around, kwnoing that one stray hit would take my systems out, and the next would be certain death. A Better adrenaline rush!
of course, once you start throwing the more advanced TIE ships in, they basically turn into Xwings anyway, with the configurable sheilds and all that. Me, i just love the basic Fighter.
man I even completed b-wing… I’d love xwing to return.. but we all know lucas will do a new release of rogue squadron because it’ll be for the console lot. Xwing is too hard and too complicated for the xbox generation. Also in space nobody can here you call everybody gay so they won’t like it.
paraphrasing slightly
You are going to show your wingmen how an ace pilot clears a minefield in an unshielded ship
@RogB: Agreement. X-Wings could bluff their way through a dogfight, letting shields substitute for skill. A TIE-LN made you FLY, and a TIE-Int gave you the speed, maneuverability, and firepower to do horrible things to the supposedly “superior” Rebel craft because you could fly.
The epitome of that was, for me, the mission where you’re asked to clear a minefield with a TIE-Interceptor, just before a nearby frigate and squadron declares Rebel defection. When you start the game in the early missions you die in seconds to things like lightly-armed tugs, but by this stage of the game you don’t even find the 30+ turrets of a minefield a threat because you have learnt don’t be where the lasers are. That was when I realised that I had, finally, become a badass pilot.
Once you know how to fly, the TIE-Adv and TIE-D become deadly weapons, not only because of their stats, but also because you know how to use them. Shields work so much better when you’re dodging 90% of the incoming fire!
I always found the missions in Tie Fighter to be more interesting too, with a more interesting story to follow (not to spoil anything, but with the add on pack for the game, the story goes well beyond the end of Return of the Jedi). There was also a Secret society to get into and move up in rank in, loads of new ships to pilot and blow up. Plus you got to play for the baddies and blast those rebel scum.
Only thing wrong with TIE Fighter was that the TIE Defender was so awesomely overpowered it took all challenge away from the game.
Oh Man, Ballblazer, The Eidolon, Koronis Rift & Rescue on Fractulus (Behind Jaggi Lines – to those in the know ;-) ) What an era that was. In those days everything was soooo exciting. Something that seems to have got lost in todays world of super flash graphics is the gameplay on a lot of the stuff today. I suppose I’m just getting old (42 next birthday) and I’ve lost my rose tinted glasses.
Microprose, Synapse Software, Adventure International, Jeff Minter where are you when we need you.
I really really hope lucasarts go ahead and give all of their classics the SE treatment. I would happily pay (again) for SE versions of Monkey Island 2, The Dig, Day of the Tentacle, Sam and Max (if they’re allowed…), Full Throttle, Dark Forces, Outlaws, Rebel Assault, X-Wing, Tie Fighter etc etc etc
In fact, I really hope they do so well that other companies can’t resist doing the same, and next years charts are full to the brim of (tasteful) remasters of old classics.
As I said last time I’d definitely buy a new joystick. I can see other people not wanting to do the same though, so just put in some extra work and add a proper joystick/pad, mouse and keyboard interface on top; then everybody wins.
Personally TIE Fighter was best because we all loved the sneering preening space nazi imperial officers gloatingly referring to “rebel scum” in the mission briefings.
I first played X-wing vs. Tie Fighter as a kid. Going back to TIE Fighter was a nightmare after that. Seriously, you died in roughly four shots.
I wore out a lot of cheap joysticks on this series(mainly cos Dad stowed away the $200 flightstick for himself).
Also, did anyone else run around as a kid imitating the slightly-creepy-wet-fist-on-flesh “thwoosh-thwucha” of a laser hitting your shields?
Just me then, huh?
Man, I can’t believe this. It’s like the devs exist in a vacuum, where IL-2, and Red Baron never existed.
(Yes. I know. *That’s the point*.
I agree the TIE Defender and Missile Boat were really overpowered, but it was still fun (especially having enough advanced missiles to take out a Calamari cruiser…)
Actually, one of the annoying things about TIE I found that flies in the face of some of the points made above is all those early missions where they make you fly a slow, shielded and unmanouverable gunboat.
Still a new X-Wing/Tie game would be a very good thing.
This can’t be a new game. My guess is that its just going to be one of their Steam releases of the original legacy game.
If they release a new space game, I’ll be absolutely shocked. They’d be stupid to do it. But this is Lucas, so all bets are off.
The Win95 CD versions of X-Wing and TIE Fighter both run in Win XP reasonably well, you know. Upgraded graphics too (XvT engine).
The major downside is that iMUSE doesn’t seem to work. TIE Fighter without the dynamic music feels hollow. :(
Told you it wasn’t X-Wing. Ha!
I can’t see Lucasarts expecting everyone to run out and buy Joysticks, although if there was a game that’d actually rekindle the flight-stick renaissance then Tie Fighter is probably it. I’d be perfectly happy for them to implement a decent mouse-control into the game (and the ability to rebind keys!).
But hey, thinking about all the excited comments on this thread practically pleading for graphical upgrades to better suit modern technology…aren’t we now calling for the very thing that every serious fan has agreed ruined the films? :P