By Adam Smith on September 15th, 2011 at 1:54 pm.
Lucasarts made many of my favourite games of the ‘90s, a time when I was a very happy gamer indeed. There were all the classic adventure games and then there were the space sims, X-Wing and TIE Fighter. I sometimes forget just how good they were and then I get confused about the fact that I’m not playing a brand spanking new version right now. It really has been a while, hasn’t it? But perhaps the wait is over. The eagle eyes of Gamespot have noticed that Lucasarts are looking to hire developers to work on three new titles, one of which is an aerial combat game. Speculation, ho!
That could mean all sorts of things but the advert does specify that experience with “space-based shooters” is of particular benefit. It’s all in the heady realm of guesswork and idle dreaming at the moment but if we are on the verge of an announcement of the possibility of a far-off release of a new TIE Fighter, I say it’s about time.
There are two other games hinted at, one an action/adventure game, the other an FPS. I’m not going to speculate about those because I’m too busy thinking about TIE Fighter. It’s one of the last Star Wars things that I still love without question so maybe I’m being a slave to the license here. I know there are other good space sims out there. But the sights and sounds of those particular space battles are like my childhood and for some reason I want my childhood to look all fancy and modern.
15/09/2011 at 13:58 HermitUK says:
While I would love a new TIE Fighter, my money would be on a revival of the Rogue Squadron franchise.
Or maybe they are doing a new TIE Fighter, only it’s an FPS.
Edit: And if that FPS could be a Republic Commando sequel, that’d be grand.
15/09/2011 at 14:01 Gnoupi says:
It’s an FPS, and all the actual times spent in a fighter are beautiful cinematic QTE sequences where you kill all the enemies and drop the bomb by pressing the right button at the right time.
15/09/2011 at 14:02 talon03 says:
The two lucasarts games I’m waiting for: TIE Fighter 2 and Imperial Commando. Frak. Yes.
15/09/2011 at 14:04 AmateurScience says:
You may be on to a (mildly disappointing) winner with the rogue squadron thing. It’s certainly more cross-platform friendly than a pure space combat sim like TIE Fighter.
That’s not to say I don’t like rogue squadron – I bought a gamecube solely to play it back in the day. But TIE Fighter is special. It was the first game I really played to destruction.
On my dad’s 486 25MHz behemoth. Good times.
More space combat games please!
15/09/2011 at 14:57 Jnx says:
I was very surprised by how much I liked Republic Commando. It was actually a very enjoyable game. Got it in some Star Wars pack which I think I bought to get Empire At War. Good value it was.
15/09/2011 at 15:05 Makariel says:
“And if that FPS could be a Republic Commando sequel, that’d be grand.”
Agreed, Republic Commando was great fun and I don’t understand why they didn’t release a second game. Instead we got two force unleashed games no one asked for.
But that’s all pale compared to my longing for a new Tie Fighter!
15/09/2011 at 15:10 Conrad B Hart says:
Jnx:
Your closing “Good value it was” made me re-read your post in Yoda’s voice.
15/09/2011 at 15:37 ResonanceCascade says:
It’ll probably just be an arcadey 3rd person space shooter set in prequel times, but I’d also kill for an X-Wing/Tie Fighter game. It’s been too long.
(I wouldn’t turn my nose up at a Republic Commando game, either)
15/09/2011 at 16:37 xcession says:
I’d love it to be another Xwing or Tie Fighter, but if Lucas has anything to do with it we all know it’ll be an eye-wateringly brutal first person sim where you play jar jar and he rapes ewoks. And let me assure you jar jar will shoot first.
15/09/2011 at 17:00 Maktaka says:
I’d be quite all right with a Rogue Squadron revival. The PC version of the original was rather fun.
15/09/2011 at 14:00 tikey says:
I’m sad, because deep in my hearth I know it won’t be a new X-Wing nor Tie-Fighter
15/09/2011 at 16:30 Ultra-Humanite says:
It will probably be some monstrosity tied to the Kinect.
15/09/2011 at 17:33 Koozer says:
Does your fireplace hold any more nuggets of information?
15/09/2011 at 22:47 Lemming says:
Koozer = win
17/09/2011 at 01:34 Nesetalis says:
no, it wont be TIE fighter, simply because those of us who love the franchise so much, are long disenfranchised. Seriously, the 3 movies since the originals felt like successive kicks in the gonads :.>
15/09/2011 at 14:00 Lambchops says:
Oh Adam, you do realise that if you’ve got my hopes up for nothing I can never forgive you!
Much as I preferred Freesapce and Starlancer later on (they were actually possible to complete!) it’s X Wing and Tie Fighter that were the first space games as I remember as a child (well actually Privateer was the first but I only watched my old man play that one).
i was rubbish at them but man were they fun. I had actually borrowed X-Wing from a friend and I remember painstakingly copying down all the coed things you needed to input on start up so that I could copy that floppy (against all the advice!) and keep playing after I gave it back. Maybe nowadays I could have a better stab at them. Plus I only had a meagre two axis two button joystick back then, which wasn’t much help.
15/09/2011 at 14:05 FCA says:
I could complete Tie-Fighter (Collectors CD edition even), but not get all the Secret Order of the Empire ranks. With a 2-axis analog joystick even (it doesn’t even support more than 2 axes I think).
X-Wing was too hard for me though. They even admitted it was too hard, when they brought out the collectors CD with “fixed” missions which replaced some of the way too hard missions (including the damn Medical Frigate one, where the Tie-Bombers would always come from too many directions, and those poor undefensible Corellian Corvettes always were destroyed).
15/09/2011 at 14:43 stahlwerk says:
My memory says I completed all of X-Wing, Imperial Pursuit and B-Wing. But that was almost 20 years ago and I’m a crappy gamer now, so my own credibility towards myself is kinda low…
Were there cheats?
The tour of duty for X-Wing was great, though. Taking out that ISD (STD?(LOL)) across multiple missions first stripping away its capital ships and fighter escorts, then disabling it and then going for the kill… It felt solid.
15/09/2011 at 15:31 skalpadda says:
Never underestimate the patience and tenacity you had playing games when you were younger :)
16/09/2011 at 21:48 The Tupper says:
What struck me so profoundly about these classics was just how much content they had. I bought my first PC in 1997, just in time to take advantage of the Collector’s Editions of both, having played X-Wing sporadically on a friend’s PC from its initial release. I remember the distinct feeling of my brain expanding the day that I could successfully juggle the engine/weapons/shield configuration myself without my friend’s assistance: the fact that I would constantly refer to him as ‘Artoo’ meant that I had little choice but to become proficient myself.
I still have a copy of the original game trilogy (released about eleven years ago, I think) on my shelf, but the one time I tried to install it, it didn’t seem to like my XBox 360 controller. Anybody had any better luck?
18/09/2011 at 00:02 hungrytales says:
@FCA: Oh man! The medical frigate mission, what a freakin’ nightmare. I replayed it like two hundred times (for all the good it did me). And I was hardcore then. I played without a bloody joystick. It was the first and only time I ground down a mouse to pieces. I also played without bloody sound as my rig back then in those ancient times was lacking a sound card. Instead while playing I had Rage Against the Machine on and believe me or not to this day whenever I hear RATM debut album I instantly think Star Wars. Strange but true.
15/09/2011 at 14:01 FCA says:
Hopefully the aerial/space combat one is a FPS! ;)
Really, I have no love for over the “behind the spacecraft view”, I wanna sit in the cockpit, shouting “I have you now!” when I’m in the six of some poor, poorly shielded craft, while not paying attention to whatever is happening above me.
Tie Fighter is the best game ever made. The story, mission design, gameplay, difficulty curve, music, all of it comes together in a brilliant way.
I’m afraid though, that any new remake just won’t do it justice. Even X-Wing Alliance fell short, even though the basic gameplay was very much the same.
15/09/2011 at 14:01 WingNutZA says:
Indiana Jones WW2 casual flight sim? :P
15/09/2011 at 14:08 yougotnick says:
Only as long as it’s co-op and I can say, “Sorry son, they got us!”. Then I’ll proceed to destroy Messerschmitts with an umbrella after suddenly remembering my Charlemagne.
15/09/2011 at 15:08 Makariel says:
Their Finest Hour re-imagined as FPS?
15/09/2011 at 20:12 Dances to Podcasts says:
Indy’s fifties now. You fight aliens! :p
15/09/2011 at 14:01 blind_boy_grunt says:
Holy F… that’s good news. Still somehow the last few months made it so my next thought was: how could they mess it up. With space-based shooters they at least won’t make it an fps, so what… hats? a 2d browser game? achievments? no joystick support just gamepads?
15/09/2011 at 14:09 el_murph says:
With my xbox pad though I can select my ship using just the face buttons!
15/09/2011 at 14:37 4026 says:
I’d… never noticed that before. I’m… I’m just going to go sit down for a moment while I think about the implications of this.
15/09/2011 at 14:41 Tony M says:
Nice one Murph. I had to think about it.
15/09/2011 at 14:43 Simon Hawthorne says:
That’s some brilliant niche comedy right there. Did you prepare for this or did you just…ahem…wing it?
15/09/2011 at 14:49 stahlwerk says:
AH! NOW I get it!
Brilliant. But in my heart I know that green is and will always be my one true choice. Who needs shields when they can’t hit you?
16/09/2011 at 21:54 The Tupper says:
Hey, don’t diss the pad: my XBox 360 controller works so well with Flight Simulator X that I now use it instead of the CH Yoke and pedals I have gathering dust under the desk.
15/09/2011 at 14:02 arienette says:
Rebel Assault 3!
15/09/2011 at 21:35 faelnor says:
Yoda Stories 2!
15/09/2011 at 14:03 Renfield says:
Seconding hope for new Republic Commando. And of course if they’re making another TIE Fighter, that would be fantastic, as long as they can pull off that intangible zero-g dogfighting thrill of the originals. Which, I guess, is why they’re hiring.
However, I also wonder if it’s not a(nother) Clone Wars tie-in game they’re after.
15/09/2011 at 15:24 Simon Hawthorne says:
I’d happily accept a TIE Fighter game set in the Clone Wars – “ARC vs Tri Droid”?
17/09/2011 at 15:28 arccos says:
The Clone Wars does seem to be a decent setting for a few games, if the right people work on the script.
15/09/2011 at 14:03 Khemm says:
Your usual console pew-pew “space sim” confirmed. Let’s not be delusional and think it’ll be anything else. Look at how “great” latest in-house LucasArts game have been.
15/09/2011 at 14:06 yougotnick says:
While some part of me recoils from your skepticism screaming, “IT’S NOT TRUE!”, I feel the same way now that I’ve thought about it for a fraction of a second.
15/09/2011 at 14:18 vodka and cookies says:
The aerial shooter genre is being kept alive by console users so your dig is completely unjustified. Also Tie Figther and X-Wing were not space sims they were as you put it pew-pew shooters at their core.
Any dumming down is because Lucasarts wants to sell more units and not make a game that 200 thousand people might play at best. AAA games cost a huge amount of money to make and market, the hardcore PC/console base is not enough for that.
The last AAA and arguably best space shooter was Freespace 2 and it was a catastrophic retail bomb thanks to PC gamers ignoring it.
If it’s going to be anything like Tie Fighter then it’s going to be a low budget title that will release on Steam/XBLA/PSN.
15/09/2011 at 14:20 MisterT says:
If they made it like Ace Combat, but star-wars-y, less missiles, more lasers, I think it’d be alright.
15/09/2011 at 14:36 4026 says:
“IT’S NOT TRUE!”
Search your feelings, you KNOW it to be true!
15/09/2011 at 22:51 Lemming says:
@vodka and cookies
I think you’re forgetting the sheer amount of controls you had in X-wing vs Tie Fighter. It was definitely dipping its toes in the sim genre more than the arcade, I think. It’ll have to be gutted for consoles as a joypad simply doesn’t have enough buttons.
16/09/2011 at 18:35 arccos says:
A space fighter using the 360 controller can be quite complicated if it wants to be. The controller has two sticks, a d-pad, 10 buttons, and 2 additional axises.
The older games just seems more complicated because you had to use a keyboard and the interface wasn’t all that streamlined. I fit all the necessary commands for Wing Commander 1 and 2 on the controller with two buttons, one stick, and both axises to spare. TIE is a bit more complex, but there’s plenty of room for the commands if you optimize for the device.
16/09/2011 at 18:41 Dominic White says:
I’ve recently been replaying I-War 2, a very in-depth space combat sim with one of the most demanding flight models in the genre.
I’ve also been playing it exclusively with a 360 controller, and it works perfectly. Don’t go dissing the controller. Two analogue sticks + analogue triggers = HUGE flexibility. Here’s some gameplay footage of me playing with a gamepad:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5nuggJaRWA
In the description are links to the game itself (it’s $6 on GOG) and my controller profile.
16/09/2011 at 22:21 The Tupper says:
@arccos
Sorry, when I posted to a different comment, I didn’t see your entry here. Have you got TIE Fighter working well with an XBox controller? I must confess that I haven’t given it a major effort, but it didn’t turn out well for me.
17/09/2011 at 15:33 arccos says:
@The Tupper: I haven’t tried it with TIE specifically, but the trick is to get key remapping software like Joy2Key or Pinnacle Game Profiler. It is probably a little more complicated to set up if you have a DOS version of TIE, but still quite doable with DosBox or whatever you use.
17/09/2011 at 18:48 The Tupper says:
Thanks for the advice.
15/09/2011 at 14:03 Anthile says:
Rampant speculation? An immersive sim starring Indiana Jones.
Also, space-based shooter? Sounds like a Rogue Squadron sequel to me.
15/09/2011 at 14:03 Eynonz says:
Ahhh yes nostalga all coming back to me, used to love playing TIE Fighter and Dark Forces back in the day :)
15/09/2011 at 14:04 yougotnick says:
TIE Fighter might just be the first game I ever loved. I’d be
happyoverjoyed if they remade it; no other game has quite come close. I don’t even know of any other games that bothered to make you feel like you were an everyday pilot, what with the escort and disable missions.15/09/2011 at 14:04 pakoito says:
Milk the franchise, HO!
15/09/2011 at 14:31 Gnoupi says:
In this case, I’d say better to milk it than changing the color of the cow.
15/09/2011 at 17:39 Koozer says:
That is horrible. I wonder if you can still buy the unadulterated original trilogy anywhere…
15/09/2011 at 14:09 adonf says:
Wing Commander was better, it even had the real guy from Star Wars. And Lucas will never be able to rape it (although EA definitely could)
15/09/2011 at 14:15 el_murph says:
Wing Commander Arena says hello!
15/09/2011 at 14:20 Anthile says:
So does the Wing Commander movie.
15/09/2011 at 14:28 adonf says:
“although EA definitely did”
better ?
15/09/2011 at 15:39 Nick says:
It wasn’t better.
15/09/2011 at 14:12 AmateurScience says:
By the way, as an aside. Looking at the linked job description. Does anyone else automatically read ‘B.S.’ (as in the way Americans abbreviate Bachelor of Science) as ‘bull shit’, or is it just me?
Just me then…
15/09/2011 at 14:45 mejoff says:
Yep, also, instead of a BSc, you can get Bugger All.
15/09/2011 at 14:17 aircool says:
Better not be any of that prequel trilogy crap!
15/09/2011 at 15:40 Nick says:
Exactly. That way instant failure lies.
15/09/2011 at 21:03 Betamax says:
Whilst I mostly agree with your sentiment, it’s worth remembering that the Starfighter game they released set in the PT era wasn’t that bad as arcadey space shooty games go. Also, just because the films were rather dire doesn’t mean a decent game couldn’t emerge from that source material. Afterall the -idea- behind the PT isn’t awful, it’s the execution.
15/09/2011 at 21:05 Nick says:
The setting is pretty awful and the ships aren’t cool.
15/09/2011 at 21:08 TillEulenspiegel says:
Compare:
Cool stuff!
What the fuck is this? Who cares?
15/09/2011 at 14:19 rustybroomhandle says:
Day of the Tentacle sequel… a first-person tentacle sim?
15/09/2011 at 18:04 MadMinstrel says:
You may want to play some Darkness.
15/09/2011 at 14:24 Doth Messar says:
It most likely won’t be another TIE Fighter game because Lucas Arts is trying to fatten up its newest cash cow, the stupid Clone Wars era crap. (I apologize to the heretics out there who enjoy that dribble)
Get ready to fly around AS JEDI (because that’s what everyone [Kiddies] truly wants) shooting down mass produced assembly line robots with wing men you truly could care less about as they were mass produced (grown) in a cloning facility. That sounds exciting, doesn’t it?
15/09/2011 at 14:25 Batolemaeus says:
The new Tie Fighter will be a console fps.
You heard it here first.
15/09/2011 at 14:37 stahlwerk says:
a visceral experience.
15/09/2011 at 14:30 BloatedGuppy says:
Ah, no doubt the long awaited Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe reboot.
15/09/2011 at 14:36 stahlwerk says:
the pacific air war theatre is woefully underrepresented as of late, so…
Battlehawks 1943?
15/09/2011 at 14:31 matty_gibbon says:
I’m betting on a remake of TIE Fighter, but with Darth Vadar going, “Nooooooooooooo!” over the top the whole time.
15/09/2011 at 15:08 FCA says:
Do not want….
15/09/2011 at 14:33 KillahMate says:
An air sim? It’ll be a movie license for that film Lucas is doing about the Tuskegee Airmen.
16/09/2011 at 00:41 Finster says:
Surely that’s Tusken Airmen?
Tuskegee Raiders?
Red Tails over Tatooine?
15/09/2011 at 14:33 zind says:
1) I preferred X-Wing vs Tie Fighter. There, I said it. Still, I would love a fresh modern re-make of ANY of those games, so let’s hope they go back to there for their inspiration, and not “Star Wars Starfighter” which was tripe.
2) I hope one of them is a new Battlefront game; I adored Battlefront 2, and would go batshit insane over being able to play a game like that with current PC tech with online multiplayer. Especially the space battles. Huge space battles with multiple capital ships where one squad can harass from in space and another can invade and start doing some damage from the inside! So much awesome!
15/09/2011 at 14:47 mejoff says:
PLUS ONE
LIKE
emphatic
15/09/2011 at 14:50 KillahMate says:
You’ll be wanting the Eternal Silence mod for Half-life 2 then. Or maybe Angels Fall First: Planetstorm, on the UDK.
15/09/2011 at 15:32 zind says:
I did actually play Eternal Silence a while back, but finding a good server with good people was just too much of a crapshoot… Might be worth another shot to see if it’s gotten any updates though.
I was, however, previously unaware of Angels Fall First, so thanks for that!
15/09/2011 at 16:02 Raithah says:
My friends and I still dust off our old copies of Battlefront 2 every once in a while, and it’s still incredible! Oh please oh please oh pleeasssee be Battlefront 3.
17/09/2011 at 18:54 Koozer says:
Battlefront? Pff. Galactic Conquest for BF1942 is roughly 49 times better.
15/09/2011 at 14:35 Simon Hawthorne says:
A new X Wing game and a new Dark Forces Jedi Knight game with extraneous subtitling, please.
Action adventure? Erm. Would KOTOR III count?
15/09/2011 at 14:43 terry says:
So it’s Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe?
15/09/2011 at 14:51 Javier-de-Ass says:
what hire. aren’t totally games still around? larry holland or don’t bother
15/09/2011 at 14:54 Hmm-Hmm. says:
A new X-iIng or Tie-Fighter game would be.. splendid. And a version which plays like the originals.. I daren’t think of it. No, I dare not. Besides, Lucasarts has done plenty of ‘letting down’, so it’s more likely to be something completely different. Or almost like it yet completely missing the point.
15/09/2011 at 14:57 DukhaDave says:
Where are they going to find someone who has experience creating space-based shooters? Didn’t they all die of old age?
15/09/2011 at 15:06 thegooseking says:
The other, less interesting possibility is that this will just be Star Wars: Starfighter 3
15/09/2011 at 15:11 Tuor says:
It’d be great if they were thinking of remaking X-Wing. Ah, I remember those days. Completing all the training missions and getting my patches for the X-Wing, Y-Wing, and B-Wing. Learning how and when to reallocate energy to shields, or weapons, or engines. Knowing when to shift my shields to double-front or double-rear for added protection. Linked fire mode. Rushing as fast as I could, everything allocated to engines as my shields slowly faded, in order to intercept the TIE bombers before they could get in range of their targets.
Yeah, they wouldn’t have to change any of the gameplay much at all. Leave the missions as they are. Just update the graphics and tweak things here and there, and happiness will ensue.
I suppose I’m being overly optimistic about this, but it’s nice to dream. X-Wing was, after the Freespace series, my favorite space sim, and in some ways I liked it more than. It’d be great to see it return.
15/09/2011 at 17:20 bill says:
I think they’d need to change the missions quite a bit.
Tie Fighter is one of my all time favorite games, but I can’t imagine them releasing a game with 50 minute missions where you HAVE TO fail multiple times so that you know where you need to be at any given time.
Frankly, I can’t see my modern self getting far in such a game either… i don’t have the free time to constantly fail and retry like i did then.
But I don’t think changing the mission structure would be a bad thing – if it was done creatively and with vision (ie, not just dumbed down a la Starfighter).
You could have dynamic missions with dynamic campaigns. So failing individual objectives wouldn’t be sudden death, but instead would affect later actions and battles. Tie Fighter had pretty good combat AI, but it’d be cool to have some really dynamic battles with squadrons having objectives and altering them depending on events.
What would be even cooler would be having some form of “admiral/director” AI that controlled all the units and spawned new forced depending on how the battle was going… like a mix between the L4D director and an RTS ai.
Of course, you’d still need some story/scripting to avoid every battle feeling the same – but it’d be nice to have things less set in stone, and less pass/fail.
Of course, they shouldn’t change anything else…. the combat, ships, story, badges, feel were all perfect. Just lovely new graphics.
16/09/2011 at 22:46 The Tupper says:
You’ve nailed it, Bill, although I suspect that my younger self’s willingness for the vast time investment the original games required was as much to do with the sheer joy of a realistic, freeform world to fight in (opposed to the 8- and 16-bit games I had previously played on home computer) as lack of competing commitments. Your suggestion of an active AI director is intriguing.
15/09/2011 at 15:18 fenriz says:
could the lucasarts people be abandonning the old rotten market strategy of total mainstream accessibility bullshitness?
maybe they realized after 10 years that etreme streamlining doesn’t sell, hello?
15/09/2011 at 15:22 konrad_ha says:
Lucas and flight sim? It has to be “Red Tails – The Game”, doesn’t it? With all the quality of a movie tie-in.
15/09/2011 at 15:23 vader says:
How do you spell the sound effect a tie fighter makes?
15/09/2011 at 16:11 Snuffy the Evil says:
EEEUUUURRAGHHGAGHHH
15/09/2011 at 17:42 Koozer says:
WRRRRREEEEEEHHHHHH
15/09/2011 at 22:54 Lemming says:
aaaaaaaaAAAAAAAARRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooo
15/09/2011 at 15:49 MaxMcG says:
As much as I’d love this to be another X-Wing, isn’t Lucas’ next movie about WW2 fighter squadron. Seems far more likely they would want a game to tie into that.
I’d would strangle seven dolphins to be wrong about that.
15/09/2011 at 16:00 wodin says:
Funny enough I recently reinstalled X Wing alliance with aload of mods and the mod to convert it into X Wing vs Tie Fighter…surprising how good it still looks and plays…dated yes but good fun.
Starshatter has a superb HD Star Wars mod but barely any missions so you have to make your own which isn’t easy.
I’m also waiting on the Freespace 2 SCP Star Wars mod Fate of the Galaxy…the models look superb…though the graphics in the SCP are amazing anayway and constantly being improved,. Below is a link to the M Falcon ready for the mod…
http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=76044.0
15/09/2011 at 16:09 Moonracer says:
If any are star wars related they will be set in the prequels or earlier timelines. I would so love a fancy tie fighter/X-wing game though.
15/09/2011 at 16:12 jonfitt says:
Don’t get too excited, I imagine it’s a cross-platform arcade space shooter tying in to the Clone Wars cartoon.
15/09/2011 at 16:14 Snuffy the Evil says:
If it’s a new TIE Fighter/X-wing, then I will be extremely happy.
If it’s a Rogue Squadron reboot, then I will still be extremely happy as long as it’s nothing like Rebel Strike, which had far too many on-foot missions for a flying game.
15/09/2011 at 16:20 Durkonkell says:
If such a thing were to be made, it would probably be set in prequel times or even perhaps in the Old Republic to tie in with the MMO somewhere.
For what it’s worth, New Republic era, please! I’d quite like to fight against Grand Admiral Thrawn. I might even like to fight FOR Grand Admiral Thrawn!
15/09/2011 at 16:35 DarkNoghri says:
I was about to make a comment saying that you fought with/for Thrawn in Tie Fighter (well, he was in the cinematics), when I remembered that he wasn’t a Grand Admiral at the time. I think he was a Vice Admiral, if memory serves.
Withdrawn.
15/09/2011 at 20:38 Arglebargle says:
Yep, I suspect a tie in to the SWTOR MMO with at least one or two of these. Many will be disappointed. Or even disapoint.
15/09/2011 at 16:27 Dakia says:
I will squeal like a little girl if they go a proper TIE Fighter remake.
15/09/2011 at 16:37 fwfulton says:
Bring back Single player Jedi Series – I want the Force and a Light Saber to take on all comers
15/09/2011 at 16:50 bill says:
I used to love lucasarts so much… used to check their website almost every day when i was at uni… good old useless yoda help system…
Shame they got bean-countered to death and haven’t made anything decent in a decade…. sigh.
I’d be so hyped for a new Tie Fighter – but i can’t imagine a release these days being anything like the old ones… it’d be simplified down and designed to work with a mouse or gamepad. It’d suck.
15/09/2011 at 16:51 agentgray says:
LucasFilm is releasing a movie in January called Red Tails–about WWII African-American fighter pilots.
I’ll bet we’re just getting our hopes up about it being a SW sim.
15/09/2011 at 16:59 danimalkingdom says:
Hey Lucasarts: since you’re hiring, I know this guy called Lawrence Holland who may be just the ticket.
15/09/2011 at 17:42 Rik-the-Viking says:
Aerial combat game? That sounds more “Secret Weapons Over Normandy”-sequel then a new TIE Fighter/X-Wing/T vs X/ X-W Alliance-sequel to me I’m afraid :-/
15/09/2011 at 17:44 Koozer says:
The Gungan Frontier – the FPS?
15/09/2011 at 17:45 Vandelay says:
I’ve tried playing Freespace 2 on a gamepad and it didn’t work. I can’t imagine them making a real space sim today. A rogue squadron-like game is probably more likely.
As for the FPS, hoping for Dark Forces 3. Not played Battlefront, but comments above make it sound like a good second option (or something new and not at all Star Wars related.)
15/09/2011 at 19:30 AmateurScience says:
I just had a burn through Freespace/Freespace 2 (thanks gog!) using my xbox controller. Sure it’s not anything like as good as a joystick but it worked ok.
Granted I had to spend about an hour working out what to map where and what to leave on the keyboard (and you do still need a keyboard so your point stands) but in then end it was pretty good.
16/09/2011 at 05:39 wodin says:
Why haven’t you installed the SCP mod and the Blue Planet campaigns!!
You really need to you know the graphical improvements alone are easly upto todays standard and are being improved every night nearly.
15/09/2011 at 18:46 lamurt says:
nothing ever came close to the atmosphere of xwing series. even xwa was a good and captivating game… i most sincerely hope it’s gonna be another x-wing! :)
19/09/2011 at 00:06 celewign says:
xwing alliance had a great story too… but nothing beats xwa skirmish missions…
i remember setting up the perfect battle: 1 ISD, 1 Interdictor, 2 gunboats with concussion missiles, tie fighters, tie interceptors, and tie bombers (heavy missiles) vs 1 Mon Cal, 1 light Cal, 4 ywings, 6 xwings, and 2 awings.
a perfect battle.
15/09/2011 at 18:59 horus_lupercal says:
Oh my a new tie fighter game would be delicious. I still love the original but it’s too much of a pain to get working
15/09/2011 at 20:22 SoupDuJour says:
I wouldn’t mind a movie TIE-in. :P
TIE fighter was so great. :f People must make more great games. That are not shooters. Especially when they are visceral ones. But visceral space fighter action on the other hand is approved. Make it happen, Lucas!
15/09/2011 at 20:33 BobsLawnService says:
A competent Tie Fighter sequel is too good an idea to ever happen. I predict a HAWX type game reskinned as a Tuskagee Airmen game instead.
15/09/2011 at 22:39 MisterT says:
that would only make sense if the movie involved them fighting the Luftwaffe in space, because the post does explicitly state spafe shooter!
15/09/2011 at 20:38 Big Murray says:
To be honest, I’d just be happy to see a new, well-made space shooter. I don’t think we’ve had a truly good one since I-War 2.
15/09/2011 at 20:55 JiminyJickers says:
I want the DCS guys to make a Tie fighter game.
Even if Lucasarts make a decent Tie fighter / X-wing game then I will be overjoyed.
15/09/2011 at 21:01 Betamax says:
Dare I hope that LucasArts have gotten their act together…
15/09/2011 at 21:23 Isometric says:
Please don’t be prequel based!
15/09/2011 at 21:38 Gabbo says:
A proper Indiana Jones action/adventure game, like what was used to show off their physics tech, Dark Forces 5/Jedi Knight: Subtitle, and Tie-Fighter would put them in my good graces for at least half a decades worth of shit titles. Alternatively, new IP’s that don’t suck would be good too.
15/09/2011 at 22:06 BathroomCitizen says:
I’d sell my soul for a new Jedi Knight or Dark Forces game.
Each game in the series was fantastic, even Jedi Outcast – which I consider the lesser one between all – compared to today’s FPS!
17/09/2011 at 01:52 Torgen says:
Your
dreamsnightmares have been answered!Lucasfilm and Zynga Team for Indiana Jones Social Game!
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/37306/Zynga_Lucasfilm_Partner_For_Indiana_Jones_Social_Game.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GamasutraNews+%28Gamasutra+News%29
15/09/2011 at 22:49 Navagon says:
At best you’re looking at XCOM in space. Lucasarts, like their parent company really just don’t understand Star Wars anymore.
15/09/2011 at 23:24 Novotny says:
I refuse to hope. I want it so bad I must ensure I cannot be disappointed. Will not happen! Will not!
16/09/2011 at 04:09 JKjoker says:
what are the chances of Lucasarts making a game that requires the use of the entire keyboard ?
16/09/2011 at 13:26 lucasdigital says:
Had the vacancy ad appeared last year, I’d have sworn they were actually looking to field a WWII aerial combat game to coincide with Lucasfilms up-and-coming Red Tails.
I’d suggest that the ‘especially space-based shooters’ comment need not automatically indicate that the title will also be a space-based shooter. That said, the timing surely wouldn’t be right for a tie-in to Red Tails, given that the film is due out soon, and any game title will be 2 years away.
Has anyone heard anything about the tie-in Inception game – one that was being touted as a serious effort?
16/09/2011 at 18:58 Iskariot says:
I would love Tie Fighter 2. Tie Fighter was fantastic.
Please include a mission editor this time.
I still have all the original x-wing, tie-fighter, X-wing vs Tie-fighter etc games on my book shelve.
Imagine what they could do with modern technology.
-
I also would love a Privateer/Elite kind of space trading/fighting game set in the Star Wars universe. They never got around to making something like that and there is hardly any gaming universe imaginable that is better suited for such a game than the Star Wars universe.
17/09/2011 at 04:36 Zedo Mann says:
Maybe Battlefront III?
Please?
19/09/2011 at 01:35 Firestem4 says:
I would be a happy man if i could finally rescue Sev. Heres to hoping its Republic Commando 2! If they did, i’d buy all of the other crap games they shove out with not a thought about it :)