Saber Forum

So we dont derail any thread further. Here we can talk about ui differences in the targeting computers, favourite missions, ships to fly, and tactics.

Favourite scenarios for multiplayer in xwing alliance..and maybe organise an online game of it.....?


Furthermore this thread is for the discussion of star wars based flight SIMs not the third party starfox in a starwars skin rogue squadron garbage or the even older pc Rebel Assault I/II



So, lets get this started guys. Four lit and in the green.

Aw, utterly derailing introduction threads is fun!  Okay, okay.

Well, I'll start by throwing in my opinion that XvTIE was the weakest of the series by a large margin.
Pluses: Woo, I get to fight my friends!  Oh, and the graphics are better!  ...and that's about it.
Minuses: No storyline (no, the expansion doesn't count), no real penalty for dying, (possibly intentionally) questionable game balance, and I'm pretty sure there were other things I disliked at the time.  (On a related note, good gods flares were annoying.)

The original X-Wing was good for its day; the worst I can say about it is that the later ones were so awesome that they overshadowed it.  Both TIE Fighter and XWA are absolutely amazing games.  Decent difficulty balance for the main storyline, with lots of hints of a bigger story behind what you're actually seeing.  In XWA, the parallel story of your family adds depth to the character and reminds you that the people fighting in the Galactic Civil War are exactly that--people, with lives outside of their cockpits.

And, yeah, I couldn't really get into Rogue Squadron, and Rebel Assault was just plain dreadful.  I did kind of like Starfighter/Jedi Starfighter, but they were pale imitations of the X-Wing/TIE series.

BTW, I'm assuming that we're not worried about spoilers in this thread, inasmuch as these games have been out long enough for anybody to have played them if they were so inclined.  However, we should probably note that fact in a readily visible manner.  Seem reasonable?  On a related note, have most people read the X-Wing novels?

Viper 3, two lit and...
...hang on...  *WHAM!*
...in the, er...  *BANG!*
...yellow is pretty much the same as green, right?
(BTW, landing Headhunters with every single display panel shot out is HILARIOUS.)

xwvtie was the worst in the series for singleplayer yes, but was the first time we got to fly against each other, which it gets points for

xwing i think needs to be completely redone with the updated xwing alliance settings, so the HUD is usable, beyond that it was great

i will say however that xwing was by far the most difficult of any of them

and the b-wing training mission where you do a trench run in the simulator...................................out of nearly 2oo attempts, i maybe hit it 5ive times, then again i tend to play on the hardest difficulty setting

I should dust off my copy of X-Wing Alliance one day, so we can all get together and play.

*lodges protest about all the Rogue Squadron hate*

*ahem*

That aside, I really do need to dust off X-Wing Alliance and see if the Joystick still works. That game was a blast, and I'll admit, MUCH more challenging than the RS games were, what with AI that shot back and all... XD It's widely known I'm a T-65 man myself, but I have to admit through various games I've developed some love for the various other Wings as well. I'd love to test hop an E-Wing, but I can't recall a game it was available in. The A-Wing is a great bird, once you learn it. Used to drive my friends batty flying that thing. Heh heh heh... ;D The B-Wing can be good for the punch it packs, but the gyro cockpit throws me off maneuvering in tight spaces. I'll also say that the Y-Wing, while usually a bucket in my book, is significantly more fun to fly when you can get someone to play gunner, and that is a feature from Renegade Squadron that I think would be interesting to see in a more detailed Sim style game instead of a shooter. Not that Renegade wasn't fun, of course, but it wasn't XWA. ;)

@TJ: I'm on your wing, Nova Five.  8)

Epic anyone rember how many players can get into a game at once?

I think it was eight.

Sooo..... we need four more, and I need a year to relearn flying on the PC instead of the console.... XD

Thoughts, storyline to play through as a group.....


depending on if we win or loose, next mission changes

umm here


                                                                                                            1
                                                                    2w                                                                                   2L
                                             3w-w                                  3w-L                                      3l-w                                3-L
                           4ww-w                  4ww-l           4wl- w      4wl-l                     4lw-w           4lw-l              4ll-w      4ll-l



so you start with the first mission, based on how the mission goes, the next level is decided

if the rebels win, you go down path A, if the imps win you go down path B

So two possible scenarios for the next mission

Each of those two scenarios will have an imps win, or a rebels win outcome, and again the next mission differs based on who won.


I think it would be epic to have 4 imp pilots, and 4 rebels flying against each other trying to do proper objectives, and of course communicating on vent in two different channels to represent the comm systems




oh and my old xwing wingmate would so be down for this, so we only need three more pilots

So how do we decide who gets to be Rebels and who gets to loose? ;D

who says the rebels will neccisarily win


and what time period we set this, if its near endor....defenders could be in the mix


also the rebels might not have torpedoes or missles, or older versions of them, imps can get jammers, beam weapons etc

we can really sell that the rebels were fighting without a lot of money


dont forget....its storylines, capital ships will be in play, npc controlled tie fighters as well, the rebels are going to be outnumbered

How could the Rebels not win? There's two Corellians in the mix! ;)

Hmmm.... era is a good question. I would not be confident in taking my limited PC abilities up against Trips. Then again, without some solid practice, I suppose a decent pilot would likely vape me no matter what he was flying. I'm ashamed to say my skills on the PC are WAY below par.....

we could go from esb onwards, mix up the xwing and tie fighter storylines, starting with the escape from hoth even

depending on how the storyline goes, for example rebels loose each one, by the last mission, the imps are using trips and brights, whereas the rebels are left with just wishbones and skulls left, and a few xwings

if the rebels win, all the way down the rebels get better gear and the imps dont get as much, left with vic-stars and dreadnaughts vs the alliances larger mon-cal cruisers and assault frigates


oooh this is gonna be interesting lol

going to have to install the game, or find a spreadsheet with all the points values that things cost to try and keep it believable

perhaps having the side with the "edge" have no more than 25% more points value overall on their side than the side that lost the previous round


start with say 750 points for the rebels, 1000 points for the imps (ballparking it, i cant remember any of the values)

Next round the base goes up to 1250 the side that "won" the previous round now has 1562 points for their side


for the imps it can be reflected in larger numbers of basic fighters, or an extra capital ship, representing the power of the imperial navy

for the rebels it can be smaller ships, light freighters instead of a fighter, a bonus of having say the falcon on their side, or just better or more warheads for their fighters

I like that idea we should do it!

Sounds good to me. So, will the rest of you wear fighter helmets and gear for this? Cause I'm sorely tempted too.... :D

Nice, i guess get everyone installing the game, and start figuring out the points values of all the crap

lets keep all the experimental garbage out of this and keep it classic

Trips shouldn't be in there.  Both the novels and the games make it clear that they're really rare.  As I recall, in the games they're only in Thrawn's fleet (and, if I remember correctly, the Heir to the Empire trilogy establishes he was in the Unknown Regions at the time of Endor, while TIE Fighter suggests he was there long before then), and the only time they appear in the books was about two squadrons in X-Wing book 8.  I'm pretty sure Wedge didn't even know what they were, so either somehow nobody noticed some three-paneled TIEs that were faster and more heavily armed than any other fighter there, or they weren't at Endor; and if they were neither on Executor (with Vader) nor the second Death Star (with the Emperor), they weren't anywhere except in Thrawn's fleet where they were being developed and tested.

Isard had a facility someplace out in the middle of nowhere that could produce them, but there was only supposed to be a couple such facilities in existence. The fighter was exceedingly rare and never produced in large numbers. I have more info on it at home, but I can't recall it all off hand.

Hmph. Don't know if I'd call the Rogue Squadron series trash, but I don't wanna get into an internet argument so I'll just leave it at that.

As far as XWA goes, I'd be up for a game. I've had limited experience against human players, so it'll be fun. The issue is connecting to each other, I think. I know XWA can be played over the internet, but I've had bad luck connecting my Win7 machine to people running XP machines and vice-versa.

I too don't want to start an argument, but you get a point for that. I practically LIVED with the RS Cartridge in my N64 as a kid. ;)

Now, back to the XWA discussion. :)

The series got better as time went on - true of most things.  The fact that one would have to completely lose one's pilot in X-Wing was a big drawback for me.  TIE Fighter was better (plus, Secret Order and Missile Boats with DotE), and then we got the story from folks on the side of things in Alliance. 

Still HAVE TF and XWA on computer...

...doesn't everybody have a half-dozen computers of various vintages and OSes so they can just pull out whatever one works best for the situation?  Oh well, don't worry, I have enough to bring the average up to at least a half-dozen for each of you!  :D

I haven't played against human players since XvTIE was new--never played XWA in anything but single-player.  I don't mind being cannon fodder, though.  :)

Apparantly there's tons of mods and things out there now and third party sites that host games.


Gonna track down my discs and play some tonight on my wife's laptop.

I'll start doing some looking around and find a reliable third party site for us to play games on. And I'm sure Nero would let us use the sons of the force vent server to use for coms.

Push to talk would be a must for realism. And for a while before we actually start the story we could have the pilots play co-op missions together to learn to fly win wing pairs.

I'd love to run some practice missions before hand! See how well me and Teej really fly together. :)

Is there dedicated server software out there?  I have a reasonably fast server with a screaming connection that I host various dedicated game servers on, and not having a firewall in the way would probably make it easier for people to connect.

Looks like this is the only one left up and running

http://www.voobly.com/games/view/X-Wing-Alliance/Voobly-Lounges (http://www.voobly.com/games/view/X-Wing-Alliance/Voobly-Lounges)


otherwise we need to go old school.....and join by IP address

Id personally rather fly in alliance craft, but i suppose i could fly imperial craft as well (except dupes, i absolutely refuse to fly those garbage scows)

XWA is a mainstay game for me simply because of how well it behaves on current-gen hardware. It's incredibly stable, supports joysticks of all kinds, and it looks beautiful with the XWA Upgrade Pack ship models, which I suggest everyone get, if you don't have 'em already. They fix a lot of the proportion problems with the original ships and tighten up the hitboxes so skinny craft like TIEs and B-Wings have more of an advantage when fired at straight-on.

Wait, people actually fly Dupes? I thought they used droids or lower life forms for those. Man, you'd have to be even dumber than your average eyeball jock to get in one of those tin cans.

If the need was absolute, I could be persuaded to fly a Squint... on rare occasion. As I said before though, you'd have to give me plenty of time to get used to flying one on PCs instead of consoles. I know the handling, it's just the controls that get me. lol

Hmm. You gotta link me up on that upgrade package. I like the sound of that.... sounds like it would be advantagous for an X-Wing pilot who's good with his Z-Axis.

okay voobly looks like it works, i gotta go track down my discs and install them now

kitaaaa if you can provide us with links to the most current patches and fixes to make sure we all have the same version (avoiding problems with playing toegether)

that would be great

just a heads up manny.....i already took the voobly account name of RogueNine

No dupes, and you prefer Alliance, got it.  There's a nice wishbone for you right this way...  ;D

By the way, I still wish they'd ever had you fly a CloakShape in any of the games.  Those things always amused me in a slightly twisted way.
...anybody else getting the feeling that I like underdog ships?  (Maybe it's just so I have an excuse when I lose.)

Does Voobly actually help in any way?  I wasn't sure if you could connect by IP, but if you can, it seems like that'd be as easy as anything...

gives us all a common chatroom to organise games in i suppose, doesnt cost anything really

i gotta find my bloody discs

i know where my flightstick is at least

Long as Nova Six is available, I'm good, Vel. ;)

Vyk, that wishbone could outfly, outlive, and outshoot any Eyeball. That puts it ahead of, what? 70% or so of your Imp forces? Give it an X-Wing for cover and it'll stand up against another 20% to boot. She's old and ugly as sin, but she'll still kick a little tail. ;)

Speaking of Cloakshapes... that would be fun to see in a game. So would a K-Wing for that matter!

Personally, I'm always a fan of a creative Ugly design, but I've yet to see many besides my own that stand up to my requirements.

I should probably get these games. :)

oh and i found disc 2........now to figure out where disc 1 got stashed



also found dark forces 2 jedi knight

and dark forces 2 jedi knight :mysteries of the sith (the expansion where you play as mara jade)



ummmm for multiplayer cloakshapes are flyable...as are e wings, skipray blastboats, firespray patrol craft....in multiplayer its all there....

You LIED to me?  :D

Forgive my misunderstanding, it's been a VERY long time since I played XWA and I don't recall too much about it, save that I struggled with it embarrassingly badly. I DID remember the Firesprays being in there though! :) Mainly because my comp crashed and I lost my game data right after I beat the mission with one in it.... ARGH! lol

I thought I remembered CloakShapes in there.  No K-Wings, though, IIRC.

Manroon, should I take that as an indicator that you'll fly in a CloakShape flight with me?  :D

I think i only played TIE Fighter once...on a freaking Packard Bell PC.  Talk about old school, it ran in DOS.   :o

No wonder I only played it once.

Thank you.  Now I feel old.   :P

i use dos every day at work actually, one of our main systems is built into dos for modifying customer accounts lol


okay everyone pipe up, imperial or alliance side preferred?

Well at the time, I was 8 so DOS was a bit outside of my knowledge base.  Back then I thought the PC was this magic box that could play the best games.

What are you guys playing on?  You all have the discs still?

Gonna write this as descriptive as possible just in case we attract some new pilots.


First you need XWA, as I'm sure you know. I figure folks around here are smart enough to know the various ways in which you can acquire older software, so I won't go into this.

Second, you need a joystick, preferably with a throttle, and most definitely with rudder control. Just about anything works well with XWA, so long as you have software to reconfigure joystick axes to your preference, as XWA doesn't allow that setting in-game. Please note that XWA is not playable with a keyboard. The game will literally refuse to run until you plug some kind of joystick in.

Alright, so depending on which OS you're running, you may need to use the XWA MSI Installer. If you insert your XWA disk, attempt to install, and nothing happens or you get an error message, you'll need this. You'll note that this guy also makes installers for the PC ports of Rogue Squadron, Episode 1 Racer, and the rest of the XW and TF series. These are not full games, just newly coded installers that allow the games to be properly installed on newer hardware.
http://www.markusegger.at/Software/Games/Default.aspx (http://www.markusegger.at/Software/Games/Default.aspx)

Next, your XWA game will need to be patched to 2.02.
http://www.lucasarts.com/support/update/alliance.html (http://www.lucasarts.com/support/update/alliance.html)

Here's the upgraded model pack. It's the very first link under the big banner.
http://www.xwaupgrade.com/downloads.php (http://www.xwaupgrade.com/downloads.php)

Ok, that should get you up and running with shiny new models.


Also for the record, Alliance all the way. I can't see a thing out of a TIE ball.

uhh remove that last link to be safe so everyone is on even footing for field of view and whatnot, we dont want to get too far away from what everyone is classically used to

but lets make the patch 2.02 manditory for everyone to be safe

True, true. I'll remove it since it's ssssooorta cheating. The fact that craft don't draw outside of the original 4:3 ratio balances it out, but it'll make for less failure points while trying to make online play work.
I've got a widescreen monitor so I run XWA at full HD, but I'll restore my original EXE before I go TIE hunting with you all.

2.02 is mandatory of course because the XWAUP won't install without it. Both of those are essential (and the XWAUP is reversible if you want to go back to classic XWA).

ill be playing it on my wifes crappy 3 yr old laptop....the game came out in 1997 really there is no reason anyone should have problems running it lol

and yes most of us have our discs, i just gotta find disc1, i just found disc 2 but the first one is elusive right now lol

I was just curious, sometimes I can't find discs to software that i bought a year ago, lol.

I wasn't sure if it was on Steam or not, hence my asking what you were playing on.

makes sense, bah cant find my copy of disc 1, ill have to get my buddy to burn me a copy which i hopefully wont loose. im amazed disc2 is in as good condition as it is, no scratches or anything, forgot how much i loved hte cd art on it

1) I'd be willing to try a round or two in a Cloakshape I think, but I'll have to get the game up and see how well I can handle one first. ;)

2) I remember DOS! I actually still have a 5" Floppy, I think it's Blockbuster, but it might have been Road Runner. Either way, I'm gonna get it out and frame it one of these days just for kicks. NOBODY remembers that stuff anymore! My first comp wouldn't play ANYTHING outside DOS except Solitare. XD

3) I'm Alliance, all the way. Starbirds, through and through. ;D

Oh, the sorrow I felt the day I discovered that my XWA Disc 1 had been run over by an office chair. Just a teeny corner was cracked off of it but it wouldn't boot.

So I just scrounged up my discs.... no idea where the case is, but they seem to be in great shape, so that's a plus. :) Attempting to see if I can get them installed on the comp or laptop now.

I remember floppy discs.

Hmm. Comp seems to be a write off. It was giving me trouble awhile back when I was playing STO as well. I think I'll just have to wipe it and reload everything, it was second hand anyways so I don't have much on it besides STO.

Going to attempt it on the laptop here now. Wish me luck!

My joystick is trapped in my flea infested basement ATM. Guess I'm not installing right now.

I'm Alliance, preferably, although we're starting to seem to have an awful lot of Alliance pilots and not many Imperials...  I have a friend who's an Imp and would be interested in playing, but doesn't have a joystick that will work.

Has anybody else in here even seen an 8" floppy disk?  (They're 3" larger than a CD; if you're not sure if you've seen one, you almost certainly haven't.)

Good god man, 1970s tech like that needs to stay buried.

I've got a few of those lying around. Then again I have a lot of odd stuff. I have te top gun soundtrack on vinyl

I'm guessing you wouldn't like my PDP-8/E, then.  Who needs RAM chips?

Nice, Veldryne--my copy of the Top Gun soundtrack is on cassette.

Wait a second.  Do I count as 1970s tech?   :-\

70s stuff is awesome. Heck, you want old school? I have a copy of the original Star Wars Soundtrack.... not just on vinyl.... though I have it on that as well, but no, I have it on FOUR TRACK REELS. The gosh danged stuff they played it on for Store Promos when the toys came out. Don't ask where I got it. lol

Anyways, my install appears to have been successful, and the lappy is recognizing my stick, so now it's just a matter of testing out level one to see how she plays! :)

Lol i was born in 84, I just grab word random shot at garage sales sometimes.

 Nah dude, you're fine.

Here's pic though, try not to have nightmares

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Floppy_disk_2009_G1.jpg/800px-Floppy_disk_2009_G1.jpg)

From left to right: 8" Floppy disc, 5 1/4" Floppy disc, 3 1/2" Floppy Disc

 

I actually had my X-Wing Alliance Disc 1 EXPLODE inside my Dell PC.  THAT was a helluva call.

I was tempted to call Mythbusters when they aired that episode later...  "Yes, actually, a disc CAN explode in a drive."

I bought another copy later, because the PC was under warranty.  The tech was shocked.

Ed, that's awesome. I need to get me one of those 8" discs. That's just epic right there.

I know what you mean though, it's crazy the weird shell that can happen. I once lit a comp that was less than a year old on fire. Maxed out the memory without realizing it, shut it down, tried to turn it back on. It froze. Brought it out for my old man to look over, and when we booted it up again, it got halfway through windows' loading screen and caught fire. We couldn't even get the case off for the heat. Smoke was nice too. lol

Also knew a couple guys who claimed to have once seen a plastic model train care spontaneously combust, however they were telling me this while they were drunk. Before Noon. I did see the car though, and I'd LOVE to watch a tape of what happened.... XD

Anyhow, back on topic I suppose. ;)

My aforementioned friend just pointed something out:
ok, so having the losing side get less stuff seems interesting from a realism point of view, but let's set that aside for a second.  Let's say your side just lost--you were simply outgunned.  Now it's time for the next mission, where you'll be even more outgunned.  It would probably get a whole lot less enjoyable to play pretty soon after that...  Basically, the plan to have the losing side get less stuff seems interesting, but either we get the game balance perfect on every mission or it's going to get lopsided really quickly.

It would make more sense to increase the challenge on the winning side rather than decreasing it.  Perhaps the game-world idea is that once you've taken the advantage, you need to press the advantage by driving further into enemy territory, where they'd be better equipped.  This doesn't even necessarily mean the winning side doesn't get better stuff--it just means there's a balance to it.

Here's an example, purely off the top of my head.
First mission, Alliance has Headhunters and Empire has TIE/ln Fighters.  Let's assume the Alliance wins. (...of course.  8) )
Second mission, Alliance now has Headhunters and Y-Wings, Empire still only has TIE/lns, but the Alliance has to defeat all the Imperial fighters as well as two Lancer-class frigates.  Alliance loses (I hate Lancers).
Third mission, Alliance has skulls and wishbones, Empire has eyeballs and dupes.  Each side also has three Corvettes.  Victory goes to whoever defeats the enemy Corvettes first.  (You get the idea.)
 
One more possibility.  On some missions, we could have an extra objective for the enemy to receive a reward.  For example, Empire has to assault a platform, Alliance has to defend it.  There are also eight cargo containers around the platform, which don't need to be destroyed.  Among themselves, the Alliance players pick two cargo containers as an objective, and if the Empire can destroy those two containers before the battle is otherwise concluded (ie, before all being vaped, vaping all Alliance fighters, or destroying the platform) they get heavy rockets from then on.  This means the Empire can choose to split its forces up and try to find the right containers to destroy, or they can concentrate on the primary objective.  This should be something beneficial but not decisive, though.  (Things like heavy rockets which are damaging but not hard to defend against, tractor beams which are helpful but not really game-winners, etc.)

Thoughts?

It would be cool to have as a wall hanging, or a plate...

Tested! Nova Six is Four Lit and... crashed into the other Freighter when the fighting broke out.  :-[ lol But the game seems to be working GREAT! It was just a tiny hint laggy in the cut scenes, but the game itself was working really well. I think I should be good to go! :)

I was t thinking penalize the loosing side, winning side would just get a bonus on the subsequent round

When I write the scenarios I'm going to try and balance it and keep true to the feel that the rebels are outgunned but being sneaky gets them through. ... Now to write 32 possible missions...

I think now would be a good time for me to defect to the Empire.  ;D

I just remembered something I made a while ago that might come in slightly handy when planning missions:
An Excel spreadsheet with all the specs for every ship in the game. (http://www.evsmpi.net/stuff/SWXWA.xls)



A bonus to the winning side is effectively a penalty to the losing side (unless the bonus is a case of Red Bull or something like that ;) ).  Whatever bonus you give to the winning side has to be outweighed by a penalty to that same side.

Depends how it's done. Me and a buddy can take out a super ace ai IMp Duece and a dozen interceptors the sane in just 2 xwings. The materials available wind be the issue, it's the pilot skill more than anything.

Here's a thought that occurs to me--whenever the Empire is winning (and presumably on the attack) they'll have to arrive in-system with a capital ship (since most TIEs lack warp drives).  Destroying that capital ship (and thus stranding the TIEs in-system) would be an instant win for the Alliance--basically, it's a second way to lose.

I have a similar idea for the Alliance when on the attack (aka winning).  The Alliance is notable for having hyperdrives, but lacking in resources.  It's important to know when to cut your losses ("Get clear, Wedge, you can't do any more good back there!")  Therefore, any Alliance pilot who loses a nice ship flies the next mission in a ship one type lower.  (A-Wing or X-Wing gets a Headhunter, B-Wing gets a Y-Wing, perhaps.  Or, if we're not locking people in, just any A-Wing, B-Wing, or X-Wing has to fly their choice of a Z-95 or Y-Wing for the next mission.)

Both of these would apply only on the attack; whoever is already losing doesn't need the extra handicap.  Also, these are not necessarily the only difficulty increase, but they'd help balance things slightly.

I like the idea of getting booted back to a weaker craft if you're shot down. I think it's a good penalty, makes you learn to fly better or go down in flames. ;)

BTW Vel, I see where you're going there. The man and not the machine, eh? Always loved that. :)


Sooo.... I flew some more missions and did much better this time around. Got through mission one and two just fine, mission three went down the tubes though. Couldn't get the pirates in my sights before they hyped out. *sigh* I hate when that happens. *looks for flight manuals* Sometimes I hate my targeting computer.... :P

Good thing we both like Headhunters, I guess!  ;D

Download for the upgrade package is at 68% :) I think I'm getting the feel for the stick now, so I can't wait till the now 74% download finishes so I can go hit the simulator again. :)

BTW, anybody else practicing yet? How's it coming looking for that stick, Teej?

Sooo..... been about three days..... I think I'm getting the hang of this, more or less. Anybody else dug up their gear yet? I'm itching for a little online practice. ;D

i am too but im on the late shift all this week, im not getting home till about 1030 all week, hopefully for the weekend we should be good to go

just some basic xwing vs tie type missions

Sweetness. Hmm. I need to dig up a mike then.... lol

haha yep

I wonder if I can dig up a computer throat mike? It would go really well with my ANH Flight Helmet Headphones. lol

okay, that would be kinda epic

So, I missed something - how, exactly, are we linking up to play this?

Using voobly, its going to be the easiest way to coordinate

I actually found some throat mikes. Nice looking set for 67 bucks. Gonna see if I can find something cheaper though. Also, this one didn't feature PTT for PC use.... which would be kinda a bummer. I mean, I don't want the whole Squadron to hear my 'Oh Kriff' moments over the comm.... lol

Yeah, but we want to hear your Oh Kriff moments.  :D

I should see if I can find something decent also...  I had a mike somewhere, but I've no idea where it is now.

I may borrow an old USB mike from work that we're not using anymore and just use that. I'd rather have the throat mike, but spending that kind of money for just this and STO to use it for..... possibly not the best thing to do. Plus, it's actually here and ready to use, provided I can find where I put my USB hub. lol

Hmmm... come to think of it, Rogue Leader is the only starfighter game I have played... I'll have to rectify that sometime.

Okay, first, go out and get yourself Rebel Strike. Then if you still have an N64 get Rogue Squadron. You can't properly enjoy either of them if you've played a full on sim first, as these guys prove. Then, go out and get X Wing Alliance. ;) Oh, and you should do these things really fast, so you can get in on our online game(s).  ;D

I endorse Manroon's suggestion with one change.  Skip the console crap and get straight to XWA. :D Geez, Manroon, it's like he's starving and you're promising him a feast but starting with an appetizer of week-old breadcrumbs.  :P

*SIGH* I'm surrounded by console hate. ::)

Haha I can see that!  I played a bit of Rogue Squadron, but since I never owned an N64 I didn't get to play it a whole lot.  I will definitely have to broaden my horizons, though.

Really I have always been more of a Jedi nut - just about any game where you get to use a lightsaber is right up my alley!

Then you need to play Rebel Strike. There's a level or two in there you'll like, as I remember. ;)

Also.... someone needs to buy you an N64. No man should go through life without owning an N64 if it can be reasonably helped. Very possibly the greatest console ever made.

Now that I agree with!  Everybody should have an N64 and have played through Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time--quite possibly the greatest game ever made (http://www.filibustercartoons.com/games.htm).


I rather enjoyed Jedi Starfighter.  (I liked Starfighter too--you'd probably be best to play it before Jedi Starfighter.)  Force powers from inside an Aethersprite cockpit.  :)

i gotta be the only person in the world that hated the zelda games other than the very first on NES

YES! I love OOT! KILL THE CHICKENS! ;D

Also, I love the Delta 7. Too bad there isn't an add on for it in XWA or something.


@Vel: Never say that around my GF. She's a Zelda freak. lol

fly an awing? close enough to a delta 7

They are close, but not that close. The A-Wing is the next step from the Delta 7. You know, I actually read that the guy who designed the Delta was part of the team that worked on the A Wing as well. (In Universe) Forget his name though.... :-\

It was Walex Blissex under the consignment of Jan Dodonna that made that gem of a starfighter. Yay Wookiepedia! :D

Ah, yes! That was it! Hurray for the Wookiee. :)

I have nothing more to say to you.  Ever.









Actually, if you didn't like Link to the Past, you wouldn't like OoT.  If you liked LttP but thought the top-down view was important, you probably wouldn't like OoT either.  And, incidentally, if you didn't like Majora's Mask, it means you have at least slightly more sense than a box of rocks.

I never could get into Majora's Mask. I think it's cause I only played the GC Collector's version, but I dunno. I just didn't like it much.


Getting back on topic.... do we have any nominations for Squadron Leaders?

On topic?  Never!

No, you couldn't get into MM because it sucked.  Really.  The closest I've met to somebody who actually liked it was my friend who began hating it about halfway through but beat it anyway just to say he did it.  (He's not quite sane.  Then again, he's friends with me, so that's implied.)

Not it!  :D

My GF loves Majora's Mask. I don't understand why.

On the subject of Squadron Leaders..... I nominate Vel to lead the Rebels.

Haha what prompted that?

Well, you and Vyk here give the impression of  being very big fans of this game, and he called not it, and you started the thread... so you just seemed like a natural choice.

Hrm.  I hate to be practical about this (since it might make me have to take squadron lead), but if Vel's doing the mission design (that was the plan, right?) he can't also be giving the orders for one of the sides.

Good point.

By the way, I call Callsign Six.

*looks at Manroon's personal text*
Six?  Huh.  Couldn't have guessed that.

There is only so much it will let us program in, basic objectives, numbers, ship types and whatnot

we cant set it to have another set of units jump into the fight at a certain point unfortunately, so being squadron lead shouldnt really be a huge problem

if really really needed i suppose i could be the flight leader for the imperials if i had to, i warn you though for later missions.....im dangerous in a bright

Bah. Corellians don't fly for the Empire. ;)

Han did

For a ridiculously short time that drove him nuts.

Fine, you want to play dirty then manroon?????


BARON SOONTIR FEL OF THE 181ST!!!!!

He defected once.....

I'd fly for the Imps. Some of the most fun times I ever had was flying a TIE in the simulator!

lol and went right back, and his family line....becomes the imperial royal line....good lord thats one messed up bloodline

Fel, Antilles, Solo, Skywalker.......all in one bloodline..wow

I'm a nutball who lives in a Green X-Wing / Z-95 Hybrid. That is the extent of my world. I pay no attention to this royal imperial whohah of which you speak. I just shoot TIEs. Or anything with an Imp Cog on it.

You guys remember in the original X-Wing when you wiped out all the fighters and then could blow up the ISD after every mission was complete? That filled up the medal case pretty quickly. Those were the days...

I'd fly for the Imps also, just to even things out a little. :D

Now what is this console thing you speak of?

It is called Neen ten dow, and it is the ancient source of power. ;D If you search the darkest recesses of the interwebs, you will find the chronicles of how our predecessors overcame their parents through the power of the first generations of home gaming, and the great leap from PONG to Mario. It is an epic saga... sort of like the Geek version of the Odyssey or Illiad. LOL

only the nes and snes were interesting to me, i didnt like the n64 i HATED the controllers, especially the stupid stick that was way too touchy

Sadly, my N64 was taken from me in 1999. I have missed that system ever since. Been digging all that's come out for PC though...

I didn't even get my N64 until 1999. lol It was the EP I Racer Gift Set.... I'm not sure, but I MAY even still have the box someplace. Liner was long gone though the last time I came across it, so it may have gotten chucked. I still have the console and all my games though. Or did I unload Yoshi Story someplace.... man that game sucked. XD

Yeah Vel, I hear that a lot. I like the NES and SNES pretty well, though I never owned one and my Sis didn't like to let me play anything except Hogan's Alley. Seems those that don't like the 64 all mention that controller. You want really strange? I used to game with a guy that only gripped the two outside forks of the thing. Stretched his hand all over it to reach the stick. Sad thing was it worked great for him. Beat the crap outta me at Smash Bros daily.

So you guys wanna try setting up a game this weekend, maybe? Perhaps a simple dogfight to make sure all this junk works right? I'll be available to play anytime after 10 PM.

Getting kinda bored of blasting AI TIEs into vapor.

(http://imageshack.us/a/img196/1966/img201210061659351.jpg)

so dont do just tiess, vary the difficulty of the ais

set yourself goals like inspecting ships, protecting cap ships etc

I'd be up for a test run with somebody on Saturday I think.

BTW we need to sort out who is in which time zones and available at which times. I'm on the West Coast, USA, free all day Saturday this weekend. USUALLY free week nights after eight as well, but not always.

Central Standard Time here

Central as well.

Eastern here.  I keep late hours, though, so 10PM Central wouldn't be a problem.

Suppose I should dust off my joystick and piloting skills (such as they are), eh?

Story time!
So, the SNES came out when I was in high school.  I wanted one, but my parents said I'd outgrow video games soon.
...a couple years ago, my mother bought a Wii.  She's going to be getting grief about that one until the end of time.  :D

Just out of curiosity, did anybody actually look at the Excel file I linked earlier?

Not me.... I didn't even bother to read the XWA flight manual all the way through. I just thumb through to find the info I need as it comes up. Probably should have looked over the energy redirection stuff sooner.... lol

EDIT: Now registered as Nova_Six on Voobly. :)

I've been meaning to look at it

Typical Corellian...

I'd join you all, but I don't have the game or a joystick.  I'm annoyed that the game requires a joystick too.  Haven't they seen my desk?

You have a desk? I play with a laptop and portable disk drive sitting on a checkerboard, on a stool, while I sit on a log, with the stick in my lap. Ghetto Gamer FTW. lol


BTW, thought I'd pass this along, my old Nemesis Darth Wraith says he may wish to join us in a session online one day, if he ever digs up a copy of the game. :)

yes, I have a desk for my laptop, which never touches my lap.  My desk is also home to my Star Wars action figures, my wand from Ollivander's, a mini lightsaber, and some other stuff that's buried under other stuff.

You should see my desk at work. Vegeta, a train, a Corsair, a Lightning, another fighter I can't recall off hand, an orange crate, an oil lamp, scads of books and papers, R2 Cooler, and some other junk. Oh, plus whatever I'm working on at the time. lol

I'm in the UK, so I don't know whether it'll be possible for me to find a time to play that would work with everyone else, but if there's space, I'd be up for joining in, as either side.

If you were dedicated, you'd have no problem playing at 4AM.   ;)


You should see my desk at work.  However, you can't.  I can't either--it's too buried under crap.  :P

So - folks wanting to do this?  I'm down.  And near computer...  Look for the handle I use here.

Booooo! Looks like Win 7 x64 is the end of this game for me. Dark Forces wouldn't work either, and Jedi Academy runs at a frame rate of 12fps... at best. Old games are the bane of my rig.  :'(

Now SW:TFU I and II on the other hand... they take advantage of my 2 x 460GTXs in SLI with a GTS250 as the PhysX processor. Sunk by a DOS game...

Is there a way in Windows 7 to force a certain compatibility mode, like XP or older?

There is, but it didn't work for some reason. I have the 7 Ultimate Edition too. It's gotta be the x86 emulator as it only seems to work with newer software.

Any idea where I could pick up the game for a decent price?

Definitely a 32/64-bit problem.  I have it running nicely under Windows 7 Enterprise 32-bit--I didn't even have to use any compatibility settings.

Cool. Thanks for the confirmation, Vyk! Might have to go out and buy a P4 machine for $50... At least I'll be able to use my old 1280x1024 monitor again! :D

I wish I knew of a good paid download site...  does Steam have it?  No, Steam does not...

Woot! My wife found my disc 1 !!! I'll be installing today!

Just played a couple of games to get back into the feel of it


8p complex 2 team classic conflict

Didn't die once, got 23 kills and 6 assists while flying an awing

One of the kills was an isd

Vel is Corran. lol

Man, if I have to fly against you, I am soooo getting vaped. :D

My arm killed after it. Turns out my joystick has force feedback....and alliance supports that lol.

Double post sorry, but i figured id share some photos i took lol


Okay for this one, i made each team three fighters, unlimited waves, all veteran ai, and i made each group different craft to vary the difficulty

If the ship normally came with warheads, i loaded it with those warheads.

Xwing(6 torps), Ywing(8 torps), Awing(8 missiles), Tie fighter, Tie interceptor, Tie Bomber (6 torps), Cloakshape, and headhunters , i flew the xwing

(http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u485/Veldryne/photo2-25.jpg)

(http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u485/Veldryne/photo3-24.jpg)



This mission is one of the preset skirmishes Rebels vs Imperials, and likely a preset mission i could see us playing a fair bit
The alliance have 2 moncals, one heavy one light, the imperials have an ISD and an interdictor cruiser
For fighters the alliance have xwings, awings, bwings and z-95 headhunters
The imperials have tie fighters, bombers, and advanced (eyballs, dupes and brights) and assault gunboats

For this particular mission, i flew an awing loaded with concussion missiles
(http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u485/Veldryne/photo4-16.jpg)




In the after action report you frequently see a number and then another number in parenthesis #(#)

The first number is kills, the one in parenthesis is assists....

Yikes... maybe it's good that my 64bit OS is keeping me down here... of course, a good dose of humility never hurt anyone!

ill start cranking up the difficulty level shortly

i bought this flight stick last year and used it for maybe a month, never got used to it, its pretty stiff still and hasnt been broken in

that and other than a very brief period playing TIE fighter last year when i bought the flight stick on sale for 10$, i hadnt played xwing alliance in about 4-5 years

maybe i should just fly for the imperials in a regular tie fighter when we do our games and channel my inner Tycho Celchu, or Baron Soontir Fel......

Point for being an ace pilot.

Lol why thank you