TIE Fighter Developer Would "Love" a Remake

[GonzoGamer]

I say it's time.
Those Xwing (vs) Tie games were great.
They've made similar games recently but I think a lot of gamers would appreciate controls that are a bit more complicated (yet more immersive) than the rather cartoony renditions that have been rolling around for the past decade.
The question is, could it be played without a keyboard. The gamepads now have a lot of buttons, but do they have enough?

 

[Tiamat666]

That almost looks complicated enough to get me interested. Seems like you get a very deep level of control over your ship.

I have never played tie fighter but ummm.........they don't have shields.

Tie fighters don't have shields or hyperdrive, the tradeoff is more speed. Sorry about being a star wars fan but that is the cannon.

Actually X-Wing and TIE Fighter are pretty easy to get into compared to other space combat sims like Freespace or Starshatter. They cover the middle ground as far as complexity is involved. You don't have to learn a spreadsheets worth of key combinations to learn to play but they aren't as simplistic as an arcade "just fly and shoot" either. I guess this is one of the many reasons why the games were so enjoyable.

TIE Fighters (aka "deah traps") don't trade shields for speed. They trade shields for nothing, which is why it's so easy to get killed on the earlier missions. But the later craft like TIE Advanced, Assault Gunboat and TIE Defender boast shields and hyperdrive.

 

[scnj]

S - toggle shields
X - toggle fire mode
W - switch weapons
R - target nearest enemy
E - target nearest enemy targeting you
A - target attacker of current target
F9 - toggle laser recharge rate
F10 - toggle shield recharge rate
Ctrl+F9 - divert power to lasers
Ctrl+F10 - divert power to shields
backspace - full throttle
enter - match speed with target
H - start hyperdrive

I also still know the wingman commands by memory, but let's leave it at that.

If this get's done, I'm going to screech and jump up and down like a little girl.

I had a Sidewinder joysticks with it's own buttons to o most of that without having to touch the keyboard. That was an awesome joystick, and the best Star Wars game ever.

 

[Squilookle]

I'll raise you the mission structure which, though cool at the time would be far, far too punishing in this day and age.

What utter rubbish. Are you saying people as a whole have got more dumb over time? When TIE Fighter first came out it was hard. What did we do? We rose to meet the challenge, and if it was brought back it'd be no different. IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey has shown that there is a market on consoles for a serious flight/space sim, and we sure as hell know it's already there for PC. If it has to be dumbed down, why not just throw in a third person camera option, like IL-2 and Rogue Squadron have?

 

[domicius]

I'll raise you the mission structure which, though cool at the time would be far, far too punishing in this day and age.

What utter rubbish. Are you saying people as a whole have got more dumb over time? When TIE Fighter first came out it was hard. What did we do? We rose to meet the challenge, and if it was brought back it'd be no different.

I was referring rather to the fact that many of the missions required you to tab through dozens of empty containers in order to scan their contents. Or tab through minefields in order to destroy every single last mine. Not to mention those missions where you had to shoot *exactly* the right ship from the beginning (without any hint from the game, of course) or the whole mission was lost.

We did *rise* to the challenge then, but these days I would rather I didn't have to manually scan through 50,000 ships + missiles to identify my mission target, or worse, to find out where the ship I'm escorting got to so I can go back and rescue it.

Good point on IL-Sturmovik (it *is* great, I agree!). It shows how the console version of a game needs to be different from the PC version in order to be playable.

So, really, people didn't get dumber over time. They became smarter*. And that's why even TIE Fighter must change.

*Most of us, anyway.

 

[Squilookle]

I was referring rather to the fact that many of the missions required you to tab through dozens of empty containers in order to scan their contents. Or tab through minefields in order to destroy every single last mine. Not to mention those missions where you had to shoot *exactly* the right ship from the beginning (without any hint from the game, of course) or the whole mission was lost.

Actually yeah, fair point about that. Games being difficult is one thing, but being difficult without any logical way to avoid a trial and error approach is really something else.

 

[domicius]

I was referring rather to the fact that many of the missions required you to tab through dozens of empty containers in order to scan their contents. Or tab through minefields in order to destroy every single last mine. Not to mention those missions where you had to shoot *exactly* the right ship from the beginning (without any hint from the game, of course) or the whole mission was lost.

Actually yeah, fair point about that. Games being difficult is one thing, but being difficult without any logical way to avoid a trial and error approach is really something else.

You, sir, are a staggeringly reasonable human being. My hat is off to you.

 

[MR T3D]

Even if the just compile all the series into 1 game, with updated graphics and MP, mission editor (optional) then i would be very, very happy.

 

[Del-Toro]

If this doesn't go through, then the questions are answered once and for all: George Lucas DOESN"T have a soul and there truly is NO GOD.

If it does then those questions will still be up for debate. Unless it meets the original's awsomeness, in which case there just might be a god (or gods),the status of George Lucas' soul will still up for debate.

 

[Angels_Bane]

i just spent 45 mins writing a very detailed and hint filled responce to the peeps who are using tab to target >.< and bemoaning the lack of shields on a tie, only to lose it all to fat finger syndrome. now you get the short version. forget the tab key, target with your reticle. every key on your board has a function, some have 3. learn them or die. tie + straight = pretty explosion. dodge son, dodge. (i snapped 3 joysticks dead in half playing tie fighter) if you think a tie needs shielding, fly for the alliance and pray you never meet me. the only prob i really had with my tie is that the roll option didnt work properly. when you hit the roll button, you would lose all other flight control and could only roll in a straight line. there are only 2 things in that game that should give you probs in a tie. the omni directional lazer,(stay out of range at all costs) and the advanced missle. the tie fighter is an awesome craft to pilot, ill take it vs any fighter the alliance can field. interceptor is a lil better in all aspects, but you have to give up the chin mounted lazers. the gunboat is enough ship to get you into trouble, but very fast fingers are required to get it back out again. the tie bomber should be scrapped. its only advantage was that its axis went thru the pilots module instead of the center of the ship making it somewhat difficult to hit. the tie advanced, and defendor were both so much over kill that i quickly stopped flying them. the most fun i had in a defendor was dropping all energy into the engines, and then trying not to run into anything

 

[willywils]

Hey Lucas Arts ****READ THIS!!!!****

So X-Wing was the game that catapulted me from being a casual take it or leave it gamer into a "I need to game now" gamer. It's that simple. Started with a Spectrum 128k, Commodore 64 (with the separate tape deck), Amiga 500 and then into the console ghetto. But after playing X-Wing on a friends dads PC one summer holiday...my life flipped and washing cars for pocket money went out with the bucket soapy water. I was broke but I didn't care as I could cruise the galaxy far far away in an A-wing, X-wing or a gunship Y-wing!

Not owning a PC, after X-Wing I went back to my casual gaming but was left with a hollow feeling like a Mojito with no mint. That was over 15 years ago now and after the years passed of beautiful gaming, Golden eye, GT, next gen consoles, online gaming, GTA, COD & Uncharted to name a mere few. Above all this, I still long for the simple, outer space, screeching tie fighters, red blue lasers, missiles & deflector shield cocktail that this game delivered. The weird thing is I don't even play sci-fi games. Monsters, zombies & aliens are all cold water for my gaming chubbie. And I'm not even crazy about the whole Star Wars thing either. I just want this game back.

Please everyone and anyone who sees this, be you town cryer, pet shop worker who bags fish or burger flipper John Smithson. Please copy and paste and post to any blog that you think might get the ragged short attention of some developer whos thinking what the next big seller will be. Drink some Tiger blood and remake X-Wing for consoles at least! Winning! How much money would it make?...lots. DLC options would be huge! Online could be epic. Why hasn't anyone done this already!? Can anyone tell me that? Or am I alone in this bubble of white stars and hyperspace laced infinity.

I am on a mission to see this game remade for PC & consoles and I may even put pen to paper to see if Lucas Arts can give me a simple explanation just to get some furniture for the empty room in my brain that says X-Wing on the door. It's been empty so long that the current games are merely the squatters next door.

End of rant. Thanks for reading.