Editing Star Wars: X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter

{{Short description|1997 video game}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}
{{more citations needed|date=November 2007}}
{{Infobox video game
|title  = Star Wars: X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter
|image = Star Wars X-Wing vs. Tie Fighter box art.jpg
|developer = [[Totally Games]]
|publisher = [[LucasArts]]
|designer = [[Lawrence Holland]]
|composer = [[Peter McConnell]]
|engine =
|series = ''[[Star Wars: X-Wing (video game series)|Star Wars: X-Wing]]''
|released = {{vgrelease|NA|29 April 1997<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104867964/the-boston-globe/|title=You've seen the movie, now play the game|newspaper=[[The Boston Globe]]|page=279|date=April 13, 1997|accessdate=July 3, 2022|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|archive-date=3 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220703114204/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104867964/the-boston-globe/|url-status=live}}</ref>|EU|9 May 1997<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 9, 1997 |title=CD ROM Games |pages=25 |work=Staffordshire Newsletter (Uttoxeter ed.) |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/895935418/?terms=%22X-Wing%20vs.%20TIE%20Fighter%22&match=1 |access-date=December 3, 2023 |quote=''X-Wing vs Tie Fighter, Redneck Rampage, Need for Speed II, Die Hard, Outlaws, Test Drive Off Road'' all just in stock!!!!!!}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=May 10, 1997 |title=All the Latest Software - Over 1500 Titles |pages=12 |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/260669905/?terms=%22X-Wing%20vs.%20TIE%20Fighter%22&match=1 |access-date=December 3, 2023 |quote=''X-Wing vs TIE Fighter''...Out Now -  £29.99}}</ref>}}
|genre = [[Space combat game|Space combat]]
|modes = [[Single-player]], [[multiplayer]]
|platforms = [[Microsoft Windows]]
}}

'''''Star Wars: X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter''''' is a 1997 [[space combat game]] developed by [[Totally Games]] for [[LucasArts]]. It is the third installment of the [[Star Wars: X-Wing (video game series)|''X-Wing'' series]].

Featuring several technical advancements over the original releases of its predecessors, ''X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter'' runs on Windows, requires a joystick, features a CD audio soundtrack, supports high-resolution graphics, and brings texture mapping to the ship models of the in-flight game engine. It includes robust multiplayer options for up to eight players in free-for-all, team-based, and cooperative play modes, and has a sophisticated pilot and mission selection system that tracks the player's points and awards. In addition to selecting what craft they will fly, the player can choose their squadron (and thus role in combat) for each mission.

While all content could be played single-player, it is the only part of the series designed primarily for multiplayer, and it lacked a story-driven campaign. [[LucasArts]] later released an expansion called '''''Balance of Power''''' to satisfy popular demand for story-driven campaigns, and to further expand on the multiplayer features.

==Expansion pack==
[[Totally Games]] created an expansion pack called ''Balance of Power'' in response to criticism that the game didn't offer enough in single-player mode.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=In the Studio |magazine=[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]]|issue=36 |publisher=[[Imagine Media]] |date=December 1997|page=24}}</ref> Apart from new battles and missions, ''Balance of Power'' features a Rebel and an Imperial campaign of 15 missions each. The campaigns supported 8-player cooperative play. The parallel narratives of both campaigns revolve around the same series of events, and feature their own cutscenes, but with alternate endings.
*"Spreading the Rebellion" &mdash; Features the evacuation of a base, an attack against the Empire, and the capture of an [[Imperial Interdictor Cruiser]]. The campaign ends with an assault on the [[Super Star Destroyer]] ''Vengeance''.
*"Imperial Task Force - Vengeance" &mdash; The player flies as a member of the elite Avenger squadron under the leadership of Admiral Senn. The missions are similar to those from the Rebel campaign. The campaign ends with the destruction of a Rebel factory.

The pack also adds [[B-wing]]s as a pilot-able craft, along with other vessels that are lacking from the original game.

==Collectors edition==
A cut-down limited version of ''X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter'' called ''Flight School'' was re-released as part of the ''X-Wing Collector Series'' compilation, which also contained special editions of the first two ''Star Wars'' space fighter games. In this edition, ''X-Wing'' and ''TIE Fighter'' were retrofitted with the ''X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter'' graphics engine, which uses [[texture mapping]] instead of [[Gouraud shading]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/x-wing-collector-series-review/1900-2532008/|title=X-Wing Collector Series Review|website=GameSpot|language=en-US|access-date=30 July 2019|archive-date=27 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190727202127/https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/x-wing-collector-series-review/1900-2532008/|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Development==
''X-wing vs. TIE Fighter'' involved huge technical challenges to deliver a satisfactory multiplayer experience. In contrast with most popular multiplayer shooters such as ''Doom'' and ''Descent'', it required far more data tracking and flow. This was due to the typical FPS taking place in a closed environment of rooms and corridors where players have little knowledge about other players' status or whereabouts unless they are looking directly at them. The deep space setting of ''X-wing vs. TIE Fighter'', along with the conventions established in earlier titles, required information about all craft be available to all players all of the time.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/the-internet-sucks-or-what-i-learned-coding-x-wing-vs-tie-fighter| title = The Internet Sucks: Or, What I Learned Coding X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter| date = 3 September 1999| access-date = 14 June 2014| archive-date = 2 March 2014| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140302013214/http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/131781/the_internet_sucks_or_what_i_.php?print=1| url-status = live}}</ref>

Lead mission designer David Wessman took responsibility for the decision to avoid implementing a single-player storyline. "I am primarily to blame for the lack of story in [X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter] because I convinced myself and everyone else that we didn't really need it."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.usgamer.net/articles/before-rogue-one-when-games-were-filling-in-the-history-of-star-wars/page-2|title=Before Rogue One: When Games Were Filling in the History of Star Wars|last=Bailey|first=Kat|date=16 December 2016|website=USgamer|language=en|access-date=30 July 2019|archive-date=30 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190730080342/https://www.usgamer.net/articles/before-rogue-one-when-games-were-filling-in-the-history-of-star-wars/page-2|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Reception==
''The May 1997 issue of [[Edge (magazine)|Edge]]'' gave ''X-wing vs. TIE Fighter'' 90 out of 100, stating, "LucasArts has finally listened to its legions of fans and developed a multiplayer version of its X-Wing and TIE Fighter games. But what's on offer for the PC owner without a network? Face facts. It's practically impossible for LucasArts to fail with a game like ''X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter''. All the design team had to do was take the extremely successful ''X-Wing'' game, revamp the graphics (by adding Gouraud shading, texture mapping, dynamic lighting effects and so on), bolt on the critically lauded ''TIE Fighter'' (its visuals also suitably beefed up), and give slavering gameplayers the one thing that they've always wanted: a multiplayer option. Good as the original ''X-Wing'' and ''TIE Fighter'' were, they lacked the option to fly squadrons of Y-Wings and X-Wings against wings of TIE Fighters, bulbous TIE Bombers and Assault Gunboats in the ultimate interstellar deathmatch."{{citation needed|date=April 2022}}

''[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]]'' gave ''X-wing vs. TIE Fighter'' 3 out of 5 stars, stating, "In the end, ''X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter'' is a good time, especially over a LAN with a bunch of friends, but it's not what it could have, and perhaps should have, been."<ref name=NG32>{{cite magazine|title=Flaw Wars|magazine=[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]]|issue=32|publisher=[[Future US|Imagine Media]]|date=August 1997|page=118}}</ref> [[Power Unlimited]] gave the game a score of 92% summarizing: "Super detailed, cool graphics, great sounds and difficult missions that will keep you busy for hours. Guaranteed fun!"<ref>{{Cite web |title=Power Unlimited Game Database |url=http://www.powerweb.nl/database/index.php?&query%5border%5d=naam&ending=ASC&query%5bstart%5d=3940 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030829164450/http://www.powerweb.nl/database/index.php?&query%5border%5d=naam&ending=ASC&query%5bstart%5d=3940 |archive-date=August 29, 2003 |access-date=April 29, 2025 |website=Power Unlimited}}</ref>

==Remake==
In 2009, [[LucasArts]] and [[Transmission Games]] began work on a high-definition remake of ''X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter''. Despite reportedly being "quite far down the track," the game was cancelled prior to its release.<ref>{{cite news|publisher=Finder.com.au|url=http://www.finder.com.au/x-wing-vs-tie-fighter-remake-was-quite-far-down-the-track|title=X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter Remake was "quite far down the track"|date=9 May 2016|access-date=10 May 2016|first=Chris|last=Stead|archive-date=10 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160510095859/http://www.finder.com.au/x-wing-vs-tie-fighter-remake-was-quite-far-down-the-track|url-status=live}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{moby game|id=/star-wars-x-wing-vs-tie-fighter|name=''Star Wars: X-Wing Vs. TIE Fighter''}}

{{Star Wars games}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Star Wars: X-Wing Vs. Tie Fighter}}
[[Category:1997 video games]]
[[Category:LucasArts games]]
[[Category:Multiplayer and single-player video games]]
[[Category:Space combat simulators]]
[[Category:Space multiplayer online games]]
[[Category:Star Wars: X-Wing (video game series)]]
[[Category:Totally Games games]]
[[Category:Video games developed in the United States]]
[[Category:Video games scored by Peter McConnell]]
[[Category:Windows games]]
[[Category:Windows-only games]]