Playing XWA, XWING & TIE on XP

[thelastjedi]

Huge fan of the LucasArts space sims when I was in high school and have had very little success installing the games and none getting them to play on Windows XP. I'm sure this has been addressed before so is there a specific thread that details the best way to enjoy the classics on XP and Vista? Specifically I need info on running the games in XP, w/ a high end graphics card, and with a USB joystick. Thanks Much!

 

THE LAST JEDI

[Wildstar]

XW95 and TIE95 (the Windows versions of X-Wing and TIE Fighter) are part of the "X-Wing Collectors Series" and while they lose the MIDI music from the DOS versions that helped set the mood (they use CD Audio which often does not match the mood), they use the XvT graphics engine, so they do look a bit better. There is an XvT Upgrade project that uses XWA Upgrade Project models that have been converted down for the earlier game, and they may work in the XWCS...you can ask questions about it in this thread (must be a registered user of the XWA Upgrade forums).

 

As for XWA, definitely patch, get Darksaber's Ultimate Craft Pack, the XWA Upgrade ships that have been released since the UCP (there's a list on Darksaber's site), and Greg Logan's sound upgrade from Astilleros Estellares "Picaro" (English translation available by clicking the British flag on the homepage). Depending on your video card, you may also need the all-resolutions font set, which fixes corrupted HUD text on higher-end nVidia cards.

 

All of the Windows games will support a properly-configured USB joystick, so that shouldn't be a problem.

 

Good luck.

 

Note: The UCP, I believe, asks if you want to install the Super Star Destroyer. This is a 17km "true to canon" model that replaces the original Totally Games model and may cause problems in some missions. You may not wish to install it, but if you do, get the mission fixes from Ol's Missions site.