Star Wars: X-Wing

aka: Star Wars: X-Wing - Simulador de Combate Espacial, Star Wars: X-Wing - Space Combat Simulator
Moby ID: 536
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Description

X-Wing is a space combat simulation, the first in the Star Wars universe. From the cockpits of X-Wing, Y-Wing and A-Wing starfighters, players fight for the Rebel Alliance in their struggle against the evil Galactic Empire.

Unlike earlier titles in the genre like Wing Commander, X-Wing employs a polygonal 3D engine: flat-shaded polygons are combined with bitmaps only for explosion effects.

The game features a comprehensive training element. Before starting on real missions, players should navigate the pilot proving grounds, also known as 'Maze', by flying through a course of doorways set atop platforms in space, preferably without missing any, all while keeping an eye on the tight time limit. Higher levels add additional challenges like hostile laser turrets. Next to the 'Maze', there are simulated historical missions (six for each of the three fighters) that prepare for the complex missions in the rest of the game.

The main part of the game consists of three separate campaigns, called Tours of Duty. The Tours can be played in any order, even though they build on each other story-wise: Tour I, 'A New Ally', tells of the Rebellion's search for political allies in their fight against the Empire, while the Emperor launches Operation Strike Fear, a major offensive against the Rebels. Tour II, 'The Great Search' chronicles the Rebels' search for the plans to the Empire's new superweapon, the Death Star. Tour III, 'The Gathering Storm', tells of their efforts to find and destroy the battle station. Animated cutscenes are featured after certain missions to continue the story.

Each Tour consists of around a dozen missions, which include a wide variety of objectives. There are standard strike, escort and defense assignments, but also reconnaissance flights - just scanning ships without attacking them - or capture operations - disabling enemy ships, then protecting the transport carrying the strike team during the takeover. The game of course culminates in the famous attack on the Death Star.

The three flyable fighters all handle differently and are thus more or less suitable for the different types of missions. The X-Wing is heavily armed and armored, and is usually used on strike missions. The Y-Wing is slower and less well protected, but is the only ship equipped with ion cannons, necessary for disabling ships. With its high speed and maneuverability, the A-Wing is ideal for recon and intercept missions.

Next to lasers and ion cannons, the fighters are armed with limited amounts of warheads: proton torpedoes are slow and highly destructive, while concussion missiles are faster, but yield less damage.

A unique feature of the game is energy management: Energy must be divided between engines, weapons and shields. At the standard settings, weapons and shields don't recharge - energy must be diverted from the engines for that, slowing the ship. On the other hand, putting more power into the engines adds speed, but drains shields and guns. Energy can also be transferred between the systems, boosting weapons power at the expense of shields or vice versa.

Space is populated by many ships besides the player's, most of which are well-known from the movies. The Empire will usually launch waves of TIE Fighters, Interceptors and Bombers from Star Destroyers. The Rebels employ large Mon Calamari cruisers and Corellian Corvettes. In use by both sides are Nebulon-B escort frigates and Lambda-class shuttles. Some ships not seen in the movies include the Imperial assault gunboat, the stormtrooper transport and bulk freighters. Friendly fighters will sometimes accompany the player, and can be given specific orders.

Spellings

  • X-Wing :מלחמת הכוכבים - Hebrew spelling

Groups +

Screenshots

Promos

Credits (DOS version)

61 People (55 developers, 6 thanks) · View all

Design and Project Management
3D Polygon Programming
Cinematic Engine Programming
Mission AI Programming
Background Artwork
3D Animation and Rendering
3D Flight Engine Models
Additional 3D Models
Mission Design
Theme Music
Additional Music and Orchestration
Sound Effects
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 87% (based on 12 ratings)

Players

Average score: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 89 ratings with 11 reviews)

Space combat sim with a hint of 3D puzzle and a great background

The Good
Great background, good action, simple yet effective controls, different challenges, different crafts to fly with and fly against

The Bad
While there's a lot of action, most of it involves a lot of timing and keeping track of a LOT of targets, objectives not always clear, too hard to aim

The Bottom Line
X-Wing is one of the better space combat games. With a full 3D engine, the game features a lot of action, a great background story, and plenty of action. Ability to find keys to certain targets is invaluable. However, the nature of the mission objectives were not always clear (Freespace was able to fit in an "objectives list" on the screen, including the ships that needed protecting). And a lot of the mission objectives is too dependent on timing and target tracking. It's also VERY hard to get hits (much harder than Wing Commnader).

If you want more action try Wing Commander instead. If you want your space action to come with a bit more tactical considerations, then X-Wing should fit your requirements.

DOS · by Kasey Chang (4598) · 2000

Awesome space fighter sim

The Good
The controls are easy to learn, and even got okay with a mouse before I finally bought a joystick. as a sim, this game stands out. I became a better pilot in the "maze", and found that I carried those skills I learned there into the missions and historical battles. the options available, including camera views, targeting, and turning on a recorder to analyze what you did, were outstanding.

The Bad
It's very hard to learn to fly. I actually consider this a plus, since it gave you a sense of accomplishment when you finally learn, but it can be a real turn off to newbies.

The Bottom Line
If you don't have to have instant gratification, X-Wing is well worth the time. After you win a medal, you'll never regret it.

DOS · by Darryl White (9) · 2000

For those who would love to pilot star fighter...

The Good
When I first heard that X-Wing was being released, I knew that it would be a revolutionary game. Any kid who saw any of the Star Wars movies, always pretended to be a pilot for the Rebel Alliance.

The graphics in this game, when running on a good machine, are outstanding. Although the detail level is not as high as it is in X-Wing Alliance, for the time that it was released, the games graphical detail was incredible. This game, in both graphics and sound, surpassed the other space fighter simulation, Wing Commander, by leaps and bounds. The detail that went into recreating the Star Wars ships was amazing. From the glow of the X-wings engines, to the detail of the Death Star trench run, this game was incredible.

The sound in this game is phenomenal. Using the Sound Blaster's capability of reproducing sounds using wave files, the immersion of sound is really cool. Sampled sounds of the lasers, both Rebel and Imperial, make it sounds like you're actually in the star fighter. Even the iMuse score, adapted from John Williams classic Star Wars score, makes it feels like you're in the movie. Besides, the sound of a Tie Fighter, screaming by your cockpit, can be unnerving in a dog fight.

The controls are very easy to use to. Everything is mapped out on your keyboard, very intuitively. After playing for a while, it almost becomes second nature. Especially in the middle of a dog fight, you really can't afford to glance at a reference card, or else you become bantha fodder. If you have a decent joystick, it's the best way to play. You can use a mouse, but is like flying with a bar of soap. The keyboard may also be used if you do not have a joystick port, but it still not quite the same.

The artificial intelligence, can be either stupid or downright ruthless. In the beginning historical missions, the AI is fairly stupid. This way you can get a feel for the games mechanics, and still gets the pleasure of blowing an Imperial Trooper to dust. However, once you get into the tour of duties, the AI is basically, seek and destroy.

The Bad
There is not a lot that I dislike with this game. Being a Star Wars fan myself, I immediately took to the game. Although I must say, that a few of missions are extremely difficult to accomplish.

The Bottom Line
If you like Star Wars, or even if you don't, you really need to check this game out. Don't check it out for the Star Wars license, rather check it out if you really like an excellent space combat similar.

DOS · by Chris Martin (1155) · 2000

[ View all 11 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
Manual/docs roy donato Jul 12, 2007

Trivia

Cancelled Amiga port

An Amiga version was announced in magazines but was never released. Perhaps a wise move since the game is almost unplayable without an analog joystick, and analog joysticks for the Amiga were rare.

Christmas

If you play the game on Christmas you will see Santa Claus on the floor of the Space Station after you have selected your pilot.

Death Star

The Death Star trench when playing with maximum detail settings (otherwise it's a bit like cheating) has a few more objects into which you can crash. Some of them look like T-shaped "bridges" and frameworks, which are absent in the original Star Wars movie. It seems they are modeled after the Disneyland's Star Tours ride, which climaxes with the trench run. If you look closely, you can compare the differences and notice the fact that the Star Tours trench was built using bits of the second Death Star model (from Return of the Jedi), as it was constructed in mid-1980s. A minor detail, yet it adds more obstacles to dodge, which are not to be seen in the movie.

Installation

The floppy install program was known to cause panic among first-time players. Instead of showing a percentage completed based on disks, it counted actual files. The problem was that half of the files were on the fifth and final disk. IE, you're installing it, it takes four disks just to reach the halfway mark, and you spend the entire last disk certain that your copy was incomplete.

Limited Edition

The Limited Edition of X-Wing (the original floppy disk based release) contained a companion book called The Farlander Papers. This book contained spec sheets for the various spacecraft in the game, short stories, a "who's who" for the races of the Star Wars universe and much more. The Limited Edition versions are identifiable only by a small round sticker on the front of the box. Apart from The Farlander Papers, the contents are the same as the normal version of the game.

References

  • In the Tour of Duty I -Mission 1, You have to Identify 4 cargo containers and destroy them..The cargo containers are names Arreis, Nigiro, Ocrim and Esorp. You think LucasGames had something gunning for Sierra, Origin and MicroProse?
  • In one of the later missions, you have to fly to a space-probe called BFG-9000. This is the Big Fucking Gun in the iD Software game DOOM.

Awards

  • Computer Gaming World
    • October 1993 (Issue #111) – Simulation Game of the Year (together with World Circuit)
    • November 1996 (15th anniversary issue) – #11 Hardest Computer Game
  • Electronic Entertainment
    • March 1994 – Editors' Choice Awards: Best Game
  • Game Informer
    • August 2001 (Issue #100) - #42 in the "Top 100 Games of All Time" poll
  • GameStar (Germany)
    • Issue 12/1999 - #19 in the "100 Most Important PC Games of the Nineties" ranking
  • Origin Awards
    • 1993 - Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Computer Game

Information also contributed by Colin Kelly>/a>, [Erkan O](http://www.mobygames.com/user/sheet/userSheetId,65974/), [Felix Knoke](http://www.mobygames.com/user/sheet/userSheetId,15660/), [Gramkow](http://www.mobygames.com/user/sheet/userSheetId,44365/), [PCGamer77](http://www.mobygames.com/user/sheet/userSheetId,1717/), [Rola](http://www.mobygames.com/user/sheet/userSheetId,133005/) and [WizardX](http://www.mobygames.com/user/sheet/userSheetId,1444/)

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Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 536
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by robotriot.

Additional contributors: Chris Martin, Havoc Crow, formercontrib, Crawly, SharkD, Patrick Bregger.

Game added December 5, 1999. Last modified January 24, 2024.