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You could map a lot of the moment to moment controls in the games to a modern controller, bearing in mind that DirectInput will basically detect it as having something like 16 buttons and most of the X-Wing buttons are fluff (dpad usually detects as buttons). There will still be some hands off stuff so you will still need the keyboard to hand for ordering wingmen around etc.

They've just released Indiana Jones: Fate of Atlantis as well. I never played this, but the comic book was kinda fun, so what the heck. Someone here probably did and probably wouldn't mind another shot

Vendetta wrote:You could map a lot of the moment to moment controls in the games to a modern controller, bearing in mind that DirectInput will basically detect it as having something like 16 buttons and most of the X-Wing buttons are fluff (dpad usually detects as buttons). There will still be some hands off stuff so you will still need the keyboard to hand for ordering wingmen around etc.

Won't it feel weird to use a gamepad? A joystick feels a lot more natural to use, never mind the use of spin and such.

The real problem is most joysticks out there on the market now haven't been updated for the new Operating Systems out there. BLAH.

I use a DualShock 3 for Freespace 2 and it feels just as good as my old Saitek X-45 did, so it should work just as well for the X-Wing series.

Vendetta wrote:You could map a lot of the moment to moment controls in the games to a modern controller, bearing in mind that DirectInput will basically detect it as having something like 16 buttons and most of the X-Wing buttons are fluff (dpad usually detects as buttons). There will still be some hands off stuff so you will still need the keyboard to hand for ordering wingmen around etc.

Could I just map it onto my keyboard? I mean sure, it would use up all of the buttons but I can live with that.

The main downside of keyboard versus joystick is that you lose a direct input into the game's flying system. It just doesn't 'feel' the same, for lack of a better term. With enough practice it works okay, though... but mouse + keyboard would be far better than just a keyboard by itself.

Elheru Aran wrote:The main downside of keyboard versus joystick is that you lose a direct input into the game's flying system. It just doesn't 'feel' the same, for lack of a better term. With enough practice it works okay, though... but mouse + keyboard would be far better than just a keyboard by itself.

I am basically asking because I have neither a joystick/joypad/controller nor the money to but both one and the game at the same time. Nor do I care for them. They always felt gimmicky to me. Using the mouse is fine by me.

Then you should be okay. It's not the same experience but it'll be fine.

At least it's not a Descent game...

Elheru Aran wrote:Then you should be okay. It's not the same experience but it'll be fine.

At least it's not a Descent game...

I consider my self an old games fan but I have not yet heard of this Descent games.

I remember using the mouse exclusively to play TIE Fighter. I hated it when X-Wing vs TIE Fighter forced me to use a joystick instead.

Using the mouse you could just put the reticule on the target with perfect precision. Once the joystick came in then that precision was gone. The later games like Alliance became more fast paced, and there seemed to be much more continuously turning dogfighting to do, so a joystick started to make sense.

Purple wrote:

Elheru Aran wrote:Then you should be okay. It's not the same experience but it'll be fine.

At least it's not a Descent game...

I consider my self an old games fan but I have not yet heard of this Descent games.

I did not play those games, but Descent by Interplay belonged to the same era as the TIE Fighter games.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Descent_%28video_game%29

Basically it's a zero-gravity FPS with a full six degrees of movement. Forward, back, up, down, right, left, pitch, roll, yaw, turn... Levels really had levels (as in you went vertically up and down a lot) and could honestly get pretty difficult. Good stuff.

And yeah, it's early 90s era. The graphics were a similar level of eye-bleed by our standards, but they worked. They weren't Doom cheesy at least...

Elheru Aran wrote:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Descent_%28video_game%29

Basically it's a zero-gravity FPS with a full six degrees of movement. Forward, back, up, down, right, left, pitch, roll, yaw, turn... Levels really had levels (as in you went vertically up and down a lot) and could honestly get pretty difficult. Good stuff.

And yeah, it's early 90s era. The graphics were a similar level of eye-bleed by our standards, but they worked. They weren't Doom cheesy at least...

I thought Terminal Velocity was hot shit back then too. All those trees!

Purple wrote: I am basically asking because I have neither a joystick/joypad/controller nor the money to but both one and the game at the same time. Nor do I care for them. They always felt gimmicky to me. Using the mouse is fine by me.

You can play the '94 versions of the games with mouse/keyboard, the '98 versions require some kind of joystick, and won't even run if there isn't one plugged in. (Any purchase gives you both versions)

I'm using the Xbox 360 version of the Saitek Aviator that I bought for additional Ace Combat nerdery.

I've also connected my PC up to my TV because my inner 13 year old loves the idea of playing X-Wing on a 46" screen.

As I recall, a surefire evasion tactic in both games was to just move the joystick in a circle.

I may buy them both just to get the manuals and strategy guide. You know, for the fluff, even if i never play them seriously.

I never got a chance to read the strategy guides except for a copy at the local games shop that was priced at some ridiculous 3 figure number, far beyond the reach of a 10 year old

my only real gripe with the X-wing series is how insanely accurate hostile point defense was at taking out your ordenance it actually made VSDs, ISDs and SSDs much easier to take down (cause you could use lasers on the globes it would just take longer) then some of the "lesser" ships that didn't have the easy way to take down the shields so you had to overpower them.

I don't recall any of the ships really using point defense until X-Wing Alliance, and IIRC they needed to have the higher AI levels to do so even then ("Officer" and above or something like that).

RogueIce wrote:I don't recall any of the ships really using point defense until X-Wing Alliance, and IIRC they needed to have the higher AI levels to do so even then ("Officer" and above or something like that).

In X-Wing, the PDF simply shot out of nowhere. In TIE FIghter, there were actual turrets. In XWA, there were turrets and defense modules if I recall.

The capships wouldn't actually shoot your torpedoes down on purpose, they'd just open up on you the moment you strayed into range, so if you launched whilst they were doing that they'd shoot the torpedoes down by accident.

If you fired from outside their gunnery range and then didn't sit behind your torpedoes like a lemon you'd hit every time.

Frigates were still the biggest pain though, a Star Destroyer is six torpedoes and a few ion cannon blasts away from being a big useless brick, corvettes have the giant deadzone in their fire arcs behind the engine block, etc.

I know in Alliance they would shoot them down every time if you actually got a lock. You had to dumb-fire to get them through.

Darksider wrote:I know in Alliance they would shoot them down every time if you actually got a lock. You had to dumb-fire to get them through.

In XvT (and I believe TIE fighter) they would shoot them down. They especially favoured using a warhead launcher to do that.

The most ridiculous thing about the capital ship missile launchers was that if you targeted a capital ship, no matter how far away or what you were actually doing at the time, they would lob a missile at you if they possibly could. This leads to you cycling through targets looking for some specific craft, momentarily targeting a capital ship and then having to take evasive action to dodge or destroy the slew of missiles it fires at you, rather than any of the other massively more important targets it could have been firing at.

They just released a shitload more Star Wars games.

Rogue Squadron
X-Wing Vs. TIE Fighter, includes Balance of Power
X-Wing Alliance
Rebellion
Galactic Battleground
Empire at War (ok so Steam has had this one for awhile)
Dark Forces

And more on the way, possibly?

Anyway. Rebellion. Motherfucking Rebellion. I still have the disc and all, but holy shit Rebellion is there, just in case I ever lose it.

Happy days are here again...

Rebellion is the most underrated SW game ever.

Thanas wrote:Rebellion is the most underrated SW game ever.

Is that the one that plays kind of like Civ/Crusaider Kings/EU style games? As in the one with a strategic map for the game and than small fleet battles? And producing armies and performing missions and stuff? In that case yes, that is the most underrated SW game and the best SW game ever. It's even more fun to play than KOTOR.

Man, I spent so much time playing Rebellion. Still have fond memories of an old shipyard sector where a bunch of systems could crank out an Imperial II Star Destroyer per month or deploying the first Interdictors to pin Rebel scum for annihilation. That and preventing their wily heroes from escaping by sticking them on a Star Galleon and keeping it constantly jumping between the two farthest points of the Empire. Hyperspace makes the best prison.