TIE Fighter, a computer space combat game, is the sequel to Star Wars: X-Wing, and the first game of the series that puts the player on the side of the Galactic Empire.
A notable improvement is the flight engine, which supports Gouraud shading, an effect that makes curves and mass appear more realistic. There are many flight options added, like flight dialogues and messages, a message log, a list of objectives, ships' status and behaviour, a three dimensional heads-up display, a sub-target system, and other improvements. The HUD or targeting computer (showing a miniature polygon of the targeted vessel) was much lauded by players since it allows the player to see the target's relative orientation (and avoid dangerous head-on confrontations) and specifically target individual components such as weapons batteries. The ability to match speed with a target lets the player tail an enemy with less risk of collision.
The briefings are also richer. Apart from the standard schematic map, the player has the ability to talk via a dialogue menu to both an Imperial officer and a "cloaked figure" - a Sith working for the Secret Order of the Emperor.
LucasArts released a demo of TIE Fighter in early 1994. This demo was based on an unfinished build of the game and has some unique features as a result. It consists of just one long mission in a TIE fighter against various Rebellion forces. The cockpit is not the same as that in the final game, sound effects are different, and the soundtrack is from Star Wars: X-Wing. The demo was sponsored by Dodge and displayed a Neon car advertisement before the gameplay began. It came on two 3.5" 1.44 MB floppy disks. The demo announced the game's release date as "Spring 1994", meaning between March and June of that year, but it wasn't released until July.[1]
Plot
The player pilots a TIE fighter during a cargo inspection mission.
The game begins soon after the Battle of Hoth. The player assumes the role of a rookie TIE fighter pilot. Despite playing on the side of the Star Wars saga's "villain", the player's role is somewhat sympathetic, not only because he lives in fear under the shadow of Darth Vader and other unforgiving superiors, but also because the game's portrayal of the Empire—dictated, of course, by the player's superiors—focuses on its role as a guardian of order. The main character of TIE Fighter is Maarek Stele, although his name is only revealed in the official strategy guide as well as a novella entitled The Stele Chronicles that came with the initial release versions of the game.
Instead of constantly fighting against the Rebels, many missions deal with the elimination of pirates and other criminals, as well as civil wars, traitorous Imperials, and otherwise maintaining order in the galaxy.
In addition to the standard mission briefing, there is a secondary briefing available in some missions, given by a mysterious figure who belongs to the Emperor's Inner Circle. This person briefs the pilot on the secondary and optional objectives. Successfully completing them doesn't alter the scenario or the overall success of the mission, but initiates the pilot in an Imperial "secret society." These secondary briefings also reveal significant plot points, such as evidence of Admiral Harkov's treason.
The story evolves in seven different systems, separated into seven tours of duty of four or more missions each.
The original game ends with the player preventing a coup against Emperor Palpatine and being personally rewarded during a large ceremony reminiscent of the Yavin celebration at the end of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.
New craft
The pre-release demonstration of
TIE Fighter.
Besides allowing the player to fly the TIE fighters, TIE bombers, and TIE interceptors seen in the films, the game also adds new craft with shields, weaponry, and hyperdrives. These included the Cygnus Assault Gunboat, TIE advanced, TIE Defender (added to the Star Wars: Essential Guide to Vehicles), and Cygnus Missile Boat (in the Defender of the Empire and Enemies of the Empire expansion packs).
In fact, by the fifth campaign, the new TIE craft completely replace the movie fighters. As a result, the gameplay ends up similar to X-Wing, since the player's side does not feature mass overwhelming attacks with expendable craft (as the Empire would do at the height of its power), and often the player does not have the benefit of wingmen. This can be partially explained by the player being part of a special task force headed by Thrawn, tasked with destroying the rogue Grand Admiral Zaarin.[citation needed]
TIE Fighter and the Defender of the Empire expansion pack introduce many craft that never again appear outside the X-Wing computer game series. Examples include space platforms, the Mon Calamari Light Cruiser, R-41 Starchasers, and T-Wings (although T-Wings and platforms are referenced in some Star Wars novels).
Expansion pack
One additional campaign disk, Defender of the Empire, was released as a subsequent expansion pack. It includes three tours of duty:
- "Strategic Warfare" (Omar system) — Zaarin attempts sabotage.
- "T/D Technology" (Parmel system) — Secure TIE Defender technology.
- "New Threats" (Eva-T system) — Counter-attack against Zaarin.
The player flies the TIE Defender for two out of the three tours. The scenario ends abruptly, and no final knowledge of Zaarin's defection is provided.
A second expansion campaign disk called Enemies of the Empire was planned in the same way that the original X-Wing was followed by Imperial Pursuit and B-Wing. It was never released on its own, however, but was instead released as part of the TIE Fighter Collector's CD-ROM (see below).
Collector's editions
The special edition of
TIE Fighter featured higher resolution graphics and more detailed ship textures among other audio and visual enhancements.
Like X-Wing, TIE Fighter was re-released in enhanced versions.
TIE Fighter Collector's CD-ROM — The first special edition was the TIE Fighter Collector's CD-ROM, released in 1995. This version offered enhanced SVGA graphics, upping the game's resolution from 320x200 to 640x480. This edition also included two expansion packs: the previously released Defender of the Empire, and an exclusive pack called Enemies of the Empire. The second expansion pack included a new type of Imperial fighter called the Missile Boat, which had a single laser cannon, dual armaments of missiles and torpedoes/bombs, and a SLAM afterburner overdrive system. With the CD-ROM medium, LucasArts significantly redesigned several cinematic cutscenes and added a large amount of voiceovers.
- "Enemies of the Empire" campaign
- "Hunt for Zaarin" (Semag system) — Thrawn seeks the traitor Zaarin.
- "Prelude to Endor" (Yllotat system) — Investigate the Bothan-Rebel connection.
- "The Emperor's Will" (Iast system) — Supporting the final stages of the Death Star II's construction
The only version of TIE Fighter available for the Macintosh computer is the Collector's CD-ROM version of the game. It requires OS8 or OS9 and a joystick is recommended for game control. It will also run on Mac OS X in the Classic Environment, but requires some work for it to do so.
X-Wing Collector Series — The second collector's edition came with the release of the X-Wing Collector Series package. This came with enhanced versions of X-Wing Collector's CD and TIE Fighter Collector's CD, along with a cut-down version of X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter called Flight School. LucasArts also replaced TIE-Fighter's and X-Wing's graphics engine with X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter's, which used standard object textures instead of the, by then, primitive gouraud shading used in earlier versions.
Unfortunately with this release, the complex iMUSE MIDI soundtracks were replaced with simple looped Red Book audio recordings of the Star Wars score, presumably to avoid any potential incompatibility with Windows 95. Furthermore, previous versions could be played satisfactorily with only a mouse and keyboard, but the Collector Series required a joystick to run the game.
X-Wing Trilogy — There was a third special release, called X-Wing Trilogy. This package offered the same releases of X-Wing, TIE Fighter, and X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter as the previous X-Wing Collector Series, but also added X-Wing Alliance into the bundle.
Differences
The Collector's CD-ROM edition and the Collector Series edition of X-Wing and TIE Fighter have many dissimilarities. Besides the use of new graphics and sound engines, the Collector Series edition omits many of the small movies and animations found in the Collector's CD-ROM and original floppy disk editions. Furthermore, the Collector Series edition does not use the iMUSE interactive MIDI soundtrack from the original game release and the Collector's CD-ROM edition, which is instead replaced by the static Red Book audio-based John Williams movie soundtrack.
Critical response
At the 1995 Computer Game Developers Conference, TIE Fighter earned Totally Games the "Honored Developer Award." TIE Fighter became the second Lawrence Holland game to be inducted into Computer Gaming World's Hall of Fame. It made #3 on the IGN list of the top 25 PC games of all time [2]. In July 2004, it was inducted into Gamespot's Greatest Games of All Time list. In March 2004, GMR magazine rated TIE Fighter the second best Star Wars game of all time. [3] In PC Gamer's May 1997 issue, TIE Fighter Collector's CD-ROM ranked #1 in a top 50 greatest games of all time list. In their 2007 list, the TIE Fighter Collector's CD-ROM ranked third of the top 50 greatest games of all time.[4]
References
External links
