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[Zaru]

Hi there!
Back in the old years I've been playing both X-Wing and TIE Fighter with my joystick. Unfortunately, I do not own one now and I'm not planning to buy one. The question is if this game is playable with mouse. I just can't remember if there was an option to fly with it and if there was - how does the ship behave? Like in Bruno R. Marcos' Battles of Yavin/Endor or Microsoft's Freelancer (the mouse control is perfect there) or the controls are so sturdy that you have to move your mouse five times over your pad to turn your ship around thus making the game unplayable?

[dosraider]

Originally Posted by Zaru

The question is if this game is playable with mouse.

Only if you want a nervous breakdown.

[Japo]

Yes, you have to move your mouse five times over your pad to turn your ship around. The problem is that otherwise it would be impossible to aim. I recommend to buy the cheapest analog joystick you find, that's enough for this game.

[The Fifth Horseman]

Well, you _could_ amp up mouse sensitivity to fix that.

[Zaru]

Oh my... I should have tears in my eyes... wasted so much of my life with this game (and TIE Fighter as well), I can't remember how many times I've finished it...

LEC won't make such game today... shame... today everyone aims for the mass entertainment, so games which require: 1) thinking, 2) reading the manual, 3) imagination to enhance immersion - are considered risky.

One of the aspects of the game that distinguish it from a 3D space shooter is that it requires situational awareness", something that every combat pilot needs (in real world). If you simply keep shooting at nearby targets, you will miss the bomber squadron that will blow up the convoy you were supposed to protect (and instead you were dancing with enemy fighters).

This game is just like the Old Star Wars Trilogy = classic.

Oh yes. You don't even know how right you are. Todays VG and film markets serve us only dumb pouch-fattening garbage that we're supposed to suck. Entertainment for the masses. Did you notice that nowadays the measure of film's quality is the money it earned? Of course you did. Everyone notices that. I just don't know why everyone agrees on that. I just couldn't sit calmly in my cinema chair while watching how Lucas *hored my precioussss trilogy. He spoiled it to the roots just like that. Films for widened audience. Heh. The mystery that surrounded Yoda layed in peril. Introducing an idiot Jar-Jar Binks. Hundreds of kiddo creatures. Introducing Artoo & Seethree. Shit. I imagined the whole galaxy history completely the other way. And there are so many contradictions with the Original Trilogy that I wondered how the hell could this new story be a predecessor of the original one. I've searched the net a bit and found this article, authored by Keith Martin (http://www.morningstar.nildram.co.uk/A_New_Sith.html). But still that does not convince me. I still think and I will always think of the new Trilogy as a non-canon Star Wars episodes. And the Star Wars Expanded Universe? Oh, even better. Writers made up hero histories for almost all of Star Wars characters. Would you think that IG-88 bounty droid could own the probe droid factory? It doesn't even get better with the Original Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition. What I thought Lucas would do is only to correct special FX. But nooo... What he did is he inserted lots of idiotic clips like the burping creature in front of Jabba's palace or Sarlacc burping or those stupid droids in Mos Eisley. What the hell with all this burping? SW slapstic comedy?
Ahh... but I'm going off topic. The games, or particularly SW games... But that's just the same thing going on here as with the films. Everything apart of X-Wing, TIE Fighter, Dark Forces 1/2, KOTOR1/2 and perhaps Rebellion was just pure rubbish. The newer SW games (and not only SW) just lack of this thing, that makes the story interesting, that creates immersion, that makes the player stick to the monitor waiting what will happen next. And noo... Visuals are not that thing. And it's the visuals that present producers are chasing the most. Generally speaking, the newer the games the simpler they get. I just can't wait to see how Bethesda's going to FU Fallout III. And from what I had seen from the leaked gameplay movies it's already FUd to the limits.

Sorry for this anger but I just had to express myself.

There is no emotion, there is peace...

Only if you want a nervous breakdown.

Yes, you have to move your mouse five times over your pad to turn your ship around.

That's a sad thing to hear.

The problem is that otherwise it would be impossible to aim.

"I zo not agree", as would general Von Klinkerhoffen say. The mouse controls are pretty cleverly resolved in the games I mentioned in my question. The mouse movement is fluid without the need of covering hundreds of kilometres with your mouse and it does not hinder the aim. On the contrary. A pity Lucasarts have not used such solution in their CE. Well, I seem to have no choice but to buy a joy in the near future. But future is always in motion...

[RRS]

For me X-Wing is unplayable with mouse only - it's "too much of a flight simulator" to be used without joystick (compare with Wing Commander 1/2, which is not fully 3D and goes with mouse pretty well). Subsequent re-releases of the series even refused to start if you didn't have a joystick plugged. Sure, you could learn how to play it using your feet with enough practice, but why? Save yourself getting RSI and get a joystick (I'd give you one of my old ones, but they're all malfunctioning to some extent).

Regarding SW games, there's no hope (without major personnel changes in LEC/LFL HQs). And with SW fans behaving like addicts - buying every cr*p that bears SW logo - there is no "consumer control" which would eliminate poor products. I used to buy lots of LEC SW games... and you know well how much SW games costed 10 years ago where we live (around 200). My clear message - I've quit buying them, and other SW merchandise as well. Surely I can't hope to make Lucas bankrupt, but at least I won't be wasting my money on substandard products...

Just compare Dark Forces to Republic Commando... in RC I feel I'm constantly pushed forward. Such is the nature of recent games - console-style gameplay: easy, flashy and short. Where are the labyrinths & secrets of Dark Forces multi-floor levels? We, adult gamers who demand quality, are so FUBAR these days.

And we can't even make our own SW games, as we'll get "cease & desist" letter from LEC lawyers before we even blink.

You can't even complain freely. Most forums (theforce.net & official site) will reject you if you say anything other than admiration about SW Prequel Trilogy. One of the last refuges would be originaltrilogy.com forum...

* * *

Oh, and if you have seen the real Fallout 3 (codename Van Buren, not the Bethesda one) you'll cry, as even the incomplete technological demo was impressive. Bethesda's F3 is, for me, "a Fallout inspired game", NOT the real F3.

[Pellaeon]

RRS,

It is not recommended to buy a joystick to play X-Wing or other SW fighter-sim game, you only have to do to download a virtual joystick program that converts your mouse coordinates/keyboard or whatever into joystick coordinates in a game, allowing you to control the fighter on mouse. I'm using Simtel's PPJoy (Parallel Port Joystick) program, inside it, PPJoyMouse, and bang, I'm still rollin' up the score

PPJoy can be used to every software, including X-Wing, TIE Fighter, X-Wing versus TIE Fighter, X-Wing Alliance, Red Baron 3D, Battlefield 1942, etc.

I hope I helped you.


Zaru,

Don't be afraid. Try every virtual joysticks you may find on the net. In PPJoy, you can adjust the level of the sensitivity, and it's like a joystick. You turn the mouse left, the ship turns left until you don't center it.

Good Luck.

[Zaru]

Originally Posted by Pellaeon

RRS,

It is not recommended to buy a joystick to play X-Wing or other SW fighter-sim game, you only have to do to download a virtual joystick program that converts your mouse coordinates/keyboard or whatever into joystick coordinates in a game, allowing you to control the fighter on mouse. I'm using Simtel's PPJoy (Parallel Port Joystick) program, inside it, PPJoyMouse, and bang, I'm still rollin' up the score

PPJoy can be used to every software, including X-Wing, TIE Fighter, X-Wing versus TIE Fighter, X-Wing Alliance, Red Baron 3D, Battlefield 1942, etc.

I hope I helped you.


Zaru,

Don't be afraid. Try every virtual joysticks you may find on the net. In PPJoy, you can adjust the level of the sensitivity, and it's like a joystick. You turn the mouse left, the ship turns left until you don't center it.

Good Luck.

Pellaeon! That's a wonderful application you discovered. And it really works! I launched my oldie TIE Fighter GOLD to test it and I can play it perfectly with my mouse without the need of moving it hundreds of times over my pad. Of course there are some jerky movements sometimes and it's quite difficult to take precision shots from greater distances, but hell! I'm still picking up those medals. Thank you o' maker! :nuts:

PS. I found PPJoy's gain settings of 25 for both axes as the best to play it.

[Dev175]

I can't download it. I am pretty n00by right now but all other
games i've been trying i managed to download. i just get a ESA logo
where the Download Here button should be.
Please don't bee harsh on me. This is my first post.

[The Fifth Horseman]

It's the first item in the site FAQ.

Basically, offering this and a few other games for download got us in major trouble a while back. We prefer having less downloadable games over being shut down by angry copyright holders.