Star Wars: TIE Fighter
Encyclopedia
Star Wars: TIE Fighter, a 1994
space flight simulator
/space combat computer 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 in TIE Fighter 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, the ability to match speed with a target, and other improvements. TIE Fighter is regarded by many as the best title in the series and one of the most successful space flight simulator game
s.
The plot picks up where B-Wing left off, soon after the Battle of Hoth. While the Rebel Alliance
is the main enemy in the early part of the game, there are some campaigns about maintaining order in the galaxy (mediating a civil war, fighting pirates), and many later missions deal with traitorous Imperials.
The player assumes the role of a rookie TIE fighter
pilot. 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.
Despite playing on the side of the Star Wars saga's "villain", the player's role is somewhat sympathetic, as the game's portrayal of the Empire—dictated, of course, by the player's superiors—focuses on its role as a guardian of order. This is as there are only a few missions where the player is under the shadow of the unforgiving Darth Vader
, although he features prominently on the front cover. Instead the Imperial leadership that the player answers to is usually led by others, most notably Admiral Thrawn
who has a different command style, not surprisingly as the game designers drew heavily from Timothy Zahn
's Heir to the Empire series of novels in many of the plot elements.
In addition to the standard mission briefing, there is a secondary briefing available in most 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 does not 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 and other twists. The game designers wrote the "story in a way that lessens the difficulty curve"; primary objectives were required to advance to the next mission, but the secondary and secret objectives open up intriguing subplots as well as giving an opportunity for the player to become one of Emperor Palpatine's most trusted servants (similar to Mara Jade
).
The story evolves in seven different systems, separated into seven tours of duty of four or more missions each. A few of these tours depicts the Empire's efforts to develop advanced starfighters, the TIE Advanced (also nicknamed the TIE "Avenger") and TIE Defender. A subplot during several of these campaigns is finding out evidence that Admiral Harkov is planning to defect to the Rebellion, then capturing him and destroying his forces.
The original game ends with the player preventing rogue Admiral Zaarin's surprise 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
.
Subsequent expansions (see below) mostly revolve around Admiral Thrawn's efforts to stop the traitor Zaarin.
, TIE Fighter puts the player at the controls of various starfighter
s in space combat against enemy spacecraft
. Most frequent are dogfights with other fast and nimble starfighters. There are also often assaults on large capital ships and space stations which have powerful turbolaser defenses and strong shields that take time to be worn down. There are times where the player has to assist in the capture of craft and space stations, by wearing down and perhaps disabling the target so that a stormtrooper transport can board it. Players also occasionally engage in noncombat duties such as inspecting passing cargo ships at a checkpoint and escorting shuttles carrying VIPs, although all missions in the game eventually reach combat. Combat can take place at short ranges using laser cannons and ion cannons, and at long ranges with powered guided munitions such as concussion missiles and proton torpedoes.
The game is played primarily in first-person
, but the player can optionally switch to third person at any time. All flight takes place in space, so the player does not encounter gravity or atmospheric effects while flying. The game uses unrealistic physics which do not include momentum - a ship's engine must always be active to keep it moving. The player can change the firemodes of his or her fighter's weapons (for example having a pair of laser cannons fire together or alternately). If the ship possesses shields, the player chooses the shield balance between front and rear shields.
An important part of gameplay is energy management - to recharge his or her fighter's lasers and shields, the player must divert power away from the fighter's engines, which slows the fighter down. Power flow can be redirected at several levels. The player can also shunt power from the shields to the lasers or vice-versa, but this causes some power to be lost.
Most fighters feature warhead launchers using warheads specified by the player before the mission. Warheads are limited and combat for the player will inevitably transition to short-range dogfighting once the warhead supply is depleted; however, some missions give the player a resupply craft, which when summoned by the player will dock with the player's stationary craft and refill the fighter's warhead supply. If the player fires warheads while being resupplied the resupply craft will stay docked to the player and essentially provide an unlimited supply of warheads. There are several types of warheads which appear to reflect game mechanics instead of the "actual" Star Wars universe; concussion missiles are intended to be used against fighters while proton torpedoes are meant for larger and less agile targets such as freighters and shuttles; the even more powerful but slower heavy rocket and heavy space bomb are usually used only against capital ships and space stations.
In later missions the player becomes a squadron leader and can issue basic orders to his or her wingmen.
Besides allowing the player to fly the original sparsely-equipped TIE starfighters (TIE fighter
s, TIE bombers, and TIE interceptors) seen in the films, the game also adds new craft with shields, ion cannons and other assorted weaponry, and hyperdrive
s. 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). Particularly the Advanced, Defender, and Missile Boat are vastly superior to Rebel fighters, and for subsequent X-Wing series games they were removed or had their attributes toned down significantly.
By the fifth Tour of Duty, the player is exclusively piloting the new Imperial craft and not the original TIEs, so game-play ends up similar to X-Wing. This is somewhat at odds with the "official" Imperial Navy doctrine in Star Wars, as the Imperials in the films and other works are portrayed as making mass overwhelming attacks with expendable craft. The apparent disparity is explained by the events in TIE Fighter being portrayed as largely secret campaigns involving experimental technology; for instance in the Essential Guide to Vehicles it states that only a "few key Imperial personnel knew that the TIE Defender was used to defeat rogue Admiral Zaarin" and the Defender was considered too expensive for full production.
The game also introduces spacecraft and characters from the Star Wars Expanded Universe
, including the Z-95 Headhunter from Brian Daley
's Han Solo trilogy and Grand Admiral Thrawn
, a central character in Timothy Zahn
's trilogy. 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).
The player flies the TIE Defender for two out of the three tours. The "New Threats" tour of duty sees the introduction of a new type of Imperial starfighter called the Missile Boat, which had a single laser cannon, dual armaments of missiles and torpedoes/bombs, and a SLAM afterburner overdrive system. At the conclusion of this campaign, with the destruction of a pirate's TIE Defender factory, the traitor Zaarin is still at large.
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).
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. With the CD-ROM medium, LucasArts significantly redesigned several cinematic cutscenes and added a large amount of voiceovers. This edition included the previously released Defender of the Empire, and the second expansion Enemies of the Empire.
Enemies of the Empire chronicles the player's efforts under Admiral Thrawn to defeat the Zaarin insurrection for once and all, in part by setting a trap with the cloaked Vorknkx corvette, as Zaarin's weakness was technology. Also under Darth Vader, the player ensures the capture of a group of Rebel spies who have information about the Second Death Star
as a trap, in order to prevent them from relaying the information to Alliance high command. The story concludes just before the Battle of Endor
.
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.
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.
prior to the official launch of the game. This demo was based on an unfinished build of the game and has some unique features as a result. The TIE fighter was the only available ship and the sole aim of the mission was to destroy several Corellian Corvettes. Upon accomplishing the objective the mission looped. 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.
' s "Hall of Fame", and was inducted into GameSpot
's "Greatest Games of All Time" in July 2004 and IGN's "Hall of Fame" in 2007. PC Gamer
ranked TIE Fighter Collector's CD-ROM #1 in its "Top 50 Greatest Games of All Time" list in its May 1997 issue, and #13 in April 2005. In its 2007, 2008 and 2010 "Top 100 PC Games of All Time" lists PC Gamer would rank it #49, #63 and #73 respectively. It was ranked #3 on IGN's list of the top 25 PC games of all time in 2007 and #2 in 2009. It was ranked #11, #9 and #12 on IGN's "Top 100 Games of All Time" lists in 2003, 2005 and 2007 respectively. The game was recognized by IGN once again in 2010, when it was named the best Star Wars game ever made. In March 2004, GMR magazine
rated TIE Fighter the second best Star Wars game of all time. PC Zone named it the #58 "Best PC Game Ever" in 2007.
1994 in games
This page lists board and card games, wargames, miniatures games, and table-top role-playing games published in 1994. For video and console games, see 1994 in video gaming.-Significant games-related events in 1994:...
space flight simulator
Space flight simulator game
A space flight simulator game is a genre of simulation video games that lets players experience space flight. Highly realistic examples lacking any sort of combat include Orbiter and Microsoft Space Simulator...
/space combat computer game, is the sequel to Star Wars: X-Wing
Star Wars: X-Wing
Star Wars: X-Wing is the first LucasArts DOS computer game set in the Star Wars universe, as well as the lead title in the X-Wing computer game series. It simulates the experience of combat in the A-wing, X-wing, and Y-wing starfighters of the Rebel Alliance...
, and the first game of the series that puts the player on the side of the Galactic Empire
Galactic Empire (Star Wars)
The Galactic Empire is one of the main factions in the fictional universe of Star Wars. It is a galaxy-spanning regime established by the series' lead villain, Palpatine, to replace the Galactic Republic in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. The Galactic Empire is introduced in Star Wars...
.
A notable improvement in TIE Fighter is the flight engine, which supports Gouraud shading
Gouraud shading
Gouraud shading, named after Henri Gouraud, is an interpolation method used in computer graphics to produce continuous shading of surfaces represented by polygon meshes...
, 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, the ability to match speed with a target, and other improvements. TIE Fighter is regarded by many as the best title in the series and one of the most successful space flight simulator game
Space flight simulator game
A space flight simulator game is a genre of simulation video games that lets players experience space flight. Highly realistic examples lacking any sort of combat include Orbiter and Microsoft Space Simulator...
s.
Plot
Rebel Alliance
The Alliance to Restore the Republic is an interstellar faction of the fictional universe of Star Wars....
is the main enemy in the early part of the game, there are some campaigns about maintaining order in the galaxy (mediating a civil war, fighting pirates), and many later missions deal with traitorous Imperials.
The player assumes the role of a rookie TIE fighter
TIE fighter
TIE fighters are fictional starfighters in the Star Wars universe. Propelled by Twin Ion Engines , TIE fighters are depicted as fast, fragile starfighters produced by Sienar Fleet Systems for the Galactic Empire...
pilot. The main character of TIE Fighter is Maarek Stele, although his name is only revealed in the official strategy
Strategy
Strategy, a word of military origin, refers to a plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal. In military usage strategy is distinct from tactics, which are concerned with the conduct of an engagement, while strategy is concerned with how different engagements are linked...
guide as well as a novella entitled The Stele Chronicles that came with the initial release versions of the game.
Despite playing on the side of the Star Wars saga's "villain", the player's role is somewhat sympathetic, as the game's portrayal of the Empire—dictated, of course, by the player's superiors—focuses on its role as a guardian of order. This is as there are only a few missions where the player is under the shadow of the unforgiving Darth Vader
Darth Vader
Darth Vader is a central character in the Star Wars saga, appearing as one of the main antagonists in the original trilogy and as the main protagonist in the prequel trilogy....
, although he features prominently on the front cover. Instead the Imperial leadership that the player answers to is usually led by others, most notably Admiral Thrawn
Grand Admiral Thrawn
Grand Admiral Thrawn is a fictional character and major antagonist from the Star Wars galaxy. He first appeared in Timothy Zahn's Thrawn trilogy, published between 1992 and 1994...
who has a different command style, not surprisingly as the game designers drew heavily from Timothy Zahn
Timothy Zahn
Timothy Zahn is a writer of science fiction short stories and novels. His novella Cascade Point won the 1984 Hugo award. He is the author of nine Star Wars Expanded Universe novels, including seven novels featuring Grand Admiral Thrawn: the Thrawn Trilogy, the Hand of Thrawn duology, Outbound...
's Heir to the Empire series of novels in many of the plot elements.
In addition to the standard mission briefing, there is a secondary briefing available in most 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 does not alter the scenario or the overall success of the mission, but initiates the pilot in an Imperial "secret society
Secret society
A secret society is a club or organization whose activities and inner functioning are concealed from non-members. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence agencies or guerrilla insurgencies, which hide their...
." These secondary briefings also reveal significant plot points, such as evidence of Admiral Harkov's treason and other twists. The game designers wrote the "story in a way that lessens the difficulty curve"; primary objectives were required to advance to the next mission, but the secondary and secret objectives open up intriguing subplots as well as giving an opportunity for the player to become one of Emperor Palpatine's most trusted servants (similar to Mara Jade
Mara Jade
Mara Jade Skywalker is a fictional character in Star Wars Expanded Universe books, comic books, and computer games. She is also wife to Luke Skywalker, and mother to Ben Skywalker. In the different video games, she is voiced by Heidi Shannon and Kath Soucie.-Concept and development:Mara Jade was...
).
The story evolves in seven different systems, separated into seven tours of duty of four or more missions each. A few of these tours depicts the Empire's efforts to develop advanced starfighters, the TIE Advanced (also nicknamed the TIE "Avenger") and TIE Defender. A subplot during several of these campaigns is finding out evidence that Admiral Harkov is planning to defect to the Rebellion, then capturing him and destroying his forces.
The original game ends with the player preventing rogue Admiral Zaarin's surprise coup against Emperor Palpatine
Palpatine
Palpatine is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the Star Wars saga, portrayed by Ian McDiarmid in the feature films.Palpatine first appeared as the unnamed Emperor of the Galactic Empire in the 1980 film Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back...
and being personally rewarded during a large ceremony reminiscent of the Yavin celebration at the end of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, originally released as Star Wars, is a 1977 American epic space opera film, written and directed by George Lucas. It is the first of six films released in the Star Wars saga: two subsequent films complete the original trilogy, while a prequel trilogy completes the...
.
Subsequent expansions (see below) mostly revolve around Admiral Thrawn's efforts to stop the traitor Zaarin.
Gameplay
As a space flight simulator gameSpace flight simulator game
A space flight simulator game is a genre of simulation video games that lets players experience space flight. Highly realistic examples lacking any sort of combat include Orbiter and Microsoft Space Simulator...
, TIE Fighter puts the player at the controls of various starfighter
Starfighter
"Starfighter" is a science fiction term used to describe small, fast, usually one-manned craft designed for armed combat .The appearance and use of fictional starfighters is often modeled on fighter aircraft, with little regard for the actual physics of spaceflight...
s in space combat against enemy spacecraft
Spacecraft
A spacecraft or spaceship is a craft or machine designed for spaceflight. Spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, earth observation, meteorology, navigation, planetary exploration and transportation of humans and cargo....
. Most frequent are dogfights with other fast and nimble starfighters. There are also often assaults on large capital ships and space stations which have powerful turbolaser defenses and strong shields that take time to be worn down. There are times where the player has to assist in the capture of craft and space stations, by wearing down and perhaps disabling the target so that a stormtrooper transport can board it. Players also occasionally engage in noncombat duties such as inspecting passing cargo ships at a checkpoint and escorting shuttles carrying VIPs, although all missions in the game eventually reach combat. Combat can take place at short ranges using laser cannons and ion cannons, and at long ranges with powered guided munitions such as concussion missiles and proton torpedoes.
The game is played primarily in first-person
First person (video games)
In video games, first person refers to a graphical perspective rendered from the viewpoint of the player character. In many cases, this may be the viewpoint from the cockpit of a vehicle. Many different genres have made use of first-person perspectives, ranging from adventure games to flight...
, but the player can optionally switch to third person at any time. All flight takes place in space, so the player does not encounter gravity or atmospheric effects while flying. The game uses unrealistic physics which do not include momentum - a ship's engine must always be active to keep it moving. The player can change the firemodes of his or her fighter's weapons (for example having a pair of laser cannons fire together or alternately). If the ship possesses shields, the player chooses the shield balance between front and rear shields.
An important part of gameplay is energy management - to recharge his or her fighter's lasers and shields, the player must divert power away from the fighter's engines, which slows the fighter down. Power flow can be redirected at several levels. The player can also shunt power from the shields to the lasers or vice-versa, but this causes some power to be lost.
Most fighters feature warhead launchers using warheads specified by the player before the mission. Warheads are limited and combat for the player will inevitably transition to short-range dogfighting once the warhead supply is depleted; however, some missions give the player a resupply craft, which when summoned by the player will dock with the player's stationary craft and refill the fighter's warhead supply. If the player fires warheads while being resupplied the resupply craft will stay docked to the player and essentially provide an unlimited supply of warheads. There are several types of warheads which appear to reflect game mechanics instead of the "actual" Star Wars universe; concussion missiles are intended to be used against fighters while proton torpedoes are meant for larger and less agile targets such as freighters and shuttles; the even more powerful but slower heavy rocket and heavy space bomb are usually used only against capital ships and space stations.
In later missions the player becomes a squadron leader and can issue basic orders to his or her wingmen.
New craft
TIE fighter
TIE fighters are fictional starfighters in the Star Wars universe. Propelled by Twin Ion Engines , TIE fighters are depicted as fast, fragile starfighters produced by Sienar Fleet Systems for the Galactic Empire...
s, TIE bombers, and TIE interceptors) seen in the films, the game also adds new craft with shields, ion cannons and other assorted weaponry, and hyperdrive
Hyperdrive
Hyperdrive is a name given to certain methods of traveling faster-than-light in science fiction. Related concepts are jump drive and warp drive....
s. These included the Cygnus Assault Gunboat, TIE advanced, TIE defender (added to the Star Wars: Essential Guide to Vehicles), and Cygnus Missile Boat
Missile boat
A Missile Boat is a small craft armed with anti-ship missiles. Being a small craft, missile boats are popular with nations interested in forming an inexpensive navy...
(in the Defender of the Empire and Enemies of the Empire expansion packs). Particularly the Advanced, Defender, and Missile Boat are vastly superior to Rebel fighters, and for subsequent X-Wing series games they were removed or had their attributes toned down significantly.
By the fifth Tour of Duty, the player is exclusively piloting the new Imperial craft and not the original TIEs, so game-play ends up similar to X-Wing. This is somewhat at odds with the "official" Imperial Navy doctrine in Star Wars, as the Imperials in the films and other works are portrayed as making mass overwhelming attacks with expendable craft. The apparent disparity is explained by the events in TIE Fighter being portrayed as largely secret campaigns involving experimental technology; for instance in the Essential Guide to Vehicles it states that only a "few key Imperial personnel knew that the TIE Defender was used to defeat rogue Admiral Zaarin" and the Defender was considered too expensive for full production.
The game also introduces spacecraft and characters from the Star Wars Expanded Universe
Star Wars Expanded Universe
The Star Wars Expanded Universe encompasses all of the officially licensed, fictional background of the Star Wars universe, outside of the six feature films produced by George Lucas. The expanded universe includes books, comic books, video games, spin-off films like Star Wars: The Clone Wars,...
, including the Z-95 Headhunter from Brian Daley
Brian Daley
Brian Daley was an American science fiction novelist. He also adapted for radio the Star Wars radio dramas and wrote all of its episodes.-Biography:...
's Han Solo trilogy and Grand Admiral Thrawn
Grand Admiral Thrawn
Grand Admiral Thrawn is a fictional character and major antagonist from the Star Wars galaxy. He first appeared in Timothy Zahn's Thrawn trilogy, published between 1992 and 1994...
, a central character in Timothy Zahn
Timothy Zahn
Timothy Zahn is a writer of science fiction short stories and novels. His novella Cascade Point won the 1984 Hugo award. He is the author of nine Star Wars Expanded Universe novels, including seven novels featuring Grand Admiral Thrawn: the Thrawn Trilogy, the Hand of Thrawn duology, Outbound...
's trilogy. 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).
Expansions and other versions
One additional campaign disk, Defender of the Empire, was released as a subsequent expansion pack. It includes three tours of duty revolving around Admiral Thrawn's efforts to stop to rogue Admiral Zaarin, who after failing to overthrow the Emperor, has begun threatening loyalist Imperial TIE Advanced and TIE Defender facilities.- "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 "New Threats" tour of duty sees the introduction of a new type of Imperial starfighter called the Missile Boat, which had a single laser cannon, dual armaments of missiles and torpedoes/bombs, and a SLAM afterburner overdrive system. At the conclusion of this campaign, with the destruction of a pirate's TIE Defender factory, the traitor Zaarin is still at large.
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
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. With the CD-ROM medium, LucasArts significantly redesigned several cinematic cutscenes and added a large amount of voiceovers. This edition included the previously released Defender of the Empire, and the second expansion Enemies of the Empire.
Enemies of the Empire chronicles the player's efforts under Admiral Thrawn to defeat the Zaarin insurrection for once and all, in part by setting a trap with the cloaked Vorknkx corvette, as Zaarin's weakness was technology. Also under Darth Vader, the player ensures the capture of a group of Rebel spies who have information about the Second Death Star
Death Star
The Death Star is a fictional moon-sized space station and superweapon appearing in the Star Wars movies and expanded universe. It is capable of destroying a planet with a single destructive super charged energy beam.-Origin and design:...
as a trap, in order to prevent them from relaying the information to Alliance high command. The story concludes just before the Battle of Endor
Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi is a 1983 American epic space opera film directed by Richard Marquand and written by George Lucas and Lawrence Kasdan. It is the third film released in the Star Wars saga, and the sixth in terms of the series' internal chronology...
.
- "Enemies of the Empire" campaign
- "Hunt for Zaarin" (Semag system) — ThrawnGrand Admiral ThrawnGrand Admiral Thrawn is a fictional character and major antagonist from the Star Wars galaxy. He first appeared in Timothy Zahn's Thrawn trilogy, published between 1992 and 1994...
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 IIDeath StarThe Death Star is a fictional moon-sized space station and superweapon appearing in the Star Wars movies and expanded universe. It is capable of destroying a planet with a single destructive super charged energy beam.-Origin and design:...
's construction
- "Hunt for Zaarin" (Semag system) — Thrawn
The only version of TIE Fighter available for the Macintosh
Macintosh
The Macintosh , or Mac, is a series of several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced by Apple's then-chairman Steve Jobs on January 24, 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a...
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
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
in the Classic Environment
Classic (Mac OS X)
Classic, or Classic Environment, was a hardware and software abstraction layer in Mac OS X that allowed applications compatible with Mac OS 9 to run on the Mac OS X operating system...
, 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
Gouraud shading
Gouraud shading, named after Henri Gouraud, is an interpolation method used in computer graphics to produce continuous shading of surfaces represented by polygon meshes...
used in earlier versions.
Unfortunately with this release, the complex iMUSE MIDI soundtracks were replaced with simple looped Red Book audio
Red Book (audio CD standard)
Red Book is the standard for audio CDs . It is named after one of the Rainbow Books, a series of books that contain the technical specifications for all CD and CD-ROM formats.The first edition of the Red Book was released in 1980 by Philips and Sony; it was adopted by the Digital Audio Disc...
recordings of the Star Wars score, presumably to avoid any potential incompatibility with Windows 95
Windows 95
Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products...
. 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.
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
Red Book (audio CD standard)
Red Book is the standard for audio CDs . It is named after one of the Rainbow Books, a series of books that contain the technical specifications for all CD and CD-ROM formats.The first edition of the Red Book was released in 1980 by Philips and Sony; it was adopted by the Digital Audio Disc...
-based John Williams
John Williams
John Towner Williams is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. In a career spanning almost six decades, he has composed some of the most recognizable film scores in the history of motion pictures, including the Star Wars saga, Jaws, Superman, the Indiana Jones films, E.T...
movie soundtrack.
Demo
A demo of the game was released as an insert in Computer Gaming WorldComputer Gaming World
Computer Gaming World was a computer game magazine founded in 1981 by Russell Sipe as a bimonthly publication. Early issues were typically 40-50 pages in length, written in a newsletter style, including submissions by game designers such as Joel Billings , Dan Bunten , and Chris Crawford...
prior to the official launch of the game. This demo was based on an unfinished build of the game and has some unique features as a result. The TIE fighter was the only available ship and the sole aim of the mission was to destroy several Corellian Corvettes. Upon accomplishing the objective the mission looped. 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
Dodge
Dodge is a United States-based brand of automobiles, minivans, and sport utility vehicles, manufactured and marketed by Chrysler Group LLC in more than 60 different countries and territories worldwide....
and displayed a Neon
Dodge Neon
The Plymouth/Dodge Neon, sold in Europe, Mexico, Canada, and elsewhere outside the United States as the Chrysler Neon, is a compact front wheel drive car introduced in January 1994 for the 1995 model year by Chrysler Corporation's Dodge and Plymouth brands...
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.
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 WorldComputer Gaming World
Computer Gaming World was a computer game magazine founded in 1981 by Russell Sipe as a bimonthly publication. Early issues were typically 40-50 pages in length, written in a newsletter style, including submissions by game designers such as Joel Billings , Dan Bunten , and Chris Crawford...
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
's "Greatest Games of All Time" in July 2004 and IGN's "Hall of Fame" in 2007. PC Gamer
PC Gamer
PC Gamer is a magazine founded in Britain in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future Publishing. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games magazines in their respective countries...
ranked TIE Fighter Collector's CD-ROM #1 in its "Top 50 Greatest Games of All Time" list in its May 1997 issue, and #13 in April 2005. In its 2007, 2008 and 2010 "Top 100 PC Games of All Time" lists PC Gamer would rank it #49, #63 and #73 respectively. It was ranked #3 on IGN's list of the top 25 PC games of all time in 2007 and #2 in 2009. It was ranked #11, #9 and #12 on IGN's "Top 100 Games of All Time" lists in 2003, 2005 and 2007 respectively. The game was recognized by IGN once again in 2010, when it was named the best Star Wars game ever made. In March 2004, GMR magazine
GMR (magazine)
GMR was a monthly magazine on video games that was published by Ziff-Davis — the publisher of such magazines as PC Magazine, Electronic Gaming Monthly, and Computer Gaming World . GMR was launched in February 2003, being sold in only the Electronics Boutique chain of video game stores...
rated TIE Fighter the second best Star Wars game of all time. PC Zone named it the #58 "Best PC Game Ever" in 2007.