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Post by Weevil on Nov 17, 2015 4:35:54 GMT -5
Well you ARE flying the squishiest fighter in the Star Wars universe. ...although, strangely I find the missions with the more advanced fighters to be harder, since the ships with shields are also slower and less maneuverable! Also, shields take a really long time to recharge---much longer than I remembered. I think my favorite ship in the whole game is the TIE Interceptor: fast, well-armed (quad lasers, not dual), looks awesome on a t-shirt. Are you making sure to divert power? That helps with recharging. I assume you are aware but better to explicitly say it. Also the Interceptor was my favorite ship in Rogue Squadron. I haven't gotten to that point in TIE Fighter but I look forward to it. |
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Post by bakudon on Nov 17, 2015 9:27:36 GMT -5
The missions with better fighters are also later in the campaign, so they are actually made to be harder. Wasn’t TIE Advanced still faster than any of the others, sans Defender?
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Post by sabbacc108 on Nov 17, 2015 17:43:26 GMT -5
The missions with better fighters are also later in the campaign, so they are actually made to be harder. Wasn’t TIE Advanced still faster than any of the others, sans Defender? Yeah, the TIE Advanced is great. I think, really, my complaint is that the assault Gunboat is just really shitty (and, for a while, that's the only shielded craft you get to fly). Are you making sure to divert power? That helps with recharging. I assume you are aware but better to explicitly say it. Also the Interceptor was my favorite ship in Rogue Squadron. I haven't gotten to that point in TIE Fighter but I look forward to it. Maybe it's just a bug (since I remember shields charging much more quickly when I played this before), but even if I divert full power to shields, it takes at least a minute for the second layer of shields to start charging. Also, shields are much less useful than I remember them being---the game never explicitly states this, but it seems like missiles bypass shields completely? I can be at full shields, and a single warhead hit (even just a concussion missile) will destroy me. |
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Post by bakudon on Nov 17, 2015 18:40:51 GMT -5
Most shields should be able to handle a concussion missile, but the weaker ones won’t be able to deal with an advanced one... Or was that in X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter?
Anyway, diverting power to shields from the reactor is no way to charge them – it takes forever. The proper way is to pump them from the lasers. Shift+F9 or something along those lines? It’s been a while...
Edit: Or maybe it was the apostrophe key? Anyway, check the manual!
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Alshoff
Junior Member
Now you're my friend, too!
Posts: 59
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Post by Alshoff on Nov 18, 2015 2:10:57 GMT -5
The GOG version uses the movie soundtrack, but I prefer the iMuse system. The music changes with events in the game.
I think X-Wing Alliance would have been better if it were a Wing Command: Privateer clone. Play as an actual smuggler instead of an improved version of the original X-Wing.
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Post by Weasel on Nov 18, 2015 2:57:30 GMT -5
I think X-Wing Alliance would have been better if it were a Wing Command: Privateer clone. Play as an actual smuggler instead of an improved version of the original X-Wing. I know, right?! This is the game I've been asking for since...well, since I had enough brainpower to know what kind of games I wanted to ask for! =P |
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Post by bakudon on Nov 18, 2015 2:57:58 GMT -5
The GOG version uses the movie soundtrack, but I prefer the iMuse system. The music changes with events in the game. I think you refer to the Windows version? GOG also provides the DOS one, which I think has the iMuse soundtrack. |
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Post by The Great Klaid on Nov 20, 2015 20:11:17 GMT -5
Hey a game I actually play! A little word to the wise don't use any of the cheats. You can't progress, and it will never tell you why. I had unlimited ammo on, because I'm an awful shot.
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Post by TheGunheart on Nov 20, 2015 20:14:11 GMT -5
If you're diverting engine power to the shields, you're doing it wrong. They recharge so slowly that way, by the time you've reached the combat zone you MIGHT have a faint "red" layer around your ship.
What you want to do is max out the laser recharge rate, then press "'" to pump your laser batteries into your shields. And your lasers recharge incredibly fast, too.
Though this seems to be nerfed in the Defender of the Empire missions; lasers don't seem to recharge as quickly, your shields have greater capacity, and enemy attacks do more damage. Still, better than waiting for the shield recharge.
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Post by bakudon on Nov 21, 2015 3:15:29 GMT -5
By the way, once you get beam weapons, remember to utilize those at well. Having a beam weapon actually increases the total energy available to your ship, so you can keep charging those lasers without sacrificing engine or shield power when you don’t need the beam.
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Post by zerker on Nov 21, 2015 8:30:55 GMT -5
If you're diverting engine power to the shields, you're doing it wrong. They recharge so slowly that way, by the time you've reached the combat zone you MIGHT have a faint "red" layer around your ship. If this is the case, is there any point to diverting more power to shields at all? I suspect you don't want to keep shields below middle, as that will probably siphon power AWAY instead (at least it does for lasers; haven't tried it for shields yet). |
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Post by bakudon on Nov 21, 2015 8:33:35 GMT -5
Usually no, just keeping them on normal will suffice so as not to have them drained. If you need more speed, it may be better to take the juice out of shields because they lose power more slowly than lasers, as well.
Just about the only time when it’s good to charge shields by directly diverting power to them is when there is a lull in combat and you want to maximize shields for things to come.
Edit: And now that I think about it, I guess even that only makes sense when you have a beam weapon? Only thing I’m not sure about is the missile boat: that thing only has one measly peashooter, which charges way too slow, so maybe shields would be comparably fast to charge?
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Post by TheGunheart on Nov 21, 2015 15:21:49 GMT -5
If you're diverting engine power to the shields, you're doing it wrong. They recharge so slowly that way, by the time you've reached the combat zone you MIGHT have a faint "red" layer around your ship. If this is the case, is there any point to diverting more power to shields at all? I suspect you don't want to keep shields below middle, as that will probably siphon power AWAY instead (at least it does for lasers; haven't tried it for shields yet). Yeah, keep 'em at base level so they don't drain on their own. If you need to get somewhere fast, you can pump them into the engines, too; they actually drain pretty slowly. If you need to like, make a high speed, close range attack run on a capital ship using space bombs, there shouldn't be any harm in charging your shields to max, then cutting power to them; your target's probably only going to land a shot or two. Also, late in the game, I actually recommend Advanced Missiles against capital ships, for one reason; link your fire and put two into every Warhead Launcher they've got. |
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Post by sabbacc108 on Nov 21, 2015 16:44:24 GMT -5
Thanks for all the tips, guys! Clearly, I must have known this stuff when I played the game as a kid (since I practically memorized game manuals in those days), but missed these important facts while skimming the manual as an old fogey. Plus, I was too lazy to do any refresher combat training for the more advanced ships, because I Am An Adult And Don't Need No Stinking Tutorials!™
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Post by zerker on Nov 29, 2015 8:34:32 GMT -5
Although it's a bit late for this month, I decided to reformat the reference card so it can be properly printed as a booklet. If anyone is interested, I uploaded it to my website here: www.zerker.ca/zzone/files/tieref.pdfJust print it landscape two-sided (flip on short edge), and staple in the middle from page 1/8 inward. On most printers, this means you'll need to print it one page at a time and re-insert the print the second half of the page. It is unfortunately still not a very high-quality scan, as I was going by the GOG version as a basis. |
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