History VideoGame / XWing

Not to be confused with the more recent ''VideoGame/RogueSquadron'' games, although both are flight sims, with Rogue Squadron being much more simple and "arcade-y", and "X-Wing" being far more complex and "simulator-ish". Also not to be confused with the ''ComicBook/XWingRogueSquadron'' comic book and ''Literature/XWingSeries'' novels, though they share many story elements and offer a number of {{Mythology Gag}}s to ''X-Wing'' the computer game.

Not to be confused with the more recent ''VideoGame/RogueSquadron'' games, although both are flight sims. Also not to be confused with the ''ComicBook/XWingRogueSquadron'' comic book and ''Literature/XWingSeries'' novels, though they share many story elements and offer a number of {{Mythology Gag}}s to ''X-Wing'' the computer game.

** The B-Wing pushes this even further. It has such strong shields (33% stronger than the Y-Wing's) and laser power reserves that it is often better to simply eat a missile or two instead of break off an attack. The B-Wing can actually soak up to four missiles if it starts with full shields and quickly turns them to face each missile. It can simply ignore individual TIEs as they are unlikely to kill it at all, and is in much less danger charging at an enemy capital ship than any other Rebel fighter. This is why missions in Tour V often feature either ''masses'' of enemy fighters to overwhelm the B-Wings, or a lot of corvettes that can cover each other with fast-firing turbo-lasers.

** The expansion pack's B-Wing has ''much'' heavier armament, heavier shielding ''and'' a significantly faster speed than the Y-Wing it replaces. Its only real downside is the odd placement of the guns which makes it somewhat impractical to target fast moving craft, otherwise it'd be superior gameplay-wise even to the famed X-Wing.

* MightyGlacier: The Y-Wing is the Alliance's mainstay bomber; it's slow, but with four beam weapons and a generous supply of torpedoes it packs a sizable punch. It can double as a fighter if nothing better is available, but suffers badly when pitted against faster craft.

* RammingAlwaysWorks: The second tour of duty involves a chain of missions based around acquiring "super shield" technology, outfitting a Corvette with said technology (the Corvette being the appropriately named ''[[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Ram%27s_Head Ram's Head]]''), then having it drop out of hyperspace next to an Imperial repair facility and slamming through the bridges of several Star Destroyers sitting in drydock (and coming out the other side unharmed).

** Tour III: The Star Destroyer ''Immortal'' makes its appearance near the end of Tour II as the ''Intrepid's'' replacement, preventing Leia from transferring over to the cruiser ''Maximus'' and thus setting the events of Film/ANewHope in motion. It then continues to hound the Rebels throughout Tour III, often executing clever strategic and tactical maneuvers. It survives every engagement.

* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: In one mission in your efforts to steal Imperial grain to provide foodstuffs for the undersupplied Alliance, a Rebel freighter's arrival to retrieve the cargo will trigger the arrival of a Star Destroyer aptly named, ''Badi Dea''. Although naturally you survive, it doesn't end well for your allies...

** Tour IV: Overlord Ghorin serves this purpose for part of the tour, making deals with the Rebellion but then double-crossing them. Many missions revolve around paying him back for his betrayal by getting him in hot water with the Emprie. The Star Destroyer ''Badi Dea'' also makes several appearances during this tour, but is not as ever-present as previous Star Destroyers.
** Tour V: The Star Destroyer ''Relentless'', which is sent to deploy the probe network to locate the Rebel fleet before they can find a new base, is always in the background - though for the most part its frigate fleet is what you get to see in action. The ''Relentless'' itself is finally attacked in a similar manner to the ''Intrepid'', and its destruction is the most important step in opening the way to Hoth.

* ArcVillain: The ISD Intrepid is a thorn in your side throughout most of Tour II until you finally catch it at a disadvantage (it is stranded due to a collision with a frigate damaging its hyperdrive) and destroy it. The ISD Invincible more or less plays the same role in Tour I as the flagship of Operation Strike Fear, with most of the tour's missions involving running away before it arrives, disrupting its supply lines, rescuing friendlies before it can pick them up for interrogation, and ultimately smuggling a nuclear warhead on-board to destroy it.

* UpdatedRerelease: ''X-Wing 95'', included in the Collectors Series bundle. Compatible with modern Windows [=OSes=] and retrofitted with the ''VideoGame/XWingVsTieFighter'' engine but in turn it loses some of the classical features and makes the use of a joystick mandatory. A fan-made [[GameMod total conversion]] for ''VideoGame/XWingAlliance'' [[http://www.maxgames.it/xwc/ also exists]].

* SdrawkcabName: The freighters in the very first mission are named after Creator/LucasArts [[DuelingGames archrival]] companies back in the day; Nigiro, Arreis, Orcim/Esorp ([[Creator/OriginSystems Origin]], Creator/{{Sierra}}), and Creator/MicroProse. Since freighters are often [[ButtMonkey sitting ducks]] and there is also one called ''Diputs'' (Stupid in reverse) the whole thing seems like a stealth TakeThat.

* SdrawkcabName: The freighters in the very first mission are named after Creator/LucasArts [[DuelingGames archrival]] companies back in the day; Nigiro, Arreis, Orcim/Esorp ([[Creator/OriginSystems Origin]], Creator/MicroProse, and Creator/{{Sierra}}). Since freighters are often [[ButtMonkey sitting ducks]] and there is also one called ''Diputs'' (Stupid in reverse) the whole thing seems like a stealth TakeThat.

* SdrawkcabName: Many freighters are named after Creator/LucasArts [[DuelingGames archrival]] companies back in the day; Nigiro, Arreis, Orcim/Esorp ([[Creator/OriginSystems Origin]], Creator/MicroProse, and Creator/{{Sierra}}). Since freighters are often [[ButtMonkey sitting ducks]] and there is also one called ''Diputs'' (Stupid in reverse) the whole thing seems like a stealth TakeThat.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Being the first game in the series, this had several features that dramatically changed gameplay
** A key part of the series, starting with ''TIE Fighter'', was that gun emplacements on capital ships were destructible, so with keen shooting, you could create safe spots around the hull in a few strafing runs. X-Wing didn't have this, making capital ships, especially Nebulon-B frigates, much, much harder than in later games. Defeating a capital ship was a major accomplishment
** Scanner. Most importantly, there are only four states shown: Normal, Shields-Down, Hull-Damaged, and Disabled. The actual HP %, shield %, and disabled % were not added until the second game, making it a matter of guesswork when a capital ship will actually fall.
*** Additionally, your flight display in ''X-Wing'' had two modes: ID and Targeting. [[http://www.angbox.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/xwing.jpg Targeting Mode]] provided a scope similar to the ones used during the dogfight scene of ''A New Hope'', which facilitated locating a targeted craft in front of the player. [[http://www.savingcontent.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/6304-6-star-wars-x-wing-collector.jpg ID Mode]] displayed a static wireframe or schematic of the target, and allowed the player to view the scanned craft's cargo (if applicable). A special mode only used during the [[https://i.ytimg.com/vi/wnaD38aIgG4/hqdefault.jpg Trench]] [[https://www.nerdstar.de/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/x-wing_image_3.jpg Run]] mimicked the targeting computer used during the Death Star assault from the original film. Beginning with ''TIE Fighter'' both modes were replaced by a [[http://f.ptcdn.info/506/038/000/nzokfl68yK38lR3hX5r-o.jpg 3D image of the target]], a setup which was utilized throughout the rest of the series, even in the Rebel fighters.
** Changeable loadouts. A-wings have concussion missiles. X-wings, Y-Wings, and B-wings all have torpedoes. No alternative weapons such as the devastating heavy rockets or ludicrously slow and powerful space bombs.
** Mission timer. The mission clock counts down from a preset starting point. In later games, the clock would simply show elapsed mission time, with any sense of urgency coming from in-flight events.
** Objectives screen. The game allows the player to to review the text portion of the briefing while in flight, but no actual list of objectives. In ''TIE Fighter'', the briefing review screen was replaced with a fixed and occasionally spoilerific list of objectives.[[note]]Only bonus objectives were hidden. All others - including those which should theoretically be a surprise to the player - were visible.[[/note]] Ultimately, ''X-Wing Alliance'' featured a dynamic objectives list which changed based on certain in game events and which was also integrated into the simulation itself as one of the cockpit displays.
** Hints. Tips on completing the mission are given on a semi-hidden page at the end of the initial briefing. In later games, hints were provided only if the player failed the mission, as part of the post mission debriefing.

* HelloInsertNameHere

* SpaceMines: Armed with FrickinLaserBeams.

** One escort mission has your A-Wing having to protect a capital ship waves of TIE-Bombers. Apparently, the most efficient way to begin the mission is to intercept the first wave while charging at them full speed, setting your shields to double-front and simply ''ram through one of them''. That way, you can destroy one bomber while getting into range and then quickly swing back to attack the slow bombers from behind while moderating your speed by upping your shield recharge rate to recover your shield strength while you're at it.

''X-Wing'' is a ''Franchise/StarWars'' PC Space SimulationGame first launched in 1993, with various expansion packs and collector's editions being released as late as 1997.

The history of the game itself goes back to the early 1990s, when Creator/LucasArts approached game developer [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Lawrence_Holland Lawrence Holland]] and his studio, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totally_games Totally Games!]] to develop a series of games for the publisher. The first games were actually UsefulNotes/WorldWarII flight simulators including ''VideoGame/{{Battlehawks 1942}}'' and perhaps Holland's best known non-franchise game, ''VideoGame/SecretWeaponsOfTheLuftwaffe''. These games became instant classics, and in the meantime Holland was working on a 3D rendering engine specifically for flight sims, something that back in 1992 was revolutionary.

This prompted Creator/LucasArts and Holland to develop a flight (or rather space) sim game using both this engine and the ''Franchise/StarWars'' license, and ''X-Wing'' was the result.

Not to be confused with the more recent ''VideoGame/RogueSquadron'' games, although both are flight sims. Also not to be confused with the ''[[ComicBook/XWingSeries X-Wing]]'' comic book and novel series, though they share many story elements and offer a number of {{Mythology Gag}}s to ''X-Wing'' the computer game.

* EscortMission: Several - one of the worst being the infamous "Redemption run", where you and your three wingmen are charged with flying X-Wings to protect the Nebulon B frigate ''Redemption'' while it takes on wounded personnel from some shuttles and a Corellian Corvette. The Imperials send in their own Nebulon B frigate, which will do several microjumps in and out of the system, deploying TIE bombers and then jumping to another location and launching more. [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Redemption_scenario Referenced]] in [[ComicBook/XWingSeries the book series of the same name]] where applicants to Rogue Squadron must fly a simulator recreation of the mission, complete with references to the tactics you're supposed to use to complete the mission in the game. The protagonist of the first book barely finishes the mission.

** This game is also the origin of the infamous "Redemption run" mentioned in the ''[[ComicBook/XWingSeries X-Wing]]'' novels, where four X-Wings must defend the medical frigate ''Redemption'' and some unarmed transports against multiple waves of TIE Bombers launched by the Imperial frigate ''Warspite''. The ''Warspite'' microjumps around the system, keeping you flying back and forth trying to stop the bombers while avoiding their TIE\ln escorts.

''X-Wing'' is a PC Space SimulationGame first launched in 1993, with various expansion packs and collector's editions being released as late as 1997.

* FeaturelessProtagonist: {{Feelies}} and materials from the [[AllThereInTheManual Limited version]] and Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse indicate that the PlayerCharacter's name is "Keyan Farlander", he was flying the surviving Y-Wing at Yavin, and he goes on to be a Jedi. In-game one of the cutscenes from the ExpansionPack has Luke Skywalker specifically refer to a "Lieutenant Farlander". There is some confusion in the original release, however, as one of the historical training missions is named "Farlander's First Mission", suggesting he is a different pilot from the rookie player. The aforementioned materials do explain this: the player character ''is'' Keyan Farlander, and that while still in training he was pulled out of training to fly the "real" Farlander's First Mission flight (unseen in the game); when he returned to pilot training, they'd already incorporated a simulation of it as a training scenario.

* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: In one mission in your efforts to steal Imperial grain to provide foodstuffs for the undersupplied Alliance, a Rebel freighter's arrival to retrieve the cargo will trigger the arrival of a Star Destroyer aptly named, ''Badi Dea''. Although naturally you survive, it doesn't end well for your allies.....

* MightyGlacier: The Y-Wing is the Alliance's mainstay bomber; it's slow, but with four beam weapons and a generous supply of torpedoes it packs a sizable punch. It can double as a fighter is nothing better is available, but suffers badly when pitted against faster craft.

* KnowWhenToFoldEm: Some already completed missions can end up deadly if the player decides to stay and fight the strong but late Imperial reinforcements in order to rack up additional points and victories.
* LeadTheTarget: At least your weapon indicators indicate if the laser cannon would hit.