http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2014/10/28/x-wing-tie-fighter-sam-max-gog/
QuoteGOG weren't the first joint in cyberspace slinging vintage video games, but they did get publishers digging a lot deeper into their archives (Good Old Games, they called themselves back in the day). Most publishers came to realise that hey, maybe it's good for everyone if folks can buy our own games, but some were tangled in knots or lost in mysteries for yonks. It took almost five years for a group to free System Shock 2, and we're still waiting for the best parts of the LucasArts catalogue.
Or we were, anyway. Here, they're coming! Sam & Max Hit the Road, X-Wing, and TIE Fighter are now on GOG – the first time they've been on sale in years – as heralds of a re-release-o-rama.
GOG and Disney Interactive say "20+ classic titles" from Lucasfilm (film, Arts, whichever) will come to GOG in time, but they're kicking it off with only six.
X-Wing Special Edition and TIE Fighter Special Edition are £6.19 apiece, while Sam & Max Hit the Road is £3.69. They've been available elsewhere for a while, but you can also get The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic for £6.19 (they'll be £7.79 once launch discounts expire) and Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis is £3.69.
What might these other 15 or so games be? Cross your fingers, gang, for Day of the Tentacle, Full Throttle, X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter, and all the Monkey Island games. We probably won't get Grim Fandango, as Double Fine are currently remastering that for re-release. It's a fair bet that things already on Steam and other digital stores, like the Jedi Knight games, will be coming over too.
LucasArts games have dominated GOG's community wishlist for years and I too am jolly glad to see some of them emerge from the archives. Sam & Max is one of only four PC games I still own on physical media, and I find possessions slightly unnerving.
X-Wing! TIE-Fighter! Indy! Sam & Max! :w00t:
(Here's hoping for Indy III, Zak McKracken, Maniac Mansion, DoTT, X-Wing Alliance. Maybe Afterlife?)
And how did I miss that Indy a.t.F.o. Atlantis, Loom and The Dig are already on Steam? Hell, there's even a bundle. :unsure:
TIE Fighter and Sam and Max? Hells yeah!
Count me in for hoping for X-Wing: Alliance, BTW. Kain and I got clever and used his Steel Battalion controller with an Xbox-USB dongle and hacked drivers for that game. Using a full console to pilot a YT freighter? Glorious.
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I was so excited when I heard this. I love GoG. Now I need to hunt down a joystick for the computer as I doubt my ancient one will work. I also have been hoping for Blizzard to release Warcraft I and II and Starcraft I via GoG as well.
Woah, good news, thanks for the top off.
If only they'd release Day of the Tentacle, I could die a happy chap. :cool:
In fact, this was something I was hoping for when Lucas sold out to Disney. Disney are pretty pragmatic when it comes to squeezing money out of old licenses. :P
I suspect this is the kind of thing that sounds awesome...until you actually try playing the game and the horrificly dated graphics makes your eyeballs bleed.
That is what happened to me when I revisited Jedi Knight.
Quote from: Berkut on October 28, 2014, 03:20:55 PM
I suspect this is the kind of thing that sounds awesome...until you actually try playing the game and the horrificly dated graphics makes your eyeballs bleed.
That is what happened to me when I revisited Jedi Knight.
Yeah, I have such good memories of some of these games I am not sure I want to actually revisit them for that very reason.
What the zebra and giraffe said.
Pretty much. I got super excited until I checked out the TIE Fighter screenshots. I shall stay strong and stay away from these to protect my very fond memories.
Quote from: Warspite on October 28, 2014, 01:45:51 PM
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wenpigsfly.org%2Fw00t2.gif&hash=75274e63d8a9836b2ab01b94a1634de0884b8c32)
He's going supercritical! EVACUATE
We need a current-gen Star Wars space sim. :(
Quote from: Tamas on October 28, 2014, 04:26:35 PM
Pretty much. I got super excited until I checked out the TIE Fighter screenshots. I shall stay strong and stay away from these to protect my very fond memories.
I usually have this problem with low-res classic games, but TIE Fighter does such a good job taking you into its environment that after the first mission or two, it feels natural again.
Quote from: Berkut on October 28, 2014, 03:20:55 PM
I suspect this is the kind of thing that sounds awesome...until you actually try playing the game and the horrificly dated graphics makes your eyeballs bleed.
That is what happened to me when I revisited Jedi Knight.
The RPS article has a few comments from folks who played it recently and said it still holds up. I will give it a spin this weekend, I suppose.
Well, they have the '93 original release of TIE-Fighter and the '98 Enhanced Edition CD-ROM (You get both on purchase), the '98 version being a remake using the XvT engine. They don't include the '95 collector's version.
The '98 version looks and plays fine on first try (though doesn't properly support widescreen, of course, so image may be stretched unless you run it in a window).
The main downside to playing the '98 over the (missing) '95 version is that they replaced the awesome adaptive iMuse soundtrack with the orchestral movie score (which already sucked in XvT). And from what I read it may also lack some of the in flight voice acting the '95 release had.
EDIT: someone at GoG pointed out the differences between the '95 version and its DOS and '98 counterparts:
QuoteMain differences from DOS Floppy editon:
More animated cutscenes and fully voiced briefings
Support for 640x480 resolution.
Main differences from XvT engine 1998 edition:
dynamic imuse soundtrack
no weird upscaling problems with the art
sold-color polygons instead of bad 1998 texture filtering.
doesn't absolutely require a joystick.
I guess in an ideal world you would have the sound from '95 in the graphics engine of '98.
Comparison '95 version vs. '98:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6t92rzvjNU4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4J0oSU2jvgU (note missing voice overs and random music titles playing)
My advice: if you really enjoyed the '95 experience, wait until GOG adds that version.
Joystick is definitely a good thing to have for this. My Xbox controller works just fine, but this got me to the other side of the fence I'd been sitting on to pick up a Thrustmaster T.Flight HOTAS X joystick. :blush:
I can't imagine playing TF without a joystick. I still use the same Sidewinder I had back then.
It appears there's a mod to restore dynamic music and extra speech to the '98 version.
http://www.savingcontent.com/2014/08/09/guide-play-x-wing-tie-fighter-series-on-windows-7-windows-8-windows-8-1-with-an-xbox-xb1-playstation-ps4-controller-flight-stick/7/
The next batch is in:
- X-Wing Alliance :w00t:
- Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds (basically Age of Kings total conversion into Star Wars - a friend and I played ti a fair bit)
- X-Wing vs. TIE-Fighte - Balance of Power
- Dark Forces (has been on Steam for a while)
- KotOR II (also been on Steam for a bit)
- Star Wars Battlefront II (see KotOR II)
COMING SOON: Grim Fandango
I don't think Fandango has aged that poorly. The backgrounds are static.
Quote from: Syt on January 20, 2015, 03:43:44 PM
The next batch is in:
- X-Wing Alliance :w00t:
- Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds (basically Age of Kings total conversion into Star Wars - a friend and I played ti a fair bit)
- X-Wing vs. TIE-Fighte - Balance of Power
- Dark Forces (has been on Steam for a while)
- KotOR II (also been on Steam for a bit)
- Star Wars Battlefront II (see KotOR II)
COMING SOON: Grim Fandango
Alliance and XvT? Dang, son.
Dark Forces is good just for Kyle Katarn, but this is getting distressingly close to a rerelease of Rebel Assault. :bleeding:
Rebellion and Rogue Squadron have been added too. I loved Rebellion in the day, even though the AI was utter rubbish.
You know what would be sweet? If they also released the pod racing game. One of the best things to come out of Episode 1.
Get RebEd and tweak the hell out of Rebellion. I have it kitted up so that I actually lose the game about 75% of the time.
Does it improve the AI or just make things cheaper for it, so that it throws more stuff at you?
You can mod anything in the game with it. Edit the characters, ships, troops, etc. Re-arrange the map. Costs of things, hit points, starting conditions, whatever. You can be pretty creative about how you make the ai better.
More Star Wars coming on Tuesday.
What's left (of games that aren't also on Steam, like Force Unleashed, or Jedi Outcast)?
Force Commander
Episode 1 Racer
Episode 1 game (there was one following the movie's story)
Yoda Stories
Battle for Naboo
Rebel Assault 1 & 2
... and a bunch of other bottom of the barrel kinds of deals.
I would REALLY like Episode 1 Racer (though I doubt it aged well).
Quote from: MadImmortalMan on January 23, 2015, 03:33:30 AM
You can mod anything in the game with it. Edit the characters, ships, troops, etc. Re-arrange the map. Costs of things, hit points, starting conditions, whatever. You can be pretty creative about how you make the ai better.
Hmm. :hmm: I'll check it out.
I'm trying to get into Empire at War for the umpteenth time. And I'm looking at the Republic at War mod, which is a Clone Wars total conversion. EaW did well enough to warrant a (retarded) expansion, so it seems weird that an absolute no-brainer like giving it a Clone Wars paintjob wasn't done officially.
The mod takes characters, vehicles and planets from the prequel movies, but also from the animated series which fleshed out the arsenal and character pool a lot more, plus the troopers from Republic Commando are also in.
New on GOG (but previously available on Steam):
Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II
Republic Commando
Starfighter™
A new batch:
- Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb
- Monkey Island 2: Special Edition
- The Dig :wub:
- Loom :wub:
- Zak McKracken :wub:
- Outlaws (best spaghetti western game soundtrack EVER)
LoomTM was fun. I was glad they left the ad for it in there for the Monky IslandTM special edition. I presume you have to play it 1989 style right?
I thought The DigTM was a little ridiculous.
Quote from: MadImmortalMan on January 23, 2015, 03:33:30 AM
You can mod anything in the game with it. Edit the characters, ships, troops, etc. Re-arrange the map. Costs of things, hit points, starting conditions, whatever. You can be pretty creative about how you make the ai better.
RebEd was fun as balls. I had Bill Clinton as an Imperial character at one point.
Quote from: Valmy on March 19, 2015, 11:07:21 AM
LoomTM was fun. I was glad they left the ad for it in there for the Monky IslandTM special edition. I presume you have to play it 1989 style right?
I thought The DigTM was a little ridiculous.
I liked The Dig, although I found it to sometimes be a little difficult to figure out. There was one puzzle with very subtly-coloured doors that was really annoying.
Welcome to the age of the great guilds
Rebel Assault 1&2 are now available: http://www.gog.com/game/star_wars_rebel_assault_1_2
Jedi Outcast/Jedi Academy are also on GOG now (previously available on Steam).
Also, Star Wars bundles:
http://www.gog.com/promo/may_the_4th_star_wars_saber_bundle_280415
http://www.gog.com/promo/may_the_4th_star_wars_blaster_bundle_280415
Also also: X-Wing/TIE-Fighter Collector's CD ROM editions finally available! (previously only the original disk release and the one redone in the X-Wing vs. TIE-Fighter engine which lacked some speech and the dynamic MUSE soundtrack that adjusted to the game). :wub:
Quote from: Syt on April 28, 2015, 09:59:07 AM
Rebel Assault 1&2 are now available: http://www.gog.com/game/star_wars_rebel_assault_1_2
Jedi Outcast/Jedi Academy are also on GOG now (previously available on Steam).
Also, Star Wars bundles:
http://www.gog.com/promo/may_the_4th_star_wars_saber_bundle_280415
http://www.gog.com/promo/may_the_4th_star_wars_blaster_bundle_280415
Also also: X-Wing/TIE-Fighter Collector's CD ROM editions finally available! (previously only the original disk release and the one redone in the X-Wing vs. TIE-Fighter engine which lacked some speech and the dynamic MUSE soundtrack that adjusted to the game). :wub:
Also known as how to lose a year of gaming: marathon Wing Commander 3 and 4 with Rebel Assault 1 and 2. :P
The X-Wing/TIE-Fighter games are now also on Steam, at a 10% discount. Not sure if Collector's CD-ROM version is included, store page only says DOS and Special Editions.
Too bad they look like complete ass.
Well, the Special Edition uses the X-Wing vs. TIE-Fighter engine, so it has textured models. Not sure if there's hi-red gfx mods like there are for X-Wing Alliance, though. You'd probably want to install the remastered dynamic soundtrack/missing voices mod for that, though.
I thought the ship models in TIE-Fighter were pretty detailed, just not textured.
:( The Collector's Edition stuff seems to have been added to the bundle I already purchased, but isn't showing up in my library- looks like I'll have to buy it again if I want the '95 TIE Fighter?
Quote from: DontSayBanana on April 29, 2015, 06:46:16 PM
:( The Collector's Edition stuff seems to have been added to the bundle I already purchased, but isn't showing up in my library- looks like I'll have to buy it again if I want the '95 TIE Fighter?
May need a refresh: https://www.gog.com/account/refresh
Quote from: Syt on April 29, 2015, 11:45:05 PM
May need a refresh: https://www.gog.com/account/refresh
Yup, that did the trick. Thanks! :)