Star Wars Junkies Go Rogue With A Gorgeous Remake Of X-Wing Space Combat Sim In Unity Engine
Back in the 1990s, PC gamers first experienced the thrill of hopping into an X-Wing and engaging Imperial pilots in intense space combat. Now more than two decades later, a group of modders is giving the original Star Wars: X-Wing game a fresh coat of paint by remaking the simulation using Unity engine. A longer than 14-minute video showing actual gameplay footage of their progress has us itching to see the final product.
The project is being put together by the XWVM community and is meant to replace the old DOS or Windows executable. To avoid any legal hassles, the mod requires that players own and install the original Star Wars: X-Wing game, or have the GOG or Steam versions of X-Wing Special Edition, which can be the 1993 floppy disk release, the CD that came out in 1994, or the 1998 Windows edition.
"XWVM neither contains nor distributes any copyrighted material. All game resource files (missions, voiceovers, SFX, iMUSE automaton, etc) are loaded from the player's copy of the original game, or are original creations of our team, where the original resources are considered inadequate for today's standards," the modders explain.
What they've done is create a more immersive experience that not only looks and appears to play great, but sounds fantastic as well. That latter bit can't be overstated—audio and sound effects have always been an important part of the Star Wars franchise. Much of the credit there belongs to the original developers, though the XWVM team did decide to bring the iMUSE system back, along with Michael Land's original scores. They've been passed through a synthesizer to give them a more orchestral sound.
We're crossing out fingers that the modder aren't hit with cease and desist order before the finished product sees the light of day.
The project is being put together by the XWVM community and is meant to replace the old DOS or Windows executable. To avoid any legal hassles, the mod requires that players own and install the original Star Wars: X-Wing game, or have the GOG or Steam versions of X-Wing Special Edition, which can be the 1993 floppy disk release, the CD that came out in 1994, or the 1998 Windows edition.
"XWVM neither contains nor distributes any copyrighted material. All game resource files (missions, voiceovers, SFX, iMUSE automaton, etc) are loaded from the player's copy of the original game, or are original creations of our team, where the original resources are considered inadequate for today's standards," the modders explain.
What they've done is create a more immersive experience that not only looks and appears to play great, but sounds fantastic as well. That latter bit can't be overstated—audio and sound effects have always been an important part of the Star Wars franchise. Much of the credit there belongs to the original developers, though the XWVM team did decide to bring the iMUSE system back, along with Michael Land's original scores. They've been passed through a synthesizer to give them a more orchestral sound.
We're crossing out fingers that the modder aren't hit with cease and desist order before the finished product sees the light of day.
