XWAU becomes XWAD!
XWAU becomes XWAD!
- DTM
- Posts: 2119
- Joined: Tue Apr 22, 2003 11:01 pm
- Contact:
Important announcement: the XWAU Team has decided to join the "80s Videogame the best" project!!!
In the spirit of this initiative, the team will abandon the current way of managing upgrades for XWA. It will be challenging, but we will make it!
We are already working on the next official patch, which will radically transform X-Wing Alliance. Thanks to an elaborate graphics system created by JeremyFr and Blue Max, the improvements to the game will blow you away: 3D graphics will be converted to 2D. It will be possible to choose between two points of view: from behind in "After Burner" style or from above, in "Asteroids" style.
A new game mode will be inaugurated, called "Help Pac-Man": you can finally destroy the ghosts who have allied with the empire and save Princess Ms. Pac-Man. We will be able to run any modern graphics card in the only game resolution worth developing, which is 640 x 480. To put more emphasis on the project, which we strongly believe in, the site will be renamed to "X-Wing Alliance Downgrade" (XWAD). We hope you welcome this news with the same enthusiasm with which we embark on this extraordinary undertaking!
We await your comments (only the positive ones, we don't read the others )
In the spirit of this initiative, the team will abandon the current way of managing upgrades for XWA. It will be challenging, but we will make it!
We are already working on the next official patch, which will radically transform X-Wing Alliance. Thanks to an elaborate graphics system created by JeremyFr and Blue Max, the improvements to the game will blow you away: 3D graphics will be converted to 2D. It will be possible to choose between two points of view: from behind in "After Burner" style or from above, in "Asteroids" style.
A new game mode will be inaugurated, called "Help Pac-Man": you can finally destroy the ghosts who have allied with the empire and save Princess Ms. Pac-Man. We will be able to run any modern graphics card in the only game resolution worth developing, which is 640 x 480. To put more emphasis on the project, which we strongly believe in, the site will be renamed to "X-Wing Alliance Downgrade" (XWAD). We hope you welcome this news with the same enthusiasm with which we embark on this extraordinary undertaking!
We await your comments (only the positive ones, we don't read the others )
- Haakan
- Posts: 81
- Joined: Sun Jul 14, 2019 1:36 am
It took me 30 seconds to realize how glorious this will be!
Lt. Colonel A. Araujo
Commander, 7th SpecOps Squadron "Alpha"
Battlegroup I
Emperor's Hammer.
CMDR/LC Alejandro Araujo/Alpha/Wing I/ISDII Hammer/BGI
Commander, 7th SpecOps Squadron "Alpha"
Battlegroup I
Emperor's Hammer.
CMDR/LC Alejandro Araujo/Alpha/Wing I/ISDII Hammer/BGI
- darklord
- Posts: 836
- Joined: Sun Jan 16, 2005 12:01 am
- Contact:
Finally someone else realizes this game is too new!
- the_stag
- Posts: 134
- Joined: Sun Jun 14, 2020 3:47 pm
It is about time. I've been waiting to play XWA the way it was originally meant to be played since it was released. The Atari cabinet was the only true way any Star Wars space sim should have even been played. I for one look forward to this with open arms. Anyone who disagrees with the new direction of this project should find the door.
- blue_max
- Posts: 2295
- Joined: Wed Mar 20, 2019 5:12 am
This was a bit of a technical challenge, but fortunately, DirectX still provides the D3D11_FILTER_TYPE_POINT filter type (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/window ... ilter_type) to magnify textures which creates that nice pixelated look. So the core of the trick here is to render everything to a small render target. Say 320x240 or 160x120, even, and then when stretching the render target to cover the whole screen, we just use D3D11_FILTER_TYPE_POINT to prevent any bilinear filtering. That's how we get those big nice pixels.
Of course, all shading had to be removed, but that's very easy to do (a couple of lines have to be removed in two shaders). External inertia also had to go (because it hadn't been invented yet back in the 80s). Fortunately, I added a setting to disable this feature since the beginning.
To top it off, since the main draw calls are now executed on a 160x120 render target, it's very easy to achieve a constant framerate of 200+ fps. I think this is a very reasonable tradeoff.
Of course, all shading had to be removed, but that's very easy to do (a couple of lines have to be removed in two shaders). External inertia also had to go (because it hadn't been invented yet back in the 80s). Fortunately, I added a setting to disable this feature since the beginning.
To top it off, since the main draw calls are now executed on a 160x120 render target, it's very easy to achieve a constant framerate of 200+ fps. I think this is a very reasonable tradeoff.
- DTM
- Posts: 2119
- Joined: Tue Apr 22, 2003 11:01 pm
- Contact:
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
- Mako
- Posts: 1391
- Joined: Tue Jun 07, 2005 11:01 pm
Can't wait! I always wanted that from behind the x-wing look to this game. I look forward to the many crash and burns I'll have.
Power without perception is worthless and of no use.
Current WIP The Lost Fleet everything else is on hold.
Current WIP The Lost Fleet everything else is on hold.
- blue_max
- Posts: 2295
- Joined: Wed Mar 20, 2019 5:12 am
Just a little preview of XWAD:
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
- DTM
- Posts: 2119
- Joined: Tue Apr 22, 2003 11:01 pm
- Contact:
It was supposed to be April Fool's ... but it's becoming a spectacular idea !!!!
- blue_max
- Posts: 2295
- Joined: Wed Mar 20, 2019 5:12 am
Yeah, I knew this was a joke, but you got me thinking how something like this could be done, DTM. BTW, we could also do a more 90s look, like the original X-Wing:
... and I just couldn't resist the chance to play a prank of my own
... and I just couldn't resist the chance to play a prank of my own
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
- darklord
- Posts: 836
- Joined: Sun Jan 16, 2005 12:01 am
- Contact:
I havnt done in forever but i would turn off 3d accelleration in game and would loose all texture mapping