TFTC is the TIE Fighter: Total Conversion project which aims to bring the original TIE Fighter game and its expansions into X-Wing Alliance. This project was originally released many years ago by other members of the XWAU community, many of whom have since moved on. That version of the project however is no longer available after becoming broken due to various updates since its release to XWAU. Only Bman remains as one of the original project members from this time.
What can I expect to see in TFTC?
TFTC is built upon the XWAU project, so as well as having all the benefits this entails such as vastly improved graphics, ship models, dynamic cockpits, VR support and more, you can enjoy all 13 Battle campaigns from TIE Fighter and the training missions, all with their original voiceover audios, imuse soundtrack and yes even the cutscenes. But wait there's more, alongside the Original campaign, we are also designing a Reimagined campaign!
What does the Reimagined campaign do?
The Reimagined campaign is essentially a 'what if' scenario. TIE Fighter was limited by the technical capabilities of its time and crucially one of the main aspects was a severe limitation in the number of craft present in a mission at any one time. With X-Wing Alliance, we can imagine much grander scenarios and have much larger scale battles take place. You are part of the Empire and we think its important you feel like you are part of this vast, immensely superior military force. The Reimagined campaign will still follow the same story beats as the Original, but there will be significant changes to both story and gameplay as you progress as well which also means everything needs to be revoiced. Some missions will be very familiar with just an increased number of ships and extra window dressing, while others are completely redesigned from scratch, often combining missions together.
But I only want to play the Original in its pure form.
This is fine! Upon installation of TFTC, you will be given the option of which campaign you wish to play. We hope to offer a utility to easily switch between the Original and Reimagined without having to reinstall the entire mod. Because of the significant gameplay differences between the two, you will NOT be able to have both campaigns installed concurrently otherwise it will severely break the balance of one of the campaigns.
What will I need to play TFTC?
As well as a copy of X-Wing Alliance, you will also likely need a copy of TIE Fighter installed (doesn't matter which version, 94, 95 or 98). You can purchase copies of both games from GoG or Steam. TFTC will be fully integrated into XWAU though we have yet to work out the details of this in terms of installation. This FAQ will be updated as we know more.
What are the technical requirements of TFTC?
XWA is an old engine, unfortunately it does not fully utilise modern graphics hardware so the game is heavily reliant on CPU power. If you have a powerful CPU, then you will be able to run the game with maximum graphical fidelity with little issue even in the largest engagements. However if your CPU is a bit lacking, you may need to reduce some of the extra graphical features that XWAU offers. These are easily configured though and the XWAU community is always striving to eek out every improvement to the engine they can.
So when is the release date and what will be included?
We are tentatively aiming for a December 2020/January 2021 release but this is not a guaranteed, set in stone date and is subject to change. The initial release will include the entire Original campaigns from Battles 1 to 13 while the Reimagined campaign will initially come with Battles 1-8 with Battles 9-13 being worked on next year (2021) and released through an expansion patch. The training missions will be available on both.
Are all the Secret Order objectives and cutscenes included?
For the most part, yes. Unfortunately, XWA does not have the individual character interactions that TIE Fighter had and the goal win/loss progression is linear, you either win or you don't. There is no extra dialogue or bonus interactions in a mission debrief when you complete a certain secondary or bonus objective, so we've had to change the structure of the Secret Order somewhat. As such all Secret Order goals will now be Primary Objectives marked with the [SO] tag in your goal list. The Secret Order cutscenes will be included and will be triggered based on the players current points score, so you'll still get to see that progression.
What about the original imuse soundtrack? Its not TIE Fighter without that iconic music!
You're in luck! XWA has its own imuse system, though not quite as dynamic as TIE Fighters, but thankfully we have managed to import most of the musical tracks and cues from the original game. We are also including a new, updated modern version of this soundtrack. You will be given the option of installing either soundtrack when installing.
But why is 'insert thing here' not exactly like it was in TIE Fighter?
Unfortunately, there are simply some limitations imposed upon us here based on the differences between the XWA and TF engines. As such some occasional compromises have to be made. Nonetheless we are trying to give you as close to an authentic TIE Fighter experience as possible. We also reserve the right to take some artistic leeway here and there as we need to
Will there be VR support?
Yes, XWAU has integrated VR support which means TFTC can do it as well!
Will we be able to play a Co-op version of the campaign?
Yes eventually we would like to do this and it is possible thanks to the Multiplayer hook, but this is something to look at next year as it will likely take some significant editing and rebalancing to account for multiple players.
Can I help the project in some way?
If you feel you have some talent or specialty that would be an asset to TFTC, be it UI design, expert coding abilities to hack the the EXE and insert dll hooks, feel free to contact us! We will soon be asking for Beta testers as well
Shut up and take my money! (Do you have a Patreon/accept donations?)
As much as we might like to, we cannot accept any kind of financial donation to the project due to the increased risk of legal troubles with Disney if we did so. You can reward us by playing the mod and spreading words of its existence to others who would be interested
