Members FAQ Disclaimer Rules Links
Here you can find additional information like who is on the team. our FAQs with lot's of information regarding not only the project but also specific ships, the legal disclaimer which you need to acknowledge in order to download our stuff and the general rules of the page and some links and community pages you might enjoy.
The XWA Upgrade is a massive mod made from fans for fans. We started something like 20 years ago planning to only upgrade the ship models to add some much needed details into them. Over the many years we have discovered many things that we can do to upgrade not only the ship models however but the actual game engine as well. These days there is barely any part of the game untouched. There are higher texture resoutions, more ships with more options to choose from. More flightgroup colors, VR support, fully dynamic and interactive cockpits and so much more.
There is so much we are still learning about the engine and we are trying to push it as far as we can. Sure, we might never be done, we might never get to that last model to be changed, but boy are we having a lot of fun on the way.
We sure hope you will join us on this ride and rediscover this old but sill really great game.
FAQ
Okay, people. Please read this, since questions, that are answered here, will not be answered on the forum again.
A great place to head to is also the forum post FOR BEGINNERS
Forum Question for registration
Mos Eisley spaceport. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.
general questions
- What is the goal of the XWA Upgrade project?
- When will the whole patch be released?
- When will model xyz be done?
- I have an awesome Star Wars model which was not originally featured in XWA, can you include it into the project?
- Will you change the ships stats, like speed, shield or hull rating?
- What are the two additional craft that are going to be added to XWA? Any hope of them being the E-Wing and K-Wing?
- Why are my ions purple instead of blue?
- You ruined the whole game! I hate what you did! You are all morons! Cant you make it better?
- What are all those abbreviations like RFP, IFP, etc...?
- What's with all the ranks and insignias?
- Why does clicking a link to download a ship sometimes give me a an error?
team questions
performance and compatibility questions
- I saw that your models will have a lot more faces than the original ones, but this will slow down the performance a lot. Can't you cut the face count and just concentrate on the textures?
- Will the enhanced graphics cause lag in multiplayer?
- Can I play with other players whom do not have the patch?
- Does the Patch work with other patches like NCA?
- Why are the NEW craft all grey/white?
- I get the message that I don't have the latest version of XWA installed
- When I try to install XWA, an error message pops up and says "C:\Windows\Systen32\Autoexec.nt
- Every time I play skirmish, the other team seems to start 99.99Km away from me which is out of the map range. Why is this happening?
- I have a 64-bit computer with the new WIndows XP x64 edition. I can't make the game run on it. What should I do?
- My Cursor dissappears after I have added all the patches
- How to avoid the 99.99km issue in skirmish
Modeling Questions
craft specific questions
- Why is the Missile Boat so much different?
- I wanted to do missions with the Gunboat, but found out the cannot be used in single-player missions due to a weird message telling me that the s-foils are closed. I encountered the same with the Missiles Boat. will that be fixed in the new model?
- You said you will change the length of the SSD to it's true length of 17.6 km, but this is wrong, the EGVV says its 8km!
- What's the deal with the Reef Home and Liberty, what happened to the MC-80a?
- Home One? Why is the wingless Calamari cruiser so BIG?
- Why is the ISD called an Imperator-class Star Destroyer? I thought it was Imperial-class.
- Will the ISDII and VSDII have separate models from the ISD and VSD?
- Are you also considering ion cannon turrets for the Y-wing? A number of sources have noted that the Y-wings could accommodate a gunner.
- What is wrong with the cockpits? They totally block the view! Can't you maybe even make the cockpits like they were in the original X-Wing game?
- Will the TIE Experimental's have Exterior Opts as well as Base ones?
- Will the TIE Experimental's be Flyable and have their own cockpits?
- Will the Ties have flight group colors?
- Will all Tie's get unique cockpits?
- Why are the textures for the x1 a lot less blue than the rest of the ties?
general questions
team questions
| Q.: | How can I join the XWA Upgrade Team? | ||
| A.: | Everybody can join the team, but you need to be able to contribute in the following fields:
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| Q.: | Can I be a beta-tester for the new opts? | ||
| A.: | As it is now we have enough testers, and we don't want to spread the models too much for now. Most modelers test their stuff on their own or use their own people, so we really don't need anybody right now!
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performance and compatibility questions
| Q.: | I saw that your models will have a lot more faces than the original ones, but this will slow down the performance a lot. Can't you cut the face count and just concentrate on the textures? | ||
| A.: | No, the goal of this project is to create awesome 3D-Models and not to improve performance of the game.
While it is possible to do quite a lot with textures you need to have a decent model to work with.
Do not expect to run the complete XWAU on a slow system, it will not work! A high end computer with lots of RAM will most likely be needed. As for now we cannot make any estimates since the biggest ships are yet to come, although we are pleased with the rather good performance the RFP has so far delivered on most systems!
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| Q.: | Will the enhanced graphics cause lag in multiplayer? | ||
| A.: | No. In Internet and LAN games, only data on the position of objects and the like are sent over the
cable, not the actual graphics themselves.
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| Q.: | Can I play with other players whom do not have the patch? | ||
| A.: | It is now proven that it is not truly possible to play against players without the
same patches because of the
*.exe data difference, which tends to result in a major packet loss, almost to the point of making the game unplayable. Of course, you can always do us a favor by promoting the XWAU for on-line, so that more XWA players will know about the upgrade.
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| Q.: | Does the Patch work with other patches like NCA? | ||
| A.: |
Yes, the patch is compatible with the NCA, and should also be compatible with other patches! However, those patches might not be compatible with our ships (like the NCA patch) This means you have to install ALL other patches BEFORE installing our patches! But, once we will actually add crafts the patches might not be compatible any longer. Problems with that will be discussed on the board an in a readme file that will come with the patches that could cause problems! For now the Tie Ex1 (Vaders Tie) is installed in the booster pack slot, which might interfere with other patches.
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| Q.: | Why are the NEW craft all grey/white? | ||
| A.: | o to the XWA options screen, then Graphics Options, and make sure rendering is set to Hardware
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| Q.: | When I try to install any ship that came in an .EXE file, I get the message that I don't have the latest version of XWA installed. But I have the latest version. | ||
| A.: | This may happens to some foreign language versions of XWA. Find your XWA executable file (XWA.EXE), right click it, and look at the version. If it's 2.02, you'll need to go into the registry editor (Start > Run > Regedit). Browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\LucasArts Entertainment Company LLC\X-Wing Alliance\v1.0\. Find the String Value called Version and change it to 2.0 by double clicking it. You will still get shown that the XWA EXE has 1.0.0.1, but you'll now be able to install the ships in the .EXE files.
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| Q.: | When I try to install XWA, an error message pops up and says "C:\Windows\Systen32\Autoexec.nt. The system file is not suitable for running MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows applications. Choose 'Close' to terminate the application. | ||
| A.: | This is a common problem with all of the older LucasArts games, not just XWA. The installer thinks the autoexec.nt file is missing, but it really isn't, it's just misplaced. The file in question can be found in your Windows\Repair folder. Just copy it to your Windows\system32 folder and try installing again. You should find that it works this time.
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| Q.: | Every time I play skirmish, the other team seems to start 99.99Km away from me which is out of the map range. Why is this happening? | ||
| A.: | It happens with any add-on craft you install, no matter wich one. Darksaber has the solution on his site, tutorials section. (https://www.darksaber.pnma.co.uk/, Tutorials, Abolisher's 99 KM solution)
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| Q.: | After installing XWA upgrades, or even before this, the font is completely unreadable in some or all parts of the game! | ||
| A.: | This is a very very common problem as of late. This isn't due to the MODs or anything you've installed. This is a common problem with nVidia cards on high resolutions (1024x768 and above), and some older ATI cards. While we can't guarantee 100% that this will work, it worked for 70% or more guys with the same problem. Nvidia
cards: ATI
cards:
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| Q.: | I have a 64-bit computer with the new WIndows XP x64 edition. I can't make the game run on it. What should I do? | ||
| A.: | Probably the best solution to this problem is to download a procedure outlined on this site https://www.markusegger.at/Software/Games/Default.aspx and follow the instructions.
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| Q.: | My Cursor dissappears after I have added all the patches | ||
| A.: | There is a simple solution to this, open the file resdata.txt, find these lines and only these line!! Resdata\LightingEffects.dat Resdata\Backdrop.dat Resdata\Galaxy.dat Resdata\Nebula.dat Resdata\Planet.dat Resdata\Explosions.dat Resdata\Sparks.dat Resdata\Chaff.dat Resdata\Debris.dat Resdata\Animations.dat Resdata\HUD.dat Resdata\Fonts.dat Resdata\BlastMarks.dat Resdata\DeathStarII.dat Resdata\WrapBack.dat Resdata\DSFire.dat Resdata\Trails.dat Resdata\Particles.dat Resdata\FRONTEND.dat Resdata\FRONTEND2.dat Resdata\frontplanet.dat Resdata\cursor.dat Select the lines and cut (Ctrl+X) and paste (Crtl+V) them at the top of the resdata.txt file, simple and easy solution. |
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| Q.: | How to avoid the 99.99km issue in skirmish | ||
| A.: |
When you add custom crafts to the game and play a skirmish mission, a few crafts may appear far away. This happens because the SPEC.RCI file contains invalid/missing data. It is good to regenerate SPEC.RCI each time you make changes to the craft slots. What is SPEC.RCI SPEC.RCI is a file that contains the main characteristics of the crafts. It is used by the game engine to avoid to have to read the crafts files each time it needs those informations. How to generate SPEC.RCI
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craft specific questions
| Q.: | Why is the Missile Boat so much different? | ||
| A.: | It's based on it's original design in TIE Fighter, not the new design that debuted in XWCS.
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| Q.: | I wanted to do missions with the Gunboat, but found out the cannot be used in single-player missions due to a weird message telling me that the s-foils are closed. I encountered the same with the Missiles Boat. will that be fixed in the new model? | ||
| A.: | Yes, this problem has been found and will not occur in the patch anymore!
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| Q.: | You said you will change the length of the SSD to it's true length of 17.6 km, but this is wrong, the EGVV says its 8 km! | ||
| A.: | Due to poor research, West End Games was incorrect in its size statement. Film evidence clearly shows out that the SSD is about eleven times the length of the Imperial Star Destroyer, or roughly 17.6 kilometers. This matter is non debatable!
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| Q.: | What's the deal with the Reef Home and Liberty, what happened to the MC-80a? | ||
| A.: | Another thing that was messed up in the game. The MC-80a Calamari Cruiser actually didn't appear until after Endor. The two that appear in the game are actually MC-80s, but various archives dubbed the two different designs seen at Endor Liberty and Reef Home.
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| Q.: | Home One? Why is the wingless Calamari cruiser so BIG? | ||
| A.: | This was another error in the game. The Rebel command ship at Endor, Home One, was left out of the game
and replaced by a scaled down version that became the wingless cruiser.
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| Q.: | Why is the ISD called an Imperator-class Star Destroyer? I thought it was Imperial-class. | ||
| A.: | Original Lucas Film archives say that it is actually an Imperator-class. Furthermore sources say that the first ISD was named the Imperator, and since in Naval tradition a new class will be called by the name of the first ship with this class it should be Imperator-Class. This matter is non debatable!
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| Q.: | Will the ISDII and VSDII have separate models from the ISD and VSD? | ||
| A.: | Yes, both ships will have new models done from scratch.
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| Q.: | Are you also considering ion cannon turrets for the Y-wing? A number of sources have noted that the Y-wings could accommodate a gunner. | ||
| A.: | There are two Y-wing variants, the older S3 and the newer A4. Although both craft are rather old by the
time of the Battle of Endor, the A4 (which is the version seen in the films) is by far more numerous, and was used by the Rebellion
because it was cheaper to build. Therefore there are no plans at adding the Y-wing S3 with this upgrade. Besides which, adding a
turret to the Y-wing would have some SERIOUS balance issues. This matter is non debatable!
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| Q.: | What is wrong with the cockpits? They totally block the view! Can't you maybe even make the cockpits like they were in the original X-Wing game? | ||
| A.: |
Our goal with the cockpits were to make them appear closer to the look and feel of the movies. Movie
evidence clearly shows though, that the view in the X-Wing (and the Y-Wing) was very limited. We decided to use that in our
models and will not change it back. We cannot make the cockpits like they were in the original X-Wing game (an interactive 2D display) since that would actually require to change the game engine, so I am afraid you'll have to use what you have for now. If you don't like them, make your own! For the X-Wing we do have an alternate version available thanks to Darksaber, who has the following to say about this:
The installer still includes the default cockpit, but for all you whiny little bitches
 out there I've included an alternative cockpit, basically I've rotated the cockpit so you now have a better point of view.Just please NOTE this is the first and last cockpit I'll be altering, If anyone asks to alter or change other cockpits I'll ban you! lol, well I might not ban you but I'll have a few choice colourful phrases to say about it
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| Q.: | Do the TIE Experimental's have Exterior Opts as well as Base ones? | ||
| A.: | No. The Experimental's only have Base Opts. They feature only in a few missions and were not
designed to be flyable. So we don't see the need for an Exterior Opt.
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| Q.: | Are the TIE Experimental's be Flyable and have their own cockpits? | ||
| A.: | No, but it is a simple editing job to make them flyable. Also you can assign the new IFP cockpits to the Experimentals if you want to use them.
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| Q.: | Do the Ties have flight group colors? | ||
| A.: | No. For two reasons, first, there has been no movie evidence of Ties actually having flight group
colors. Flight group colors for the Ties would also make the file size for the actual Ties a lot bigger, which is the other reason why
we decided against flight group colors.
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| Q.: | Do all Tie's have unique cockpits? | ||
| A.: | No, not all of them. For once the Experimentals
have no cockpits at all. (since they are not
flyable) Also, some of the Ties share the similar cockpits,
with only minor texture corrections.
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| Q.: | Why are the textures for the x1 a lot less blue than the rest of the ties? | ||
| A.: | That's because the x1 is from ANH, which had gray-hulled TIEs, while the others are from the ESB-forward period, which had blue hulls. | ||