XWA on Windows 10 64 bit

[Griffin]

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Edit 6/27/2020: I have switched from the XWA original CDs to the XWA installer from Origin since I have the Basic yearly subscription.
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Edit 4/25/2020: please note, the below instructions have not been updated since 2017. If you need help installing though, please post to ask for assistance. New updated instructions will be made available, but not yet.
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*phew*

After a couple of hours, finally got XWA working again on my Win 10 64 bit PC. And my Gravis xTerminator joystick still worked as it did before! (terribly..)

To make it easy, here is what I did

#1 go to http://markusegger.at/Games and follow the steps in http://markusegger.at/Software/Games/Xw ... tions.html starting at:

Create a temporary folder on your hard disk (eg. C:XWA_DISK_1) - about 600 MiB free space is needed.
Copy the contents of your Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance CD 1 to that folder.
Let this self-extracting archive extract to that folder (eg. C:XWA_DISK_1). // NOTE: this is the XWA file you download from the main page http://markusegger.at/Games called Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance 1.0 EN 1.0.0.0//

When asked to replace Setup.exe, confirm.
There should be four new files in your temporary XWA folder:

Alliance.ico
X-Wing Alliance.msi
Setup.exe (new file)
Instructions.html (this file; may be deleted at discretion)

You may create a folder Patches or Support in your temporary XWA folder; you could store the official X-Wing Alliance patch as well as the Windows Installer and C++ redistributable files there.
Burn the contents of your temporary XWA folder (! - not the folder itself) to a blank CD-R and label it accordingly in the CD burning program of your choice (eg. Nero). The original CD label usually is: XWA_DISK_1
Use your new "Installation CD" to install Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance on your computer by either double-clicking on

Setup.exe or
X-Wing Alliance.msi directly.

Obligatory: Install the official X-Wing Alliance v2.02 (or later) patch. You may get it at http://www.lucasarts.com/support/update/alliance.html. // NOTE: I had to get the patch from http://xvt.uharc.net/download:patch using the "mirror de" link. //
To be on the safe side, use your original CD 1 for playing from now on. There might be copy protection or stuff like that.

#2 From http://xwaupgrade.com/ download page, download the file called "xwa_ddraw_d3d11.1.3.zip" and follow the instructions (easy, copy contents to location where you installed XWA...

#3 Insert game CD (yes, the official one you bought about 17 years ago!)

#4 When in game, turn on Hardware 3D or when trying to fly, your game will crash.

Worked for me!

Cut scenes seem a bit slower... currently running a Core i5, 8GB RAM, ATI 6950 video card. Maybe it is the hard drive I installed XWA on that is slow, only 5400 RPM.

Cheers!

[cialo]

I'm trying to install XWA on my current Windows 10 64 bit. Is this procedure still vaild as described in this post?

I followed the procedure, but when launching the game it is asking for the original CD, that is actually inside the drive.

Since I have not a empty CD to burn, I have performed the installation directly from the .iso image including the content of the original CD patched as described in this post...

[Ace Antilles]

Have you got both CD's? Also you might need the 64 Bit patches. You probably don't even need the ISO. Just extract it to a folder.
I just installed it recently but I used the Steam one and not my old CD copies.

[cialo]

I have both original CD. Italian version. Where I can find this 64 bit patch?

What is the Steam CD?

Thank you for fast reply.

[Vince T]

There's no steam CD, that's the digital version available via steam.

[Ace Antilles]

I have both original CD. Italian version. Where I can find this 64 bit patch?
Thank you for fast reply.

I've attached the file below.
After installed you need to apply to 2.02 patch if I remember.

I honestly can't guarantee this will solve your issue and these maybe only in English too.
There's a file attached with instructions.
I'm pretty sure this is what you had to do with later systems with 64 bit.

X-Wing_Alliance_MSI_v1.0.0.0.zip

xwaupd202.zip

[cialo]

Yes that is the same procedure I have followed. I tried again and again, currently I have a slithgly different issue. After installation and application of the patch, I try to run alliance from the original CD, but tha game does not start. No error messages are generated.

However, I see this XWA upgrade is a quite active community... do you play all on steam? or did you install the game on your local pc?

[cialo]

Before crashing it is asking me to configure the name of the pilot...

[Ace Antilles]

Yes that is the same procedure I have followed. I tried again and again, currently I have a slithgly different issue. After installation and application of the patch, I try to run alliance from the original CD, but tha game does not start. No error messages are generated.

However, I see this XWA upgrade is a quite active community... do you play all on steam? or did you install the game on your local pc?

Hi cialo . Firstly have you managed to get the normal XWA installed and playing?
Because until you get that sorted then it's going to be hard to help with any patch issues. If I can at all.

XWAUP works with the modern game download programs. This means less hassle in some ways as no CD's to worry about.
There are 3 sites selling it with different prices and also there are sales that come up from time to time.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3616 ... _Alliance/

https://www.gog.com/game/star_wars_xwing_alliance

https://www.humblebundle.com/store/star ... g-alliance

[cialo]

No... I still have problems, the launcher freezes before starting the game. But is it really required?

I see the cost on Steam and other platforms is not high. Do you think I can go directly on that way or for some reasons it is better to have the game running from the original CD?

[JeremyaFr]

Personally, I use the CD version.

[Ace Antilles]

No... I still have problems, the launcher freezes before starting the game. But is it really required?

I see the cost on Steam and other platforms is not high. Do you think I can go directly on that way or for some reasons it is better to have the game running from the original CD?

If you can load your pilot in that's all you need to do. Once the XWAUP is installed it will create a new Start Icon that skips the launcher anyway.

I own the original CD's and in the past used those. But for me I found it a lot easier now just installing and using the Steam option.
Nothing wrong with having both but I didn't have any hassle getting the game to run via Steam. I did get it very cheap though

Steam do offer a refund if the games not been played for more than 2 hours or you have some issue getting it to install?
Maybe worth a look if you are getting lots of problems.

[cialo]

OK I have moved to steam, working properly without problem.

Language is not a problem, however I guess that copying some video and wave files from the original CDs to the steam directory I could have the italian version working properly.

Now I need a joystick, my old microsft sidewinder is broken

[Ace Antilles]

There's not a huge amount of joysticks about these days.
You can use a joypad if you are clever enough to be able to fly with it
I use this one. Logitech Extreme 3D Pro
https://www.logitechg.com/it-it/product ... 00031.html

Glad you got the game working now

[Griffin]

There's not a huge amount of joysticks about these days.
You can use a joypad if you are clever enough to be able to fly with it
I use this one. Logitech Extreme 3D Pro
https://www.logitechg.com/it-it/product ... 00031.html

Glad you got the game working now

Thank you very much for helping Ace! This is one of the many reasons why I wanted the swcrusade message board to be hosted at the xwau site instead of my old message forums, I am so busy with work and family I haven't had time to check and am glad others are active and able to help

[evilmark]

On the joystick side of things I'm using a program called reWASD to remap some of the axis on a regular XBox One controller (there are free programs that should be able to do the same thing but I've never been able to get them to work, I think the Pro Controller should be able to use the Xbox Accessories app if you have one of those), and I remapped all the buttons using the in-game remap menu. My setup is:

Right trigger = Alt+2 (Fire weapon) (had to set it up to use turbo to get it to keep firing while holding the trigger down)
Left trigger = X (Link lasers)
Right Bumper = Backspace (Full Throttle)
Left Bumper = [ (1/3 Throttle)
Y = O (Target nearest objective)
X = R (Target nearest fighter)
A = W (Cycle weapons)
B = Alt+3 (Target ship in sights)
Left Stick is the main flight joystick
Left Stick Click = Enter (Match target speed)
Right Stick I have setup so that the X-Axis rolls left and right while the Y-Axis does nothing
Right Stick Click = ] (2/3 Throttle)
D-Pad Up = F9 (Adjust laser recharge)
D-Pad Down = F10 (Adjust shield recharge)
D-Pad Left = Shift+I (Order wingmen to ignore target)
D-Pad Right = Shift+A (Order wingmen to attack target)
View (middle left button) = \ (Zero throttle)
Menu = Escape (Pause)