Welcome to the official XWAU ModDB Page!
The XWA Upgrade is a massive mod made from fans for fans. We started more than 22 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 resolutions, more ships with more options to choose from. More flightgroup colors, VR support, fully dynamic and interactive cockpits and so much more.
Key Features:
- Updated HD Models
Replacing the old low-detail models with better, more accurate ones has been the core focus of the project since its conception. Today, with modern PC capabilities we are able to take it one step further and create highly detailed models with higher resolution textures. - Hooks: Breaking the limits
By using runtime code injection aka. Hooks we have not only managed to break through many of the original game's technical limitations but also add new features and functionalities like animated model parts, multiple model profiles per ship, customizable hangar maps per ship or per mission and much, muich more. - New Shader Effects
Using a completely new DDraw.dll we are now able to add modern day visual effects to the old game engines. SSAO/SSDO, Bloom, Dynamic Shadows, Animated textures, Normal Mapping and much more! - Dynamic Cockpits
This new feature brings you absolute immersion by integrating the various HUD elements right into the cockpit models of flyable craft. As of now, this has been implemented for the various main fighter craft of the Empire and Rebel Alliance. However the roster of ships with dynamic cockpits is steadily growing. - VR support
Yes that's right, with the new ddraw you can now run XWA using all common VR setups. To facilitate this, we have expanded the dynamic cockpits to include actual VR control elements. - HD Backdrops and Updated FrontEnd
All the above features also also greatly improve upon the Backdrop and Frontend elements. High-resolution Starfield and Planet backdrops with Orbital scenarios, Updated Explosions, Dynamically generated Hyperspace and Lense Flare effects, Upgraded FrontEnd like Simulator Icons and new Mission simulator Pictures and much, much more! - Extended Sound Effects
We can now customise many key areas of game sounds and assign new ones. This gives a much wider range of individuality to different ships.
The XWAU provides the technical foundation for and works closely with various other mods such as the TIE Fighter Total Conversion or the in-progress Embers of the Empire Campaign.
Requirements
To play this mod you will REQUIRE to have a copy of the game X-Wing Alliance (XWA) installed. As the 1999 CD version is becomming harder to support, we recommend you get one of the digital versions of the game.
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.
Visit the XWA Upgrade Website!
Articles
Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, strap yourself in because we're going on a wild ride! After almost 4 years we finally are proud to announce the release of our second mega patch, XWA Upgrade 2024!
Packed with all the upgrades of the last mega patch and all subsequent major updates, this release includes a whole host of new features from small tweaks in the background to huge game-changing updates that make you feel like you're playing a whole new game! To name a few
HD Concourse
MechDonald completely overhauled game UI ranging from individual buttons to the whole concourse environment and transition videos. Both the Main Concourse and The Crew Quarters scene including all trophies have been fully reconstructed from scratch and rerendered in HD. In addition Forceflow has rerendered all the many, many Simulator images for ships and missions to work in a modern era widescreen environment.
New and updated models
A number of high-profile models have been introduced including the Imperial II-class Star Destroyer, X7 Factory and Container Hangar by Vince T. Additionally and for the first time ever, we have to decided to introduce new craft to the patch, which were previously not in the game, to add a bit more variety. These include the Imperial Nebulon-B Frigate, Gozanti-class Cruiser, VCX-100 Freighter and U-Wing by DTM and the Quasar Fire Carrier by Driftwood. Additionally several existing models have seen a facelift with improved textures or model overhauls, such as an updated T-Wing and Z-95 Headhunter by DTM, Corellian YT-1300 and Falcon by Master Qui-Gon and Prime, Firespray Attack Ship and GR-70 Medium Transport by Master Qui-Gon. Finally, Ace Antilles has added more flavor models to be used in launch hangars, such as ladders and catwalks, to improve immersion.
Visual optimization
Ace Antilles has given pretty much every model, upgraded or vanilla, a treatment to improve the way it appears ingame, by recalculating face normals, converting tri-faces to quad-faces and adding individual materials with shield, beam and damage effects to each of them.
Hooks and Effects
Of course, the new patch contains all the latest hooks by JérémyaFr and effects ddraw by blue_max, those magical items that transform the XWA from an aging 1999 game to stand tall and proud in 2024.
Updated tools
All the accompanying tools have received a facelift and various improvements. The many ship configuration options have been extracted from Babu Frik's Configurator and put into their own little tool XWA Craft Manager, which will let you how certain ships appear in skirmish mode, including profiles and skins. This tool will also allow you to customize the appearance certain trophies in the crew quarters.
ATTENTION: COMPATIBILITY NOTE:
At this point, this version of XWAU is not compatible with TFTC 1.3.4. Installing it ontop anything but a clean XWA Install, will cause various incompatibility issues and potentially cause the game to be unplayable. TFTC will in time be updated to use XWAU 2024 as a foundation and restore compatibility.
Thank you!
Work on the new patch has commenced as early as late 2020 and it wouldn't have been possible to make without the technical brilliance of JeremyaFr and blue_max. We owe them a massive thank you!
Also, the XWAU wouldn't be here without Forceflow who has been maintaining the website and forums, dealing with overzealous bot crawlers and dutifully paying the hosting costs for 25 years straight.
The whole team has been involved in one area or another of this release, and it's the collaboration of teamwork, sharing feature ideas and striving for the best releases that makes up what we do. A big thank you also goes to the people beta-testing the content and helping us squas the multitude of bugs that surface with a mega patch of this scale! In short: Thanks to everyone that supported us over the years and made this whole thing possible!
And last but not least, thank you to our community, who stuck with us for 25 crazy years! Every one who came, went, returned or just happened by. You are awesome!
For more detailed information and discussion visit our Website and Forum or the TFTC Discord !
Teaser: HD UI
News 1 commentIt's been a while since we last shown something, so we figured it's time to let you peak behind the curtain just a bit.
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